The Every

by Dave Eggers

The Circle had disseminated hate a million times a day, causing untold suffering and death; they had facilitated the degradation of democracy worldwide. In response, they formed committees to discuss the problem. They tweaked algorithms.

The first is just a side thing—an app that calculates the month and year of your death.

Think of how much more genuine and authentic our friendships could be,” she said, “if we just apply the right metrics to them.”

Because their devices dinged them a few times a minute, their minds were reshaped to the jittery, needy psyche that ruled the digital realm.

she modeled the behavior she wanted from herself. She was less interesting, surely, and less funny—for humor does not easily survive the intense filtering that the twenty-first century made mandatory—but she was also kinder, more positive, more generous and civil.

‘To typeset a lie is a crime. It’s taking a back-alley whisper and making it a national scream.’ ”

This man’s wife was killed, by a stranger, by police—it didn’t matter. Once it was filmed, it was posted, and once it was posted, it was eternal. This man’s wish would not be granted.

“Constraints are the key to liberation,”

“Surveillance, data and shame as behavioral modifier. That’s been where all of this has been heading all along.”

The world is undergoing a movement toward authoritarianism, Delaney, and this is about order. People think the world is out of control. They want someone to stop the changes. This aligns perfectly with what the Every is doing: feeding the urge to control, to reduce nuance, to categorize, and to assign numbers to anything inherently complex. To simplify. To tell us how it will be. An authoritarian promises these things, too.

“How is freedom best exercised?” he asked. He hadn’t looked down at his screen. This seemed to be an improvised question. “Willfully,” she said. “Irregularly. Through the refutation of custom. The breaking of patterns. The rational flouting of irrational rules. Keeping secrets. Being unseen. Solitude. Social indifference. Fighting ill-wrought power. Irreverence for authority. Moving without limit or schedule through the day and the world. Choosing when to participate and when to withdraw.”

“Subjectivity is just objectivity waiting for data,”