IN THE ALGORITHM WE TRUST

Ginsberg’s SF novel questions whether it’s worthwhile to surrender free will for the possibility of perfection.

In the world of the novel, the Algorithm determines how to meet each person’s desires; a Data Gathering Device in every person’s left ear collects the relevant information. The Algorithm is the brainchild of Lamar T. Haddington, now America’s president. A child of divorce, Haddington created the formula to answer his suicidal mother’s final question: “Why couldn’t everything be perfect?” But the Algorithm, boasting the slogan, “For all to be perfect, all imperfections must be eliminated,” hasn’t made life perfect for everyone: A border wall has been erected around the country to keep out immigrants, and dissidents are housed in horrible conditions in former zoos. Additionally, due to the recording devices wedged into their ears, people are living in a surveillance state. (Those who disagree with the Algorithmic reality are found out and swiftly punished.) The narrative focuses on Hugo Rodríguez, a true believer in the Algorithm. Haddington’s Algorithmic Corporation supplies everything to Hugo—his education, career, pets…even his soulmate and their child. Although Hugo has some doubts during his formative years, in the end, he remains an Algorithm zealot; like most of those around him, he wants that perfect life promised by Haddington. Ginsberg’s frightening story is timely in an era when citizens of divided United States are more than ready to blame ‘the other’ for the nation’s problems. This fairly short novel flies through Hugo’s early life from birth to parenthood, and the author doesn’t quite convincingly convey how a relatively intelligent man such as Hugo would so easily yield to the omnipresent entity. Americans have always wanted to choose their own direction and have resisted ceding control of their lives—this novel, despite all its well-observed portents, fails to fully make its argument.

The cautionary tale imagines a sobering but ultimately implausible future.