Just read “Virtual Unreality” by Charles Seife. Don’t be deceived by that book’s silly cover, the content is really solid, it’s a real “Guide to living in the Internet Era”!
There is too much great content to summarize, and the book reads very very well, so let me just list a few of the things that are covered :
– how the ability to copy information reliably, at no cost, and instantly, creates a new paradigm shift, equivalent to the Gutenberg printing press.
– how that allows fast the spreading, and persistence, of hoaxes, crazy theories, and generally false information
– the multiplication of fake identities, “sock-puppets”, and AIs pretending to be real humans
– the reinforcement of beliefs and increasing isolation of different groups, as their sources of informations becomes more and more focused towards catering to their particular credos
– gamification and social networks
In a world of massive data availability, we need help in finding the information that is relevant to us. But so far, real “curators” have lost to bots and money-driven schemes, which poses a real threat, as we become literally manipulated and end up wasting our time and intelligence to the profit of others. As a result, we better become aware of how information is being served to each of us, and learn how to control our destinies in this new world ! This will make the difference between the Internet spurring the birth of a new Age of Enlightenment, or our heading towards a true Idiocracy.
