FBL38 - Christian Madsbjerg: The Humanities vs Algorithms
Dec 13, 2021
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Christian Madsbjerg discusses prioritizing culture over individuals, thick data over thin data, and the importance of human observation in decision-making. The conversation explores attention, historical synthesis, ethical implications of data use, balancing profit with humanity in technology, challenges in economics and epidemiology, and the role of philosophy in tech innovation.
Attention is more than focus, encompassing familiarity and context. Thin data is superficial; thick data delves into meanings and complexities of human actions.
Deep dives
Christian Madsberg's Insights on Attention and Familiarity
Christian Madsberg discusses attention as a multifaceted concept beyond focus, emphasizing familiarity and context. He compares attention to a blurry, more nuanced awareness that incorporates background context. Madsberg delves into how perception and attention are influenced by surroundings, cultural experiences, and historical contexts, challenging the simplistic view of attention as solely concentration.
The Intersection of Social Sciences and Business Strategy
Christian Madsberg shares his journey of combining social sciences and business, highlighting the importance of observing and understanding human behavior for innovation. He emphasizes anthropological insights in shaping products and solutions, focusing on meaning and context. Madsberg reflects on incorporating historical understanding into future design, stressing the practical value of historical study in predicting and imagining potential futures.
Thin Data vs. Thick Data in Understanding Human Behavior
Madsberg contrasts thin data, focusing on surface-level observations like muscular movements, with thick data, which delves into the underlying meanings and complexities of human actions. He exemplifies thick data through interpreting behaviors like winking beyond physical actions to understand nuanced social interactions and intentions. Madsberg advocates for moving beyond mere quantitative data to grasp the rich layers of human experiences and interactions for more insightful analysis.
Navigating the Impact of Algorithms on Humanity
Christian Madsberg raises concerns about algorithms prioritizing profit over holistic human experiences, cautioning against overreliance on technological solutions devoid of human context. He underscores the need for a balanced integration of humanities and computer science, advocating for critical human interpretation to guide technological advancements. Madsberg envisions a future where philosophical insights influence tech development, aligning technological progress with human values and societal well-being.
This week our guest is Christian Madsbjerg who is the Professor of Applied Humanities at The New School in New York and co-founder of the consultancy Red Associates.
In this episode, we primarily discuss the ideas put forth in Christian’s latest book, Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm. Amongst other things, this includes exploring some of Christian’s key principles such as looking at cultures instead of individuals, looking at people’s experiences in their natural environment rather than in the lab, and looking at thick data (which includes context and passion) instead of thin data which tends to focus solely on cold hard facts.
While most of this conversation will explore the shortcomings of a data-obsessed decision-making, we start off with a conversation Christian and I had started before recording dealing with his latest fascination: attention.