You are not a gadget

IT‟S EARLY in the twenty-first century, and that means that these words will mostly be read by nonpersons—automatons^↲ or numb mobs^↲ composed of people who are no longer acting as individuals. The words will be minced^↲ into atomized search-engine keywords within industrial cloud computing facilities located in remote, often secret locations around the world. They will be copied millions of times by algorithms designed to send an advertisement to some person somewhere who happens to resonate with some fragment of what I say. They will be scanned, rehashed^↲, and misrepresented by crowds of quick and sloppy readers^↲ into wikis and automatically aggregated wireless text message streams. Reactions will repeatedly degenerate into mindless chains^↲ of anonymous insults and inarticulate controversies. Algorithms will find correlations between those who read my words and their purchases^↲, their romantic adventures, their debts, and, soon, their genes. Ultimately these words will contribute to the fortunes of those few who have been able to position themselves as lords of the computing clouds. The vast fanning out of^↲ the fates of these words will take place almost entirely in the lifeless^↲ world of pure information. Real human eyes will read these words in only a tiny minority of the cases. And yet it is you, the person, the rarity among my readers, I hope to reach. The words in this book are written for people, not computers. I want to say: You have to be somebody before you can share yourself.

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Key Terms…

nonpersons—automatons ↔ autômatos não humanos^↲
numb mobs ↔ multidões dormentes^↲
minced ↔ picado^↲
cloud computing facilities ↔ instalações de computação em nuvem
resonate ↔ ressoar
rehashed ↔ requentada^↲
misrepresented ↔ deturpado
quick and sloppy readers ↔ leitores rápidos e desleixado^↲
degenerate into mindless chains ↔ degenerar-se em cadeias irracionais^↲
purchases ↔ compras^↲
Ultimately ↔ Em última análise
position themselves ↔ posicionarem-se
The vast fanning out of ↔ A grande ventilação de^↲
lifeless ↔ sem vida^↲
tiny minority ↔ pequena minoria
yet ↔ ainda
among ↔ entre

^↱nonpersons—automatons

autômatos não humanos

Frenchmen whose names have not been accepted are legal nonpersons, cannot marry, vote or receive welfare payments. ↔Franceses, cujos nomes não foram aceitos são não-pessoas jurídicas, não podem casar, votar ou receber pagamentos de benefício.

We want to see humans on the campaign trail, not self-serving automatons. ↔Queremos ver os seres humanos durante a campanha, e não auto-serviços autômatos.

^↱numb mobs

multidões dormentes

Thus, mobs were instigated against the constitution and it was publicly torn up. ↔Assim, multidões foram instigados contra a Constituição e ela foi rasgada publicamente.

^↱minced

picado

Add minced clams, bread crumbs and enough clam broth to lightly moisten mixture. ↔Adicionar amêijoas picadas, migalhas de pão e caldo de mariscos suficiente para umedecer levemente a mistura.

^↱rehashed

requentada

It is a rehash of earlier proposals. ↔É um novo arranjo de propostas anteriores.

The recurrent theme of their remarks was that they couldn’t accept “unconditional truth”, rehashing of clichés, or partial scientific evidence. ↔O tom recorrente das manifestações foi o de não aceitar “verdades absolutas”, repetições de clichês ou evidências científicas parciais.

^↱quick and sloppy readers

leitores rápidos e desleixado

Gérard has worked quickly but he has not been sloppy or careless. ↔O Gérard trabalhou com celeridade, mas não foi trapalhão, nem descuidado.

^↱degenerate into mindless chains

degenerar-se em cadeias irracionais

I think that is the kind of mindless loyalty that we Brits fought a war against. ↔Eu acho que é o tipo de lealdade irracional a qual nós britânicos travamos uma guerra contra.

^↱purchases

compras

Then the fleet business went away, and financing for new car purchases dried up. ↔Então o negócio da frota foi embora, e o financiamento para a compra de carros novos secou.

^↱The vast fanning out of

A grande ventilação de

At first the Taliban numbered only 30, but within months it had swelled into a conquering force fanning out of Kandahar to take control of most of Afghanistan. ↔No início, o Taliban contava com apenas 30, mas dentro de meses eles aumentadaram para uma força conquistadora, irradiando-se de Kandahar para assumir o controle da maior parte do Afeganistão.

^↱lifeless

sem vida

Orito discards the forceps, lifts the lifeless baby by his ankles and slaps him. ↔Orito descarta a pinça, levanta o bebê sem vida pelos tornozelos e lhe dá um tapa.