Centered, Uygar.

Hello! I wanted to welcome everyone to our first conversation, which, fingers crossed, will be the beginning of something big.

I believe Alectro has a lot to do… and its journey hasn’t even really begun yet. Before diving into that, I want to start with my own patience and my own story. I like writing. I really like what this life has to offer us and what we can give to it.

This isn’t totally “nature writing” like H is for Hawk or Vesper Flights. Instead, it’s more specific. It’s about humans and technologies and the bridges between them. And I have to say: this whole Systems Collective thing? I genuinely enjoy writing about it.

Earlier, later, and pretty much all the time since I started getting into the universe of science and technology, I kept looking for something I truly enjoyed. I was always trying to find something… but I never really did, which, honestly, wasn’t great for me. I just acted like I liked stuff, which definitely isn’t something I suggest you do.

But you know what? At the end of the day, I realized I don’t need to narrow it down. I can do everything I like as a whole: humans, technology, and the bridge between them. And that realization gave me a bit of clarity moving forward.

We are creating all these technologies… but sometimes I feel like we forget who they’re actually for. I always enjoyed science, but more than that, I loved the people behind it. I loved the interactions, the history, the stories. And that love is what keeps me anchored.

The thing is, sometimes we forget ourselves. We forget the human in human-centered technology. And you know what we usually end up with now? Just “centered technology.” Which I’m not really a fan of, and I don’t think you like it too if you have come this far. (Well, I think I’m just hoping.)

I do enjoy creating tech, but I admire the ones who created it even more. I enjoy the benefit for the human. And realizing this, I felt a renewed purpose.

Months ago, when I was first applying to a program called The Knowledge Society, I had a video assignment. They asked us to make a video about something we liked and present that idea. It was… actually really cool for me.

For once, I decided not to act. I didn’t say biotech or computer science. No. I said:

I am the bridge. And saying it aloud, honestly, felt freeing.

I always admired tech, but I also loved the humanities. I like the human-centered part applied to science. More than that, I like human-centered technology — not tech-centered humans. And I would always say that. Not “tech-centered, human-centered” — human-centered tech. Centered for who? For the human self.

I gave examples of what I did, months and months of work, and I just said everything. I was free. And that freedom, I realized, was rare.

Then I got accepted to TKS. I was actually thinking of not going… but surprisingly, I did. And I’m glad I did! I met my director (super inspiring) and friends I really admire. That experience shaped a lot of my perspective.

But here’s the thing: when everyone started focusing on “specific things,” I just lost that thing. Some of you will call it a spark, or a flame, but whatever you say—I really don’t know why. I just lost it. Human-centered didn’t feel real anymore. It felt like a game of words… like it was a trick to hypnotize humans. Like the deal was never humans, and how they live.

In a way, it felt like an origin story: confusion, losing direction, then slowly finding a purpose again. And this is the only unit where you will read things about me. I just wanted to let you guys know. Anyways, back to our journey.

And in the #sayhi channel, near September, I wrote that I was into bioinformatics and chemistry — which I was, technically — but only I knew it wasn’t really true. Only I knew.

I just lost it that day. Yep. Just lost it.

But little did I know, after a while, I’d start to get back. Slowly, I got my flame back. The human-centered part returned. And that, I realize, is a story for another chapter.

Mentioned & recommended reading: H is for Hawk and Vesper Flights — both by Helen Macdonald.

For now: thank you for reading. I hope I got your attention. And see you in the next chapter :)