84 – Social Media, COVID-19 and Value Change

Algocracy and Transhumanism Podcast

Do our values change over time? What role do emotions and technology play in altering our values? In this episode I talk to Steffen Steinert about these issues. Steffen is a postdoctoral researcher on the Value Change project at TU Delft, Ph.D. His research focuses on the philosophy of technology, ethics of technology, emotions, and aesthetics. He has published papers on roboethics, art and technology, and philosophy of science. In his previous research he also explored philosophical issues related to humor and amusement.

You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and other podcasting services (the RSS feed is here).

Show Notes

Topics discussed include:

• What is a value?
• Descriptive vs normative theories of value
• Psychological theories of personal values
• The nature of emotions
• The connection between emotions and values
• Emotional contagion
• Emotional climates vs emotional atmospheres
• The role of social media in causing emotional contagion
• Is the coronavirus promoting a negative emotional climate?
• Will this affect our political preferences and policies?
• General lessons for technology and value change

Relevant Links

• Steffen’s Homepage
• The Designing for Changing Values Project @ TU Delft
• Corona and Value Change by Steffen
• ‘Unleashing the Constructive Potential of Emotions’ by Steffen and Sabine Roeser
• An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Personal Values