{"product_id":"what-algorithms-want-ed-finn-9780262536042","title":"What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe gap between theoretical ideas and messy reality, as seen in Neal Stephenson, Adam Smith, and \u003ci\u003eStar Trek\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinn 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 \u003ci\u003eSnow Crash\u003c\/i\u003e to Diderot's \u003ci\u003eEncyclop die\u003c\/i\u003e, from Adam Smith to the \u003ci\u003eStar Trek\u003c\/i\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eCow Clicker\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ed Finn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262536048\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262536042\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/09\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 266\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d","brand":"Ed Finn","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44069597937919,"sku":"9780262536042","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ea0b7bbc-6f1a-4718-920d-128fac0fee7c.jpg?v=1685425529","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/what-algorithms-want-ed-finn-9780262536042","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}