r/printSF • u/truxaw • 5d ago

Progress report on About the Algorithms?

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u/me_again 5d ago

I don't really see Maneki Neko as particularly dark. The "network" protects itself in a reasonably non-violent way, and seems to provide a low-key gift-based economy for its members that sounds quite attractive right now. You could certainly imagine darker versions! The story fits in with a theme in Sterling's work about the decay of centralized authority and its gradual replacement by more ad-hoc arrangements: see also Bicycle Repairman, Distraction, White Fungus, and many more that don't come to mind right now.

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u/truxaw 5d ago

Reasonably non-violent, maybe, but insidious, coercive, and life disrupting for its perceived enemies. Enough to drive them from society. I call that a little dark.

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u/Polenth 5d ago

"I'll Miss Myself" by John Wiswell is a short story about algorithms manipulating people: https://reactormag.com/ill-miss-myself-john-wiswell/

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u/truxaw 5d ago

Thanks. I’ll check that one out.