Re: Larry Page
Jumping the gun a bit here, but this reminds me of a compelling hook concluding Alex Galloway’s short article on Protocol for TCS (graciously, found on aaaarg here). The basic thrust of the argument goes against the notion “that networks have the potential to dehierarchize, disrupt and generally dissolve rigid structures of all varieties… In fact, it is the opposite: distributed networks produce an entirely new system of organization and control that, while perhaps incompatible with pyramidal systems of power, is nevertheless just as effective at keeping things in line.”
From this, I’m thinking now on how the idea of ‘solving search’ (especially thru Google) ties into these thots on the ‘de-politicization’ of algorithms. So the hook goes:
There is essentially no intellectual movement
today dedicated to the political critique of algo-
rithms. Likewise there exists no alternative
movement dedicated to the creation and
development of alternative, or ‘progressive’, algo-
rithms. For the most part the political develop-
ment of algorithms revolves around a philosophy
of utility and efficiency. These being but a minute
slice of the human condition, I call for the
creation of an experimental school of alternative
algorithms modeled around a variety of political
and social goods. We need a viable critique of
collaborative filtering. We need a language in
which to appraise the Google page rank algo-
rithm. An examination of the de-politicization of
algorithms will help.
Or:
… A new@2 years ago
exploit is necessary, one that is as asymmetrical in
relationship to distributed networks as the distrib-
uted network was to the power centers of
modernity…
