Author: Conor Boyle

Law graduate Trinity College Dublin 2017; Editorial Producer at Intelligence Squared. All views expressed here are my own! If you'd like to write for The Conversation Room email: boylec4@tcd.ie
Articles

Is the Age of “Move Fast and Break Things” Coming to an End?

Three business stories signal a move towards greater regulation Big tech looks like its in for some big shakeups. The era of permissionless innovation that encapsulated the growth of Facebook and Amazon in the early 2000s seems to be coming to an end as governments seek to redress the balance of power between market and state. The G7’s announcement to introduce a global minimum corporate … Continue reading Is the Age of “Move Fast and Break Things” Coming to an End?

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tech

Why Technology Changes Who We Trust

Trust is the foundation of all human connections. From brief encounters to intimate relationships, it governs almost every interaction we have with each other. I trust my housemates not to go into my room without asking, I trust the bank to keep my money safe and I trust the pilot of my plane to fly safely to the destination. Rachel Botsman describes trust as “a confident … Continue reading Why Technology Changes Who We Trust

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Articles, politics

Identity Politics: Commonality or Common Enemy?

(Image: Patrick Record) From the Trans Rights Movement to the rise of the ‘White Right’, identity has become a powerful force in modern politics. The shift away from broad based party politics to a more tribal system divided along lines of race, gender and sexual orientation is generally described as the rise of Identity Politics. Peter Franklin has also labeled the phenomenon as “Cultural Marxism” – a … Continue reading Identity Politics: Commonality or Common Enemy?

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Articles, philosophy

“The truth is there are no races”

  “The truth is that there are no races” Kwame Anthony Appiah controversially wrote in 1985 launching him into fame and notoriety among his professional peers. In this fascinating conversation between two of the most esteemed and provocative thinkers on racial identity, Appiah sits down with Professor Priya Gopal to unpack the philosophy of race, it’s historical development and why it’s not a ‘biological category.’ For … Continue reading “The truth is there are no races”

Conor Boyle7 Comments
Articles, Progress

Do the benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh the risks?

The discussion around Artificial Intelligence (AI) can sound a lot like Brexit. It’s coming but we don’t know when. It could destroy jobs but it could create more. There’s even questions about sovereignty, democracy and taking back control. Yet even the prospect of a post Brexit Britain led by Boris “fuck business” Johnson doesn’t conjure the same level of collective anxiety as humanity’s precarious future … Continue reading Do the benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh the risks?

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politics

Why Fascism Is So Tempting

(Image: Sky News)  Have we forgotten what fascism means? Today calling someone a “fascist” is  more an insulting slur than a description of one’s political ideology. In a recent speech historian and author Yuval Noah Harari argued that too often is fascism confused with nationalism. Harari argues that nationalism has been one of the most benevolent ideologies in human history. Nations are communities built up … Continue reading Why Fascism Is So Tempting

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Articles

Why News And The Internet Don’t Mix

(Image: Steve Cutts) The way in which we consume information determines how we interpret it. In his seminal work “Thinking, Fast and Slow” Daniel Kahneman, Nobel prize winning behavioural psychologist  describes how two basic systems govern the way we think. We have a primal ‘system one’ way of thinking which is fast, impulsive and emotional. We also have a ‘system two’ form of thinking which is slow, deliberative … Continue reading Why News And The Internet Don’t Mix

Conor Boyle10 Comments