/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18851839]

I've been deepening my understanding of big tech's usage of algorithms, addiction design and catering to people's interests lately, and I keep becoming more cynical and disconnected over the months. I've already deleted twitter and reddit accounts, got rid of my smartphone in favour of an old Nokia etc.

But I feel like I'm becoming too much of a cynic. I'm very partial to the concept of being a critical thinker and carving my own path. I mean, for god's sake, if you're in socialist circles and you Google 'Capital should be...' it autofills with 'redustributed', if you're in more right-wing circles the autofill would complete with 'taxed less'. How is critical thinking even possible for the human that's unaware of (or aware but disregarding) the fact that this happens? I'm starting to piece together this worldview that many of the current social phenomena of riots, insurrection, heck, even genocide in some areas of the world, can be ascribed to what algorithms are doing to our patterns of thinking. Monke brain is powerful, and big tech is making it take over.

I'm not blaming big tech or seeing any conspiracy here. I'm of the opinion that tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google genuinely started developing their offerings to make the world an easier, better place. This 'monster' has grown organically from it.

So, to get to my point; does /lit/ also see this phenomenon, or are you at least somewhat worried about it? And if so, what do you do/read to not become a cynical shutout? I have a whole bunch of normalfag friends and even a gf, but I feel like I'm distancing myself from them a lot, because it appears that I'm on such a different technological paradigm than them. I'm seeking a cope to not view the world around with disgust and not lose the relationships that are still meaningful to me because I'm memeing myself into a particular worldview. Any book recs would be appreciated.

And yeah, forgive my rambling. I posted this kinda stream-of-conciousness-y.

[Anonymous No.18851857]

>>18851839
Yes I am worried about it.
No I'm not a cynical shutout.
Nothing I have read has helped me not be a cynical shutout, I just don't let my ideology get in the way of normal social behavior.

[Anonymous No.18851883]

>>18851839
It is not really an issue, if you are firmly in one camp or another you are just going to seek the answers you what regardless of autocomplete. If you are not in one of the camps the autocomplete pretty much fails you all the time because the algorithms are too stupid to lock onto anything but simple patterns. Live your life and stop worry about the world, you clearly do not intend to try and change things and closing your eyes is not going to accomplish anything.

[Anonymous No.18851885]

>>18851839

Yes, I'm worried about it and I try to cut off my internet usage, but it seems to be all or nothing for me. That is, I will go without any internet whatsoever for weeks, then I will try to reintroduce it "just for useful things", like wikipedia, finding books etc - and before I notice, I will slide back into mindless consumption that will last for weeks. Then repeat. I'm tired of this, bros. Anyone how to find balance?

[Anonymous No.18851931]

>>18851839
I've already given up on google, social media (never used it anyway). The one Big-tech owned website i still use frequently is github. There are other good websites like libgen or archive.org. I'm still posting on 4chan, even more now since they got rid of the google capture.
Pic related is not a recommendation just a case in point.

[Anonymous No.18852020]

L'encyclopédie des nuisances, Ted Kaczynski, french anarchist sociology and situationism

Read them

[Anonymous No.18852025]

>>18851857
What is considered normal social behavior is determined ideologically. You are just a passive agent, but then all of us are in a certain way. That makes you de facto a cynic.

[Anonymous No.18852159]

>>18851857
>>18851883
Thanks for sobering me up a bit. I wrote OP after being isolated for quite a time, since I have important stuff to study for. I guess that makes me prone to overthinking and constructing some kind of dystopia in my head.

Normal social behaviour isn't the problem. I meant the isolation part more as in not being on social media = not being in people's networks: out of sight, out of mind, if you will. Then again, if that's the case, were they really worthwhile anyway?

[Anonymous No.18852172]

>>18851839
I despise what's going on, but unlike you I do blame the tech companies. Not that there's any conspiracy. Yes they started genuine, but that driving force is long gone (as in, at very least a decade gone). Disgusting, greedy decisions by disgusting, greedy people, attracting only disgusting, greedy people to work and innovate on idiotic projects (e.g. Apple photo scanning). I don't think there's anything wrong with seeing things as they are--if they repulse you, let yourself be repulsed. You don't have to focus on it though, that is a choice, and you don't need to have people agree with you or think like you to be friends with them. I don't have any book recs but I do think reading in general (older fiction) helps, not as distraction but in the art appreciation/human connection sense.

[Anonymous No.18852317]

>>18851839
>I've been deepening my understanding of big tech's usage of algorithms, addiction design and catering to people's interests
Would you care to share some books or articles that helped you understanding these topics?
I know I must look into terms like "big data" and marketing but what else

[Anonymous No.18852378]

>>18851839
Good morning uncle Teddy, I feel ya. Yeah I've felt what your describing, the detachment and awe at the miraculous wonder of progress and convenience that has been laid so plainly across the tired and unsuspecting lap of the populace.
Robert a heinlein seems to be working with some forward knowledge so I get my white pills from his stories lately.
Also neal stephenson's diamond age talk a bit about the algo knows what you want to hear so it feeds you that- stratification ensues. Keep yer head up

[Anonymous No.18852628]

>>18852317
Meta-Nomad's blog is pretty good, especially his 'book' called Exiting Modernity. I cn also recommend the podcast 'Your Undivided Attention'. I haven't necessarily been learning about how it all works, but more about the implications of big data and all. Take both of them with a grain of salt, since they're pretty one-sided (very anti- big data, algorithms, addiction by design...)

[Anonymous No.18852672]

>>18851839
I used to care a lot about things like this (and still do to some extend), but the more I come to understand and control the technology I use, the less I care about what normalfags do. It's only annoying with things like messaging applications. I am a /g/entooman and suckless user, but the only thing I haven't yet commited to is discarding smartphones. I try my best to keep my smartphone safe, but they're fundamentally pieces of trash so the plan, ultimately, is to stop using smartphones. I take everything one step at the time. I don't go all in at once, but gradually make decisions to free myself so as to ease my way into technological freedom

[Anonymous No.18852686]

>>18851839
>'ve already deleted twitter and reddit accounts
>newfags no longer even pretending they aren't straight outta reddit

[Anonymous No.18852689]

Yes, I know what you mean. I also work in tech and I have developed an enormous antipathy against modern tools and technology.

I try to not let it shine through but it is obviously noticeable if you reject modern social media and phones etc.. Friends and family just think I am quirky and I am fine with that, there is not solution to it. More and more of every-day activities such as banking, dining, transportation are becoming digitalized and dependent on your smartphone. There is little escape, the last year did not help, which accelerated this transformation.

[Anonymous No.18852781]

Read Leviathan and Its Enemies.

[Anonymous No.18852874]

>>18851839
>I'm not blaming big tech or seeing any conspiracy here
Aww poor Zuckerberg, he just wants to have a profitable company and now it has become so interdependent and complex that he can't do nothing about it.
Fuck off

[Anonymous No.18852914]

Kek, you're supposed to deepen the alienation you feel, not sedate it or rationalize it away. Read pic related.

[Anonymous No.18853040]

>suggesting that humans were ever capable of true critical thought and objective reasoning
Plato and Socrates has biases too, my man. Fuck tech companies, and do read AH!AL!, but you have to accept that consciousness is not a truth machine but a survival engine. Our basic senses lie to us constantly because it's convenient or was evolutionarily useful. If you get attacked by a bear ONCE your heart rate spikes whenever you're reminded of the incident, even if logically you know you're safe. Objective thought is basically impossible and not all that useful.

[Anonymous No.18853364]

The problem isn't even autocomplete, it's that most normies are completely retarded when it comes to doing their own research, so they depend on the algorithmic streams of content that come through tik tok, twitter, instagram, and facebook.
When I was working in graphic design at uni, I gave an assignment to a girl only for her to come back next week without having done anything. When I asked why she said "I didn't know how to open the zip file you gave me."
An adult woman didn't know how to google a question that would have taken 40 seconds to answer, even when it was for her job.
Most people are at that level or lower. Why is the general knowledge about health and fitness so poor? Or cooking? Because most people don't even attempt to learn deliberately. And when that happens, all your information comes from people designing content to get buzz on the algorithm.
As a side note, if you use an adblocker you're already less affected by this kind of stuff than 95% of people.