MINDF*CK
Cambridge Analytica And The Plot To Break America
by Christopher Wylie
Given the title of this book and the subject matter, it is a wonder that I ever chose to read it. But, it appeared on a list of two “must-read” books for people anxious to understand what has brought the United States to the point where insurrectionists storm the Capital building in Washington D.C. and why Americans are so severely divided that they can no longer even talk to onr another. (The other book on the list was Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. I’ll report back on that in a future issue.)
In Mindf*ck, Christopher Wylie relates the story of how he came to work for Cambridge Analytica (CA) in his early twenties. A self-described social outcast since his teens, when a medical condition left him unable to walk and he came out as homosexual, Wylie was drawn to computers and gaming. That led him to jobs in the Canadian and British parliaments, where he became proficient at using data from social media sites to predict voter behavior. Within a few years, he was working at Cambridge Analytica, using data about individuals acquired in increasingly unethical ways to influence their behavior.
It took a few years for Wylie to realize, and then act on, his discovery that what he and CA were doing was morally wrong and probably illegal. In the book, he details his fascinating story of being a whistleblower against CA. Mindf*ck is full of stories about Facebook knowingly allowing hackers (and companies like CA) to “mine” the personal data of millions of users. They would then use that data to influence governments’ elections and policy decisions as huge as the United Kingdom’s BREXIT vote. Wylie includes many, many names of people involved in CA’s nefarious tactics -- from Steve Bannon to Donald Trump, along with many others.
Mindf*ck will cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand up. But it is most definitely a “must read”. You’ll find yourself sharing passages aloud to anyone who will listen. And you will forever think differently about your cell phone and how you use social media. (Liz)
