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you are not a gadget

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ktyl 2022-12-17 22:40:36 +00:00
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content/books/index.gmi
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@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
# Finished # Finished
=> ./you-are-not-a-gadget.gmi You Are Not A Gadget
=> ./raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters.gmi Raise High the Root Beam, Carpenters => ./raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters.gmi Raise High the Root Beam, Carpenters
=> ./un-cafe-dans-l'espace.gmi Un Cafe Dans l'Espace => ./un-cafe-dans-l'espace.gmi Un Cafe Dans l'Espace
=> ./moonrise.gmi Moonrise (A collection of stories and mythology about the Moon) => ./moonrise.gmi Moonrise (A collection of stories and mythology about the Moon)

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content/books/you-are-not-a-gadget.gmi
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@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ This is an interesting book written a decade ago, forecasting much of the digita
In the first part of the book Lanier outlines a school of thought he names "cybernetic totalism" - in essence, the surrender of human experience to the "noosphere", the meta-entity formed from the sum of all human interaction with the net. Cybernetic totalists believe in the power of the cloud, the "hive mind" and the power of technology to ultimately improve the lives of everyone, through the folding in of everyone to this digital existence. The more human experience is brought online, the more connected they can become, the more effective crowd-sourced algorithms may become. Since these algorithms operate on data from everyone, and operate for everyone, this is the ultimate in experience-sharing and will beckon in a more communal, understanding future because we will simply have so much raw data - the fuel these algorithms need to work. In the first part of the book Lanier outlines a school of thought he names "cybernetic totalism" - in essence, the surrender of human experience to the "noosphere", the meta-entity formed from the sum of all human interaction with the net. Cybernetic totalists believe in the power of the cloud, the "hive mind" and the power of technology to ultimately improve the lives of everyone, through the folding in of everyone to this digital existence. The more human experience is brought online, the more connected they can become, the more effective crowd-sourced algorithms may become. Since these algorithms operate on data from everyone, and operate for everyone, this is the ultimate in experience-sharing and will beckon in a more communal, understanding future because we will simply have so much raw data - the fuel these algorithms need to work.
This struck me as eerily similar to Yuval Harari's "dataism", outlined in _Homo Deus_. Harari uses the examples of digital maps, which navigate more effectively through a bustling city across chaotic modes of transport better than a lone human mind could be able to, dating applications which can scan more people than an individual user could ever meet in their lifetimes for a more perfect match, and music recommendation services, among plenty of others. Harari appears to have a broadly optimistic understanding of the idea. This struck me as eerily similar to Yuval Harari's "dataism", outlined in _Homo Deus_. Harari uses the examples of digital maps, which navigate more effectively through a bustling city across chaotic modes of transport better than a baseline human being. It does this by having access to vast quantities of information, update in real-time, which no human could hope to acquire and process themselves, notwithstanding having also acquired telepathy.
Harari extrapolates that dating applications - which can scan more people than an individual user could ever meet in their lifetimes - are therefore more capable of finding a truly perfect match, and music recommendation services, among plenty of others. Harari appears to have a broadly optimistic understanding of the idea.
Lanier's cybernetic totalism is a distinctly more cynical perspective, and one that I must admit I am much more in accordance with. Though I can appreciate the utility of a network-driven map which can inform me ahead of time of service disruption, or present a route previously unbeknownst to me, I find it difficult to believe that digital representations of our reality are "better" in any way beyond their immediate availability. Lanier's cybernetic totalism is a distinctly more cynical perspective, and one that I must admit I am much more in accordance with. Though I can appreciate the utility of a network-driven map which can inform me ahead of time of service disruption, or present a route previously unbeknownst to me, I find it difficult to believe that digital representations of our reality are "better" in any way beyond their immediate availability.