EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
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Sophisticated, but not intelligent
ANDY HEDGECOCK is inspired by accessible insights into the theory, function and psychological impact of our digital tools
COGITO, ERGO SUM: The Gates of Hell (with The Thinker at its centre) by Auguste Rodin, 1880-1917
[Jean-Pierre Dalbera/CC]
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments
MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street
JOHN GREEN relishes a powerful and moving drama that explores the lived realities of west London’s Punjabi community
MARTIN HALL welcomes a plea for greater compassion between believer and non-believer via the framework of philosophical enquiry
Program or Be Programmed
Douglas Rushkoff, OR Books, £15
THIS critique of the annexation of human planning and decision-making by digital systems was originally published in 2010. The revised edition, which includes a new preface, afterword and reading list, is essential reading.
The arguments at the heart of the book — Douglas Rushkoff’s “11 commands for the AI future” — have gained in relevance over a period in which digital technology has encroached into every aspect of human life and culture.
The book is marred by a fundamental contradiction. Its exploration of the threats and promises of digital tools and systems is haunted by a figure I would characterise as Schrodinger’s CEO. Like the cat in Erwin Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment, Rushkoff’s tech billionaires occupy two contradictory states.
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