Good video. I liked the way he warmed to his theme and got more and more incensed.
What it got me thinking about is whether there is any plan behind the undoubted tendencies in public discourse, or whether they are merely the unintended consequences of the media themselves. If anything, I see an attempt by the political elite to harness the internet for their own purposes, but an attempt which has failed. Nobody is really all that interested, but then again nobody ever really was. Siri and Alexa have latched on to people, but have just been asked to go away and find some porn and a pizza.
An interesting video which I agreed with... up to a point. We have always lived in communities which shape their own 'truths' but the communities were once loose enough and dispersed enough that this didn't really matter in practical terms; there was 'truth enough'.
And now I beat the drum for Cliodynamics - the idea that every few decades the numbers of elites seeking employment and respect outgrows the availability of jobs and respect so they 'manufacture' imitation jobs for themselves to play out their elite status games. Ordinary people become the ammunition for these games. The internet has boosted the metastasization of these imitation jobs beyond the dreams of rationality, of truth. And no job is as fiercely defended as a fake job.
Sam - I sometimes have the idea that Siri and Alexa are a hint that the political class is becoming irrelevant in ways the tech giants at least partly understand and work towards but don't admit to.
DJ - I agree, elites have been manufacturing imitation jobs for themselves. Governments do nothing about it because they are part of the problem, as are big media. It goes all the way down though, with a massive array of welfare careers such as one to one teaching of problem kids in schools.
4 comments:
Good video. I liked the way he warmed to his theme and got more and more incensed.
What it got me thinking about is whether there is any plan behind the undoubted tendencies in public discourse, or whether they are merely the unintended consequences of the media themselves. If anything, I see an attempt by the political elite to harness the internet for their own purposes, but an attempt which has failed. Nobody is really all that interested, but then again nobody ever really was. Siri and Alexa have latched on to people, but have just been asked to go away and find some porn and a pizza.
An interesting video which I agreed with... up to a point. We have always lived in communities which shape their own 'truths' but the communities were once loose enough and dispersed enough that this didn't really matter in practical terms; there was 'truth enough'.
And now I beat the drum for Cliodynamics - the idea that every few decades the numbers of elites seeking employment and respect outgrows the availability of jobs and respect so they 'manufacture' imitation jobs for themselves to play out their elite status games. Ordinary people become the ammunition for these games. The internet has boosted the metastasization of these imitation jobs beyond the dreams of rationality, of truth. And no job is as fiercely defended as a fake job.
Nice.
Sam - I sometimes have the idea that Siri and Alexa are a hint that the political class is becoming irrelevant in ways the tech giants at least partly understand and work towards but don't admit to.
DJ - I agree, elites have been manufacturing imitation jobs for themselves. Governments do nothing about it because they are part of the problem, as are big media. It goes all the way down though, with a massive array of welfare careers such as one to one teaching of problem kids in schools.
James - and a little different.
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