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Posts Tagged ‘The Internet’

Just That Strange Peace

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged , , , , , , , on January 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »

When asked how we will know when the internet is becoming conscious, [Christof] Koch [Ph.D] replied that the surest sign will be when “it displays independent behavior.”  It’s hard to imagine what exactly this might look like.  But considering that this process will also involve the waning of human consciousness, you might look inward, at the state of your own psyche.
The early stages of this process will likely be subtle.  You might feel a bit scattered, your attention pulled in multiple directions, such that you begin to suspect that the philosophers are right, that the unified self is an illusion.  You may occasionally succumb to the delusion that everyone you know sounds the same, as though their individual minds, filtered through the familiar syntax of tweets and memes, have fused into a single voice.  You might find yourself engaging in behaviors that are not in your self-interest, mechanically following the dictate to share and spread personal information, even though you know the real beneficiary is not you or your friends, but the system itself.
The great merging, when it comes, might feel — and I confess I find this most probable — like nothing at all.  There will be no explosion, no heavenly trumpet, just that strange peace that is known to overcome tourists standing in Times Square, or walking the Las Vegas strip, a surrender to overstimulation that is not unlike the numbness that sets in after hours of scrolling and clicking.  In such moments, the noise is so total it becomes indistinguishable from silence, and even there, amidst the crowd, it is possible to experience a holy solitude, as though you are standing all alone, in the center of a great cathedral.
From an article written by:  Meghan O’Gieblyn
The article:  “Is the Internet Conscious?  If It were, How Would We Know?“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine
Dtd:  Dec 2020
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Click here (8 January) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Likely To Be Subtle

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

When asked how we will know when the internet is becoming conscious, (Christof) Koch replied that the surest sign will be when “it displays independent behavior.”  It’s hard to imagine what exactly this might look like.  But considering that this process will also involve the waning of human consciousness, you might look inward, at the state of your own psyche.
The early stages of this process will likely be subtle.  You might feel a bit scattered, your attention pulled in multiple directions, such that you begin to suspect that the philosophers are right, that the unified self is an illusion.  You may occasionally succumb to the delusion that everyone you know sounds the same, as though their individual minds, filtered through the familiar syntax of tweets and memes, have fused into a single voice.  You might find yourself engaging in behaviors that are not in your self-interest, mechanically following the dictate to share and spread personal information, even though you know the real beneficiary is not you or your friends, but the system itself.
The great merging, when it comes, might feel — and I confess I find this most probable — like nothing at all.  There will be no explosion, no heavenly trumpet, just that strange peace that is known to overcome tourists standing in Times Square, or walking the Las Vegas strip, a surrender to over-stimulation that is not unlike the numbness that sets in after hours of scrolling and clicking.  In such moments, the noise is so total it becomes indistinguishable from silence, and even there, amidst the crowd, it is possible to experience a holy solitude, as though you are standing all alone, in the center of a great cathedral.
    —     Meghan O’Gieblyn
From the article:  “Is The Internet Conscious?“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine;  dtd:  Dec 2020
The article also appears online at:  https://www.wired.com/story/is-the-internet-conscious-if-it-were-how-would-we-know/
(I don’t guarantee the printed article matches the online version    —    kmab)
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Click here (12 November) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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A Post-Valentine Thought

Posted in Quotes, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The new information technology…  Internet and e-mail…  have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.
    —    Peter Drucker
[Many years ago, I was unemployed and looking for work.  I was applying (electronically) to a (local) company for jobs in specific fields in which I was very experienced.  After multiple attempts to contact the company to determine the status of my application and confirm the receipt of my resume, I got through but was advised it would be extremely unlikely I would be considered for the openings.  All resumes were processed by an automated system which looked for keyword matches (between the solicitation and responses) and my resume would not clear this hurdle.  I asked why as I had over 15 years hands-on experience (with both breadth and depth).  I was advised they were only considering computer science graduates with multiple years of experience in specific skills.  When I pointed out a couple of the skill sets they listed did not exist for the length of time they were requiring, the response was they were receiving numerous applications and were confident they would get highly qualified candidates.  I was told they announcement was good (open) for two weeks and they were receiving (on average) 2,000 applications per day.  When I asked how they hoped to work through 20,000 resumes in any reasonable time period, that’s when I was told about the automated system.  The HR person would ask “the system” for ten (or twenty) well qualified applicants and the system would spit out the first ten which were matches.   I pointed out that while they might get 10 “qualified” persons, there was mathematically almost zero (.0005) chance they would get the “best” person because their methodology did not even request all “qualified” candidates – only the first ten.  The response was that given the volume of the responses, this was the only way they could be fair in their hiring process.  Oh, and please don’t call us directly again – we’ll call you.
Needless to say, I didn’t get an interview for the position.
This hi-lighted (for me) the lowered cost of job application (no printing or mailing costs), resulted in a corresponding flood of applicants who were applying “for free”.  Years later, when I was working with HR staff responsible for hiring I saw the flip side of this process.  Because the cost of applying was zero, the hiring staff had to make multiple system requests for resumes, because keyword matches did not mean qualified (at all).  It only meant the applicant was able to pull the requisite words from the announcement and include them on their application / resume.  In fact, in multiple instances, the applicants were including cover letters to other companies or for other positions.  Yep, “perfect” candidates…
From watching TV and movies (sitcoms and rom-coms), I have a feeling this is the same situation / set of circumstances with on-line match making and speed dating services…  For every one (relationship) that works out (and I’m sure there are a few which do), there are probably gazillions which don’t.    —    kmab]
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Click here (17 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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We Need To Continue Experimenting

Posted in Faith, Politics, Quotes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

This is a more fruitful approach than trying to erase dialog from the Internet altogether.  We can all agree that material that incites violence doesn’t belong online.  But when ISIS raises questions about the world, you can’t just wipe that from the Internet.  Ideas need to be raised and confronted and disputed.  Right now, it can feel dangerous to challenge extremism online.  ­ People get shouted down, harassed, or worse.  That gives power to the bad guys, because it shuts reasonable people out of the conversation, leaving just the violent voices.
We haven’t seen a terrorist organization as digitally savvy as ISIS before, but when you think about it, much of what it’s doing isn’t all that different from what any teenager can do;  you wouldn’t be surprised if your 14-year-old daughter made a video and put it online.  It’s only surprising because we have this idea of terrorists as old, bearded men hiding out in the mountains.  Terrorist groups are evolving like the rest of us.  We need to continue experimenting with solutions that meet these groups where they connect with the rest of the world.
    —    Yasmin Green
Quoted by:   Jason Tanz
In his article:  “A To-Do List For The Tech Industry“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine;  dtd:  November 2016
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Click here (18 April) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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