Ed King, founder of a search company called Pythia, is in this category.Įd King is, let’s not be coy about it, a rewriting of the Oedipus Rex story, which means a certain number of readers know the outcome before the tale begins. The new frontier, ironically, is our last bastion, and Page, Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg, god-like, man the barricades, mostly by virtue of their out-sized hubris and out-sized brains. But in the realm of the algorithm, which is the terrain of Ed King – and where Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook appear ascendant – Americans can, and do, take heart. In short, we’ve gone post-modern we’re wandering. We suspect, now, that everything is relative. We’re apprehensive instead, and feel our moment has passed, which is why our politicians are forever insisting otherwise. It’s not accurate to say that, pervasively, we view success as a birthright, or as the natural fruit of our steadfast labour. The conventions about Americans – manifest destiny, and that we’re self-made (or humbled) in the context of being set loose on a new continent – sound antiquated, shop-worn, and Eurocentric at this point. This is reflected, I think, in Ed King, wherein illusions bind people to the wheel. Mostly what’s perpetual isn’t character but illusions. ‘Character’ has a solid ring to it, whereas my impression is of constant flux, endless permutation, more desisting and more arising. JF: Do you believe in character or destiny, and do you think Americans have any particular hang-ups when it comes to these notions?
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