I find your description of Palantir's business practices to be generally bewildering. Any other business in this country, they see the whole point of automation as being to save them the trouble of having to do these things. Even in the humanities, having a firsthand understanding of the culture you're trying to write about seems to be treated as more of an impediment than a value. About the only other place I can think of which tries to take this approach is China. And I don't think it's coincidental the way they've been rocketing ahead, using AI as a practical tool rather than treating it as a magical genie which will free us from the burden of having to think about anything ever again.
Very very smart piece and yes, "It is the way Palantir handles ’unknown knowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns‘ that makes it a compelling case for the humanities."
Thanks, Hollis. I hope your reflections on the Rumsfeld Matrix for higher education continue to inspire the discussion about the future of the humanities.
Dirk's comments are spot on as ever. It is an ultimate humiliation for common sense and reasoning alike if the German Secretary of Defense declares that he does not want to utilize Palantir technologies because of the ties of Peter Thiel and Alex Karp to the government of Donald Trump. Peter and Alex are incredibly successful gentlemen, one from Germany, the other with a huge heart for the country. And a PhD in philosophy from the university of Frankfurt. Both have never expressed an appetite for right wing politicians. They just dare to remind countries like Germany that free speech means to accept different opinions. An agreement to disagree is a viable outcome of any political discussion. For once, Shakespeare was not right when he declared: "Either is the other man's mine"
I find your description of Palantir's business practices to be generally bewildering. Any other business in this country, they see the whole point of automation as being to save them the trouble of having to do these things. Even in the humanities, having a firsthand understanding of the culture you're trying to write about seems to be treated as more of an impediment than a value. About the only other place I can think of which tries to take this approach is China. And I don't think it's coincidental the way they've been rocketing ahead, using AI as a practical tool rather than treating it as a magical genie which will free us from the burden of having to think about anything ever again.
Very very smart piece and yes, "It is the way Palantir handles ’unknown knowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns‘ that makes it a compelling case for the humanities."
Thanks, Hollis. I hope your reflections on the Rumsfeld Matrix for higher education continue to inspire the discussion about the future of the humanities.
Dirk's comments are spot on as ever. It is an ultimate humiliation for common sense and reasoning alike if the German Secretary of Defense declares that he does not want to utilize Palantir technologies because of the ties of Peter Thiel and Alex Karp to the government of Donald Trump. Peter and Alex are incredibly successful gentlemen, one from Germany, the other with a huge heart for the country. And a PhD in philosophy from the university of Frankfurt. Both have never expressed an appetite for right wing politicians. They just dare to remind countries like Germany that free speech means to accept different opinions. An agreement to disagree is a viable outcome of any political discussion. For once, Shakespeare was not right when he declared: "Either is the other man's mine"
Thanks for your comment, Uwe. I'm curious to see if and how my reflections will be received in Germany.