Friday, 12 August 2011

Week 3 - Brain, meet world

Reading through the Halpern reading and couldn't help but notice the little alarms raised by the discussion of the "World Wide Mind" and the technologically integrated human.I must say I was surprised that there would be anyone that excited about hooking up their brain to the Internet; is there not already enough over-stimulation in the world for you Mr. Chorost? And the personalised Google searches... ugh, so personal reinforcement of our own ideas is the goal - then may I say that Google is not a tool for communication but a tool for division, and the thought that no one would dare use this hall of mirrors for mass manipulation is one of the stupidest things I've ever encountered. Mass connectivity isn't really the fault of the Google algorithm though, as let's face it, people would rather engage with the familiar and associate with people who share the same opinions as they do; that is the basis of civilisation, and the reinforcement is just so much like a religion - this is the way, follow it, it is good, it's worked so far. If I could reach out, press a button and get all of you to behave according to my will, of course I'd do it. I'd make you better than you are, make you live up to your own expectations and ideals. And I'm not the only one who thinks that way. I know why people are scared of different ideas, hey if you let someone else's thoughts in your mind, it wouldn't be your mind. I just wish people would think about that next time they find themselves agreeing with someone.

And for anyone who doesn't like the thought of being monitored by governments and corporations, think about how much of yourself you're putting out for free on these stupid social networking sites and then shut up.

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