What algorithms want: imagination in the age of computing
(Book)
Author:
Published:
Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2017].
ISBN:
9780262035927 : HRD, 0262035928 : HRD
Physical Desc:
pages cm
Status:
Lake County Non Fiction
303.48 FIN
Description
The gap between theoretical ideas and messy reality, as seen in Neal Stephenson, Adam Smith, and Star Trek . We depend on—we believe in—algorithms to help us get a ride, choose which book to buy, execute a mathematical proof. It's as if we think of code as a magic spell, an incantation to reveal what we need to know and even what we want. Humans have always believed that certain invocations—the marriage vow, the shaman's curse—do not merely describe the world but make it. Computation casts a cultural shadow that is shaped by this long tradition of magical thinking. In this book, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm—in practical terms, “a method for solving a problem”—has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking. Finn argues that the algorithm deploys concepts from the idealized space of computation in a messy reality, with unpredictable and sometimes fascinating results. Drawing on sources that range from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash to Diderot's Encyclopédie , from Adam Smith to the Star Trek computer, Finn explores the gap between theoretical ideas and pragmatic instructions. He examines the development of intelligent assistants like Siri, the rise of algorithmic aesthetics at Netflix, Ian Bogost's satiric Facebook game Cow Clicker , and the revolutionary economics of Bitcoin. He describes Google's goal of anticipating our questions, Uber's cartoon maps and black box accounting, and what Facebook tells us about programmable value, among other things. If we want to understand the gap between abstraction and messy reality, Finn argues, we need to build a model of “algorithmic reading” and scholarship that attends to process, spearheading a new experimental humanities.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Last Check-In
Lake County Non Fiction
303.48 FIN
On Shelf
Aug 30, 2022
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More Details
Format:
Book
Street Date:
1703.
Language:
English
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Finn, E. (2017). What algorithms want: imagination in the age of computing. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Finn, Ed. 2017. What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Finn, Ed, What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2017.
MLA Citation (style guide)Finn, Ed. What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2017.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
939cfffd-a376-5a84-3579-c162103516b1
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Mar 03, 2024 01:13:09 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Mar 03, 2024 01:13:39 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Mar 03, 2024 01:13:16 PM |
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