Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Penguin Books (2014)
Language
Original language
English
Description
Argues that technology is changing the way we understand human society and discusses how the disciplines of politics, culture, public debate, morality, and humanism will be affected when responsibility for them is delegated to technology.
User reviews
LibraryThing member IslesOfMine
Morozov refers to Silicon Valley as some sort of behemoth entity, with allocated resources and rights to major aspects of individual behaviours. If there is a wider context for this book, such as evidence of success-thirsty people who want to create, experiment and invest primarily for
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international, social engineering and political concerns, I am not aware of it. The author does seem secure in abundant references to invention and motives in the Soviet Union and other engineered and scarred societies, with huge, unsupported extrapolations to Silicon Valley. Show Less
LibraryThing member Razinha
I should really give this one star instead of two, but he did write a lot of pages.
What a freaking whiner! Page after page of how everybody is wrong, snarky comments one after another shredding other books and authors. And yet...here, let me share an early example from the book:
Thus, in order to
The italics for that parenthetical quote are mine. The author is so full of himself, that he fails to turn that microscope into a mirror and turn it on himself. It doesn't get better from there. He really has some kind of ax to grind.
In his postscript, he ...humbly... {snort} states "On the odd chance that this book succeeds, its greatest contribution to the public debate might lie in redrawing the front lines of the intellectual battles about digital technologies."
The book was mentioned in one I read recently. I don't think that author read the whole thing. Take my generous extra star Mr. Morozov. Use it to write another barn-burner.
What a freaking whiner! Page after page of how everybody is wrong, snarky comments one after another shredding other books and authors. And yet...here, let me share an early example from the book:
Thus, in order to
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explain the 1989 [East German] protests, [Susanne] Lohmann comes up with a comprehensive and mostly context-independent theory of information signals and incentives that allow people to synchronize their behavior; since the people in Lohmann's models are one-dimensional and ahistorical characters, a theory of information cascades works as well in Calcutta as it does in Cairo (which is to say that, beyond offering some banal generalizations, it mostly doesn't work at all).The italics for that parenthetical quote are mine. The author is so full of himself, that he fails to turn that microscope into a mirror and turn it on himself. It doesn't get better from there. He really has some kind of ax to grind.
In his postscript, he ...humbly... {snort} states "On the odd chance that this book succeeds, its greatest contribution to the public debate might lie in redrawing the front lines of the intellectual battles about digital technologies."
The book was mentioned in one I read recently. I don't think that author read the whole thing. Take my generous extra star Mr. Morozov. Use it to write another barn-burner.
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LibraryThing member nnschiller
This is a book people who work in technology or read technology should read. Morozov has a perspective that is both important and timely.
That said, he's a bit of an ass and that really complicates the work. Getting a full measure of value of of Morozov's writing required, for me, a bit of
I was especially repelled by his treatment of Jane McGonigal. I witnessed him mocking her traumatic brain injury on Twitter and then read his admission that he had dismissed her work in applying game mechanics to social problems without fully reading it. (This will be completely obvious to anyone who has read both of their work. Morozov makes the easy McGonigal=banal-game-mechanics assumption without considering her work w/ long games and social projects. He absolutely mistakes ends for means in her work.)
Beyond these problems of tone and depth of scholarship, Morozov is still required reading for people thinking about technology in society. I find myself agreeing with his conclusions, while being often repelled by his methods. With more work, patience, and above all, manners, I'm certain Morozov will become a respected voice in the field. As it stands, he's a really smart infant terrible who doesn't realize that many of the people he's dismissing aren't as stupid as his shallow dismissal of their work makes it seem.
(Tentatively recommended for general technology readers. Must read for people who have an interest in technology ethics.)
That said, he's a bit of an ass and that really complicates the work. Getting a full measure of value of of Morozov's writing required, for me, a bit of
Show More
intentionally entering his perspective and framing. The twin problems of internet centrism and solutionism, when viewed from his particular perspective, can be seen as caustic and problematic. But this creates another problem. Many of the writers and thinkers Morozov dismisses w/ casual insult have valuable insights to offer IF WE GRANT THEM THIS SAME COURTESY OF BEING WILLING TO EXPERIMENTALLY ADOPT THEIR PERSPECTIVE FIRST. Morozov is very quick to dismiss the sum of a thinkers work after one instance of internet centrism or solutionism and thereafter anything they say, regardless of context, is viewed only through the lens of these problems.I was especially repelled by his treatment of Jane McGonigal. I witnessed him mocking her traumatic brain injury on Twitter and then read his admission that he had dismissed her work in applying game mechanics to social problems without fully reading it. (This will be completely obvious to anyone who has read both of their work. Morozov makes the easy McGonigal=banal-game-mechanics assumption without considering her work w/ long games and social projects. He absolutely mistakes ends for means in her work.)
Beyond these problems of tone and depth of scholarship, Morozov is still required reading for people thinking about technology in society. I find myself agreeing with his conclusions, while being often repelled by his methods. With more work, patience, and above all, manners, I'm certain Morozov will become a respected voice in the field. As it stands, he's a really smart infant terrible who doesn't realize that many of the people he's dismissing aren't as stupid as his shallow dismissal of their work makes it seem.
(Tentatively recommended for general technology readers. Must read for people who have an interest in technology ethics.)
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LibraryThing member themulhern
Kind of questionable. The title interested me, because it resonated with my frustration about the belief that technology will save us all. But I have just recently read "The Invention of Science", which is more sceptical and yet more informative about Kuhn's "Whig history". This book seems to have
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swallowed Kuhn wholesale, but to be entirely unconcerned with explaining his work, an odd thing for a book that is supposed to be written for a popular audience. There is something worthwhile to say in this area, for sure, but maybe not in this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Paul_S
400 pages of distilled smugness.
Great non-fiction books provide insightful analysis of the world or brave new ideas. Good books provide a fair description of the world and use 1st degree sources. This book falls somewhere between that and the mediocre category. It mostly cites secondary sources,
Some passages are just baffling, like the defence of the food critic which the lack of the author thinks is robbing us of the guiding light that would steer us toward culturally enriching food rather than just good food. I don't mind the patronising tone but the pettiness.
Great non-fiction books provide insightful analysis of the world or brave new ideas. Good books provide a fair description of the world and use 1st degree sources. This book falls somewhere between that and the mediocre category. It mostly cites secondary sources,
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many of which are books much better than itself. It labours the same point repeatedly without making much progress. I'm sympathetic with the author's opinions but this book doesn't argue them well. His attention is always concentrated on the means rather then the source of the problems.Some passages are just baffling, like the defence of the food critic which the lack of the author thinks is robbing us of the guiding light that would steer us toward culturally enriching food rather than just good food. I don't mind the patronising tone but the pettiness.
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LibraryThing member kropferama
Morozov offers cautionary tales about technologists and their solutionism mentality to solve all of society's problems. Be prepared for lots of different ideas and references competing for your attention. He is a necessary voice of balance against those who see technology as the end of history.
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Sometimes a little over the top in his tone. Recommend it. Show Less
Collection
DDC/MDS
| 302.23 |
Physical description
5.08 inches
ISBN
0241957702 / 9780241957707