Algorithm
Algorithms are the instructions that determine what a computer will do. In this wiki, it can also refer to the generating equation that determines what a universe or culture will do.
"The Algorithm" also refers to the way that social media companies construct your newsfeed using AI that is incentivized for attention and therefore outrage.
Thinking algorithmically helps you break down complex processes into their individual steps and decision trees. In a computerized society increasingly controlled by algorithms, understanding how they work is pretty important to understanding how modern society works.
Algorithm Pages
- Recursion
- Feedback loop
- Self-Organization
- Self-Similarity
- Generating equation
- AI
- Neural network
- Platforms
- Promotion
- Outrage
Algorithm Videos
Don't let the algorithm choose what you watch next! The more you learn about algorithms the less they can control you!
Game theory and gamification are important topics that deserve their own page, and someday they will get one. In the meantime, this discussion of these topics with philosopher C. Thi Nguyen will get you thinking about how games and gamification impact our sense of agency, especially on social media. His book Games: Agency as Art is an excellent deep dive into this subject. There is also an excellent discussion of moral outrage porn.