Steven Baker's Numerati is a must read and a brilliant tale of mathematicians and statisticians that tract our every click. It tells the tale of the lords of statistics in graphic if not pornographic (depending on one's sensibilities) detail. We are exposed, manipulated, molested, accosted and tracked. The Numberati track us and our habits 24/7. These statistical lords identify our patterns of behavior in politics, love, shopping and war. To what end and for what purpose? To get us to act in a certain manner to convince us that we belong. To somehow redefine and define where we fit. To get a vote, to sell a product, to seduce.
Its 3 AM and I wake up in a cold sweat, I dreamt that we all became just a number to be counted and manipulated, maybe not for the purpose of extermination, but certainly for the purpose of dehumanization.
And I worry that a “digital self” is replacing the “human self”. Nothing more than a bar code and a mouse click.
The power of this technology, the ability to dig deep and discover could be turned on its head for the common good, not the good of the few.
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