{"id":86,"date":"2014-05-01T14:35:08","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T14:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/gordon-hull\/?page_id=86"},"modified":"2014-05-05T17:41:13","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T21:41:13","slug":"algorithm-method","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/gordon-hull\/case-studies\/algorithm-method\/","title":{"rendered":"The Algorithm Method"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Flowchat\"<\/a>Gordon Hull \/ UNC Charlotte<\/b><\/p>\n

This case study is based on: Ira Basen, \u201cThe Algorithm Method: Programming Our Lives Away<\/a>\u201d (Toronto Globe and Mail<\/i>, Nov. 26, 2010).<\/p>\n

I. Algorithms and Utility<\/h3>\n

These questions are based on the article, and utilitarian theory.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What is an algorithm?<\/li>\n
  2. What is the purpose of adopting one?<\/li>\n
  3. How might algorithms be viewed as utilitarian?<\/li>\n
  4. How might Mill\u2019s discussion of the \u201cdoctrine of swine\u201d objection be seen as presenting an algorithm of this sort?<\/li>\n
  5. A \u201csecond order decision strategy\u201d is plan for how to make decisions.\u00a0 For example, the decision to \u201cflip a coin\u201d about where to go to dinner presents such a strategy.\u00a0 The decision to delegate future decisions to another agent (ex: giving your keys to someone else before starting drinking) is another.\u00a0 So is the decision to follow an algorithm.\u00a0 Why might utilitarianism recommend some sort of second-order strategy?<\/li>\n
  6. Why does the rise of technologically sophisticated algorithms as described by Basen present a particularly tempting strategy?<\/li>\n
  7. Are there any utilitarian disadvantages to the heavy use of algorithms?<\/li>\n
  8. What is Clay Shirky\u2019s concern (as noted in the article), and how might one address it?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    II. Modeling Desire<\/h3>\n

    Basen quotes Christopher Anderson of CUNY:<\/p>\n

    \u201cI think it’s dangerous when you boil down what people want to a simple mathematical formula,\u201d Mr. Anderson says. \u201cThe real danger of these algorithms is that they’re reducing the scope of what \u2018want’ means. Want is complicated, and it’s more complicated than clicking on a link.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Utilitarianism has to have some way to represent human desires.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. What does it mean to have a desire satisfied?<\/li>\n
    2. Google\u2019s algorithm, which (at the beginning, anyway) rated websites by how often they were referenced by other websites (so a site would go up in the rankings if it was frequently linked to, for example).\u00a0 What value can this be said to serve?<\/li>\n
    3. What disadvantage might Google\u2019s strategy have?<\/li>\n
    4. How do you model human desires?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0III. The Quantified Self<\/h3>\n

      Watch the following short clip:<\/p>\n

      Anand Giridharadas,\u201cA Scale that Tweets Your Weight?\u00a0 Meet the Quantified Self?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. What are two very good reasons to quantify yourself?<\/li>\n
      2. What values does this effort at self-quantification damage?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Scott Peppett writes<\/a> (citing the Giridharadas video):<\/p>\n

        \u201cYour choice to quantify your<\/i> self (for personal preference or profit) thus has deep implications if it necessitates my \u201cchoice\u201d to quantify my<\/i> self under the pressure of unraveling. What if I just wasn\u2019t the sort of person who wanted to know all of this real-time data about myself, but we evolve an economy that requires such measurement? What if quantification is anathema to my aesthetic or psychological makeup; what if it conflicts with the internal architecture around which I have constructed my identity and way of knowing? Is \u201cknowing thyself\u201d at this level, and in this way (through these modalities), autonomy-enhancing or destroying, and for whom? What sorts of people \u2014 artists? academics? writers? \u2014 will be most denuded or excluded by such a metric-based world?\u201d<\/p>\n

        Discuss.<\/p>\n

        IV. References<\/h3>\n