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Please stop pointing fingers at the American "government" and realize that the issue is really the average American. The US public has had over 10 years to fig

Please stop pointing fingers at the American "government" and realize that the issue is really the average American. The US public has had over 10 years to figure it out, blaming the government is just causing more problems, not less; to understand why it's been 10 years, Google "Room 641A", which was exposed in 2006. Sure, there are people in America that are opposed to mass surveillance, but the bulk of Americans willfully allow it. If you think the issue is important, do me a favor: find 10 people next week that do not believe it is an issue, help them see it is, and get them to the point that they want to help do the same thing you just did the following week. Even if only 5 of the 10 people go on to do the same the week after, if that pattern went on for a year, by the end of the year mass surveillance would no longer exist; happy to explain, but math is a basic viral coefficient[1]; that is if only one person reading this did it and succeed, which would mean in less than three months the majority of the US would have been "converted" to supporting change. [1] http://nichevertising.com/viral-coefficient-calculator/ http://nichevertising.com/viral-coefficient-calculator/

westoncb 10y ago
I think this is a great idea, and I may give it a go. If you are initiating anything else like this, though, I'd make one suggestion: we need some materials that can be honed in their effectiveness in communicating the danger, as what has been done to make it a reality so far. It's a complex issue, and most ad hoc attempts to explain it to a random person will end in disinterest on their part. Seems like one wiki page for techies and one for non would be a decent approach. For the most part, it would be best to have potential teachers use the resources on the wiki rather than students—but they could hold a repository of illuminating examples, analogies etc. until effective approaches for communicating to each audience type stabilize. Edit: probably the main benefit of this isn't making teachers more effective, but rather that it would make it easier for potential teachers to get on board. As it stands I'd need to go do a bunch more research and collect specific figures personally before I'd feel prepared to teach anyone.
pitaj 10y ago
I heard about that on PBS NOVA of all things. It was kinda scary.

westoncb 10y ago

I think this is a great idea, and I may give it a go. If you are initiating anything else like this, though, I'd make one suggestion: we need some materials that can be honed in their effectiveness in communicating the danger, as what has been done to make it a reality so far. It's a complex issue, and most ad hoc attempts to explain it to a random person will end in disinterest on their part. Seems like one wiki page for techies and one for non would be a decent approach. For the most part, it would be best to have potential teachers use the resources on the wiki rather than students—but they could hold a repository of illuminating examples, analogies etc. until effective approaches for communicating to each audience type stabilize. Edit: probably the main benefit of this isn't making teachers more effective, but rather that it would make it easier for potential teachers to get on board. As it stands I'd need to go do a bunch more research and collect specific figures personally before I'd feel prepared to teach anyone.

pitaj 10y ago

I heard about that on PBS NOVA of all things. It was kinda scary.