Great podcast. A few things it made me think about:
1) I think techno-authoritarianism is more likely to grow out of algorithmic social media's effects on society than AI. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt argues that totalitarian ideology comes from what she calls "organized loneliness"--and her definition of organized loneliness sounds scarily like the experience of viewing the world through a social media lens. So I can see the dominance of algorithmic social media creating a constitutency for totalitarianism (much as new communications technologies did in the early 20th century).
2) At the end of the day, though, I agree that it's not likely. While social media may create a constituency that's receptive to totalitarian ideals, it also has the effect of making it harder for people to organize to do anything--and historically, totalitarian movements have needed to organize effectively to be successful.
3) The through-line of the Silicon Valley canon is a deep hostility to the idea of equality--and this is the link between their conservatism and more traditional Burkean conservatism.
I predict in no more than one year’s time your kid will see cable tv in a hotel or at a grandparents house and taste his first drop of video advertising. He’ll then go rogue on the roku, find an ad supported streaming service, and soon start to tell you “no no no, don’t mute it. I LIKE the commercials!” At least that’s been my experience
Great podcast. A few things it made me think about:
1) I think techno-authoritarianism is more likely to grow out of algorithmic social media's effects on society than AI. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt argues that totalitarian ideology comes from what she calls "organized loneliness"--and her definition of organized loneliness sounds scarily like the experience of viewing the world through a social media lens. So I can see the dominance of algorithmic social media creating a constitutency for totalitarianism (much as new communications technologies did in the early 20th century).
2) At the end of the day, though, I agree that it's not likely. While social media may create a constituency that's receptive to totalitarian ideals, it also has the effect of making it harder for people to organize to do anything--and historically, totalitarian movements have needed to organize effectively to be successful.
3) The through-line of the Silicon Valley canon is a deep hostility to the idea of equality--and this is the link between their conservatism and more traditional Burkean conservatism.
If I subscribe for the price of a beer do I have to drink one less beer a month? Asking for a friend
This is NOT financial advice. Consult a fiduciary before acting. But I would say "no."
Great discussion! I wonder if you would consider posting links to some of the people, books, papers, etc that were mentioned.
I predict in no more than one year’s time your kid will see cable tv in a hotel or at a grandparents house and taste his first drop of video advertising. He’ll then go rogue on the roku, find an ad supported streaming service, and soon start to tell you “no no no, don’t mute it. I LIKE the commercials!” At least that’s been my experience
Great episode!
A great, fun read which I really enjoyed. Maybe take on Gilgamesh and Enkidu vis-a-vis Achilles and Patroclus. J