‘The algorithm has primacy over media … over each of us, and it controls what we do’

Steven Guccione

Noam Chomsky once said (and I paraphrase) “the media can’t tell you what to think, but it can tell you what to think about”.  Today most news, and information in general, is filtered by two major tech companies, Google and Facebook.  This gives these firms unprecedented power.  Today they appear to be more or less benignly run, but there are less scrupulous people trying to gain control of these entities, or at least of their algorithms.  A recent (2021) paper gives a very good overview of the situation.

What to do?  Dump social media!  It’s the ultimate protest.  And you might just end up happier, too.

From Harvard Law Today, Nov. 18, 2021.

Google and Facebook have more power over the information ecosystem than any institution since the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. Their algorithms and their content moderation policies are taking the form of law.

–Stanford Law School Professor Nate Persily, co-editor of “Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field, Prospects for Reform”

‘The algorithm has primacy over media … over each of us, and it controls what we do’

Lessons from The Leopard

Steven Guccione

One of my favorite books is The Leopard by Guiseppe Lampedusa.   It was made into a great movie in 1963 and more recently a series on Netflix.  It is all about the previous century’s transition from monarchy to democracy, specifically in Italy.  Always a good read, but maybe especially good in times of change like today.  A good article from The Guardian that applies the situation and lessons of The Leopard to Europe today.

“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
― Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa , The Leopard

Europe is at a turning point. Timid EU elites should take lessons from The Leopard

The Assumptions That Broke: China, India, and the End of Fossil Growth Models

Steven Guccione

One of the more interesting reads in a while. In December 2025 China crossed a threshold with 50% of new heavy trucks as battery electric.  This wasn’t expected and comes from various breakthroughs in battery technology.  This has huge implications for the future of the oil industry.  The bigger point is that this is economic.  This is driven by costs and not government policy.

The Assumptions That Broke: China, India, and the End of Fossil Growth Models

Ruled by Engineers

Steven Guccione

Interesting read.   More of a review of a recent book.  I do disagree with the criticism of China’s recent  policy failures.  “One child” and the covid failures seem less because of the Engineering Mentality of the leaders as much as good old totalitarian leadership.  One could easily imagine Mao making such decisions.  It also remains to be seen if China will turn out to be another “me too” story such as Japan in the 1980s.  Will China begin to lead and innovate?  This is the question for the 21st century.  From The Conversation.

Ruled by engineers: how China gets things done, leaving the US in the dust

Indian Schools

Steven Guccione

We took the train to Santa Fe yesterday, a Friday, just to walk around and get some lunch.  We pick up the Railrunner here in Placitas / Bernalillo and make the hour ride to the Railyard, pretty much in the center of Santa Fe.  Easier than driving and cheaper than parking.  It’s also very scenic, mostly through Pueblo land.

On the ride home, just as the train was about to leave, dozens of young students piled on.  They seemed to be all Native American.  A bit unusual.  I went into cranky old man mode and thought: great, gonna be sharing the train with a bunch of teenagers on a Friday afternoon.  But, again, in cranky old man mode, they were more than well behaved.  I noticed their backpacks and gear had Santa Fe Indian School on them.  I had never heard of this and found the words “Indian School” a bit odd in this day and age.

It turns out this school pre-dates the US Civil War and has a history.  It was and still is a boarding school.  The original intent was to “civilize” the Native American children by taking them away from their families and homes.  I’ll leave it at that.  The Wiki page gives a brief history if anyone is interested in the details of this bit of US history.

Santa Fe Indian School

Update:  I guess the Wiki page is a bit sanitized.  A quick Google turns up this from PBS.  Need I add they were run by the Catholic Church?

Sexual abuse of Native American children at boarding schools exposed in new report