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The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

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Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#151

Post by blubb-fish »

clouddrover wrote: post #125
daodedickinson wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you fond a better search engine? I keep failing to find what I need on DuckDuckGo or it's kin and having to go onto Google, where I find what I was looking for. Of course, one can always suggest that I am just better attuned to Google (I have Google Fu from long experience with Google and wrongfully expect DuckDuckGo Fu to be the same skill and have not developed DuckDuckGo Fu).

> I keep failing to find what I need on DuckDuckGo or it's kin and having to go onto Google What's an example of a search that fails to find what you need?

"intitle:duckduckgo site:news.ycombinator.com" and then further narrowing down by restricting to past year.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#152

Post by WalterGR »

pdehaye wrote: post #61
md224 wrote: post #9

I have made this case before, but I will make it again. The Internet is the largest information system in the world, and Google is the primary portal into that information system. Google's "organic" results are accompanied by AdWords results, which are based on a mixture of bid price and relevance. These ads are marked with a small "Ad" label that many people miss, and even those who know they're ads can't really "un…

Read the original PageRank paper. Page and Brin themselves acknowledge that (while they were still academics): [L]ess blatant bias are likely to be tolerated by the market. For example, a search engine could add a small factor to search results from "friendly" companies, and subtract a factor from results from competitors. This type of bias is very difficult to detect but could still have a significant effect on the…

For example, a search engine could add a small factor to search results from "friendly" companies, and subtract a factor from results from competitors.

Google absolutely does this - for example, to a site that I own.

So it's not just theory: Google has put it into practice.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#153

Post by butler14 »

md224 wrote: post #9

I have made this case before, but I will make it again. The Internet is the largest information system in the world, and Google is the primary portal into that information system. Google's "organic" results are accompanied by AdWords results, which are based on a mixture of bid price and relevance. These ads are marked with a small "Ad" label that many people miss, and even those who know they're ads can't really "un…

Mostly because the vast majority of adverts are showing against commercial/transactional search queries, not informational ones.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#154

Post by a_imho »

EGreg wrote: post #59

This article is speaking about something that has existed as long as mass media has. Whether it's google or newspapers or TV, the companies running the sources we turn to have control over what information we are exposed to, and can influence our views. Our grandfathers read the newspaper, our parents watched TV. What, google is a monopoly? Ok, so that's the big issue. On the other hand, our susceptibility to having…

>I wrote about the solution to this a while back: replace voting with polling!

That is an implementation detail which might lead to a more fair system. Nevertheless it is not a solution to the real problem, which is creating the incentive to move away from the current status quo.

(side: you may be interested in the link in my profile)

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#155

Post by butterfinger »

nunyabuizness wrote: post #118

I once read an article about surveillance with a title along the lines of "A Tale of Two Cities." In it, the author explains that there are two types of surveillance cities that will emerge in the future: one where every park bench is rigged with a mic, every street corner has a camera aimed at it, and where all the data collected is funneled to law enforcement agencies; if you were mugged on some street corner, they…

Could be that one: http://www.davidbrin.com/transparentsociety1.html

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#156

Post by J_Darnley »

EGreg wrote: post #60
J_Darnley wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inevitable. Do you really think the power brokers let you have a real choice?

Not power brokers. It's an emergent phenomenon predicted by public choice theory. http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=212

Dude, your tinfoil is slipping.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#157

Post by J_Darnley »

nunyabuizness wrote: post #116
EGreg wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not power brokers. It's an emergent phenomenon predicted by public choice theory. http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=212

Also, this CGP Grey video explains how a first-past-the-post voting system all-but-guarantees a two party system to emerge over time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo

Would you like to replace it with proportional representation? You thought a few day government shutdown was bad? Try 500 days.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#158

Post by mkolosick »

blubb-fish wrote: post #151
clouddrover wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I keep failing to find what I need on DuckDuckGo or it's kin and having to go onto Google What's an example of a search that fails to find what you need?

"intitle:duckduckgo site:news.ycombinator.com" and then further narrowing down by restricting to past year.

You can use "!hn duckduckgo" that usually works better.

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#159

Post by majewsky »

leereeves wrote: post #113
clock_tower wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite frankly, it might not be the worst solution. Britain has a government-sponsored TV station which is generally pretty well-regarded, for example...

The BBC is sponsored by a licence fee collected from British people, whether they want to pay for the BBC or not. Similarly, if the government pays for a search engine, they'll be paying with taxes taken from us anyway.

Yeah, so?

Re: The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence

#160

Post by alanwatts »

md224 wrote: post #9

I have made this case before, but I will make it again. The Internet is the largest information system in the world, and Google is the primary portal into that information system. Google's "organic" results are accompanied by AdWords results, which are based on a mixture of bid price and relevance. These ads are marked with a small "Ad" label that many people miss, and even those who know they're ads can't really "un…

"Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don't really have any rights left. Leasing our eyes and ears and nerves to commercial interests is like handing over the common speech to a private corporation, or like giving the earth's atmosphere to a company as a monopoly."

-Marshall McLuhan

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