MARIA DUARTE and MICHAL BONCZA review Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day, Familiar Touch, Nino, and Toy Story 5
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Sophisticated, but not intelligent
ANDY HEDGECOCK is inspired by accessible insights into the theory, function and psychological impact of our digital tools
COGITO, ERGO SUM: The Gates of Hell (with The Thinker at its centre) by Auguste Rodin, 1880-1917
[Jean-Pierre Dalbera/CC]
MATTHEW HAWKINS explores the initiatives proposed by HEALING ARTS SCOTLAND
ALEX HALL welcomes an analysis of how modern capitalism is deeply intertwined with emotions, and their manipulation
MARTIN GRAHAM welcomes a statistical analysis of how much tax the super-rich pay, and foresees that the demand will flush out their agents
RICHARD WORTH relishes the fleeting moment and sense of flow of the late, great saxophonist
DENNIS BROE notes the thin, unfunny and apolitical quality of the gruel dished up by the US networks and studios for mass consumption
BARBARA BOSWELL remembers South African poet, storyteller, publisher, editor and activist Diana Ferrus (1953-2026)
Program or Be Programmed
Douglas Rushkoff, OR Books, £15
THIS critique of the annexation of human planning and decision-making by digital systems was originally published in 2010. The revised edition, which includes a new preface, afterword and reading list, is essential reading.
The arguments at the heart of the book — Douglas Rushkoff’s “11 commands for the AI future” — have gained in relevance over a period in which digital technology has encroached into every aspect of human life and culture.
The book is marred by a fundamental contradiction. Its exploration of the threats and promises of digital tools and systems is haunted by a figure I would characterise as Schrodinger’s CEO. Like the cat in Erwin Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment, Rushkoff’s tech billionaires occupy two contradictory states.
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