
Scientists use big data to sway elections, predict riots. Welcome to the 1960s - ohjeez
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02607-8
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terravion
Wow, how did this get published in Nature? Anthony Lewandowski is not an
outlier in Silicon Valley, supported by a citation of the author's own (non-
peer reviewed) article... I mean given all the ink spilled over him, whatever
you think, he's definitely an outlier.

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merricksb
Different article about the same book discussed here 3 days ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24471641](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24471641)

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specialist
Love Jill Lepore.

There was a state change. When these systems changed from primarily
identifying the demographics to driving the demographics.

Sometime between 1960s and 2010s. My hunch is the social mediums accelerated
the autonomous sorting feedback loop. Most likely related to algorithmic
recommenders and the dopamine reward system.

Like what happened from the transition from blogging to tweeting. Searching,
foraging, ranking were outside and on top of the content system. The interest
graph was inferred. Then the content became a feature of the interest graph.

Ezra Klein's Why We Are Polarized thesis talks about how these systems first
became expressions of our identity changing to activating our identities.

I keep thinking about something Danny Hillis (may have) said: Once they become
complex enough, systems of communication become systems of computation. Very
transhuman and Singularity themed, I know, bare with me. It does acknowledge a
state change, when quantity becomes its own quality.

What if these feedback loops became self reinforcing? Beyond our agency,
understanding, or control?

 _" Collective amnesia"_

Spot on.

My first real world experience of this was validated by Andrew Gumbel "Steal
This Vote". His phrasing was something like "America's recurring amnesia about
electioneering and chicanery". I was a baby activist raging against the
incredulity and disinterest of the establishment.

Sure, I had read "1984", but this forgetfulness is not deliberate, it's not
what Orwell described. Some people drive the process. Since forever, according
to Riane Eisler in "The Chalice and The Blade". And some people benefit.

But I now mostly think we do it to ourselves. It's intrinsically human. Not
intentionally. I think forgetfulness is crucial to human ability to get along.
Related to homophily and sociability and ultimately allows cooperation.

Our intrinsic forgetfulness and gullibility, traits which allowed our species
to thrive, have absolutely been exploited. It's weird how the very key to your
success will eventually lead to your downfall.

I've certainly forgotten uncomfortable and inconvenient things about myself.
To my own detriment. Know that I'm not judging forgetfulness; I am just trying
to understand.

Of course, some people cannot forget, are not allowed to forget. And others
still work tirelessly to keep us from forgetting.

A never ending battle.

Edit PS:

I should probably comment on the main thrust of this article.

I remember being flabbergasted by Isaac Asimov's notion of psychohistory. So
outlandish.

Imagine my surprise learning that the notion was central to entire enterprise.
Asimov wasn't making something up. Rather, common to a lot of great sci-fi, he
was just speculating how these new ideas might turn out.

Jill Lepore daylights one facet of that original conceit here. It's just a
great article.

I have some books about the history of computing with respect to government.
Per Lepore's tangent about amnesia, we'd all do well to understand the
origins. Just like reading classic literature, to understand how we became who
were are today.

