J ill L epore . If Then

In this timely book, Jill Lepore argues that the Simulmatics Corporation laid the foundations of political predictive analytics and the widespread digital surveillance networks that feed it. Founded in 1959 by elite American social scientists and a charismatic Madison Avenue executive, Simulmatics promised to advance American liberalism through scientifically validated computer simulations of the American electorate. Instead, by 1970, the company was bankrupt, its name a symbol of the snake oil sold by so many midcentury behavioral scientists. Despite Simulmatics’ short life and spectacular failure, Lepore draws a direct connection between the company’s work and the “particular hell” of our contemporary digital life, “in which humanity’s every move is predicted by algorithms that attempt to direct and influence our each and every decision through the simulation of our very selves” (6). The book’s lively narrative unfolds across three parts spanning Simulmatics’ meteoric rise and precipitous decline. The first, “The Social...

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