Items related to What Algorithms Want – Imagination in the Age...
Synopsis
The gap between theoretical ideas and messy reality, as seen in Neal Stephenson, Adam Smith, and Star Trek.
We depend on―we believe in―algorithms to help us get a ride, choose which book to buy, execute a mathematical proof. It's as if we think of code as a magic spell, an incantation to reveal what we need to know and even what we want. Humans have always believed that certain invocations―the marriage vow, the shaman's curse―do not merely describe the world but make it. Computation casts a cultural shadow that is shaped by this long tradition of magical thinking. In this book, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm―in practical terms, “a method for solving a problem”―has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking.
Finn argues that the algorithm deploys concepts from the idealized space of computation in a messy reality, with unpredictable and sometimes fascinating results. Drawing on sources that range from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash to Diderot's Encyclopédie, from Adam Smith to the Star Trek computer, Finn explores the gap between theoretical ideas and pragmatic instructions. He examines the development of intelligent assistants like Siri, the rise of algorithmic aesthetics at Netflix, Ian Bogost's satiric Facebook game Cow Clicker, and the revolutionary economics of Bitcoin. He describes Google's goal of anticipating our questions, Uber's cartoon maps and black box accounting, and what Facebook tells us about programmable value, among other things.
If we want to understand the gap between abstraction and messy reality, Finn argues, we need to build a model of “algorithmic reading” and scholarship that attends to process, spearheading a new experimental humanities.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Ed Finn is Founding Director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, where he is also Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering and the Department of English.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherMIT Press
- Publication date2017
- ISBN 10 0262035928
- ISBN 13 9780262035927
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages272
Search results for What Algorithms Want – Imagination in the Age...
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want : Imagination in the Age of the Computing
Seller: Better World Books: West, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 14611214-6
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want : Imagination in the Age of the Computing
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 15760439-6
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.28. Seller Inventory # G0262035928I4N01
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.28. Seller Inventory # G0262035928I4N01
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.28. Seller Inventory # G0262035928I2N00
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want : Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: Majestic Books, Hounslow, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 370809687
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
WHAT ALGORITHMS WANT: IMAGINATION IN THE AGE OF COMPUTING
Seller: Basi6 International, Irving, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Brand New. New. US edition. Expediting shipping for all USA and Europe orders excluding PO Box. Excellent Customer Service. Seller Inventory # ABEJUNE24-321904
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want : Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: Books Puddle, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 26376284296
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want : Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: Biblios, Frankfurt am main, HESSE, Germany
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 18376284290
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing
Seller: One Planet Books, Columbia, MO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust jacket. Has used sticker(s) and some writing and/or highlighting. UPS shipping for most packages, (Priority Mail for AK/HI/APO/PO Boxes). Seller Inventory # 002035204U
Quantity: 1 available