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There Are No Facts
Book

There Are No Facts

Attentive Algorithms, Extractive Data Practices, and the Quantification of Everyday Life

Mark Shepard
MIT Press, 2022

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Visionary
  • Eloquent
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Professor Mark Shepard offers smart insights about the societal shift into what he calls a “post-truth” era. He warns that for-profit entities target consumers in ways that create “micro-publics,” each with its own socially constructed version of the truth. Shepard cites philosopher Bruno Latour, who described scientific facts as socially constructed, asserting that people tend to value most the information they get from trusted social networks. Shepard reflects on how the challenge of establishing a shared truth might affect humanity and urges readers to value common sense and strive for collaboration.

Take-Aways

  • Society is moving into a “post truth” world in which shared fictions unite clusters of people.
  • “The real” is always subject to negotiation, and data always contains bias.
  • Maps can simplify complexity to reflect existing power dynamics.

About the Author

Mark Shepard, associate professor of architecture and media study at Buffalo State University, edited the MIT Press book Sentient City: Ubiquitous Computing, Architecture, and the Future of Urban Space.

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