From Cyberculture to Dataism

How the Internet’s Liberation Dream Became a Philosophy of Control

Hi everyone,

In Chapter Two, I follow the arc from the early exuberance around the web’s liberating promise to the rise of data empires and the narrowing of human possibility. It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way—but we’ve been here before. At the end of the piece, I share some pro tips on how I used ChatGPT in the writing process. Enjoy!

The Long BOOM

Beginning in the 1960s a talented group of engineers, scientists, writers, and thought leaders began shaping a vision for the internet and later the world wide web. They spoke in the argot of personal liberation. The coming networked world represented an alternative to, and an escape from, big business and its marriage to government. They aimed to disrupt not only the entertainment industry but the slow dynamics of science, business, education, and communication. They predicted an entirely new model for the planet—a system of bottom-up, decentralized networks. A cooperative knowledge society.

The highpoint of thinking arrived when the cover of the June 1997 issue of Wired announced, “The Long BOOM,” adding, “We’re facing 25 years of prosperity, freedom, and a better environment for the whole world. You got a problem with that?” Few would.

But the twenty-first century thus far tells a different story.