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shonatiger's review
4.0
https://shonareads.wordpress.com/2022/10/06/digital-lethargy-dispatches-from-an-age-of-disconnection-x-tung-hui-hu-arc/
Thank you to NetGalley and to MIT Press for this ARC.
Once in a while I like to read something challenging, something with concepts that may go over my head. Sometimes this happens accidentally, like with this book, which I requested for the description, rather than because I knew much about it before going in. The book feels like it is directed towards a certain subsection of academia, possibly those working in areas of technology, human interaction, and maybe futurity. Having said all of that, I really enjoyed having my poor little brain challenged, and my thoughts stretched; which is to say, this is not a light read.
I carefully followed where the author led, and took many, many notes. I thought lots (more) about personhood, and robots in service—human, and otherwise. I thought about “Third World” labour, and how today’s AI is really that (or, “artificial artificial intelligence“). I thought about neoliberalism, and how it sells false hope (this, in relation to Afro-pessimism). I learnt about timepass, which is a really wonderful concept. I thought a lot about the digital supply chain, and (all of) our place in it; and about “race neutrality” in technology. I also have new ideas about the widespread use of Black people in memes.
So, if any of these things interest you, this book will interest you. However, be warned: it is challenging for the average reader (or, me). The author makes a good, if complex case for lethargy (defined in the book) as a form of agency, arguing that technocapitalism wants us to always be doing something, or waiting to do something.
My rating: 8/10, mainly for introducing me to new ideas, and for making me work.
Thank you to NetGalley and to MIT Press for this ARC.
Once in a while I like to read something challenging, something with concepts that may go over my head. Sometimes this happens accidentally, like with this book, which I requested for the description, rather than because I knew much about it before going in. The book feels like it is directed towards a certain subsection of academia, possibly those working in areas of technology, human interaction, and maybe futurity. Having said all of that, I really enjoyed having my poor little brain challenged, and my thoughts stretched; which is to say, this is not a light read.
I carefully followed where the author led, and took many, many notes. I thought lots (more) about personhood, and robots in service—human, and otherwise. I thought about “Third World” labour, and how today’s AI is really that (or, “artificial artificial intelligence“). I thought about neoliberalism, and how it sells false hope (this, in relation to Afro-pessimism). I learnt about timepass, which is a really wonderful concept. I thought a lot about the digital supply chain, and (all of) our place in it; and about “race neutrality” in technology. I also have new ideas about the widespread use of Black people in memes.
So, if any of these things interest you, this book will interest you. However, be warned: it is challenging for the average reader (or, me). The author makes a good, if complex case for lethargy (defined in the book) as a form of agency, arguing that technocapitalism wants us to always be doing something, or waiting to do something.
My rating: 8/10, mainly for introducing me to new ideas, and for making me work.
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