Month: April 2018

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Our world | number 2: Internet – the Bad

FAKE NEWS!!!

Sorry. Its 2018, so by now you’re probably sick to death of Cheeto-faced imbeciles shouting the phrase every time they’re informed of something they didn’t want to hear. But give credit where credit is due: it is a real thing, and it is a serious problem. And though the term may have only recently entered popular lexicon, it’s nothing new – if you’re vocabulary consists of more than monosyllabic words, you’re probably more familiar with terms like propaganda or even – digging deep, back to history class – yellow journalism. It’s been around for decades, but in the modern world, it’s more dangerous than ever, thanks to a wonderful little tool we use everyday: the internet.

As I said before, the internet truly is one of the most important inventions in the history of mankind – but there’s a duality in its service. It can be a beacon of light, leading humanity out of our darker past; but it can also be twisted, giving unprecedented power to those allegiant to that darker past. Sort of like the discovery of nuclear fission: it can be used to create nuclear power plants, giving humanity the most plentiful (and relatively clean) form of energy we’ve ever known, or used to create atomic bombs, allowing mankind to unleash to most awesome destructive power that’s ever existed upon itself. But unlike nuclear fission, the internet is accessible to each and every one of us. How will we use this tool we’ve been given? Is humanity ready, are we mature enough as a species, for such power? In the last post, I spoke of it as a brilliant gift; now it’s time to talk about the dark side.

With the internet’s ability to act as a launching pad for things “going viral”, it’s now possible for malicious and bad-faith actors to pose as credible news sources and spread their misinformation or disinformation to anyone willing to believe it. Of which there are, sadly, billions. We can hardly blame them; it can be really convincing sometimes (although other times we really, really can blame them). In fact, I can confidently state that you, me and everyone else reading this has been conned at least once before by some falsity they read online (come on, admit it…) By the time the record is set straight – IF that ever even happens – it’s usually too late, the damage has already been done. As Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still pulling its boots on.” And the lies themselves? To what purpose are they intended? Well, pick a reason, any reason. Why do people lie? Why do you lie? Well, I just lied right now to illustrate a point – Mark Twain didn’t actually say that. But that’s not really what I’m talking about. Oftentimes people lie to cover up or distort the truth, and it’s as simple that. Some just do it for shits and giggles – they think it’s funny to convince people of something that isn’t true, and the more people that believe it, the funnier it becomes to them. Others do it to stir up emotions (usually anger and resentment), and then direct that misguided energy towards their own nefarious purposes. And sometimes they lie in a deliberate attempt to inflict harm, sow chaos and distrust, and ultimately weaken the democracy of the most powerful nation on earth. And the effects of these lies? Equally as varied. Maybe you just look foolish the next time you talk to someone who actually is informed, and that’s the extent of it. Or you might not, for instance, buy Cadbury Eggs at Easter time because you think they’ve been tainted with HIV. Or you might, you know, shoot up a pizza parlor because you believed that Hillary Clinton and her associates were running a child prostitution ring out of the basement… Be it a micro or macro scale, lies are harmful. And the TRUTH matters. Even when it hurts, even if you don’t want to believe it. A strong democracy relies on having informed citizens. And when our heads are filled with half-truths and outright lies – when we don’t even know what is real anymore – how can we make the best decisions about the very real problems we face.

I’m going to do something I don’t normally do, and break up this blog post to deliver a PSA:

In a world where it’s hard to trust anything you read online, you can be misinformed in spite of your best efforts remain otherwise. But – and this may not come as any surprise to you – there are people out there who choose ignorance. They’d rather be misinformed. They don’t want to know the truth. Precisely because the truth does hurt sometimes. When you’ve constructed a worldview and based your identity and great number of your beliefs on things that are, in fact, incorrect, it can shatter your ego. And many people are enormously attached to their egos… So they’d prefer to go on believing things that are factually wrong, than accept they fact that they were wrong. Well, the internet is the perfect place to go to if you want to be fed comforting lies. There’s no longer only a few sources of information, all holding themselves to some standards of journalistic integrity – there’s countless sources, with little to no integrity at all. So we no longer have to reconcile our beliefs with reality anymore, we just need to find a source that confirms to us that our beliefs are correct. That’s confirmation bias. And when large groups of people congregate in the circles where these lies are trafficked, the sheer number of other people believing the lie and repeating it begins to reinforce the idea that this lie is actually the truth. We call these circles “echo chambers”. Something is said – maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t – and it bounces off the walls, reverberates, and before long, it becomes all anyone inside can hear; it becomes all they know. “A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.” This is the concept employed by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s master propagandist, during the rise of the Third Reich. In the modern era, the existence of these echo chambers is a large part of what’s been feeding the total paralysis of congress over the last decade. We used to have competing factions with different ideologies, arguing over the solutions to problems. Now we have competing factions with different sets of “facts”, arguing over what our problems even are. We can’t even agree on what reality is anymore. If one side argues that the sky is blue, the other side will surely come to the debate armed with “evidence” that the sky is green. This, combined with the rampant tribalism that’s been festering for decades, is a recipe for an utterly broken government. Thanks, Internet.

None of these things that I’ve been talking are exactly new. The internet didn’t create any of this. Propaganda, disinformation, espionage, indoctrination – they’ve all existed for decades, centuries even. But now, with the internet, the power to influence larger and larger sections of the public is attainable by smaller and smaller groups, lone individuals even. The damage that one hacker, acting alone with malicious intent, can cause to entire countries would have been unfathomable just a couple decades ago. What used to take millions of dollars of funding, broadcasting infrastructure and vast networks of people working towards a common goal can now be accomplished by a single person with a computer and a little ingenuity. Before, we were protected by the fact that, among the kinds of large corporate or governmental entities with access to those resources, those working to disrupt society were relatively rare. But small groups and lone individuals with such a desire are more common – and with the increased power to communicate granted to them by the internet, we are at the mercy of the negative side of human nature in a way that we never were before. Technology has surpassed our own level of evolution, both as a species and as a civilization, and governments – and even the tech companies themselves – have failed to keep pace. Thus, it falls on each of us as individuals to be wary of what we consume and promote online. It’s up to all of us to safeguard our society against those who would do it harm.

Alright, if you’re tired of the apocalyptic rhetoric, so am I. But I’m not done yet! There’s another downside – one more relatable on and individual level, affecting us on a much smaller scale: the ceaseless distractions. (Especially now with all of our smartphones and other devices, these pocket-sized computers that give us access to the infinite oceans of the web virtually anywhere on the planet.) The human mind has a tendency to wander, bouncing around from one thought to another. What was the name of the band that sang that song about taking a load off Fanny? Is it Vermont or New Hampshire that borders Maine? Who was the actor who played Dr. Allen Grant in Jurassic Park and what other movies was he in? Is Montrose Beach north of North Avenue Beach? All of those trivial thoughts – which, in the past, you might have considered for a few seconds before dismissing them and returning to something of greater significance – well, now you can stop what you’re doing and get the bottom of the matter once and for all. Because that’s what’s super important, obviously. As a result, it’s rare that we’re ever fully present in the moment, devoting our full attention to what we are doing and the people we are with. Honestly, when was then last time you went even half a day without doing something online? When was the last time you went out with someone and neither one of you neglected the other to check something online that could just as easily have waited until later? It’s pretty crazy that you’re having such a hard time answering that, isn’t it? And if you’re anything like me, that realization is probably giving you a pretty uneasy feeling right about now… Yes, the internet has seeped into and transformed nearly every aspect of the modern world. But it’s also transforming the way we live, think and relate to each other. Could we even live without it? Could you?

In spite of all this, I still maintain that the internet is a wonderful tool, offering countless benefits that will only increase over time. And not only is it helpful – it’s essential for life in a developed nation, every bit as necessary as electricity and running water. But like all tools, it can be misused, and end up doing more harm than good. First of all, can be highly addicting, and without recognization of that fact and mindful guarding against it, we can end up hopelessly dependent to it. Secondly, as our reliance on it for basic functions in modern society grows, we become increasingly susceptible and vulnerable to the digital poison spread by those trying to manipulate us through the (dis)information we consume. Is there a solution? Maybe, but none that I can see without losing certain conveniences or limiting certain freedoms. Is that a trade off we’re willing to make? That’s a rhetorical question, I suppose, as there aren’t any real, concrete proposals being discussed to fix the problem. So in the meantime, we have to be careful with our own individual use. Be conscious of your growing attachment to it as it becomes more and more intertwined in your life. Be wary of the things you read, with the knowledge that much of what is out there serves as an intentional means of control over you, to direct your actions towards someone else’s ends. The good thing is that awareness of these dangers is all it takes to combat it. You can’t become physically addicted to it, you’ll never experience withdrawal symptoms if you’re forced to go without it for a time. No one can reach through your computer screen and physically coerce you to do something, you always have ultimate control over your thoughts and actions. And that alone, I think, should leave us comforted – for all the gloom and doom I’ve just spent far too long talking about, the rational thought in each of us is all that’s needed to nullify the threat.

BCH