Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

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One Question About Heideggerian AI

June 8, 2020 /

I’ve been interested in questions concerning artificial intelligence (AI) for a long time. Back in the days way before I left academia. In my undergrad days at Indiana University, I even began as a Cognitive Science major. But the more I thought about these issues, the more I realized I was really interested in more philosophical questions about mind, meaning, and human understanding. Less so the science of AI. Eventually this led me to the work of Hubert Dreyfus and Heideggerian AI, Dreyfus’s application of the philosophy of Martin Heidegger to the field.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

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Making Unreasonable Demands

June 4, 2020 /

Iowa City redesigned its pedestrian mall a few years ago. Since the ped mall serves as our agora, that’s no minor task. Among other things, the city planned to replace older, open park benches with new ones. Several groups – most notably the Iowa City Catholic Worker House – claimed the new benches prevented people in a state of homelessness from sleeping on them. They called it ‘hostile architecture.’ Why? The new benches had middle armrests. As it turned out, city council meeting transcripts confirmed city officials already knew this.

And then folks with the Worker House made unreasonable demands. They demanded the city replace all the new benches. And they held a ‘sleep in‘ to draw public attention to the issue and to city officials taking an opposing stance. Why is the demand unreasonable? The city reported it would cost about $150,000, money that probably would’ve come from more important social services.

Ultimately, they reached a deal. Iowa City replaced 14 of the new benches at a lower cost. And it did so without taking money from social services.

Therefore, making unreasonable demands is a strategy that works, right? Well, maybe. Let’s find out.

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Two Years of Blogging!

June 1, 2020 /

Today is the two-year anniversary of Base and Superstructure! How time flies! I started this blog in June 2018 mostly as a hobby and creative outlet. Well over 100 posts later, I’m sticking with it. On the first anniversary, I wrote a reflective FAQ. For the second anniversary, I’ll write a new FAQ using new data.

Enjoy!

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Rent Strike Coronavirus poster

Rent Strike: Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay?

May 28, 2020 /

Through Commune magazine – by way of our local tenants union – I recently heard about Woodbine. It’s a space in Queens for food aid in the coronavirus era. Among other things, the Commune article discusses the rent strike, that object of lots of recent fascination.

As Commune puts it, the slogan of the nascent New York rent strike is ‘can’t pay, won’t pay.’ People in Iowa City talk about the same thing, often with the same slogan. So, what’s happening here? Is it a good time for a rent strike? If so, is it best to organize a rent strike around inability to pay rent during hard times?

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Pied Piper left

The Left Doesn’t Need Another Pied Piper

May 25, 2020 /

For whatever reason, left spaces encourage the ‘pied piper’ character. Always enthusiastic, he – and the Pied Piper is almost always he – wants to lead, regardless of expertise or skill. And he wants to lead now. He’s ready to get things done, and he wants to play the hero.

The Pied Piper uniquely combines ambition with enthusiasm and impatience. And he’s uniquely common in places like Iowa City.

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