essay round 3 articles
As Franklin Foer and Jia Tolentino suggest in “Mark Zuckerberg’s War on Free Will” and “Always Be Optimizing,” questions regarding human autonomy seem increasingly urgent as mechanical thinking (Foer) and optimization (Tolentino) become ideological imperatives under new systems of power. Shoshana Zuboff’s “The Right to a Future Tense,” argues that “the elemental right to a future tense is endangered” (332). Free will, she asserts, is the very thing at stake in our increasingly digital world. Zuboff picks up on the problems of compliance as the “surveillance capitalist leaders” rely on “the same objectives camouflaged by new rhetoric and tactics” (342). She questions to what extent resistance is even possible in this new world order.
Citing textual evidence from Zuboff, Foer, and Tolentino to support your analysis, compose an original essay in response to the following question:
PROMPT
How is free will being challenged by what Zuboff calls “instrumentarian power”? What kind of power does she fear, and why is this form of power so difficult to subvert or challenge? “What kind of civilization does [surveillance capitalism] foretell”1?
THOUGHT-PROVOKERS
Below are some further questions that may be useful to consider in generating your argument. Remember that you only need to address the above prompt in bold:
· ➢ What is the “uncontract” (333) that Zuboff discusses, and why is it so concerning to her? What does the uncontract have to do with human agency and human connection?
· ➢ Zuboffwritesthat“theassertionoffreedomofwillalsoassertstherighttothefuturetenseasa condition of a fully human life” (332). How might that assertion build on Foer’s suggestion that “We are the screws and rivets in the grand design” (114). What is this “grand design” according to Zuboff?
· ➢ OneoftheimportantthingsZuboffarguesthatwearedisposedofisourdata—ourreallife experiences that are then turned into renditions (reproductions) of experiences in the form of information stripped of context (339). How might this digital dispossession lead to real life dispossession?
1 Zuboff, p. 348
01:355:101:KS RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK Fall 2020
GOALS FOR WORK WITH QUOTATIONS:
Try to work with at least two different authors (direct citations) in each body paragraph. In one or two of your body paragraphs, aim to bring all three authors into conversation.
Engage attentively and thoughtfully after your quotations. Use the quotations not just to support your topic claim, but also to deepen it by thinking through the underlying implications of the authors’ words.
FORMAT
You must proofread carefully.
Quotations should be carefully transcribed, punctuated, and attributed. Use MLA bibliographic conventions, and please follow the conventions of standard edited American English. Use 1.0-inch margins on all sides, double-spacing, and twelve-point Times New Roman font. Number all pages. Your paper should have a proper heading and must be submitted through Canvas as a Word document. Don’t forget to title your paper.