Facebook ≠ Democracy
‘Who rules here?’ I asked. They said: ‘The People naturally.’ I said: ‘Naturally the people but who really rules?’ – Erich Fried, “In the Capital.” Mark Zuckerberg would like … Continue reading
In Defense of Jonah
On December 17, 1972, at the occasion of his receiving the National Book Award, the social critic Lewis Mumford gave a rather odd acceptance speech. It featured many of the … Continue reading
Hashtags Lean to the Right – a Review of Jen Schradie’s “The Revolution that Wasn’t”
Despite the oft-repeated, and rather questionable, trope that social media is biased against conservatives; and beyond the attention that has been lavished on tech-savvy left-aligned movements (such as Occupy!) in … Continue reading
The Sky Isn’t Falling – Franzen still has much to learn
One morning, as Jonathan Franzen was waking from (what were perhaps) anxious dreams about what climate change would mean for the future, he discovered that (on the Internet) he had … Continue reading
You can do this (really) – advice for new graduate students
Between the end of summer and the onset of fall, a brief season known as “back to school” occurs. For many people this is a resumption of what they were … Continue reading
Be Afraid! But not that afraid? – on Climate Doom
People on social media would have really hated Cassandra. Her constant barrage of doleful warnings would just be dismissed of as hyperbolic and unhelpful. Those who did engage with her, … Continue reading
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Machine – a review of Aaron Bastani’s “Fully Automated Luxury Communism”
Flung back in time, to the year 2063, Captain Jean Luc Picard finds himself escorting a 21st century woman, Lily, through the starship Enterprise. As the year 2063 sees humanity … Continue reading
How to stay cool in a library
According to numerous scientific studies, as well as ample anecdotal evidence, it is hot in the summer. Furthermore, as recent headlines from around the world attest, this particular summer is … Continue reading
Who needs Black Mirror when you have reality? – on Black Mirror’s Fifth Season
At its best, Black Mirror presents quietly tragic portraits of people trying to navigate life in high-tech societies. At its worst, Black Mirror is a crude parody of itself that … Continue reading
“And here we are” – on HBO’s Chernobyl
Audiences are used to watching cities being destroyed. From earthquakes to tornadoes, from devastating industrial accidents to wars, from giant rampaging monsters to legions of valiant heroes who wind up … Continue reading
Stop Using “Google” as a Verb
Here is a hypothetical for you: imagine that someone asks you a question to which you do not know the answer. However, it is the type of question that you … Continue reading
How to prepare for qualifying exams (or, how to read too many books in seven months)
Few aspects of pursuing a PhD are simultaneously as mundane and as Herculean as preparing for qualifying exams. What makes this task rather unexceptional is that it generally consists of … Continue reading
“Cover Your Tracks!” – A Critique of the Privacy Project from The New York Times
Whatever you say, don’t say it twice. If you find your idea with somebody else: deny it. He who didn’t sign anything, who didn’t leave an image Who wasn’t there, … Continue reading
The Whale and the CEO – a Review of “The Inventor Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”
If you knew where you were going You would halt. If you knew What is planned for you You would look around you. – Brecht Few are the things … Continue reading
“No one wants to see disaster coming, but those who look, do.” – A Review of “The Uninhabitable Earth”
“Don’t be a coward. Have the courage to be afraid. Force yourself to produce that amount of fear that corresponds to the magnitude of the apocalyptic danger.” – Günther Anders … Continue reading
Between Salvation and Doom – Notes on the Green New Deal
At a time when their fall was certain – On the ramparts the lament for the dead had begun – The Trojans adjusted small pieces, small pieces In the triple … Continue reading
How Many Books Does a Person Need?
“The acquisition of books is by no means a matter of money or expert knowledge alone. Not even both factors together suffice for the establishment of a real library, which … Continue reading
Choose Very Carefully: a Review of Black Mirror – Bandersnatch
Manipulated comes from manus: hand We see ourselves manipulated and hope in this way to come to grips with our reality When it was really still hands manipulating us manipulation … Continue reading
My Favorite Books from 2018
Few will mourn the passing of 2018. To be frank, it was a year in which many disastrous and unfortunate things occurred. Granted, it takes a remarkable commitment to looking … Continue reading
A Disastrous Year – Reflections on 2018
“There is nothing more frightful than to be right. And if some, paralyzed by the gloomy likelihood of the catastrophe, have already lost courage, they still have a chance to … Continue reading
“The End of the World by Science” – an English translation of Eugene Huzar’s “La Fin du Monde par la Science.” Part 4
“Why constantly elevate the edifice of civilization, and heap Pelion on Ossa? Do you still want to climb to the sky, do you not remember the lightning bolts of Jupiter, … Continue reading
The technology giants didn’t deserve public trust in the first place
Amazon may have been expecting lots of public attention when it announced where it would establish its new headquarters – but like many technology companies recently, it probably didn’t anticipate … Continue reading
“The End of the World by Science” – an English translation of Eugene Huzar’s “La Fin du Monde par la Science.” Part 3
Symbols and myths, mysteries, in a word, were the essential formulas by which antiquity hid the truth. Sacred veils, so impenetrable that they reached us without there having been a … Continue reading
How to Reserve a Seat in a Library
Not unlike New Year’s Day, the start of the academic year is a time during which many people try to establish the routines and behaviors that they hope to stick … Continue reading
“Striving to minimize technical and reputational risks” – Ethical OS and Silicon Valley’s guilty conscience
Considering how proudly they declare that they are designing the future, technology companies seem almost comically bad when it comes to anticipating the consequences of the things they create. While … Continue reading
“The End of the World by Science” – an English translation of Eugene Huzar’s “La Fin du Monde par la Science.” Part 2
“If you could understand, like me, the power that man has acquired in only the last hundred years, you would be frightened by it, and my predictions would not seem … Continue reading
From Megatechnic Bribe to Megatechnic Blackmail: Mumford’s ‘Megamachine’ After the Digital Turn
Without even needing to look at the copyright page, an aware reader may be able to date the work of a technology critic simply by considering the technological systems, or … Continue reading
The Courage to be Afraid – a review of Roy Scranton’s “We’re Doomed. Now What?”
“If people are not aware of the direction in which they are going, they will awaken when it is too late and when their fate has been irrevocably sealed.” – … Continue reading
“The End of the World by Science” – an English translation of Eugene Huzar’s “La Fin du Monde par la Science.” Part 1
Remember these last words, they are the entire story of man in the past, they will also be his entire story in the future. – Eugene Huzar Translator’s Introduction Near … Continue reading
Challenging the Tech Companies from Within
“The myth of technological and political and social inevitability is a powerful tranquilizer of the conscience. Its serve is to remove responsibility from the shoulders of everyone who truly believes … Continue reading
