In 1877, the German philosopher Ernst Kapp published “Grundlinien einer Philosophie der Technik” (Elements of a Philosophy of Technology, in free translation), where he presented the idea that technical artifacts represent extensions of the human being. For example, the hammer would be a projection of the fist, the pliers, of the fingers, and telegraph cables would be like our nervous system.
When we talk about simpler tools, it’s easy to describe them as projections or extensions of parts of the human body. But what about modern equipment, like computers? The young Steve Jobs, at the dawn of personal computers, described them as “bicycles for the mind,” which allowed human beings to go further and faster than by using their own legs.
This Hegelian perspective, which sees human history as the process through which human essence objectifies itself in the world, used by both, made me see the Linux customization process in a different way, which I will explain below.
Extension and Mirror
The idea of technology as an extension and projection of the human being is simple and powerful, but Kapp also sees technology as a means and a mirror for our self-knowledge. That is, we can only understand ourselves by seeing our image objectified in the artifacts created by us.
Introspection and the study of human behavior are not enough to understand human nature. We need to study the products of human labor and its technical artifacts.
Linux Ricing and Self-Knowledge
When installing an operating system and starting to shape it as we wish, we are creating a technical artifact that mirrors us and helps us know ourselves. Every decision made, every package installed is a question we ask ourselves, and its result, its form, is an answer about our own nature.
In a way, we shape our artifact and it shapes us; we project and extend our capabilities and get to know ourselves during this process. This is the strange and hard-to-explain feeling I have when I’m doing ricing.
I must just be careful that this process reveals me and does not distort my self-image.
Note: AI-assisted translation, human-reviewed. Feedback welcome.