The 2020 election is around the corner and everyone is going out of their minds over online political ads. Russian interference, fake news, platform bias, privacy concerns — there certainly seems to be a long list of concerns. The thing is, I don’t get what all the hoopla’s about. The[…] Read On
Reading about the decidedly negative unintended consequences that inevitably result from well-intentioned legislators and regulators (excellent piece btw, hat tip to Bob M), I got to thinking about intended consequences of not-so-well-intentioned actors. The article was about the impact of government imposing its will on society, but in the age[…] Read On
What do you think would happen if the interactive web – social media, YouTube, blogs, podcasts, comments, all of it – suddenly disappeared? It would probably be a little disorienting at first, but in the long run, … We’d quit living with our eyes glued to little screens and our[…] Read On
“Well, I’m heading out there,” I said with a twinge of trepidation. “You sound like you’re gonna die or something,” said Kim. “You’re just weed whacking you know.” “It’s those biting flies,” I said, “Once you start sweating, they eat you alive.” “Try not to sweat,” said Kim. “You’re a[…] Read On
Millions of years ago—long before humans evolved frontal lobes and the ability to think rationally—we were creatures of instinct and emotion. We were all about survival. And that meant eating when food was available, seeking out shelter and safety in numbers, and, of course, pursuing members of the opposite sex.[…] Read On
I was just thinking about 1984. The book, not the year. Orwell’s fear that Big Brother would turn us all into regimented clones turned out to be unfounded. Don’t get me wrong. We do live in an Orwellian dystopia. The sad irony is that we didn’t need Big Government to[…] Read On
You know all those Twitter backlashes that get everyone from other Twitter users to corporate CEOs to get on their knees, kowtow to the mob and walk it back? Turns out the mob is a lot smaller and more demographically and behaviorally uniform than you might think. According to a[…] Read On