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I think you want google to be something it's not. Lies / Truth are not googles goals. It reflects what people believe because they create content which is con

by keithnz 10y ago

I think you want google to be something it's not. Lies / Truth are not googles goals. It reflects what people believe because they create content which is consumed and linked to by other people. Trying to work out what are lies/truth gets super super murky when it comes to religion. Not to mention people actually want to search for what people believe, I want to know what holocaust deniers think, I want to know what climate deniers think, that shouldn't be filtered from me. But, it exposes a bigger problem about the problem of consuming information, how we, as humans, determine what to believe when exposed to everyones beliefs. Especially for people who are young and can latch onto ideas very quickly.

state_less 10y ago
Google's job is to give you relevant search results to queries. Putting misinformation at the top of the page is irrelevant and damaging to the goal of informing. For example questions like, "does global warming exist?" Notice link number 2. for that query. It's from a source townhall, this source is irrelevant, just as my opinion would be irrelevant on the matter of global warming. Whether a page has backlinks is irrelevant if it's full of lies. So push them down the page some, flagged as spam.
- twblalock 10y ago
  > Whether a page has backlinks is irrelevant if it's full of lies. So push them down the page some, flagged as spam. Who would have the authority to do this, and why should they be trusted? How could we get rid of them when they start hiding true things they don't want people to know about? What would their job title be? Minister of Truth? (I suppose you'd need to get permission from Orwell's estate to use that title, which is probably a sign that you should think twice about what you're doing.)
- keithnz 10y ago
  It's all just information. Some of it true, some of it not. People who believe different things think that people with opposing beliefs are lies or delusion or lack enlightenment. I think it's better that everything is laid bare to the world so it's not hidden. But it requires a certain set of skills when consuming information. I think Wikipedia is more like what you are wanting. It's curated, it attempts to convey accurate information without emotional language, etc. Of course, that's super difficult and it has it's own problem in trying to do that.

by keithnz 10y ago

state_less 10y ago

Google's job is to give you relevant search results to queries. Putting misinformation at the top of the page is irrelevant and damaging to the goal of informing. For example questions like, "does global warming exist?" Notice link number 2. for that query. It's from a source townhall, this source is irrelevant, just as my opinion would be irrelevant on the matter of global warming. Whether a page has backlinks is irrelevant if it's full of lies. So push them down the page some, flagged as spam.

twblalock 10y ago
> Whether a page has backlinks is irrelevant if it's full of lies. So push them down the page some, flagged as spam. Who would have the authority to do this, and why should they be trusted? How could we get rid of them when they start hiding true things they don't want people to know about? What would their job title be? Minister of Truth? (I suppose you'd need to get permission from Orwell's estate to use that title, which is probably a sign that you should think twice about what you're doing.)
keithnz 10y ago
It's all just information. Some of it true, some of it not. People who believe different things think that people with opposing beliefs are lies or delusion or lack enlightenment. I think it's better that everything is laid bare to the world so it's not hidden. But it requires a certain set of skills when consuming information. I think Wikipedia is more like what you are wanting. It's curated, it attempts to convey accurate information without emotional language, etc. Of course, that's super difficult and it has it's own problem in trying to do that.