{"id":13491,"date":"2020-10-11T15:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T19:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=13491"},"modified":"2021-06-07T21:21:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T01:21:49","slug":"mindfck-cambridge-analytica-and-the-plot-to-break-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13491","title":{"rendered":"Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America<\/a><\/em> (2019) Christopher Wylie<\/p>\n

\"Mindfuck<\/a>How did a gay, liberal, Canadian end up one of the architects of Cambridge Analytica–the company behind interference in multiple elections in 2016?<\/p>\n

It’s a long story, and involves everything from greed to psychological warfare to a desired to see how just far the technology could be pushed.<\/p>\n

After Western militaries were grappling with how to tackle radicalization online, the firm wanted me to help build a team of data scientists to create new tools to identify and combat extremism online. It was fascinating, challenging, and exciting all at once.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The whole story was far worse–and far more terrifying–than I could have imagined.<\/p>\n

Computer models are not magical incantations that can predict the world\u2014 they can make predictions only when there is an ample amount of data to base a prediction upon. If there was no data in the system, then there could be no models or targeting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I talk about Facebook, I’m frequently asked why people should bother to care about how much data Facebook–and other countries–collect about them. This book is a master class in exactly what can go wrong.<\/p>\n

One of the things that Chritopher–and later CA did–was to attempt to recognize that they didn’t know what they should have about the people they were trying to reach.<\/p>\n

I went to speak to people because I knew I was already biased and colored by my own experiences. I did not know what life was really like for an older British man living on a council estate in Newcastle, or a single mother of three in Bletchley. I wanted them to tell me what they wanted me to know about their lives, in their own words and on their own terms. So I got local constituency parties and polling firms to help randomly select people to speak to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It starts a bit with Christopher’s past and how he ended up where he did, but quickly we learn about the various things that make CA so very good at manipulating people.<\/p>\n

(T)he five-factor model of personality, which represents personality as a set of ratings on five scales: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. With time and testing, the measurement of these five traits has proven to be a powerful predictor of many aspects of people\u2019s lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The background of the company that eventually spun off CA, possibly explains everything about what happened.<\/p>\n

the SCL Group. Originally known as Strategic Communication Laboratories, the firm was led by Nigel Oakes and had existed in various forms since 1990. … The firm worked primarily for militaries, conducting psychological and influence operations around the world, such as jihadist recruitment mitigation in Pakistan, combatant disarmament and demobilization in South Sudan, and counternarcotics and counter\u2013 human trafficking operations in Latin America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Think about that. The parent company of CA specialized in psyop. Is it any wonder they were so good at manipulating voters?<\/p>\n

One thing I want to note about this book is that he tried very hard to not get bogged down in technical details and tries and explain the technology in simple English terms.<\/p>\n

I read this because I wanted to understand more about what went wrong, and if there is anything we can do to protect ourselves in the future.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my conclusion is that education–teaching people to learn critically at what they see online–is the only way we’ll be able to combat the Pandora’s box that CA and Steve Bannon opened.<\/p>\n

Publisher : Random House
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America (2019) Christopher Wylie How did a gay, liberal, Canadian end up one of the architects of Cambridge Analytica–the company behind interference in multiple elections in 2016? It’s a long story, and involves everything from greed to psychological warfare to a desired to see how just far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-fiction","category-science-nature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3vB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19765,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19765","url_meta":{"origin":13491,"position":0},"title":"Lessons in Desire","author":"Michelle","date":"February 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lessons in Desire (2009) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1906 Jonty and Orlando take a vacation! Murder ensues! That's the summation, but it isn't at all the feel of the story, just so you know. Unsurprisingly, Orlando has never taken a vacation. \u201cIt sounds delightful, Jonty,\u201d Orlando\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lessons in Desire","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Lessons-in-Desire_.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21356,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21356","url_meta":{"origin":13491,"position":1},"title":"All Lessons Learned","author":"Michelle","date":"December 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"All Lessons Learned (2018) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England and France in 1919. The war they said would end all conflicts. 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That the last five years hadn\u2019t spoiled the world forever.\u201d They walked on in silence, each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lessons for Survivors","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Lessons-for-Survivors.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19781,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19781","url_meta":{"origin":13491,"position":3},"title":"Lessons in Power","author":"Michelle","date":"February 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lessons in Power (2009) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1907 Orlando is not best pleased when Matthew Ainslie visits--he and Jonty are settling into their new home--but is willing to listen to what the man wants. What he wants is for Orlando and Jonty to look into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lessons in Power","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Lessons-in-Power.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19788,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19788","url_meta":{"origin":13491,"position":4},"title":"Lessons in Seduction","author":"Michelle","date":"February 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lessons in Seduction (2010) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1907. Jonty and Orlando go undercover to investigate a possible murder! Jonty has to go as himself, since he and his family are too prominent for him to be unrecognized, but few people know Orlando on sight. \u201cWe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lessons in Seduction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Lessons-in-Seduction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19902,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19902","url_meta":{"origin":13491,"position":5},"title":"Lessons in Trust","author":"Michelle","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lessons in Trust (2018) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1908. It's been a year since Jonty and Orlando were involved in a mystery, and Orlando wishes just a little they'd fine one Instead, they're in London and--worse--got their in Jonty's new prized possession. 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