Borgmann Consultation: Session 2

(Note that I am restarting numbering with each session, so P1 in Session 2 is not necessarily the same as P1 in Session 1. I'll probably regret this later.)

DK starts out with some explanation of Amish culture.

P1: What impulse led to the Amish starting to distinguish themselves from broader culture technologically? If they were basically indistinguishable in the 1800s, what changed?

P2: Well in the 19th century the split was over church polity, and the Amish favored tradition and local orientation so they did not accept Sunday School (which would have entailed getting curriculum from outside their community). This type of decision parallels how Amish respond to technology, but whether we could predict this outcome (that is differentiation by way of technology) is uncertain.

P3: It is worth noting that accommodations to technology tend to happen in the realm of male work.

DK: technology is gendered in Old Order communities. They distinguish between earning a living and being at home.

P4: Two points about this consultation: 1) regardless of the specific practices, Old Orders create space to converse about technology; that's one thing we want to accomplish here. 2) Old Orders evaluate the impact of technology on the community based on values they hold high. We don't do that either.