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> Do people expect google to be run by Magic? Some would argue that Google wants to be seen as magic driven, or at least AI driven (which, to most, is the same

by II2II 6y ago

> Do people expect google to be run by Magic? Some would argue that Google wants to be seen as magic driven, or at least AI driven (which, to most, is the same as magic). > Google, wikipedia, even facebook, twitter and reddit have been a plus to modern human thinking. These organizations have been hugely beneficial for finding or conveying information, which is different from thinking. Of the five, only the Wikipedia can claim to have reasonable (albeit, not always reliable) systems for vetting information in place. The others hide behind automation while concealing how the automation works. I'm not going to claim the world is worse off for them, nor am I going to claim it's better. For the most part, it is a trade-off. While organizing the world's information is important, assessing it's value is also important. That's difficult to do when the priority is to do so at large scales and not all information is provided in good faith.

violetgarden 6y ago
I was reading some articles from when the internet was in its early days, and they were so full of hope and excitement. They were looking forward to how well everyone could be informed. There was one anecdote where someone had a less rosy view, and he worried that the access to a vast amount of information would lead to people becoming very polarized. This really struck me because I often feel like I can look something up and find 10 good articles on both sides that will really vindicate either view. I think in some ways it’s human nature to go with the view you prefer, and then if you find some articles, you can really trick yourself into feeling correct or very certain about something, despite the fact the information you found might be false. This is something I struggle with a lot, and I have troubles figuring out if a source is good. Your comment about assessing the value of information and information not being provided in good faith struck a chord.

by II2II 6y ago

violetgarden 6y ago

I was reading some articles from when the internet was in its early days, and they were so full of hope and excitement. They were looking forward to how well everyone could be informed. There was one anecdote where someone had a less rosy view, and he worried that the access to a vast amount of information would lead to people becoming very polarized. This really struck me because I often feel like I can look something up and find 10 good articles on both sides that will really vindicate either view. I think in some ways it’s human nature to go with the view you prefer, and then if you find some articles, you can really trick yourself into feeling correct or very certain about something, despite the fact the information you found might be false. This is something I struggle with a lot, and I have troubles figuring out if a source is good. Your comment about assessing the value of information and information not being provided in good faith struck a chord.