
Resisting the Habits of the Algorithmic Mind (2015) - mercer
https://thefrailestthing.com/2015/06/03/resisting-the-habits-of-the-algorithmic-mind/
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kurthr
I think this post is more of a collection of others comments and ideas than an
actual understanding of the issues. I almost stopped reading when I came to
this in a sentence: _the word algorithm (or the phrase “Bid Data”)_.

The author seems not to understand what they write, only what they have read
other people say, about algorithms and how people respond to them. Although
it's all very "meta" and some of his literary discussions on the agency of
Marlow in _Heart of Darkness_ are interesting... in the end it seems just as
banal and oblivious to what is actually happening as those it describes.

tldr- the concluding paragraph:

 _" And how might we pursue the life of the mind? Perhaps the first, modest
step in that direction is simply the cultivation of times and spaces for
thinking, and perhaps also resisting the urge to check if there is an app for
that."_

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stevebmark
You should resist light gray thin text on a white background.

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westoncb
An enjoyable read that touches on a number of interesting ideas, though the
central argument about the 'algorithmic mind' seemed strained to me.

My understanding of the thesis is: a kind of evil often emerges
unintentionally when humans habitually act without thinking (to be more
specific, he's referring to Arendt's notion of "the banality of evil"). By
over-practicing 'algorithmic thinking' we develop a tendency to consider all
thought to be of the problem solving kind, missing out on the more important
aspects of 'the life of the mind' ("thinking, willing, and judging").

I just can't really see that over exposure to problem solving would reduce,
thinking, willing, or judging... The only justification given here is through
an analogy the author gives, asking whether using Google can be considered
'outsourcing' human memory. He says:

> "A moments reflection, of course, will reveal that human remembering
> involves considerably more than the mere retrieval of discreet bits of
> data."

So by only using algorithmic thinking, we are collapsing the potentially much
richer range of thought to something analogous to "the mere retrieval of
discreet bits of data" for memory—more specifically, it's collapsed to mere
problem solving. Seems weak to me.

At the same time, I thought this part was nice, if not exactly systematically
in support of the other things he was saying...

> "I _am_ circumspectly suggesting that the habits of the algorithmic mind are
> not altogether unlike the habits of the bureaucratic mind. (Adam Elkus makes
> a similar correlation here, but I think I’m aiming at a slightly different
> target.) Both are characterized by an unthinking automaticity, a narrowness
> of focus, and a refusal of responsibility that yields the superficiality or
> hollowness Conrad, Eliot, and Arendt all seem to be describing, each in
> their own way. And this superficiality or hollowness is too easily filled
> with mischief and cruelty."

