Hi, welcome to Dilemmas of Meaning, a journal at the intersection of philosophy, culture, and technology. This is the inaugural post of ‘Bookmarks’ in our Discovery series. In this month’s post we’re highlighting Wes Anderson’s new film, an article about deepfakes and the mythology of AI, a video discussing multiple perspectives on ‘The Social Network,’ and more. We do take recommendations, so send us anything you find brilliant. See you all next month.
Stuart Hall on Diasporic Thought - Adam Tooze
We wrote a little piece about Stuart Hall’s influence on how we grapple with the heavy concept of identity. Continuing our little love affair is a more biographic piece by economist Adam Tooze. It centres identity albeit considering the way existing as part of a diaspora and its many overlapping layers affects the self. Tooze highlights how he, too, as a member of different tribes, found solace in Hall’s work. It is personal, but comprehensive. This entry in bookmarks while not directed related to the role of technology, I think if we consider our offline and online selves as overlapping parts of our identity, Stuart Hall might have relevance almost a decade later.
On Mythologies of Intelligence - Hannah Baer
Hannah Baer, whose memoir, Trans Girl Suicide Museum, I found an insightful read, discusses deepfake porn technology from the perspective of the self — from the perspective of wanting to be closer to one’s self — in her article in Artforum. She discusses the implications of rendering trans bodies nude, of visualizing oneself with genitalia they do not have, the euphoria it provides for some and the dissonance it causes for others. Her writing always feels personal whilst exploring abstract ideas and parsing the complexities of selfhood, meaning, and the mythologies of AI.
We are now in a kind of projective moment with our own tools. Staring into the phenomenological inkblot of an AI that itself draws and paints and speaks, we close-read the transcripts of our own Turing tests, trying to make meaning.
Her piece moves beyond deepfakes, and into the various ways intelligence, artificially instantiated or not, is read as justification for dominance, and questions that hierarchy. I came for the discussion of deepfakes and stayed for the near prescient analysis of AI’s impact on culture. As I work on my next essay exploring deepfake pornography, feminist agency (and the lack thereof), and sexual identity, give Hannah’s article a look for another perspective.
Can We Still Enjoy The Social Network - Broey Deschanel
The 2010s ushered in the golden age of video essays. Search the term on YouTube and you will find an infinite ocean declaring every movie, book, game, and Vine an underrated cinematic masterpiece. Cutting through the noise is Broey Deschanel, who dissects popular culture while balancing accessibility with depth. On this month’s bookmarks is her video essay asking whether, in light of Meta’s many many many social ills, can we still enjoy 2010’s The Social Network?
She anchors her answer on the influential Californian Ideology essay that considers the specific fusion of free market individualism and counter-culture hippie aesthetics that birthed the tech industry we live under today. I hope to one day interpret and update this essay on the journal, but her use of the essay is a backdrop to offer several readings of David Fincher’s Academy winning film: is it presciently critical of what Facebook would become or does it let Mark Zuckerberg off lightly, does it present him as a sympathetic lonely boy genius or shows the selfish would-be billionaire who steps over everyone in his quest to be perceived as cool? It is well researched, impeccably edited, and presents the film as both defining our Information Age and a Rorschach test. I return to the video essay every so often and learn something new every time.
Asteroid City - Wes Anderson
This might be recency bias — but oh well. Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City continues the director’s turn to obsessively constructed diorama. The movie takes the rigid and structural style of French Dispatch and turns the dial up; it is a play within a televised production within a movie and its acts and scenes are telegraphed. Despite this, it contains an emotionally rich consideration of grief, and the way different generations process it. I enjoyed it, but this isn’t a film review. Asteroid City earns its place in this month’s bookmark for how it touches on the symbiotic relationship between technology and military. The movie is set during the Junior Stargazer’s convention run on a military facility sponsored by what is implied to be a weapons manufacturer. While it purports to award and celebrate young geniuses, the inventions that are highlighted all fit a similar theme: quasi-military applications: weapons, a jetpack, or literally placing the American flag upon the moon.
There is more I could write on this theme, but I wouldn’t want to spoil the story. I want to end however, by stressing this point: the four child prodigies are not implied to be unique nor are they necessarily the smartest in the nation, they appear to be chosen for how their inventions fit the needs and desires of the military-industrial complex. They are all competing to win a giant cheque from the US military after all. There is a sentiment among the public that science and technology exists outside of political choices; that they are neutral and thus dependent on how they are used post invention. Asteroid City is not about the influence of the state and military on technology, but amidst the colourful miniatures and quirky lines, it doesn’t shy away from showing how politics enters even at the early stages of technology. After all, Google’s inception owes as much to Stanford University as it does to the CIA.