Jos Jansen, This is not about pigeons, 2021

Hades was a powerful god in classical Greek mythology. His ‘Helmet of Darkness’ enabled him and the other gods to be invisible during their sometimes-ambiguous quests. Therefore, the helmet became proverbial for those who conceal their true nature… Thist book (2021) examines how digital platforms such as Amazon, Tinder, Uber, and Airbnb, with their inscrutable algorithms, have drastically altered social structures and human behaviour – and not always for the better. Completely new meaning has been given to concepts such as work, employment, dating, and tourism, while the invasive nature of the algorithms is said to be derived from the extremely addictive mechanisms employed by the gaming industry. It recalls the behavioural experiments on pigeons by American psychologist B. F. Skinner, who drew parallels with humans. Jansen’s book offers a critical-artistic view of the digital platform economy’s downsides.