Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, discusses the critical role of technology in society. He explains how social media has transformed from connecting people to amplifying disinformation and undermining democracies. Harris highlights the discrepancies in online experiences tailored by algorithms and the ethical implications of prioritizing engagement over the public good. He advocates for a shift in tech models to prioritize human well-being and calls for collective action to reclaim technology for democracy.
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insights INSIGHT
Human Value on Engagement Platforms
Humans are worth more to engagement platforms when they are manipulatable.
Addiction, outrage, and polarization are profitable "success cases."
question_answer ANECDOTE
Photo Tagging: A Persuasion Tactic
Facebook's photo tagging feature was designed to exploit social validation.
This tactic increased engagement by interrupting users with notifications.
insights INSIGHT
Personalized Realities and Filter Bubbles
Algorithms create personalized realities, making content irrelevant to others.
This hyper-personalization creates filter bubbles and reinforces existing biases.
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Published in 1949, '1984' is a cautionary tale by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism. The novel is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three super-states, with the protagonist Winston Smith living in Oceania, ruled by the mysterious and omnipotent leader Big Brother. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the Party's ever-changing narrative. He begins an illicit love affair with Julia and starts to rebel against the Party, but they are eventually caught and subjected to brutal torture and indoctrination. The novel highlights themes of government surveillance, manipulation of language and history, and the suppression of individual freedom and independent thought.
Bury the chains
Adam Hochschild
Bury the Chains chronicles the late 18th- and early 19th-century anti-slavery movement in the British Empire, highlighting key figures like Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce. The book explores the campaign's tactics and setbacks, ultimately leading to the abolition of slavery in 1838. It also draws parallels with modern social justice movements, showcasing the pioneering methods used by the abolitionists.
The Society of the Spectacle
Guy Debord
Published in 1967, 'The Society of the Spectacle' is a seminal work of Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord. The book critiques contemporary consumer culture and the effects of mass media, arguing that modern society has replaced authentic social life with its representation. Debord introduces the concept of the 'spectacle', which he defines as the social relation among people that is mediated by images. He contends that this spectacle is a result of the capitalist mode of production, where relations between commodities have supplanted relations between people, leading to alienation, commodity fetishism, and the degradation of human life. The book consists of 221 theses and is considered a key text of the Situationist movement, offering insights that remain relevant in the age of social media and digital culture[2][4][5].
Why we're worth more to social engagement platforms as manipulatable slabs of predictable human behavior than as free-thinking individuals.
How the social networks of the early 2000s so quickly turned from places where we could keep in touch with friends, family, and colleagues into disinformation amplifiers that contribute to the destabilization of democracies.
Why your algorithm-tailored online experience so radically differs from that of your closest friends and loved ones, and why this is a problem when the public good is cast aside in the interest of keeping us engaged and enraged.
The unintended consequences of allowing an algorithm to bring people together by what it sees as similar interests, and how this has thrown fuel on the disinformation fire.
How attempting to outthink a social media algorithm is like trying to play chess against a computer that can look ahead and counter every move you could possibly make.
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