One thing that has been occupying me recently is the question of what speech is for. In some senses this is a heretical question - many would probably argue that speech is an inalienable right, and so it really does not have to be for anything at all. I find that unconvincing, especially in a… Continue reading Models of speech (Fake News Notes XI)
Category: The Fake News Notes
The noble and necessary lie (Fake News Notes X)
Plato's use of the idea of a noble lie was oppressive. He wanted to tell the people a tale of their origin that would encourage them to bend and bow to the idea of a stratified society, and he suggest that this would make everyone better off -- and we clearly see that today for… Continue reading The noble and necessary lie (Fake News Notes X)
Authority currencies and rugged landscapes of truth (Fake News Notes #9)
One model for thinking about the issue of misinformation is to say that we are navigating a flat information desert, where there is no topology of truth available. Now hills of fact, no valleys of misinformation. Our challenge is to figure out a good way to add a third dimension, or more than one single… Continue reading Authority currencies and rugged landscapes of truth (Fake News Notes #9)
Weil’s paradox: intention and speech (Fake News Notes #8)
Simone Weil, in her curious book Need for Roots, notes the following on the necessity for freedom of opinion: [...] it would be desirable to create an absolutely free reserve in the field of publication, but in such a way as for it to be understood that the works found therein did not pledge their… Continue reading Weil’s paradox: intention and speech (Fake News Notes #8)
Real and unreal news (Notes on attention, fake news and noise #7)
What is the opposite of fake news? Is it real news? What, then, would that mean? It seems important to ask that question, since our fight against fake news also needs to be a fight _for_ something. But this quickly becomes an uncomfortable discussion, as evidenced by how people attack the question. When we discuss… Continue reading Real and unreal news (Notes on attention, fake news and noise #7)
Hannah Arendt on politics and truth – and fake news? (Notes on attention, fake news and noise #6)
Any analysis of fake news would be incomplete without a reading of Hannah Arendts magnificent essay Truth and Politics from 1967. Arendt, in this essay, examines carefully the relationship between truth and politics, and makes a few observations that remind us of why the issue of “fake news” is neither new nor uniquely digital. It… Continue reading Hannah Arendt on politics and truth – and fake news? (Notes on attention, fake news and noise #6)
Notes on attention, fake news and noise #5: Are We Victims of Algorithms? On Akrasia and Technology.
Are we victims of algorithms? When we click on click bait and content that is low quality - how much of the responsibility of that click is on us and how much on the provider of the content? The way we answer that question maybe connected to an ancient debate in philosophy about Akrasia or… Continue reading Notes on attention, fake news and noise #5: Are We Victims of Algorithms? On Akrasia and Technology.
Notes on attention, fake news and noise #4: Jacques Ellul and the rise of polyphonic propaganda part 1
Jacques Ellul is arguably one of the earlier and most consistent technology critics we have. His texts are due for a revival in a time when technology criticism is in demand, and even techno-optimists like myself would probably welcome that, because even if he is fierce and often caustic, he is interesting and thoughtful. Ellul… Continue reading Notes on attention, fake news and noise #4: Jacques Ellul and the rise of polyphonic propaganda part 1
Notes on attention, fake news and noise #3: The Noise Society 10 years later
This February it is 10 years since I defended my doctoral thesis on what I then called the Noise Society. The main idea was that the idea of an orderly, domesticated and controllable information society - modeled on the post-industrial visions of Bell and others - probably was wrongheaded, and that we would see a… Continue reading Notes on attention, fake news and noise #3: The Noise Society 10 years later
Notes on attention, fake news and noise #2: On the non-linear value of speech and freedom of dialogue or attention
It has become more common to denounce the idea that more speech means better democracy. Commentators, technologists and others have come out to say that they were mistaken - that their belief that enabling more people to speak would improve democracy was wrong, or at the very least simplistic. It is worth analyzing what this… Continue reading Notes on attention, fake news and noise #2: On the non-linear value of speech and freedom of dialogue or attention