"Certain Unflattering Truths" about the scumbag-infested "data analytics" industry

Zig th N.g ziggerjoe at yandex.com
Wed Jan 15 18:39:50 PST 2020


On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 08:27:00AM -0800, Razer wrote:
...
> I’ve come to the view this as part of the project of the book itself: to
> leave us unsettled by how its narrator, like all of us, remains somewhat
> in the Valley’s mindset, if not its pocket. This entanglement is a
> feature of the system that works, as she notes, precisely as designed.
> In the end, for all the generosity she extends to those around her,
> Wiener is unsparing with herself: “Certain unflattering truths: I had
> felt unassailable behind the walls of power. Society was shifting, and I
> felt safer inside the empire, inside the machine. It was preferable to
> be on the side that did the watching than the side being watched.”
> Wiener has written an indispensable chronicle of this era in tech, the
> consequences of which we will all reckon with as the next decade
> unfolds. Still, given the Valley’s unmatched ability to avoid any sense
> of guilt as the world around it burns, there is no doubt in my mind that
> while Uncanny Valley will be read widely and voraciously throughout the
> empire, Wiener’s readers—techno-skeptics and technologists alike—will be
> able to recognize themselves without feeling indicted.
> 
> But surely someone, somewhere, eventually, will need to feel indicted.
> At some point, we’re going to need the sharp end of the knife."
> https://thebaffler.com/latest/certain-unflattering-truths-schaffer


Great book review! Thanks to teh resident neo-Marxist for posting :)

If only there were a double edged edify/diss ...


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