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I don’t like to see myself as bits and bytes The first time I’ve realized how my informational picture is ridiculous- ly different from me (at that time I didn’t consider it to be dangerous, not yet) was by the selection of junk mail coming at my address. Namely, thanks to the labor division in the family, my credit card was mainly used in the hardware and liquor stores - food and clothes were my wife’s domain. So, you can imagine what sort of junk mail I was getting, including adds for "massage" and "body care". That was then, before the internet. Nowadays, judging from the targeted adds on Google, Amazon, and NY Times, my informational picture(s) are increasingly detailed and updated on daily basis. My immediate reaction: it is humiliating. For two main reasons: (1) Even if the most of the bits and bytes representing me are founded, they are not all of me. There is much more of me not recognized by the algorithms of some government agency or some manufacturer or retailer. I’m not a potential tax evader only. I’m not a potential terrorist only. I’m not customer only. I’m not an older person with special needs only. I like to think of myself as somehow apart from all this information. I am definitely different from all this information. I am real — the information is merely about some aspect of me. OK, I feel uneasy with all this information floating in the cyber space but I can live with it, supposing it serves some social function - I think I do - as long as it is not degrading and destroying real me. (2) Even if a particular informational picture of me is founded, why I have to be boxed together with people I don’t know anything about and I don’t want to know? The authors of the algorithms for the boxing are not programmers only, they are social politicians. Why, when I order something from Amazon, I’m instantly blinded with the screen "customers who bought this also bought that"? Why, in heaven’s name, would I consider that bought by someone who bought this? Why, when I watch a movie on Netflix, a dozen other movies are instantly recommended for me, a special selection for me. Who decides, and why, that the criteria for that selection are part of my personality? Boxing, straight boxing. Why, when I read an article in NY Times, a dozen other articles are recommended for me, a special selection for me. Again, who decides, and why, that the criteria for that selection are part of my personality? Boxing, straight boxing. |
OK,
I could live with those "selections" if it is a
marketing tool only. But I don’t believe it is. It is a part of
the current social politics. I, as a digital person, I’m subject
to "standardization" (brainwashing, that is) imposed by
those who power infopolitics. Who, really, are they and why they
are boxing me? A
search for the answer might not be a pleasant one. And, assuming I
get one, what shall I do with it? Quiet myself with the excuse
that the boxing is not all that malicious or ...? |
WEBSITE EDITOR:
Krešimir J. Adamić
