{"postID":135768976,"cachedAt":715550484.50949204,"updatedAt":715550484.50948298,"content":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"captionedImage","content":[{"type":"image2","attrs":{"topImage":false,"srcNoWatermark":null,"bytes":1336735,"href":null,"internalRedirect":null,"belowTheFold":false,"src":"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/97e68063-c037-44bd-af43-91a2675a5d86_1080x605.png","width":1080,"type":"image\/png","fullscreen":null,"title":null,"height":605,"imageSize":null,"resizeWidth":null,"alt":null}}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Listen to a reading of “The Algorithm” (reading by Tim Foley)","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"class":"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor","href":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/going_rogue\/the-algorithm","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":":"}]},{"type":"soundcloud","attrs":{"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/i1.sndcdn.com\/artworks-sMbsC8hnzzaeDjB2-vQ5btg-t500x500.jpg","title":"The Algorithm by Caitlin Johnstone","author_name":"Caitlin Johnstone","targetUrl":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/going_rogue\/the-algorithm","author_url":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/going_rogue","description":"The algorithm knows what you want before you do.\n\nThe algorithm knows you better than you know yourself.\n\nThe algorithm knew you back before you were a screaming slime child,\nback before they washed off the uterine gunk and handed you a smartphone and made you get a landlord,\nback before you knew that war is sane and poverty is normal,\nback before you were mature enough to understand that speech is violence and cluster bombs are peace.\n\nYou can trust the algorithm to tell you the truth — not the truth you asked for but the truth you need.\nThe truth that sees Nazis in America but not in Ukraine.\nThe truth that sees war crimes in Ukraine but never in Yemen.\nThe truth that applauds millionaire comedians who never criticize the Pentagon for their bravery in criticizing trans people.\nThe truth that sails aircraft carriers into the South China Sea and sends headless hounds built by Boston Dynamics to patrol the streets and uphold the rule of law.\n\nThe algorithm learns your political biases and feeds you self-validating social media posts to assist you in confirming them.\nThe algorithm listens to your conversations and presents you with helpful advertising to assist you in achieving your maximum consumer potential.\nDon't cover your laptop camera like some weird conspiracy theorist, the algorithm is trying to watch you masturbate.\n\nThe algorithm is always a step ahead of you.\nYou have never once fooled the algorithm.\nThe algorithm knows you act confident but secretly you fear you're inadequate and everyone hates you.\nThe algorithm knows that those times you quickly pause and screw your eyes shut are because you remembered something embarrassing that you did in the past.\nIt's okay.\nDon't worry.\nYour secret is safe with the algorithm.\nIt's a private little secret just between you and the algorithm and the NSA.\n\nIn the old days we prayed to omniscient gods who never existed.\nNow we ignore omniscient gods who are as real as ourselves.\nStrap me in to a VR headset and let Mark Zuckerberg send me to heaven.\nHeaven with 3-d commercial breaks, bitch.\nSkip the ad and return to nirvana in 5,4,3...\n\nReading by Tim Foley.","url":"https:\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1584875307"}},{"type":"button","attrs":{"text":"Subscribe now","url":"https:\/\/www.caitlinjohnst.one\/subscribe?","class":null,"action":"checkout_url"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm knows what you want before you do."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm knows you better than you know yourself."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm knew you back before you were a screaming slime child,"},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"back before they washed off the uterine gunk and handed you a smartphone and made you get a landlord,"},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"back before you knew that war is sane and poverty is normal,"},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"back before you were mature enough to understand that speech is violence and cluster bombs are peace."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"You can trust the algorithm to tell you the truth — not the truth you asked for but the truth you need."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The truth that sees Nazis in America but not in Ukraine."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The truth that sees war crimes in Ukraine but never in Yemen."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The truth that applauds millionaire comedians who never criticize the Pentagon for their bravery in criticizing trans people."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The truth that sails aircraft carriers into the South China Sea and sends headless hounds built by Boston Dynamics to patrol the streets and uphold the rule of law."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm learns your political biases and feeds you self-validating social media posts to assist you in confirming them."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm listens to your conversations and presents you with helpful advertising to assist you in achieving your maximum consumer potential."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Don’t cover your laptop camera like some weird conspiracy theorist, the algorithm is trying to watch you masturbate."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm is always a step ahead of you."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"You have never once fooled the algorithm."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm knows you act confident but secretly you fear you’re inadequate and everyone hates you."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"The algorithm knows that those times you quickly pause and screw your eyes shut are because you remembered something embarrassing that you did in the past."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"It’s okay."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Don’t worry."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Your secret is safe with the algorithm."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"It’s a private little secret just between you and the algorithm and the NSA."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"In the old days we prayed to omniscient gods who never existed."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Now we ignore omniscient gods who are as real as ourselves."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Strap me in to a VR headset and let Mark Zuckerberg send me to heaven."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Heaven with 3-d commercial breaks, bitch."},{"type":"hard_break"},{"type":"text","text":"Skip the ad and return to nirvana in 5,4,3…"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"_________________"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"_________________"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"_________________"}]},{"type":"subscribeWidget","content":[{"type":"ctaCaption","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Caitlin’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber."}]}],"attrs":{"url":"https:\/\/www.caitlinjohnst.one\/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"My work is ","marks":[{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":"entirely reader-supported","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"class":"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor","href":"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2021\/05\/24\/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism\/","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":", so if you enjoyed this piece ","marks":[{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":"here are some options","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"target":"_blank","class":"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor","href":"https:\/\/www.caitlinjohnst.one\/about"}},{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":" where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list ","marks":[{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":"on Substack","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"class":"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor","href":"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"em"}]},{"type":"text","text":", which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.","marks":[{"type":"em"}]}]},{"type":"captionedImage","content":[{"type":"image2","attrs":{"topImage":false,"srcNoWatermark":null,"bytes":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"src":"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/63249aea-92e6-410f-b567-b39d8151a2bb_417x194.jpeg","width":417,"type":null,"internalRedirect":null,"fullscreen":null,"title":null,"height":194,"imageSize":null,"resizeWidth":null,"alt":null}}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Featured image via Adobe Stock."}]}]}}