The Unnameable Algorithm

The Tao Te Ching opens with paradox: the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. This describes algorithms with eerie precision. Recommendation algorithms, ranking functions, and machine learning models shape digital reality with invisible power. Even their creators cannot fully explain how they work—their decision-making processes are opaque, probabilistic, emergent. Like the Tao, they are everywhere, governing everything, yet ultimately unnameable and unknowable. This parallels a fundamental tech activist challenge: how do we resist systems we cannot see or fully understand? Laozi's response would be recognition: stop trying to comprehend the algorithm directly; instead, understand how it moves through the system, how it shapes behavior, how people respond to it. Activist strategies then shift from demanding algorithmic transparency (often impossible) toward designing countermeasures, building alternative platforms, and teaching digital literacy about algorithmic influence. The wisdom here is accepting that complete understanding may be impossible while still resisting harmful effects. By recognizing algorithms as ultimately unnameable forces, activists practice humility and develop resilience against systems designed to be incomprehensible.