I published my last post about a month ago. So it\u2019s been quite a while again, and of course, I\u2019ve read several books in the meantime. So why are there no new book reviews here? Why this period of silence? The answer might be surprising, but the reason is that I can\u2019t write about these books. I\u2019ve thought for a long time about whether I should address this topic, but I think it\u2019s a very interesting aspect of blogging and quite exciting to discuss.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Basically, this is my blog, and that means: my blog, my rules. As long as it doesn\u2019t violate any laws, I can write whatever I want here. Well, it\u2019s not that simple. Potentially anyone can read along here. Family, friends, and acquaintances \u2014 that\u2019s unproblematic. But also colleagues, supervisors, and even people who may not like me at all. Let\u2019s not forget companies. With every post you publish, you reveal something, you create an external perception, and with the decision about what to write and which book to review, you are certainly not completely free.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
An important issue for me here is data privacy. I\u2019ve written about that in the past<\/a>, and it\u2019s still on my mind that this blog, everything I write, can also be processed automatically. In times of powerful AI systems, this has become even easier. It would be quite interesting to scan an entire blog, store the posts, feed them to ChatGPT as context, and then ask questions about the person \u2014 who they are, what kind of character traits they might have, what political or religious views the blog owner might hold. What would come out of that if one reads books that are not politically correct? Bing Chat knows me and my blog. I can even, for example, ask Bing Chat about Uwe from Kaffeehaussitzer<\/a>. The AI reacts evasively to sensitive questions, but not every language model necessarily handles it that way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A second question is what happens when you read politically completely incorrect books. I do that because I\u2019m simply very curious. When I sit at home on the couch, unobserved, reading a book that might express extremist views (no matter in which direction or on what subject), which is interesting precisely because of that, no one notices. So no one would think of associating me with an extreme political spectrum. Which would also be wrong \u2014 just because I\u2019m interested in this kind of content doesn\u2019t mean I hold extreme positions in any way. But if I were to write about such a book, that would be a different story. Readers of this blog would first see that I\u2019m giving such a book a platform, implicitly giving it visibility, and many would assume that this blog supports extremist content simply because such a book is featured here. Even if my review put it into perspective, I\u2019m sure a bitter aftertaste would remain, and many readers wouldn\u2019t read on, immediately labeling this blog as extremist. And if I happened to agree with a few points in such a book \u2014 I think that would be the end of it. But of course, every book, no matter how extreme or objectionable, always contains some truth. I\u2019m convinced that even a factual review of such a book would quickly trigger a shitstorm. Perhaps I\u2019m wrong, but in times when even the adventure novels of Karl May<\/a> have become problematic, I wouldn\u2019t want to test it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I would argue that in the universe of avid readers, publishers, book bloggers, and book enthusiasts, there is a prevailing ideology. Simply by choosing books that go against it, you create a problem. For me, that results in a kind of self-censorship that no one can completely escape. Sure, one could ignore it \u2014 the people who agree with the content will gather on the blog, and that\u2019s fine. However, I seek discourse on political topics only in a very limited way, especially since such debates are no longer conducted objectively in this country and the culture of discussion in Germany doesn\u2019t function very well. Books, for me, mean relaxation \u2014 an immersion into other worlds \u2014 and yes, books are also a source of political education for me. But that doesn\u2019t automatically mean that I want to discuss them. Nor topics like faith or philosophy, which belong to the absolute core of one\u2019s private life. Because of that, I keep finding myself in situations like this one \u2014 that I simply can\u2019t write about the books I\u2019m currently reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n