Social Media in Systems Theory (Bonus: why FB is to blame for the MAGA dad coup)
Added 2021-01-07 02:11:21 +0000 UTCPseudo-events aren't going to get in the way of our release schedule. This is Pills & Erik's final pod in the cybernetics and systems theory series, before we take off into semiotics for a few weeks. In this episode we discuss systems theory with respect to constructivist epistemology and how social media algorithms are responsible for the storming of the capitol.
Luhmann's Reality of the Mass Media: https://amzn.to/3915wfa
Comments
One of those episodes which really rewards you with a 2nd listen. I love how systems theory involves processes like positive and negative feedback within systems outside of biology, which is one of my old areas of study. While I'm definitely a fan of this series, that you guys are going to talk about semiotics is great af cause it will definitely help with my trying to achieve a deeper understanding of Baudrillard.
anacidcommie
2021-05-07 14:06:54 +0000 UTCWhile it's clear that social media algorithms significantly accelerated the far-right's rise to mainstream prevalence, how do we identify the point at which the digital process begun and 'normal' diffusion of information/ideology ended? I recall back in 2008-12 seeing the Tea Party email chains that my grandma was/is apart of. Those email chains formed the bedrock of that overtly racist and super right-wing anti-Obama movement. While many like to say the Tea Party movement was 100% 'astroturfed,' it's clear from those huge email chains that there was a genuine significant grassroots component, albeit fueled by Koch-brother (and other ghoul's) money. Nowadays, those email chains are generally subordinate to whatever bullshit Parlor, 8Chan, & 4Chan crank out. But even before the Tea Party— going back to the mid-to-late '80s— scholars warned that the extreme right was on the rise in the U.S. with the growth of the Militia Movement and similar anti-government extremisms like that which ultimately resulted in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.
Brynn
2021-02-24 19:51:06 +0000 UTCI loved this series, thanks Pills and Erik! Definitely looking forward to the discussion on semiotics and specifically cyber-semiotics which seems very interesting. Also, more on process metaphysics and posthumanism at some point would be great.
Zadine Lenin
2021-02-08 17:00:48 +0000 UTCLoving the content Pills and Eric! Would love to see more on Systems Theory, but I also think covering Peirce will be a milestone - yet to find a decent intro to Peirce online. This entire arc has been really tickling my dynamical systems fancy from back in my undergrad maths days - epidemiology, predator-prey models etc. Application aside, the idea that systems will co-evolve over time because of interdependence, and often in surprising ways, always resonated with me much more than static concepts (like how you guys mentioned social contract theory). Btw I think one of the most interesting examples of a system responding drastically to change is locusts - after some rain you get a few too many grasshoppers in an area and suddenly their collective biology changes and they become locusts and start plaguing the land. Maybe that’s what this insurrection was too.
archivedtransience
2021-01-18 15:45:00 +0000 UTCThank You! Only one of two thoughtful discussions of South Park's storming of Capital Hill I've heard.
Anjani
2021-01-16 23:35:52 +0000 UTCPlease keep this content coming. No one else is talking about this shit and its dope.
Joey McAuley
2021-01-15 22:59:20 +0000 UTCThanks for the comment, this lets us know what to pursue. Erik has been studying something called "cyber-semiotics", which I have never studied so I'm looking forward to covering that in the next series!
Plastic Pills
2021-01-12 15:28:28 +0000 UTCJust wanna add my voice to those people who love this content! I more or less became a patron thanks to the first systems theory episode, would love to see more of this content :)
Dawson Highland
2021-01-12 15:25:15 +0000 UTCThis is what I signed up for, really enjoying the post-human angle of this theory
Jaedyn Stumbles
2021-01-11 13:28:53 +0000 UTC
