Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
1–10 of 45 posts
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#2I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#3Regardless the state of algorithms, it does seem interesting that 2019 was the coincidental end time for a significant chapter of the Marvel movies, the Star Wars (first) sequel trilogy, and Game of Thrones. Let's hope that means we'll at least get some different types of adaptations come 2020.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#4I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
Imagine how alienating it must be to have no common cultural touchstones to share with other people.
We're already there when it comes to music. We have a lot of virtuoso musicianship today. You want top-tier jazz? You can find it. Bossa Nova? Yep. Orchestral arrangements? Those too. Blues and old-school rock? Still being made. But we no longer have music as a common cultural touchstone: everything's been atomized to hell, fragmented into perfectly-curated Spotify ML-recommended playlists. People no longer use music to connect to each other. It's more about individual hedonic enjoyment.
As goes music, so goes all entertainment and all media. When everything is perfectly tailored to each individual's preferences, what we're left with isn't so much culture (which in its essence is about commonality) as much as aesthetic pornography.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#5I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
Imagine how alienating it must be to have no common cultural touchstones to share with other people. We're already there when it comes to music. We have a lot of virtuoso musicianship today. You want top-tier jazz? You can find it. Bossa Nova? Yep. Orchestral arrangements? Those too. Blues and old-school rock? Still being made. But we no longer have music as a common cultural touchstone: everything's been atomized to…
History ended, now culture, what to do...
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#6As the article itself points out, monoculture itself was a technological phenomenon; mass broadcast of TV and radio with only a few channels. Even then it was only monoculture within a country, and we're globalized now. Returning to a monoculture will require both propaganda and suppression.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#7I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
GOT is an outlier, in that its unusual for "civilian's/ muggles" to watch such a niche fantasy series.
When I read the books my thought was this is for trufans who have a much broader knowledge of the Fantasy cannon than even the average sf/f fan.
The sort of person who has read "on fairy tales" slogged through Dunsanny etc.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#8I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
Imagine how alienating it must be to have no common cultural touchstones to share with other people. We're already there when it comes to music. We have a lot of virtuoso musicianship today. You want top-tier jazz? You can find it. Bossa Nova? Yep. Orchestral arrangements? Those too. Blues and old-school rock? Still being made. But we no longer have music as a common cultural touchstone: everything's been atomized to…
I'm not convinced that we need huge proprietary time-wasters to have conversations with each other. There are circumstances in life when long TV shows may be fun and entertaining, but watching them shouldn't be expected. With my family, and random people met in places, I talk about real life that we have in common or wider societal trends. This can be instructive (about what people think) even if very light. I remember a guy complaining before an unrelated class that "computer people hunched over keyboards will take over everything". Little did he know.
You can say that real life stuff can be hot and divisive, but then pop culture can also. See how new Star Wars and recent blockbusters generated controversy and online culture wars. Handling people with opinions, and your own opinions, is a valuable skill nonetheless.
I am into music as well, as in listening to albums and records collecting, and am very happy that I don't have to know or listen to anything "mainstream" in particular. Free exploration is so much more pleasurable. I do share some of my tastes with people around me, but really a different little thing with each person.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#9I hope it does not. Imagine how isolating it might feel to be the one person who does not like watching Game of Thrones.
I'm perfectly happy, thanks. Though to be fair, I tell people I'm saving it for a time when I'm really ill and I need something to do for a month.
Re: Can monoculture survive the algorithm?
#10As the article itself points out, monoculture itself was a technological phenomenon; mass broadcast of TV and radio with only a few channels. Even then it was only monoculture within a country, and we're globalized now. Returning to a monoculture will require both propaganda and suppression.
> Returning to a monoculture will require both propaganda and suppression
Great firewall of China seems to be doing that.