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My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical rad

My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical radicalization. We’ve seen many, many examples of people picking up new concepts from their filter bubble, stuff like pizza-gate, that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own. The same click-reward feedback algorithm can be applied when teaching more virtuous knowledge. The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching, as in really disturbing and really proficient. (And besides, let’s not pretend western and Confucian education aren’t indoctrination processes to some extent in their own right. Western education is predicated on building ‘virtuous’ citizens according to what I remember from the Socratic/Platonic dialogs. Also I feel like a dickhead for saying “according to the classics”.)

jacobolus 8y ago
> The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching Are they really though? I have found that when I start probing people’s weird conspiracy theories picked up from blogs/facebook (or even more mainstream partisan disinformation picked up from newspaper op-eds or think tank whitepapers), they are quite shallow and unsophisticated, typically papering over gaping holes in basic knowledge. “Teaching” a bunch of made up bullshit has much lower standards and requires a lot less effort (for both teacher and pupil) than teaching about complex real-world structures even to a level of basic competence, let alone serious expertise.
- CoolGuySteve 8y ago
  I’m pretty sure you can make the same case about things taught in the US about vast swathes of American history like Christopher Columbus, the Louisiana purchase, the pilgrims, etc. I’m not even American but I’ve noticed the bar’s pretty low after living here for years. On one hand, we probably shouldn’t be making pedagogical policy based on the most gullible in our society, but on the other, everyone is gullible when they’re young and many continue to be so afterwards.
- DEADBEEFC0FFEE 8y ago
  Recommendation engines don't teach, they provide opportunities. That could be useful as a learning approach, if layer on to a tech-tree /leveling learning path. The analogy with conspiracies is flawed, pretty sure Google and Facebook don't first link to the basics of conspiracies, and then move on from there.

jacobolus 8y ago

> The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching Are they really though? I have found that when I start probing people’s weird conspiracy theories picked up from blogs/facebook (or even more mainstream partisan disinformation picked up from newspaper op-eds or think tank whitepapers), they are quite shallow and unsophisticated, typically papering over gaping holes in basic knowledge. “Teaching” a bunch of made up bullshit has much lower standards and requires a lot less effort (for both teacher and pupil) than teaching about complex real-world structures even to a level of basic competence, let alone serious expertise.

CoolGuySteve 8y ago
I’m pretty sure you can make the same case about things taught in the US about vast swathes of American history like Christopher Columbus, the Louisiana purchase, the pilgrims, etc. I’m not even American but I’ve noticed the bar’s pretty low after living here for years. On one hand, we probably shouldn’t be making pedagogical policy based on the most gullible in our society, but on the other, everyone is gullible when they’re young and many continue to be so afterwards.
DEADBEEFC0FFEE 8y ago
Recommendation engines don't teach, they provide opportunities. That could be useful as a learning approach, if layer on to a tech-tree /leveling learning path. The analogy with conspiracies is flawed, pretty sure Google and Facebook don't first link to the basics of conspiracies, and then move on from there.