Echo. An essay on algorithms and desire
Ekko. Et essay om algoritmer og begjær
An investigative essay into some of the greatest challenges of our time:
Echo was the nymph who talked too much. For this, she was sentenced to a fate in which she could only repeat what others said.
In the 2000s, we meet Echo in the principles of media technology: in viral memes, social-media shitstorms and echo chambers. Whoever has the algorithms on their side wins the attention economy’s highest prize: being visible. And Echo’s great love was Narcissus, he who drowned in his own reflection.
In this essay, Lena Lindgren combines economics, mythology, psychology and science with scenes from Silicon Valley. It is a judgement of our age, a stream of consciousness, and an attempt to portray humanity’s blind date with artificial intelligence.
Winner of the Brage Prize for Best Non-Fiction Book 2021
‘Highly recommended!’
Dagbladet, 6/6 stars
‘(…) this is brilliantly considered, first-class essay-writing.’
Vårt Land
‘(…) a formidable essay about the enormous power of the tech giants. (…) A gifted and humble attempt to understand the world we share. In fact, her essay is probably the most awareness-raising I have read in a Scandinavian language about the enormous power of the tech world.’
Morgenbladet
‘Lena Lindgren’s essay on technology is awareness-raising and essential for society.’
Klassekampen
