CyberSelfish

ThoughtStorms Wiki

Book by PaulinaBorsook with a great theme (http://www.cyberselfish.com/). A look at the relationship between Wired style techno-optimism and RightLibertarian politics.

I've started reading it, and I'm really interested in the subject. I really want to like it ...

BUT

Borsook really doesn't seem to be arguing very well.

She clearly knows her stuff. She spent many years around this culture, has written for Wired, knows the people and understands what they believe. She also knows good arguments against what they believe. But it seems she can't help herself mixing them with all kinds of minor, bad, confusing arguments. Every time she introduces an idea (such as Bionomics) she has to get in her attack before explaining it properly, filling the initial outline with sceptical asides, insinuations of guilt by association and other weak arguments. When the better arguments come, a few pages later, they're hard to pick out of the general miasma of negativity.

I'm sure it's worth finishing the book, which will contain lots of good material. But it's frustrating going ...