this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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Reverse centaur? Lol? I need to come back to this later
A centaur is a human that can do more than an ordinary person... A person plus a horse is able to do more. Making our tools work for us allows us to do more.
A reverse centaur is when our tools are using us instead. Rather than a driver using a computer to navigate more efficiently, Amazon drivers are more like computers that use humans as a component to drive more efficiently than the computer itself could. Not great for the human.
He published a transcript of a speech where he goes over a summary of the book that’s worth a read https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/pop-that-bubble/#u-washington
If you've read this post or kept up with his blog occasionally the book treads familiar grounds. I sill think it's worth the read to have a condensed version.
Doctorow guides you through understanding the AI bubble by proving you don't need to know the technical jargon or latest developments. All you need to have as a guiding framework is "what technology (actually) does and who it does it to."
centaur = brain of a man, speed of a horse.
reverse centaur = brain of a horse, speed of a man.
substitute horse with ai.
Good practical examples are the car driver vs the Amazon driver. When you drive a car, you go where you want, but at the superhuman speed of a car. The Amazon driver has a computer telling them where to go, how to drive there, and even cameras to watch if you drive according to Amazon's rules. The driver has become the extension of the computer, instead of the other way around. That's a reverse centaur.
Over a long enough distance, men can outrun a horse. Especially in heat.
Who’s in heat, the horse or the man?
I don't like where this is going, but I approve it.
Wherever it's going, we can measure it in Hands.
I put on my harness and horse-ears hat...
Are you the mightiest horserer of the lands
Yes
Whoever is chasing.
🤔 😱
Have you ever tried running with a boner? You wear out quickly.
What is that black ball that falls on the right side?
That's weird, I have no idea. I didn't see it on my phone screen, but yeah I see it now on my laptop.
I think the bigger question is why the man is running after a horse in heat. That is not how you make a centaur.
not with that attitude
Practically, better described as endurance, although technically correct.
But with a horse brain?
Thank you kindly friend