{"id":78818,"date":"2018-05-17T09:41:48","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T16:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/?p=78818"},"modified":"2018-05-17T19:07:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T02:07:27","slug":"selfish-ledger-googles-mass-sociology-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/selfish-ledger-googles-mass-sociology-experiment","title":{"rendered":"Selfish Ledger: Google\u2019s mass sociology experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the internal Google film, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/5\/17\/17344250\/google-x-selfish-ledger-video-data-privacy\">The Selfish Ledger<\/a>\u201d. This probably wasn\u2019t meant to slip onto a public web server, and so I have embedded a backup copy below. <a href=\"http:\/\/awildduck.com\/?page_id=150\">Ping me if it disappears<\/a>. I will locate a permanent URL.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iqUCX5rPQug?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This 8\u00bd minute video is a lot deeper\u2014and possibly more insipid\u2014than it appears. Nick Foster may be the Anti-Christ, or perhaps the most brilliant sociologist of modern times. It depends on your vantage point, and your belief in the potential of user controls and cat-in-bag containment.<\/p>\n<p>He talks of a species propelling itself toward \u201cdesirable goals\u201d by cataloging, data mining, and analyzing the past behavior of peers and ancestors\u2014and then using that data to improve the experience of each user\u2019s future and perhaps even their future generations. But, is he referring to shared goals across cultures, sexes and incomes? Who controls the algorithms and the goal filters?! Is Google the judge, arbiter and God?<\/p>\n<p>Consider these quotes from the video. Do they disturb you? The last one sends a chill down my spine. But, I may be overreacting to what is simply an unexplored frontier. The next generation in AI. I cannot readily determine if it ushers in an era of good or bad:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Behavioral sequencing \u00ab <em>a phrase used throughout the video<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Viewing human behavior through a Lemarkian lens<\/li>\n<li>An individual is just a carrier for the gene. The gene seeks to improve itself and not its host<\/li>\n<li>And [at 7:25]: \u201cThe mass multigenerational examination of actions and results could introduce a model of behavioral sequencing.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There\u2019s that odd term again: <em>behavioral sequencing<\/em>. It suggests that we are mice and that Google can help us to act in unison toward society\u2019s ideal goals.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Fortune Magazine described it this way: \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/05\/17\/google-selfish-ledger-video\/\"><em>Total and absolute data collection could be used to shape the decisions you make<\/em><\/a> \u2026 The ledger would essentially collect everything there is to know about you, your friends, your family, and everything else. It would then try to move you in one direction or another for your or society\u2019s apparent benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statements could apply just as easily to the NSA as it does to Google. At least we are entering into a bargain with Google. We hand them data and they had us numerous benefits (the same benefits that many users often overlook). Yet, clearly, this is heavy duty stuff\u2014especially for the company that knows everything about everyone. Watch it a second time. Think carefully about the power that Google wields.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5330\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/selfish-ledger-googles-mass-sociology-experiment.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"263\" height=\"152\" \/>Don\u2019t get me wrong. I may be in the minority, but <strong><em>I generally trust Google<\/em><\/strong>. I recognize that <em>I am raw material and not a client<\/em>. I accept the tradeoff that I make when I use Gmail, web search, navigate to a destination or share documents. I benefit from this bargain as Google matches my behavior with improved filtering of marketing directed at me.<\/p>\n<p>But, in the back of my mind, I hope for the day that Google implements <a href=\"http:\/\/blindsignaling.com\">Blind Signaling and Response<\/a>, so that my data can only be used in ways that were disclosed to me\u2014and that strengthen and defend that bargain, without subjecting my behavior, relationships and predilections to hacking, misuse, or accidental disclosure.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><p class=\"qtext_para\"><i><\/i><i><a href=\"http:\/\/bitcoinreferee.com\/\">Philip Raymond<\/a> sits on Lifeboat\u2019s New Money Systems board. He co-chairs <\/i><span class=\"qlink_container\"><a class=\"external_link\" href=\"http:\/\/crypsa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><i>CRYPSA<\/i><\/a><\/span><i>, <\/i><i>hosts the <\/i><span class=\"qlink_container\"><a class=\"external_link\" href=\"http:\/\/vanquish.com\/_domains\/crypsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><i>Bitcoin Event<\/i><\/a><\/span><i>, publishes <a href=\"http:\/\/awildduck.com\/\">Wild Duck<\/a> and is keynote speaker at global <\/i><span class=\"qlink_container\"><a class=\"external_link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cryptocurrencyexpo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><i>Cryptocurrency Conferences<\/i><\/a><\/span><i>. <\/i><span class=\"qlink_container\"><a class=\"external_link\" href=\"http:\/\/bitcoinreferee.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><i>Book a presentation<\/i><\/a><\/span><i> or consulting engagement<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><span style=\"color: #999999\"><sup>Credit for snagging this video: Vlad Savov @ TheVerge<\/sup><\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the internal Google film, \u201cThe Selfish Ledger\u201d. This probably wasn\u2019t meant to slip onto a public web server, and so I have embedded a backup copy below. Ping me if it disappears. I will locate a permanent URL. This 8\u00bd minute video is a lot deeper\u2014and possibly more insipid\u2014than it appears. Nick Foster [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1502,40,1628,30,385,412,41,418,1511],"tags":[3050,3051,3052,3053,3054,3055,1179,3056,3057,3058,3059],"class_list":["post-78818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-data","category-complex-systems","category-dna","category-ethics","category-evolution","category-genetics","category-information-science","category-internet","category-surveillance","tag-adaptive-force","tag-behavior-mining","tag-behavioral-sequencing","tag-data-mining","tag-desirable-behavior","tag-epigenome","tag-google","tag-lamarckian-epigenetics","tag-lemarckian","tag-passing-on-behavior","tag-selfish-ledger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78818"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78865,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78818\/revisions\/78865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}