Hidden Rivers
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hiddenrivers.bsky.social
Hidden Rivers
@hiddenrivers.bsky.social
Exploring 12,000 years of Toronto's history
Telephone cables, surveillance cameras, traffic lights, streetcar cables, street grates, sidewalk markings, water mains, internet cables, sewage pipes.

Be warned: after this tour, you'll never be able to look at a normal city block the same way again.

Book here:

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t.co
July 15, 2025 at 2:19 PM
June 17, 2025 at 1:58 AM
After WWII, "technology" was everywhere, its scope widened beyond control.

Where there were once fine-grained distinctions between "engineering", "tool-making", "machinery", "technical methods", & "sets of practices", there is now just "technology".

🤯
June 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
The term widened in scope through Thorstein Veblen's "technological determinism"—machines as an autonomous force that can overthrow culture.

Before long, "technology" came to be seen as a force of revolution and "progress", spanning from applied science to the mechanical arts.
June 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
The word "technology" was first used by Germans to refer to the systematic study of industry.

It was brought to America in 1860 by William Barton Rogers, who was founding a new university and wanted it to have foreign gravitas. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was born.
June 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
In the 17th century, science preserved this hierarchy. Theorists who used the telescope were heralded; the glassblowers who manufactured it were not.

By the industrial revolution, engineers were "applied scientists"—once again affirming the supremacy of head over hand.
June 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
As elites in Medieval Europe relied more on craft workers for weapons & tools, they invented a new category: "mechanical arts" — more impressive than "techne", but still subservient.

Elites feared that if craftspeople gained too much power, they could overturn the social order.
June 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Working on my Dan Seljak Toronto's Hottest Urbanist Glow tan this summer
June 6, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Today, Hidden Rivers returns for 2025.

We begin with a kick-off in Christie Pitts (I bought a rainbow parachute). Then, six tours: from the ghost of the Spadina Expressway to the revitalized Don River.

Whether you grew up in Toronto or just got here, Hidden Rivers is for you.

lu.ma/hiddenrivers
Hidden Rivers · Events Calendar
View and subscribe to events from Hidden Rivers on Luma. Select a tour date below. Can't wait to explore this city with you!
lu.ma
June 5, 2025 at 11:26 PM