The Trace Odyssey 1. Beatrice Galinon-Melenec
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terms are not perfect synonyms. This is why we have kept the French term indice in this book. In the case of Ginzburg, this is all the more justified in Mythes, emblems et traces (1989), where he explains the link between “traces and indicator roots” (idem, p. 139–181).
10 10 As is to be seen later, Carlo Ginzburg also refers to Doctor Giovanni Morelli.
11 11 Later in the book, we stress the ethical dimension to be included in the workings within the ecosystem (Chapter 2). Our thoughts on this point (Galinon-Mélénec, 2017) concur with that of the recommendations of Guszcza (2018), Hempel (2018) and O’Neil (2018), namely that, Algorithm auditing must be interdisciplinary in order for it to succeed. It should integrate professional skepticism with social science methodology and concepts from such fields as psychology, behavioral economics, human-centered design, and ethics. A social scientist asks not only, “How do I optimally model and use the patterns in this data?” but further asks, “Is this sample of data suitably representative of the underlying reality?” An ethicist might go further to ask a question such as: “Is the distribution based on today’s reality the appropriate one to use?” (Guszcza et al. 2018). As part of auditing algorithm, Cathy O’Neill (of O’Neil Risk Consulting and Algorithmic Auditing) created a tool she calls an ethical matrix, a worksheet that helps companies think through the consequences – intended and otherwise – of the algorithm’s results. Across the top of the matrix are a half-dozen traits – accuracy, consistency, bias, transparency, fairness and timeliness. The vertical axis lists that the stakeholders’ Rentlogic must consider in its model: building owners, renters, the company, and NYC officials. O’Neil says the matrix creates “a conversation around what you might need to worry about”. It’s intended to prompt programmers to consider important questions as they work: “Who cares if this algo works? Who cares if it fails?” she asks, “Who gets hurt if it’s wrong?” When these questions reveal ethically problematic consequences like, say, discriminating against a class of people, she flags the yellow or red box (see Hempel 2018).
12 12 We see later (Chapter 2 of Volume 1), how data is constructed and how it circulates in a viral way, by following the path that leads them to various computer hosts willing to receive them. This multiplier effect produces an exponential storage of data where privacy-invasive connections can be established. This risk leads users to demand the right to keep a private space that is not subject to digital capture, the possibility of access, rectification and opposition to data processing.
13 13 That conception is specific to Galinon-Mélénec’s paradigm of Ichnos-Anthropos and is not exactly equivalent to general uses of “trace”.
14 14 The respondent/investigator relationship is likely to influence the respondent’s responses.
15 15 “[...] this distinction disappears if we consider that at the origin of these two fields is that of theoretical computer science, an autonomous scientific field constituted by the articulation of discrete mathematics, and the logical theory of computability” (Lassègue 1995, p. 21–65, author’s translation).
16 16 By “reality” we mean that which is within the realm of formal human knowledge. In this sense, “reality” can be formally differentiated from the “Real”, with a capital “R”, whereby it is axiomatically assumed that phenomena exist, that are ultimately outside the reach of human knowledge.
17 17 The living cannot be reduced to human beings. Living beings existed before humans, such as triploblastic animals (e.g. worms) and chordates (vertebrates and invertebrates).
18 18 See Chapter 4, Figure 4.4.
19 19 From our point of view, it would be more accurate to say: How Real is Reality.
20 20 Sign: all that can fall within the compass of human understanding. The field of semiotics investigates the nature of signs and the laws that govern them. For example, Jacques Derrida affirms that the signifier and the signified are not fixed. He invented the expression differance to signify the endless postponement of meaning according to their readings in context. For us, there is no sign emerging outside of the conséquence-trace interaction processes between a human-trace in context and a reality-trace.
21 21 See Galinon-Mélénec (2008).
22 22 “At one level, words mean one thing, while at another level, something quite different is communicated” (Hall 1984).
23 23 Digital and paper writing processes differ in many aspects. We note here that a spell-checking or synonym selection algorithm automatically intervenes in digital writing and in translations. It is therefore advisable to enrich this database with useful nuances to avoid confusions that are harmful to communication.
24 24 Milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which anyone lives, or in which something happens or develops. In the rest of the book, we explain, in more detail, the difference between milieu and environment.
25 25 Definitions are provided in the footnotes in each case.
26 26 See Chapter 5 for the evolution of the definitions after the different steps (corresponding to chapters) of The Trace Odyssey 1.
27 27 According to the French dictionary Le Robert, the term “imprint” initially derives from the Latin impremere “to press”, that initially (1250) meant “to mark by pressure on a surface” in Rey and Hordé (2006).
28 28 E.g. this is how computer scientists talk about digital “footprints”; footprints in snow or sand. Hollywood Boulevard is inlaid with handprints and footprints of famous people.
29 29 From its first reference, the word “mark” designates a sign deliberately put on an object to make it recognizable, indicating its main property. See Rey and Hordé (2006).
30 30 E.g. (a) this style is the mark of a great couturier; (b) this adult’s behavior contains the typical markers of a trauma suffered in childhood; (c) from the smell of the perfume, a “nose” identifies Chanel No. 5.
31 31 The word indice was originally associated with the Latin meaning for “denunciation”. Today, it also evokes an apparent sign that indicates something with probability, and then a known fact that constitutes evidence by presumption. It is also associated with the term “index”, which itself means to show, to indicate with the index (finger), a catalogue, a list. See Rey and Hordé (2006).
32 32 Sometimes associated with a faint trace, or one that is imperceptible to the eyes of most people (but that is visible to this or that expert).
33 33 E.g. police investigations or medical diagnoses (in the symptom chart, the “indices” are associated with an illness).
34 34 Note, with Paul Watzlawick, that in a retroactive, circular and open system “[...] the same consequences may have different origins” (Watzlawick et al. 1979, author’s translation).
35 35 See Figure I.1.
36 36 For example, those whose main purpose is the phenomenon of “information”. Note that, for our part, we will not use the term “track” (Leleu-Merviel 2018), which in its modern sense means pursuing animals without leaving them with a way out (18th Century), and more recently (1945), in the figurative sense, “pursuit, manhunt”, even though in the police context, which we often refer to, the term could sometimes be perfectly