Who do I listen to? An unusual dilemma for 2015 is where do I get my information from? For example I just viewed the video below on YouTube, sort of randomly (but not really, because Google knows that I purchased several Raspberry Pis) and wonder if now Ill get bombarded with DIY tech projects. I mean, this was a fun post on YouTube to watch, but I doubt I want to know more about sorting M&Ms. So much of our lives now are decided for us by algorithm that it feels more and more like one of those Escher staircase paintings, where the information I see is disturbingly familiar and troubling monotonous. Another example - A few months back I watched The Iron Lady. I wasnt all that interested in it but I did want to see how Meryl Streep would portray Margaret Thatcher. In the following weeks, Google, Amazon, Netflix, and everyone else it seemed, bombarded me with biographies of Margaret Thatcher. It was both hilarious and frustrating, as I wasnt really that interested in Margaret Thatcher. I really didnt need to see any more information about her. But... algorithms, in their wisdom, determine that what we have done in the past determines what we will do in the future. I MUST be a Margaret Thatcher freak. Similarly, today, I randomly brought up YouTube and Im given a list of recommendations based on what I viewed in the past weeks/months. According to You Tube, Im now obsessed with giant spiders and weird sea creatures, because thats what YouTube wants to show me. Yet again, im punished for some viewing I did spontaneously one night. On that night, months ago, it was fun to look at giant spiders, but I dont need to be reminded of that one crazy night every time I look at YouTube. The trouble what I saw in the past is what I want to see in the future is that its a desperate marketing ploy. If YouTube really knew me, instead of pretended to know me, theyd know that I brought up the YouTube generic page because (a) I was looking for inspiration or (b) I was looking to find out what other people thought was interesting. The problem with (b) is that if everyone else is going through what Im going through, then how much of that is just those people seeing what they saw last week? And the problem with (a) is that random really is random. Thats the joy of walking along a street in New York. Its not that youre presented with every choice you made in the past 3 months spat back at you verbatim, its that you might see something new, something you never even heard of. Thats the thrill of walking in New York. I know all of this sounds trivial, but... really, we are what we know. We are, in fact, a result of everything we have seen, sensed. Every news story, every piece of gossip, every book we read, every movie we watched. But who is choosing those for us? With so much choice, why do I feel starved for content? With so much choice, what I really long for, ironically, is a bit more editorial input. So many, many times recently, too many times, Im just skimming past what I see. And theres a sinister side to it. If my main sources of news are going to selectively sort everything I see, and only show me things based on what I looked at before... then what? After a few weeks, months, years, what sort of world do I assume Im living in? Are there people who I wont even be able to talk to any more? So, my 2015 resolution is not really a resolution but a question who do I listen to? https://youtube/watch?v=T1bpafUsP7Y
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:00:33 +0000
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