Networked? Engaged? Hoodwinked?
For those that don’t know, data is the number one industry of the world, and has been for a while, since 2017.
If you Google the top ten companies of the world, you’ll find mostly if not all data, not oil, which many folks still “feel” is number one, (according to the data).
They have been at it a while
I’ve known for a bit, but not since 2017. I’ve thought for months about what this means and I think the answer winds up being a few things.
Let’s not “Boil it all down.” Read a book, watch a documentary, something.
Let me just say here, I am not a “boil it down for you” kind of person. I don’t think complex issues have simple solutions, even simple causes. I think “boiling it down” does a great disservice to anyone attempting to understand. The reason is it’s complicated. Sometimes “complicated” requires investment, not simplification. “The root” or “the core” of most issues isn’t one thing, but a convergence of factors. It’s complex. Pretending it isn’t absolutely helps no one understand it. That’s all
I want for you, whoever reads this, to gain more understanding. So I can’t just boil it down.
“Data is the new oil” means stuff… like what?
The main thing “Data is the new oil,” means to me is the data scientists and contractors are going to want us always on a screen. They have 5 thousand or more points of data they harvest, refine, and turn into valuable knowledge. Much like oil, data has to be refined, processed, and studied. It isn’t worth as much fresh out of the ground without refinement.
This refined data is like gold. It allows them to cater to your preferences. The have examined so much concerning your thoughts, behavior, surroundings, they can now cater to you what you like, in buckets. They’ve been collecting over a decade. They know a lot.
Every scroll, every purchase, every trip, every song, every movie, every library book, every day at work.. look, if a computer “seems” to know you, it might.🤷. Not only does it watch you like a hawk from multiple angles, fleets of data scientists are going over what they’ve collected to figure out how to target you.
Now that’s done, your phone or TV or computer becomes not something we all watch together like the old airwaves of TV and Radio, it becomes personalized. A menu. Just for you. It knows your religion, politics, where you’re at, your finances, your diet, your habits, and anything else it has nabbed that last dozen or so years. So you are not getting what everyone else does, on anything. You’re getting what the data scientists determined you wanted.
I find this disturbing.
I find this disturbing on multiple fronts. Today, I’m particularly troubled by those who tell me by dropping off-line and out of social media that I lose by not being “engaged,” or even “relevant,” was said.
Do we ever talk? So why do I see your name and face all the time?
I recently deleted most of my contacts in my address books. The rules were simple; do we talk? Cool. Would talking be awkward, or do we never talk? Next time. I didn’t block anyone, just removed their name from lists until they jump back on someday.
I had to see this list. I’m glad. 2 contacts in cell phone, 9 emails.
I thought this looked low. I had hundreds, took days to do.
There’s limited space up there. Choices.
Then it dawned on me, I feel a lot more relaxed. By removing the clutter, I had less to do in my brain. I wrote a new song. I felt a bit of freedom. Still do.
The reason is because all those folks I never talked to still had an apartment in my brain when I scanned contacts and saw their faces. That does not happen now. I wanted to feel busy and connected, so I got contact information. I felt networked.
Networking is amazing, but this ain’t that.
Now, networking is powerful. It puts the best of what we can do on display. I used to play World of Warcraft years ago, and even just on that game 40 folks from all different countries and languages could work in complex group situations to take down a boss dragon. I’d worked at places that could not do this all in the same room! It floored me.
I think about Dostoevsky.
I think about what Dostoevsky said about mankind’s greatest lie we tell ourselves, “I am alone.” Whether we strive to get to that point, or we feel it from rejection, it is NEVER true if you are a human. In fact, it is often someone wanting you to feel that way.. which means, you can’t possibly be alone! We rely on folks. Even the off griddest of the off gridders, they need people too. When you tell yourself you are alone, you become vulnerable. Data scientists read Dosteovsky and built Silicon Valley out of it. See, feeling alone is the main state of being or mind shared by victims of brainwashed. If they make you feel lonely, they got you. You are easy to control. Vulnerable.
Come by for a dinner, but chatting online is different. Sorry.
Folks find companionship in a screen, among other things. I’m really sick of all that. So the site is coming down. You are welcome for dinner, but I’m very sick of imagining things. I hope you understand. None of us do this stuff for us, we do it for them. I’d like to cut back on that a bit. Thanks.
Still have an email ([email protected]) you’d like to talk. But I am getting rid of browsers too. It seems like the more of cyberspace I omit, the more brainspace I get. All about brains.
To those that like our words or music, thanks so much. subscribe to The Horse’s Mouth.
To those from Bandcamp, that’s probably next. I’ll have a repository still. But have you read about Bandcamp? Just.. why?
I appreciate very much the conversations. I value those more than the songs. Thanks, keep ‘em coming. Take care.
Kelly & Keri
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