Strata of Human Thought

Sometimes I like to go through my paper diaries from 20 years ago. In January of 1999 I made an entry about an article I read in the Chicago Tribune about the effect of data gathering and creation of algorithms as a driver of media consumption and the creation of content. Ideas about the cybernetic generation of art--now assisted by the Internet--were getting more popular.

I had scribbled this diagram titled “the strata of human thought” which crudely visualized a top-down/bottom-up continuum in which ideally we’d be converging at a happy medium. This was when the internet was in a zeitgeist, but can be interpreted as a diagram for a possible dystopia as well.

Entry 1/29/1999:

"Interesting article in Tribune about entertainment following the path of politics and sports, i.e., polls and scores. There is such an emphasis on competitiveness and winning. (Idea: how can I make a piece of music based on polls, scores, and charts?) You might think that art driven by statistics would be cold and mechanical, but actually, it has a direct connection with science and biology, and in that respect, it’s quite interesting because the flow of art is directly correlated with naturally-occurring systems in nature. (A computer program could be written where ideas for music, film, books, etc., would be automatically generated based upon current or projected public opinion.)"

If any readers have similar diaries, please share your 1999 entries.