{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/d1a6ddca-f102-4b5c-8d87-630132fe5aaa/6a6a7a4ca585d3be789f8ac1?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"[2.8] You Are Food for The Machine","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/614dadb9772a06c8466159a2/1785418535077-f8bfb9a9-da54-4412-8a40-75b1345f1679.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>The Matrix looks more and more like the perfect allegory for the modern age. States, corporations, social systems, and even ideas have a mind of their own, and they are hungry. By participating blindly and uncritically in these systems, we feed them, and they take over more and more of our lives. </p><p><br></p><p>Sources:</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (1976)</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; Earth.org / Environment+Energy Leader fast-fashion waste roundups (2025–26)</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; Reed Hastings, Netflix earnings call / Summit LA17 remarks (2017)</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; Tristan Harris, Senate testimony (2017)</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; Dale &amp; Krueger, NBER working paper (1999) / QJE (2002); follow-up NBER (2011) / Journal of Human Resources (2014)&nbsp;</p><p>• &nbsp; &nbsp; ProPublica &amp; *The Chronicle of Higher Education*, “The Newest College Admissions Ploy: Paying to Make Your Teen a 'Peer-Reviewed' Author,” May 2023.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>","author_name":"Erik Fogg"}