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What I wonder is, what kind of attitude will people who grow up with those kinds of analytics have towards them? A little while ago in a conversation about pri

What I wonder is, what kind of attitude will people who grow up with those kinds of analytics have towards them? A little while ago in a conversation about privacy an acquaintance told me that he feels good about the fact there is someone or something out there that cares about his interests, even if it's Google [1]. Thinking back to this brings up in my mind the conversation with the AI Morpheus in Deus Ex [2]; looks like it is still a tossup whether it will turn out to have been prescient. I don't consider data mining to be inherently unethical but I'm not sure what to think of this. [1] To put this in context, at the time the person in question also reported feeling depressed and lonely. [2] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Deus_Ex#Morpheus_2 https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Deus_Ex#Morpheus_2 I'll quote the juiciest part: "Morpheus: Human beings feel pleasure when they are watched. I have recorded their smiles as I tell them who they are. JC Denton: Some people just don't understand the dangers of indiscriminate surveillance. Morpheus: The need to be observed and understood was once satisfied by God. Now we can implement the same functionality with data-mining algorithms. JC Denton: Electronic surveillance hardly inspires reverence. Perhaps fear and obedience, but not reverence. Morpheus: God and the gods were apparitions of observation, judgment and punishment. Other sentiments towards them were secondary. JC Denton: No one will ever worship a software entity peering at them through a camera. Morpheus: The human organism always worships. First, it was the gods, then it was fame (the observation and judgment of others), next it will be self-aware systems you have built to realize truly omnipresent observation and judgment. JC Denton: You underestimate humankind's love of freedom. Morpheus: The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization."

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
Someone really needs to tell fiction-writers that "Contemplate the inevitable/eternal" tropes have gotten very, very old. I can't speak for all readers, but I for one have stopped seeing these conversations as any kind of serious thematic debate and started just waiting for the hero to punch Mr. Zen Cleverdick in the face. Perhaps a Herbert reference is appropriate. "The most fundamental principles of the universe are accident and error."

eli_gottlieb 14y ago

Someone really needs to tell fiction-writers that "Contemplate the inevitable/eternal" tropes have gotten very, very old. I can't speak for all readers, but I for one have stopped seeing these conversations as any kind of serious thematic debate and started just waiting for the hero to punch Mr. Zen Cleverdick in the face. Perhaps a Herbert reference is appropriate. "The most fundamental principles of the universe are accident and error."