Mindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World
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- Author：Christopher Wylie
- ISBN：1788165004
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Summary
In 2016， an obscure British military contractor turned the world upside down。 Funded by a billionaire on a crusade to start his own far-right insurgency， Cambridge Analytica combined psychological research with private Facebook data to make an invisible weapon with the power to change what voters perceived as real。
The firm was created to launch the then unknown Steve Bannon's ideological assault on America。 But as it honed its dark arts in elections from Trinidad to Nigeria， 24-year-old research director Christopher Wylie began to see what he and his colleagues were unleashing。
He had heard the disturbing visions of the investors。 He saw what CEO Alexander Nix did behind closed doors。 When Britain shocked the world by voting to leave the EU， Wylie realised it was time to expose his old associates。 The political crime of the century had just taken place - the weapon had been tested - and nobody knew what had hit them。
The firm was created to launch the then unknown Steve Bannon's ideological assault on America。 But as it honed its dark arts in elections from Trinidad to Nigeria， 24-year-old research director Christopher Wylie began to see what he and his colleagues were unleashing。
He had heard the disturbing visions of the investors。 He saw what CEO Alexander Nix did behind closed doors。 When Britain shocked the world by voting to leave the EU， Wylie realised it was time to expose his old associates。 The political crime of the century had just taken place - the weapon had been tested - and nobody knew what had hit them。
Reviews
Govi
，
Brilliant， thought provoking and must read。 One of the best books ever read。
Sam Sea
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Absolutely incredible
Tomasz
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Christopher pracował na rzecz Liberalnej Partii Kanady， pośrednio na rzecz brytyjskich konserwatystów i amerykańskich republikanów。 Jako gej początkowo na wózku， przekonał się， że żaden system nie jest doskonały， każdy ma słabe punkty i swoje luki， że nie ma barier do pokonania。Sprawnie wykorzystał tendencję， która narodziła się w Dolinie Krzemowej - przedsiębiorstwa zaczęły zarabiać na asymetrii wiedzy - maszyny wiedzą o naszych zachowaniach znacznie więcej niż my o zachowaniach maszyn。Wylie sp Christopher pracował na rzecz Liberalnej Partii Kanady， pośrednio na rzecz brytyjskich konserwatystów i amerykańskich republikanów。 Jako gej początkowo na wózku， przekonał się， że żaden system nie jest doskonały， każdy ma słabe punkty i swoje luki， że nie ma barier do pokonania。Sprawnie wykorzystał tendencję， która narodziła się w Dolinie Krzemowej - przedsiębiorstwa zaczęły zarabiać na asymetrii wiedzy - maszyny wiedzą o naszych zachowaniach znacznie więcej niż my o zachowaniach maszyn。Wylie sprawnie wprowadza nas w technologiczne tajniki i najnowsze trendy projektowania uzależniających systemów i modeli władzy wewnątrz partii i firm technologicznych。Przeprowadzane przez niego polityczne fokusy wykazały， że o ile wyborcy Partii Pracy czy Konserwatywnej powiedzą o sobie "Jestem labourzystą/torysem"， o tyle Liberalni Demokraci， dla których pracował， powiedzą raczej "Głosuję na。。。"。 To element działania， nie tożsamości。 Poznajemy potem historię partii i jej konserwatywne， zacofane taktyki wyborcze， które próbował zmienić na ich korzyść。Tożsamość bowiem nie jest zbiorem jednoelementowym i w tym kryją się błędy/urposzczenia tradycyjnych firm badawczych。 Tożsamość jest bardzo zniuansowana， co wykazują sami obywatele na spotkaniach grup fokusowych - żaden z nich nie mówi "jestem białą kobietą z przedmieść z wyższym wykształceniem mieszkającą w wahającym się stanie" - przywołuje autor。Autor jest jednocześnie zafascynowany modą， kulturą i trendami， sam nie bez kozery wygląda nieprzeciętnie w różowych włosach， kolorowych akcesoriach i kolczykach。 Łączył te zainteresowania z pracą， która początkowo miała dążyć do deradykalizacji trendów w społeczeństwie。 Co łączy ekstremistów - wygląd zewnętrzny， uniformy stające się elementem tożsamości - to już nie tylko oto w co wierzę， ale i oto kim jestem。 Ruchy ekstremistyczne często posługują się estetyką， bo dążą do zmiany estetyki całego społeczeństwa。 Chcą nadać nowego ducha społeczeństwu i kulturze。 Sami dżihadyści， których materiałami Wylie często się posługiwał， w swoich materiałach propagandowych wykorzystywali szpanerskie samochody， męskich boahterów。 Chcieli pokazać swoją anachroniczną ideologię jako nowoczesną， niczym włoscy futuryści。W pierwszym poligonie doświadczalnym w USA， sprawdzano strukturę amerykańskiego społeczeństwa。 Grupy fokusowe często są tu przytaczane。 Pewien mężczyzna narzekał na zlikwidowane w szkołach nauki jęztka jego przodków， francuskiego， po czym po 15 minutach narzekał na latynposów używających hiszpańskiego。 Nikt w pokoju nie dostrzegł sprzeczności。Albo zapytani， czy ktoś nie jest rozczarowany prezydenturą Obamy， zgłosił się ledwie jeden człowiek - nie był rozczarowany， bo po czarnym nie spodziewał się wiele。 Komiczny jest opis， kiedy Steve Bannon， bliski Trumpowi kontestator kultury i wpływowa medialnie postać korzystał z usług CA， więc szef za każdym razem urządzał w Cambridge fikcyjne biuro， pracowników z agencji tymczasowej - istna maskarada potiomkinowska。 Od tego miasta wzięła nazwę Analytica。 Steve Bannon padł pierwszy ofiarą CA。W czasie prawyborów upolowani skrajni wyborcy republikan o znanych cechach charakteru byli spraszani na spotkania， gdzie mogli wymienić swoje poglądy i zobaczyć， że nie są sami。 W ten sposób nakręcana narracja urzeczywistniała się， ludzie upewniali się co do irracjonalnych przekonań， wystarczało kilkadziesiąt osób zaproszonych do niewielkiej kafejki， w której często była osoba z CA podburzająca i podsycająca emocje。Po opuszczeniu CA następuje kampania Brexitowa。 Dowiadujemy się， że kampanie za wyjściem ze wspólnoty w celu zgromadzenia większości wykorzystywały też progresywne narracje （np。 nierówność migracji - z białej Europy bez przeszkód， z byłych kolonii - z przeszkodami） w celu przekonania do Brexitu。Wylie sypie nazwiskami i powiązaniami z rosyjskimi działaczami i oligarchami。 Pod koniec przeczytamy też rady Chrisa skierowane do polityków。Koniec końców poznajemy proces kontaktów z dziennikarzami brytyjskimi i amerykańskimi， zabezpieczania od strony prawnej， co wymagało cichego zdobycia funduszy od zamożnych fundatorów i kontakty z parlamentarzystami objętymi immunitetem， wreszcie - kontakt ze służbami specjalnymi。 Dziennikarze urządzli szereg mistyfikacji restauracji w celu przyłapania szefa CA na opowiadaniu o popełnionych czynach， w tym kolonialnych praktykach w Trynidadzie i Tobago。 Zaangażowanych tutaj - w przeciwieństwie do samotnego Snowdena - było mnóstwo osób。 Koniec końców sprawa wywołała furię Facebooka i podejmowane przez korporację kroki prawno wizerunkowe， a życie Chrisa zmieniło się diametralnie。Autor wyjaśnia， że media społecznościowe i internetowe platformy nie są usługami。 Są architekturami i infrastrukturami。 Próbują przerzucić na użytkownika odpowiedzialność， a tak nie dzieje się przecież np。 w liniach lotniczych， wodociągach， hotelach， itd。 Dają do zrozumienia， że ich prawo do czerpania zysków jest ważniejsze od kosztów społecznych。 Przyznają pośrednio， że stworzyli systemy tak rozbudowane， że nie radzą sobie z odpowiednim nimi zarządzaniem。Jako osoba śledząca na bieżąco kwestie z pogranicza prywatności i polityki muszę przyznać， że znajdzie się tu kilka ciekawych， nieznanych szerzej ciekawostek。Trudno porównywać tę książkę do opowieści Snowdena， mnie jednak historia Amerykanina bardziej wciągnęła。 To nie znaczy， że to zła książka。 Po prostu inna。 。。。more
Stefan R
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Fascinating account of the history and inner workings of Cambridge Analytica。The book definitely presents Christopher Wylie as a misunderstood genius who was pivotal to the creation of CA and who eventually became a victim of it。 Unfortunately （and ironically） the very subjective narrative， along with the subversive nature of his work so far and the fact that some of his claims have been disputed， makes it quite hard to take anything at face value。
☁
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This is the world we live in today。 Disgusting。
Sue
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Theres a lot of technical detail in this book which is quite hard to read if you are not that way inclined。 However， Wylie was the man who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica and tried to hold the tech giants to account and its a fascinating story of how tech controls us。 How it can be used to subjugate not just individuals but countries， putting us all as the author says， in "little boxes"， reading every contact we make and everything we react to。 Read this and you may find yourself shuttin Theres a lot of technical detail in this book which is quite hard to read if you are not that way inclined。 However， Wylie was the man who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica and tried to hold the tech giants to account and its a fascinating story of how tech controls us。 How it can be used to subjugate not just individuals but countries， putting us all as the author says， in "little boxes"， reading every contact we make and everything we react to。 Read this and you may find yourself shutting down most of your social media accounts。 。。。more
Saad Abdullah
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If you ever wondered how an idiot like Trump became the president of America， or why the UK left the EU， read this book。
Gabriel Chartier
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If only all citizens of the USA knew the games that are being played with our psyches。
Mary
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I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for Christopher Wylie after reading this。 This book is a very concise， clear and personal insider's look at the Cambridge Analytica scandal。 One of the things I admire most about Wylie and his storytelling is that it really appears that he is telling the whole truth， and doesn't try to reframe it in a way that casts himself in a positive light。 For example， he recalls that when he first met Steve Bannon， he found him to smart and cool， and even reve I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for Christopher Wylie after reading this。 This book is a very concise， clear and personal insider's look at the Cambridge Analytica scandal。 One of the things I admire most about Wylie and his storytelling is that it really appears that he is telling the whole truth， and doesn't try to reframe it in a way that casts himself in a positive light。 For example， he recalls that when he first met Steve Bannon， he found him to smart and cool， and even reveals that he felt like "a kindred spirit。" I think a lot of other people would have been ashamed to admit that， and perhaps even would have suggested that they "knew he was a bad apple from the start。" So Wylie's telling really earns him a lot credibility， and also reveals a lot about his character in a way that makes him seem like a real， multidimensional personal。 It seemed that Wylie， in addition to being incredibly young， was （and still is） an extremely intelligent， creative person who thrived being around other smart， creative people， regardless of their background。 So if someone like Steven Bannon could have an intelligent conversation with him， on his level， he was there for it， even if they disagreed on a lot of things。 Similarly， a genius like Wylie just couldn't resist any opportunity to work on a really interesting problem， even if the project was not really aligned with his values。 Clearly， this a flaw that got him into a lot of trouble， and is surely something he is trying to make amends for now。My interpretation of the structure of this book is that Wylie is attempting to explain why what CA （and other tech companies） was doing wrong on three levels: moral， legal， and philosophical。 The first part （moral） is amazing。 This is the part in which Wylie describes his background and how he came to work for CA， and all the shady things that happened along the way。 One the things that he really explained well was the concept of using psychometric profiling， and how well it works in predicting （and then influencing） behavior - even better than demographic profiling。 I realized that it was very wrong and evil。And that's why the second and third parts were much more boring for me。 I didn't need to have it proven to me beyond the shadow of the doubt that Russia was directly involved in order for me to conclude it was bad。 I was already convinced that these practices （not just CA's work， but the whole area of psyops， targeting， psychometric profiling etc） were morally wrong， so it didn't really interest me to go into the nitty-gritty details of what Russians did and when。 I remember when this was happening in the news and finding it so boring。 Furthermore， Wylie was very careful to make it clear that a lot of what he knew about alleged Russian involvement was second-hand because he had already left the company。 So there was a lot of overexplaining and mental gymnastics， and it wasn't very interesting。 Same for the third part， where Wylie tries to put this whole saga into an academic philosophy context -he used a lot of big words， but it wasn't really interesting。 The best part was the part that was his story - what he actually saw， actually did， and how it made him feel （then and now）。 。。。more
Jeshka
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I actually didn't get very far in this book。 The part I did read was like 95% personal information about the author and that's not what I'm reading this book for。 I couldn't maintain the interest needed to keep reading， I have ADHD。 Someone get back to me with the tldr， or a version with a lot of details。。。about the Cambridge Analytica thing， not the author。 I actually didn't get very far in this book。 The part I did read was like 95% personal information about the author and that's not what I'm reading this book for。 I couldn't maintain the interest needed to keep reading， I have ADHD。 Someone get back to me with the tldr， or a version with a lot of details。。。about the Cambridge Analytica thing， not the author。 。。。more
AC
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Chilling read。 Talks in detail how Cambridge Analytica worked: details psychometric profiling; ‘computational psychology’， ‘perspecticide’， societal manipulation through scale psyops and cultural simulations in silico。 Also names people that were involved yet we heard little of at the time such as Sophie Schmidt （Google’s Eric Schmidt’s daughter） and Robert Mercer。It is from time to time one sided and he clearly was on board with Cambridge Analytica as long as it promoted his values （erasing hom Chilling read。 Talks in detail how Cambridge Analytica worked: details psychometric profiling; ‘computational psychology’， ‘perspecticide’， societal manipulation through scale psyops and cultural simulations in silico。 Also names people that were involved yet we heard little of at the time such as Sophie Schmidt （Google’s Eric Schmidt’s daughter） and Robert Mercer。It is from time to time one sided and he clearly was on board with Cambridge Analytica as long as it promoted his values （erasing homophobia through psyops for example）。 Which is why I find him a hypocrite because as soon as the company got under the influence of Steve Bannnon， Christopher Wylie got increasingly angry seeing his causes not being prioritised anymore。 Having said that， it is still a gripping read。 Knowing that some very smart tech-savy （and often frustrated） people should hold that much power while believing they are entitled to sway societies in the direction they ‘know is right’ is worrisome。 。。。more
Steven Yenzer
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Fascinating and disturbing， although Wylie's continuous attempt to rehabilitate his image was trying。 Fascinating and disturbing， although Wylie's continuous attempt to rehabilitate his image was trying。 。。。more
Joshua
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i’m a bit disappointed。 this book covered topics i already follow or followed， from gamergate to the alt right and it’s collection of deplorables and their funders。 yet， i did not enjoy the read。 the authors voice is tediously flippant。 he spends an unpleasant long time describing peoples style and not enough time explaining their actions。 it also felt like he was trying to minimize his contributions to this sordid affair， which honestly felt very hollow。 i’ll just end this with the quote that p i’m a bit disappointed。 this book covered topics i already follow or followed， from gamergate to the alt right and it’s collection of deplorables and their funders。 yet， i did not enjoy the read。 the authors voice is tediously flippant。 he spends an unpleasant long time describing peoples style and not enough time explaining their actions。 it also felt like he was trying to minimize his contributions to this sordid affair， which honestly felt very hollow。 i’ll just end this with the quote that pretty much soured the whole book for me: “Bannon and I were clearly on the same wavelength， and the conversation that day flowed so naturally， it felt as if we were flirting—but not， because that would be gross。” 。。。more
Mary Beth
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Holy crap， what these companies did。 This gives the inside look at the techies who created the environment for Cambridge Analytica to happen。
Cheryl Gatling
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Well， that book was depressing。 Enlightening， frightening， sometimes exciting， when author Christopher Wylie， as whistleblower， was fearing for his life while trying to expose the misdeeds of Cambridge Analytica， the tech company he had helped to found。 But mostly depressing。If you are like most of America， you have been shaking your head in dismay， wondering， “What happened to my country？” Why is everyone so mad？ Why are we so divided？ And why do the divisions only seem to get deeper， even as s Well， that book was depressing。 Enlightening， frightening， sometimes exciting， when author Christopher Wylie， as whistleblower， was fearing for his life while trying to expose the misdeeds of Cambridge Analytica， the tech company he had helped to found。 But mostly depressing。If you are like most of America， you have been shaking your head in dismay， wondering， “What happened to my country？” Why is everyone so mad？ Why are we so divided？ And why do the divisions only seem to get deeper， even as so many people are distressed by them？ And why do so many people seem to believe so much batshit crazy stuff？ And how did we elect an amoral， lying， psychopath of a president？ And why do so many people still support him， even when there is documentation that he is an amoral， lying， psychopath？The short answer is that certain people wanted exactly that to happen。 They broke our country ON PURPOSE。 They identified those people most likely to be angry or get angry， then fed them a steady diet of things to make them even more angry， even if those things were untrue。 As long as it broke down social cohesion and people’s trust in each other and in our institutions。 It didn’t matter if the country crashed and burned， as long as certain people got power。To begin with， Christopher Wylie was a young， gay， Canadian liberal。 He got started in Canadian politics。 He visited the United States during Obama’s candidacy， and learned that the Obama campaign was using the internet to target people who might support them， and to encourage them to get out and vote。 Wylie was intrigued by the potential good that could be done by using data as a tool in politics， at a time when the Liberal Democrats in the UK were concentrating on a strategy of distributing leaflets。Wylie got a job at SCL in England （Strategic Communications Laboratory）， a firm that was then working on fighting extreme ideologies that fueled terrorism and drug trafficking in other parts of the world。 Wylie thought they could be more effective at changing hearts and minds if they used data。 They Wikipedia page on Wylie suggests that he exaggerated the importance of his own role in what happened， that he was not “director of research” but only a “student intern。” But it really doesn’t matter whether he was mastermind of the project or not。 What happened happened。 And Wylie was there。What happened is that Steve Bannon， then director of far-right Breitbart News， and billionaire Robert Mercer wanted to use data to help conservatives gain power in America。 They were going to transform the culture wars， and win elections。 Mercer poured millions of dollars into the project。 Cambridge Analytica was created， an arm of the British SCL， that would operate in America。But first， they needed the data。 Lots of data。 And they got it from Facebook。 They started out by asking people to fill out a survey。 Then they took all of those people’s data。 All of it。 Everything on their Facebook profile。 And all the data of all of their friends。 All of their friends。 The original survey-takers may have given some consent in the fine print they didn’t read， but the friends definitely did not。 And none of them even knew it was happening。 Was it legal？ Cambridge Analytica didn’t ask。 Facebook let them do it。With that much data， they had the ability to very accurately assess people’s personality， then predict their behavior。 Then they were able to manipulate that behavior。 They were able to plant ideas， and make them grow。 They were able to change people。 Wylie says his sense of unease grew to moral repugnance。 What was being done in the Brexit campaign and the Trump campaign was shady enough， but Cambridge Analytica also interfered in elections in Nigeria， where they showed videos of people being tortured and murdered on screen。 Wylie left Cambridge Analytica。 First he tried to warn people about what was happening， but no one cared。 Eventually reporters contacted him， and he began to tell his story。 That led to giving sworn testimony before the British Parliament and the US Congress。 Wylie is frustrated that few changes have been made in the system。 Facebook apologized and paid a fine。 Those people who got into power by questionable means， they stayed in power。The book continues with a warning about how pervasive tech is in our lives， when our TVs can watch us and listen to us。 And if you don’t have a social media account， as Wylie no longer does， since Facebook banned him， it’s hard to keep in touch with people， or get a job， or get invited to parties。 The danger continually grows that humans will be used and abused。 We think we are making autonomous decisions， but are we？ The book ends with some ideas about how the tech industry can be regulated to protect humans。 It can be done， but powerful forces don’t want it to happen， and will fight it with all the targeted disinformation they can muster。 。。。more
Mgrdich Minasian
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He is truly an Oracle ， who was seeing through the matrix all along and tried to warn us on a couple of multiple occasions ， while ， we were busy in indulging our-self in the same technology that lead us to our demise。 My hope is that this book makes people aware importance of the personal information ， since ， we live in the information age and the dangers of this type of information when it gets in the hands of wrong players。One of the best non-fiction books that i have read in a long while ， He is truly an Oracle ， who was seeing through the matrix all along and tried to warn us on a couple of multiple occasions ， while ， we were busy in indulging our-self in the same technology that lead us to our demise。 My hope is that this book makes people aware importance of the personal information ， since ， we live in the information age and the dangers of this type of information when it gets in the hands of wrong players。One of the best non-fiction books that i have read in a long while ， very informative and engaging。 。。。more
Bobbi Trimble
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An absolute must read。
Marta （Bibliofilem być）
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Ciekawy temat， ale bardzo irytujący autor。
Jose Antonio Alguacil
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Un libro esencial para comprender las implicaciones de la tecnología actual sobre nuestrocomportamiento。 Muy bien escrito， muy ameno。 Muy recomendable
Spyros Chiotakis
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Apart from self-serving purposes this book is a good entry to what data mining is about and why companies are interested in your data。 It is fascinating to see the quest of data engineers to crack the mystery of data and the connections between them to make an algorithm that can reliably change the opinion of the target people or target them better with advertisements。I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how data harvesting companies can use this data to manipulate your opinio Apart from self-serving purposes this book is a good entry to what data mining is about and why companies are interested in your data。 It is fascinating to see the quest of data engineers to crack the mystery of data and the connections between them to make an algorithm that can reliably change the opinion of the target people or target them better with advertisements。I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how data harvesting companies can use this data to manipulate your opinion and the opinion of people around you towards serving their clients agenda。 。。。more
Chelsea
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Mindf*ck is a startling glimpse into the darker aspects of social media and the dissemination of user data for purposes more sinister than just ad targeting。 Christopher Wylie–the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower–reveals how social media user profiles， likes， photos and more are weaponized to create echo chambers and spread disinformation to sway public and voter opinion。 Before reading this book， I watched a documentary covering Cambridge Analytica which focused more on Brittany Kaiser and the Mindf*ck is a startling glimpse into the darker aspects of social media and the dissemination of user data for purposes more sinister than just ad targeting。 Christopher Wylie–the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower–reveals how social media user profiles， likes， photos and more are weaponized to create echo chambers and spread disinformation to sway public and voter opinion。 Before reading this book， I watched a documentary covering Cambridge Analytica which focused more on Brittany Kaiser and the later involvement of Cambridge Analytica with Trump's campaign and Brexit。 I found this book to be more illuminating about the company's inception and the shady activities that were conducted in Africa and the "digital colonialism" that was perpetrated in those nations。 This and many other events that are detailed in the book left me shocked。 Of all the things that disturbed me， the worst was that many of the main actors in this story faced little to no consequences and neither the integrity of the the American election nor Brexit decision were challenged though Cambridge Analytica/SCL were involved in both。 At times， I noticed Christopher Wylie's storytelling had a tendency to frame everyone else as the bad guys with little reflection on his role in Cambridge Analytica's beginnings。 Wylie worked for the company for a year and he seemed to be aware of the activities in Africa–among other projects with dubious ethical grounds–meanwhile he never brought this information to light until the effects of CA were bleeding into the more publicized political landscapes of Britain and America。 Only then does it seem like Wylie becomes self-aware of the ramifications of his participation and complicity in CA's actions。 Overall this book was very well written， compelling from start to finish。 I really liked how Wylie provided recommendations on how legislators might regulate data mining and tech companies going forward。 I found this book did a good job of covering the intricacies of the events while also applying them to broader issues such as the right to privacy and autonomy， the implications of sharing our information， and the ever diminishing barrier between the online environment and the real world。 I think this is a required read for everyone using social media today。 Before reading this I was kind of skeptical about the ramifications of social media and often felt that warnings against rapidly developing technology were overblown and even Orwellian， but the events covered in this book are really just like reading a futuristic， dystopian novel–except it's all real。 。。。more
Stephanie Cassidy
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DNF @ 7% - it’s an interesting topic， one that I could definitely get into。 However， the author just drones on and on and on and it’s very boring。
James
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- See highlights - first half is strong， second half less so
Michiel Mennen
，
It's hard not to become cynical after reading this book， along with the many other books that expose today's powerful forces at play。 The knowledge that nothing fundamental has changed since only further drives the point home that there is no hope。 Still， some of the suggestions at the end of the book on how to correct this issue provides a bit of silver lining; that conceptually there are ways to right these wrongs。 Making people aware of this is the first step。Highly recommended reading。 It's hard not to become cynical after reading this book， along with the many other books that expose today's powerful forces at play。 The knowledge that nothing fundamental has changed since only further drives the point home that there is no hope。 Still， some of the suggestions at the end of the book on how to correct this issue provides a bit of silver lining; that conceptually there are ways to right these wrongs。 Making people aware of this is the first step。Highly recommended reading。 。。。more
Marcin
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Generalnie temat poruszony w książce jest bardzo ciekawy i daje do myślenia。W dzisiejszych czasach tak naprawdę nie wiemy co jest prawdą， a co służy manipulacjii wprowadzaniu nas w błąd。
Alokmahajan
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It's a great book ☺️。 Christopher has done a commendable job in explaining Cambridge analytica fiasco。 I work in software industry and these are the kind of books which I belive should be taught in colleges。 Scale at which we have been manipulated by social media is huge and I feel pity for our generation where privacy seems like a myth。 Highly recommended book。 It's a great book ☺️。 Christopher has done a commendable job in explaining Cambridge analytica fiasco。 I work in software industry and these are the kind of books which I belive should be taught in colleges。 Scale at which we have been manipulated by social media is huge and I feel pity for our generation where privacy seems like a myth。 Highly recommended book。 。。。more
Sean
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Incredibly engaging and eye-opening read。 It's hard to believe how simple manipulation of the masses is， and the power such authority wields。 We were coaxed into voting for Brexit and bringing Trump to power。A lot of people in high places should go to prison for the cheating they've done， but they'll get away with it。 It's apparently acceptable to brainwash and defraud a nation， then blame the intern。 Incredibly engaging and eye-opening read。 It's hard to believe how simple manipulation of the masses is， and the power such authority wields。 We were coaxed into voting for Brexit and bringing Trump to power。A lot of people in high places should go to prison for the cheating they've done， but they'll get away with it。 It's apparently acceptable to brainwash and defraud a nation， then blame the intern。 。。。more
Shorya Jain
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This was a little taxing to read for me personally， but a lot of interesting insights into how data was leveraged to affect voter turnout， suppression， mass outlook etc。 It is very worrying how big tech remains answerable to none。
Amber Lea
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This book ties it all together。 We know there’s a connection between Trump， Steve Bannon， Robert mercer， Cambridge analytica， Facebook， Russia， Brexit and all the chaos of the last five years， but it’s so hard to understand how all the pieces actually fit together and Christopher Wylie has the answers because he was involved in all of it。 And it’s basically exactly what you suspect。If you’re trying to understand how we got where we are politically， and perhaps how we might save ourselves， I’d sa This book ties it all together。 We know there’s a connection between Trump， Steve Bannon， Robert mercer， Cambridge analytica， Facebook， Russia， Brexit and all the chaos of the last five years， but it’s so hard to understand how all the pieces actually fit together and Christopher Wylie has the answers because he was involved in all of it。 And it’s basically exactly what you suspect。If you’re trying to understand how we got where we are politically， and perhaps how we might save ourselves， I’d say this might be the most important book you could read。 It explains everything that other books couldn’t。I will note this definitely isn’t a perfect book。 I think Wylie is a little condescending at times， and I definitely question his honesty around his willingness to overlook the ethics of what he was doing。 （Like bruh， you really never stopped to think about it？ Are you sure？ Because you really seem to have some well developed opinions on this stuff。 You definitely don’t SEEM like someone who wouldn’t think about it or ask questions。） He also likes to stop and lecture the reader on things that aren’t super related and he uses metaphors that don’t quite work。 But honestly， I don’t think that should stop anyone from reading it because the insights you’ll find here are really important。This is one of those books I think everyone should read。 Especially anyone who uses social media， which is everyone。 。。。more
Alyssa
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