Discounting the fact that the author's previous foray into writing was one of those "grand" books that everyone loves to read to make themselves feel they're smart, and which was actually laughed out the door by real historians (just look up /r/askhistorians), lets take the argument that the author makes on its own merit.
The argument goes something like this: Because we'll be able to deconstruct the human body/mind via Scientific Insights provided by Big Data, it will pose an "existential challenge" to our freedoms. The author uses the word "algorithm" liberally to describe any biochemical process that occur in the human body and thinks that that automatically means that human beings are somehow devoid of free will. [0]
What the author has forgotten about is that data has nothing to do with the fundamental of the problem at all. We have known for centuries that human biology is a thing and every decade has brought more insights about how it works. The fact that we fundamentally understand the composition of DNA didn't pose some big 'existential threat' to free will. Neither will Big Data.
It's the age old question about Consciousness in new dressing.
Frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of all these doomsday prophets, first the author who wrote the Singularity book and now this. I read the FT article based on this. It almost feels like a self-promotion. Say something controversial about a trendy topic (Big Data), make an ominous prediction, write blogs, get enough of a following, write a book, then write another one. Watch the $$ roll in.
The argument goes something like this: Because we'll be able to deconstruct the human body/mind via Scientific Insights provided by Big Data, it will pose an "existential challenge" to our freedoms. The author uses the word "algorithm" liberally to describe any biochemical process that occur in the human body and thinks that that automatically means that human beings are somehow devoid of free will. [0]
What the author has forgotten about is that data has nothing to do with the fundamental of the problem at all. We have known for centuries that human biology is a thing and every decade has brought more insights about how it works. The fact that we fundamentally understand the composition of DNA didn't pose some big 'existential threat' to free will. Neither will Big Data.
It's the age old question about Consciousness in new dressing.
Frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of all these doomsday prophets, first the author who wrote the Singularity book and now this. I read the FT article based on this. It almost feels like a self-promotion. Say something controversial about a trendy topic (Big Data), make an ominous prediction, write blogs, get enough of a following, write a book, then write another one. Watch the $$ roll in.
Nothing to see here, move on.
[0] http://www.ft.com/content/50bb4830-6a4c-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a2...