Curated Resource ( ? )

Where wisdom once was, quantification will now be, enabled by the idolatry of data

Like social media , metrics , society , data , culture , meaning
Curated: 12/01/2015 from www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/books/review/among-the-disrupted.html
Where wisdom once was, quantification will now be, enabled by the idolatry of data

my notes ( ? )

Begins with a beautiful rant on technology's tyranny in individual and collective life: "Journalistic institutions slowly transform themselves into silent sweatshops in which words cannot wait for thoughts, and first responses are promoted into best responses, and patience is a professional liability... Digital expectations of alacrity and terseness confer the highest prestige upon the twittering cacophony of one-liners and promotional announcements. .. Meanwhile the discussion of culture is being steadily absorbed into the discussion of business. There are “metrics” for phenomena that cannot be metrically measured. Numerical values are assigned to things that cannot be captured by numbers. Economic concepts go rampaging through noneconomic realms: Economists are our experts on happiness! Where wisdom once was, quantification will now be.... enabled by the idolatry of data." But it's more than just a rant, moving beyond to propose: "an accurate name for our moment. We are not becoming transhumanists, obviously. We are too singular for the Singularity. But are we becoming posthumanists?... Here is a humanist proposition for the age of Google: The processing of information is not the highest aim to which the human spirit can aspire, and neither is competitiveness in a global economy. The character of our society cannot be determined by engineers." - Among the Disrupted - NYTimes.com

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The above notes were curated from the full post www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/books/review/among-the-disrupted.html.

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