Why the World No Longer Needs Another Review | Interpreting Coordinates Ch. 1
Interpreting Coordinates The Human Role in an Algorithmic World PART I · Chapter 1 We live surrounded by reviews. Wherever we go, whatever we consider, someone else’s evaluation arrives first. It’s good. It’s fine. Recommended. I would come back. These phrases were once useful. Options were limited. Information was scarce. Today, they are steadily losing their force. The reason is simple. Reviews, by themselves, no longer help us decide. 1. When “It’s Fine” Says Nothing The most common evaluation we encounter today is this: It’s fine. Not bad. Not a failure. Nothing to warn against. Yet the phrase carries a critical flaw. Why choose it, then? “It’s fine” isolates its object. It cuts the object off from its relations and allows it to exist only on its own terms. At that point, the reader is left with a quiet question: What does this have to do with me? 2. Reviews Reduce Objects to Singular Stories Most reviews compress their subject into a single narrative. This place is like this. This...