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

[Zig the N.g]

On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 01:39:52PM +1100, Zig the N.g wrote:
> 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 ...


OK, so that was a totally unnecessary low blow. I retract this
slightly mean triviality, it serves no-one and nothing.