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> If Google started to detect the pattern of someone slipping into madness and did what they could to start to refute things, to sprinkle in some helpful counte

> If Google started to detect the pattern of someone slipping into madness and did what they could to start to refute things, to sprinkle in some helpful counter-points with their diet of pure nonsense, maybe we can save people who'd otherwise be lost. To which the response is who are Google to influence how or what people think? It's easy to make up pure-nonsense examples that nobody believes - like Soros suppressing the truth about the flat Earth - and say believers should be saved. What if someone questions the official version of 9/11? What if they believe/d the NSA taps internet, social networks and world leaders? What if they think an omnipotent sky fairy watches over us all and blesses America? Google's "did you mean" is irritating enough when applied to assumed typos; its purpose should be to give people what they're looking for, not tell people what they should be looking for instead.

winfred 9y ago
>To which the response is who are Google to influence how or what people think? But they are already doing just that. I watched a few Youtube videos related to Quantum Mechanics and my recommended queue was flooded with videos full of pseudo scientific nonsense. It took me considerable effort in having these weird videos no longer recommended to me. I think we can just be honest about what caused it, it's a lack of intelligence in the sorting algorithm, that currently isn't able to distinguish between true and false statements. I understand there are areas where this line is vague, but if I watch a few videos about astronomical events, why am I getting recommendations about aliens visiting earth?
- astrodust 9y ago
  You watch one "free energy" video for chuckles and all of a sudden YouTube keeps surfacing more and more of these things, there's an infinite supply of them apparently. It just won't stop.
astrodust 9y ago
> To which the response is who are Google to influence how or what people think? Give people a long leash, but when they're way off to the end of the bell-curve of normality throw them a life-line. > It's easy to make up pure-nonsense examples that nobody believes... That's actually an example of things people do believe. If you engage with some of those wild outliers you can learn a lot, quickly. Some of them are trolling, but many of them have extremely firm convictions. Maybe it's Sandy Hook. Maybe it's chemtrails. It's usually a bunch of stuff, all tangled together.
- canadian_voter 9y ago
  Give people a long leash, but when they're way off to the end of the bell-curve of normality throw them a life-line. Hello User. We've noticed you've been spending more time on StackOverflow than 99% of our other users. May we suggest you spend some time looking at cat videos to balance things out? -- Your friends at Google

winfred 9y ago

>To which the response is who are Google to influence how or what people think? But they are already doing just that. I watched a few Youtube videos related to Quantum Mechanics and my recommended queue was flooded with videos full of pseudo scientific nonsense. It took me considerable effort in having these weird videos no longer recommended to me. I think we can just be honest about what caused it, it's a lack of intelligence in the sorting algorithm, that currently isn't able to distinguish between true and false statements. I understand there are areas where this line is vague, but if I watch a few videos about astronomical events, why am I getting recommendations about aliens visiting earth?

astrodust 9y ago
You watch one "free energy" video for chuckles and all of a sudden YouTube keeps surfacing more and more of these things, there's an infinite supply of them apparently. It just won't stop.

astrodust 9y ago

> To which the response is who are Google to influence how or what people think? Give people a long leash, but when they're way off to the end of the bell-curve of normality throw them a life-line. > It's easy to make up pure-nonsense examples that nobody believes... That's actually an example of things people do believe. If you engage with some of those wild outliers you can learn a lot, quickly. Some of them are trolling, but many of them have extremely firm convictions. Maybe it's Sandy Hook. Maybe it's chemtrails. It's usually a bunch of stuff, all tangled together.

canadian_voter 9y ago
Give people a long leash, but when they're way off to the end of the bell-curve of normality throw them a life-line. Hello User. We've noticed you've been spending more time on StackOverflow than 99% of our other users. May we suggest you spend some time looking at cat videos to balance things out? -- Your friends at Google