Mindscape 278 | Kieran Healy on the Technology of Ranking People

We claim to love all of our children, friends, and students equally. But perhaps deep down you assign a ranking to them, from favorite to not-so-favorite. Ranking and quantifying people is an irresistible human tendency, and modern technology has made it ubiquitous. In this episode I talk with sociologist Kieran Healy, who has co-authored (with Marion Fourcade) the new book The Ordinal Society, about how our lives are measured and processed by the technological ecosystem around us. We discuss how this has changed how relate to ourselves and the wider world.

Kieran Healy received his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. He is currently a professor of sociology at Duke University, and a member of the Kenan Institute for Ethics. As an undergraduate at University College Cork he won the Irish Times National Debating competition. He has a longstanding interest in data visualization.

#podcast #ideas #science #philosophy #culture

[DeclanMBrennan]

There is a sense in which we are returning to the small villages from the dawn of the human race. Everyone knew our business but it also meant one could not run away from the consequences of bad behaviour and potentially get rewarded for good.

A fair regulated ranking system is not defacto a bad thing. The problem comes where individuals or organizations are able to game the system or use it to bully and control others.

[DM-joko]

Just bought your new book! Excited for it to come in

[michaelkahama]

How are you doing Mindscape Podcast community?

[Nixontheman]

The explaining to the youngsters and the seniors is hilariously true.

[johncarter]

Human dystopian dilemma...
Expediting the metacrisis!
Interesting topic, excellent communication, presented in an organized understandable way, the content makes it a challenging listen. I'm on my way to dropping out!

[biometronome]

What was briefly mentioned as a feeling that people might get is actually real; companies use this data to price-gouge on some ridiculous and illegal levels. The American Prospect did some good reporting on this

[Tanx]

This episode gave me more existential dread than any of the more physics based episodes. I'll take black holes over capitalism+technology any day

[janbam]

Oh no, what happened to the intro music?
The old one was way better.