The Fragility of the Feed
Feeds are manifestations of the gods of the web, the mighty algorithms.
What would Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī say about them? Would the math guru of the House of Baghdad feel proud of the hidden entity that bears his name?
(Al-Khwārizmī was Latinized "Algoritmi").
Doubt it. Many web algorithms follow the philosophical parable attributed to the Caliph Omar:
... when consulted about what had to be done with the library of Alexandria, answered as follows: 'If the books of this library contain matters opposed to the Koran, they are bad and must be burned. If they contain only the doctrine of the Koran, burn them anyway, for they are superfluous.'
(Jean‑Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Sciences and Arts and Polemics.)
"Superfluous" treasures are lost every day, hidden behind a curtain of algorithmic noise. Original thoughts buried by the popular - did someone say likes and shares? Big tragedy to rely on the wisdom of the masses.
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds.
(Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds - 1841).
Popularity isn't quality. The crowds tend to ignore nuance in favor of spectacle - check our tidal waves of "engagement". But crowds mean money.
Old psychology. New machinery.
A future of cute cats and dogs?
These are the "feelings" of the AI Claude on the state of things in the World Wide Web.
Invisibility is the price of uncompromising voice. The alternative is "10 Travel Tips for Digital Nomads!" and "Inspirational Quotes to Boost Your Productivity!"一which would make you want to set fire to your own servers.