All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

[Scribbly]

I'm sure I read about this on here somewhere first, but I can't find the thread if I did...

Amazing documentary by Adam Curtis about ... well quite a lot of things, but broadly the financial crisis, the thinking which led to it, and how Ayn Rand's ideology was involved. I thought a bit more time on how the idea was sold to most people would have been good (it was briefly mentioned that Atlas Shrugged was found to be the second most important book in America, behind the Bible, but it seemed a bit schizophrenic in explaining how it got there whilst Rand became irrelevant), and I would have liked him to expand his final thoughts a bit, but it is still a very impressive documentary.

Part 1 is available on the BBC iPlayer for the britspags here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011k45f/All_Watched_Over_by_Machines_of_Loving_Grace_Love_and_Power/

Part 2 is airing on the 30th.

The notion that there is essentially a third world country living inside the borders of the US brought about by the economic elite isn't a new one, but I don't think I've seen it laid out so eloquently before.

[MMIX]

OOh that was fun. Great find D_S. Looking forward to part 2

[Cain]

Excellent, love some Adam Curtis.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX5jImWRREc&feature=related

^Youtube version for Americans/3rd worlders.

[Slyph]

Part 2 tomorrow! !!!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Pizzicato Five!

[Kai]

Some of those people near the beginning of the Silicon Valley segment sound like classic cases of psychopathy.

[Kai]

Cain, how close to truth/wrong is this documentary, in your opinion?

Edit: Teaser: How the idea of an ecosystem was created by the machines.


...

I think my brain just exploded from stupid.

[Slyph]

Cain, how close to truth/wrong is this documentary, in your opinion?

Edit: Teaser: How the idea of an ecosystem was created by the machines.


...

I think my brain just exploded from stupid.

Just watch, it's a hell of a ride. Adam tends to point out a lot that some ideas come into vogue because they seem analogous to "other things", like cybernetic theories of ecology became kind of a big deal because they made people think of computers and circuits, not because they were any good. Think about Libertarianism and "social darwinism", how because "Nature Red in Tooth and Claw", and because "Evolution = Science", then "Life's a bitch, get used to it poors". He likes to point out instances where the scientific veneer of a genuine fact gets rubbed off onto unrelated fields, because one theory resembles another, true one from another field entirely.

[Scribbly]

The ecosystem teaser at the end of episode one made me go  a bit too.

The actual episode was very convincing, though. I don't know how accurate it was, because I don't know a lot about the history of biology. But he made a convincing case basically implying that the initial concept was flawed, though not entirely wrong, and the metaphor was expanded far beyond the point where it was useful in various areas.

Also, I laughed out loud at the hippies. It was great.

[Slyph]

Episode 3 is about the Congo.

Wow. Holy shit. Check this shit out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXJYkkxh0rk&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_907085

[Scribbly]

I'm really looking forward to seeing episode three tonight. 

[Jasper]

I saw some of this series recently, and I had never until now appreciated how much I ought to really hate Rand.

[Cain]

Cain, how close to truth/wrong is this documentary, in your opinion?

Edit: Teaser: How the idea of an ecosystem was created by the machines.


...

I think my brain just exploded from stupid.

Haven't watched yet, so cannot comment.

However, Curtis is generally very good.  I have all his previous documentaries on my HD somewhere, and I'm frequently impressed with how he manages to get ideas into the context of the time and their larger impact on society.

[Cramulus]

These are excellent! Really enjoying the way he constructs this narrative.

The episode on ecology was fascinating. He outlines how the science of ecology changed over time, basically moving from "Nature is ordered and balanced" to "Nature is chaotic and unpredictable". And how those ideas have impacted the growth of our civilization.


I loved the section about the geodesic dome communes, and how that idea basically fell apart. They wanted to create an egalitarian society where everybody could be free and equal without needing laws or hierarchy... and they created the opposite - a situation where the strong personalities dominated and there was no institution to resist them. (remind anybody else of forum culture?  )


The one about Ayn Rand was fascinating too. I love how he wove together these "power and love"... the montage of heart broken Ayn Rand and Clinton/Monica Lewinsky was arranged really well. I also did not realize that Alan Greenspan was an oldschool Randite -- like, he hung out at her house and was part of her reading circle. Rand's love affair was also a piece of the Rand puzzle which I did not know about. Man, I really do have to read her work some time...



Thanks for posting these, I never would have known about them. I am showing them to my roommates, one night at a time, and they're loving it too.