Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate

從黏土板到演算法國家，這是一部審視人類歷史的突破性新視角，主張資訊始終是權力的種子。推薦給《連結》（Nexus）與《監控資本主義時代》（The Age of Surveillance Capitalism）的讀者。

早在文字出現之前，在美索不達米亞文明的黎明時期，統治者便將標記壓入黏土中，用以追蹤土地、人口與穀物。若要統治，就必須計算。因此，人類史上第一個被記錄下來的名字既不是神祇也不是國王，而是一名會計師，這絕非偶然。

隨著船隻與航運擴張了我們的地平線，一個全新的歐洲帝國時代利用人口普查、地圖和帳簿控制了全球超過 80% 的陸地地表，藉此決定誰屬於這裡、誰欠了債，以及誰可以被犧牲。今天，我們生活在第三個偉大時代，當我們用資訊交換近取權時，可能會感到無害或不可避免——然而，從精準廣告到邊境管制以及大規模監控，數據塑造了我們的生活軌跡。

從古代洞穴標記和繩結記事等早期工具，到殖民時期的記錄保存與演算法國家，《數據帝國》（Data Empire）揭示了數據如何始終作為權力的種子：這是一項塑造文明並支撐帝國的控制技術。帝國從來不只是關乎武器或船隻，它建立在蒐集關於我們的資訊，以便統治我們。這既是一部宏大的歷史，也是一記尖銳的批判，《數據帝國》呼籲人們正視數據所掌握的權力——並想像在這個由數據定義的時代，反抗會是什麼模樣。

From clay tablets to the algorithmic state, a groundbreaking new lens on human history arguing that information has always been the seed of power, for readers of Nexus and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

Long before writing existed, at the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia, rulers pressed marks into clay to keep track of land, people and grain. To rule, they had to keep count. It is no accident, then, that the first written name in human history was neither a god nor a king, but an accountant.

As ships and navigation expanded our horizons, a new age of European empires took control of more than 80 percent of the world’s surface using censuses, maps and ledgers to decide who belonged, who owed, and who could be sacrificed. Today, we live in the third great era, when trading our information for access can feel harmless or inevitable – yet from targeted advertising to border policing and mass surveillance, data shapes the course of our lives.

With our earliest tools like ancient cave markings and knotted strings, to colonial record-keeping and the algorithmic state, Data Empire reveals how data has always been the seed of power: a technology of control that has shaped civilizations and upheld empires. Empire was never just about weapons or ships. It was built on collecting information on us, to rule us. Both a sweeping history and a sharp critique, Data Empire is a call to recognize the power data holds—and to imagine what resistance looks like in an age defined by it.