World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech

Foer, Franklin

ISBN 10: 1101981113 / ISBN 13: 9781101981115

Edité par Penguin Press, 2017

A propos de cet article

Small about of edgewear at top of dust jacket.
Over the past few decades there has been a revolution in terms of who controls knowledge and information. This rapid change has imperiled the way we think. Without pausing to consider the cost, the world has rushed to embrace the products and services of four titanic corporations. We shop with Amazon socialize on Facebook, turn to Apple for entertainment, and rely on Google for information. These firms sell their efficiency and purport to make the world a better place, but what they have done instead is to enable an intoxicating level of daily convenience. As these companies have expanded, marketing themselves as champions of individuality and pluralism, their algorithms have pressed us into conformity and laid waste to privacy. They have produced an unstable and narrow culture of misinformation, and put us on a path to a world without private contemplation, autonomous thought, or solitary introspection--a world without mind. In order to restore our inner lives, we must avoid being coopted by these gigantic companies, and understand the ideas that underpin their success. [] Elegantly tracing the intellectual history of computer science--from Descartes and the enlightenment to Alan Turing to Stewart Brand and the hippie origins of today's Silicon Valley--Foer exposes the dark underpinnings of our most idealistic dreams for technology. The corporate ambitions of Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, he argues, are trampling long-standing liberal values, especially intellectual property and privacy. This is a nascent stage in the total automation and homogenization of social, political, and intellectual life. By reclaiming our private authority over how we intellectually engage with the world, we have the power to stem the tide. [] At stake is nothing less than who we are, and what we will become. There have been monopolists in the past but today's corporate giants have far more nefarious aims. They're monopolists who want access to every facet of our identities and influence over every corner of our decision making. Until now, few have grasped the sheer scale of the threat. Foer explains not just the looming existential crisis but the imperative of resistance." [jacket copy] "WORLD WITHOUT MIND is an argument in the spirit of those brave democracy protestors who stand alone before tanks. Franklin Foer asks us to unplug and think. He asks us to recognize and challenge Silicon Valley's monopoly power. His book is a vital response to digital utopianism at a time when we desperately need new ethics for social media."--Steve Coll. "A provocative, enlightening, and, above all, important book that is asking the most important question of our times. It is nothing less than an examination of the future of humanity and what we like to call 'free will.' It is also a good read--Foer writes with an engaging vibrancy that makes the book a page-turner."--Tim Wu. "Foer conjures concise, insightful psychological profiles of each mover-and-shaker, detailing how they've mixed utopianism and monopolism into an insidious whole. He also offers compelling mini-bios of everyone from Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew and the father of modern propaganda, to Stewart Brand, publisher of The Whole Earth Catalog and a massive influence on Silicon Valley.

N° de réf. du vendeur 998964

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech
• Éditeur: Penguin Press
• Date de parution: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1101981113
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781101981115
• Reliure: Couverture rigide
• Édition: Edition originale
• État de l'article: Très bon
• État de la jaquette: Assez bon
• Dimensions: 2,44 L x 15,88 H x 23,65 P (centimètres) 2,44 centimètres de largeur par 15,88 centimètres de hauteur par 23,65 centimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 463 grammes
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • political science
  • less than $10

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017

Franklin Foer reveals the existential threat posed by big tech, and in his brilliant polemic gives us the toolkit to fight their pervasive influence.

Over the past few decades there has been a revolution in terms of who controls knowledge and information. This rapid change has imperiled the way we think. Without pausing to consider the cost, the world has rushed to embrace the products and services of four titanic corporations. We shop with Amazon; socialize on Facebook; turn to Apple for entertainment; and rely on Google for information. These firms sell their efficiency and purport to make the world a better place, but what they have done instead is to enable an intoxicating level of daily convenience. As these companies have expanded, marketing themselves as champions of individuality and pluralism, their algorithms have pressed us into conformity and laid waste to privacy. They have produced an unstable and narrow culture of misinformation, and put us on a path to a world without private contemplation, autonomous thought, or solitary introspection—a world without mind. In order to restore our inner lives, we must avoid being coopted by these gigantic companies, and understand the ideas that underpin their success. 
 
Elegantly tracing the intellectual history of computer science—from Descartes and the enlightenment to Alan Turing to Stewart Brand and the hippie origins of today's Silicon Valley—Foer exposes the dark underpinnings of our most idealistic dreams for technology. The corporate ambitions of Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, he argues, are trampling longstanding liberal values, especially intellectual property and privacy. This is a nascent stage in the total automation and homogenization of social, political, and intellectual life. By reclaiming our private authority over how we intellectually engage with the world, we have the power to stem the tide.

At stake is nothing less than who we are, and what we will become. There have been monopolists in the past but today's corporate giants have far more nefarious aims. They’re monopolists who want access to every facet of our identities and influence over every corner of our decision-making. Until now few have grasped the sheer scale of the threat. Foer explains not just the looming existential crisis but the imperative of resistance. 

Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times • L.A. Times • NPR 

À propos de l?auteur

Franklin Foer is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He is the author of How Soccer Explains the World, which has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and is a winner of a National Jewish Book Award. For seven years, he edited The New Republic magazine.