Astrology and dating algorithms both fuse the realistic with the irrational

Evidence

Adorno (2001) famously described astrology as capitalist society’s “regression to magic” where “thought is assimilated to late capitalist forms” that are fundamentally “asocial” (173) and where occulting forces not only do not predict the future but craft it in the image of the commodified, reified present. For Adorno, it was precisely this “combination of the realistic and the irrational” that posed a “threat and a remedy in one” (157). The inner workings of dating app algorithms, like those of Instagram or TikTok, remain fundamentally opaque—described by technologists and users alike as a different kind of magic, ostensibly substituting the magic of romantic love. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 238

Categorization

• XREF: The Adorno frame of regression-to-magic connects to the Frankfurt School material in the reader’s knowledge base — astrology and algorithm both as reified thought. — connects to: Dating app algorithms function as a secular magic with opaque inner workings — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 238; Financialized uncertainty drives a contemporary digital astrology boom. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 203; Dating-app desires exceed rational risk calculation and uncertainty control — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 233 (+5 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Dating app algorithms function as a secular magic with opaque inner workings — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 238; Financialized uncertainty drives a contemporary digital astrology boom. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 203; Dating-app desires exceed rational risk calculation and uncertainty control — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 233 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Bayes’ rule is the unique rational way to update belief #complicates (0.85) — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 108