~ VU ~ Virtual Unreality

~ DIID ~ Digital Information Is Different

~ WWLTTAOOII-BAB-WUAENCUTW-OWP-AD-WODU ~ When We Learned To Turn All Of Our Information Into – Bits And Bytes – We Unleashed An Entirely New Creature Upon The World – One Whose Powers – And Dangers – We Only Dimly Understand

~ TDRHDCNJHWGIATWBAHWCTWTITOAG ~ The Digital Revolution Has Dramatically Changed Not Just How We Gather Information About The World But Also How We Can Tamper With The Information That Others Are Gathering

~ WAOBTOABOTIOTOW-WHADSA-A-TOWIRHWMAMSB ~ We’re Altering Our Behavior Toward One Another Because Of The Influence Of The Online World – We Humans Are Deeply Social Animals – And – The Online World Is Reshaping How We Make And Maintain Social Bonds

~ BIIADTAAOU ~ Bad Information Is A Disease That Affects All Of Us

~ Y-KIIA-D-IE-INSTTWOTM-MLTTWOTM ~ Yet – Knowledge Is Inherently Anti-Democratic – It’s Elitist – It’s Not Subject To The Will Of The Majority – Much Less To The Whims Of The Mob

~ FANLTITU-A-IOTFTTMRTATATMI ~ Facts Are No Less True If They’re Unpopular – And – It’s Often The Facts That The Majority Refuse To Accept That Are The Most Important

~ WAF-K-TCT-ID-TPIHAPEOOPOTW ~ We Are Forcing – Knowledge – To Conform To – Internet Democracy – This Process Is Having A Profound Effect On Our Perception Of The World

~ P-T-HLTIMETCOIB-AWOAW-TB-TTAPOIOW ~ Politicians – Too – Have Learned That It’s Much Easier To Craft One’s Image By – Altering Words On A Webpage – Than By – Trying To Affect Public Opinion In Other Ways

~ TIHPITPO-M-O-A-WBTFUTPI-R ~ The Internet Has Put Immense Time Pressure On – Media – Outlets – And – What’s Beginning To Fail Under The Pressure Is – Reporting

~ PAPVTFWTLFRI ~ People Are Particularly Vulnerable To Fakes When They’re Looking For Romantic Involvement

~ TLOTI ~ The Loneliness Of The Interconnected

~ TMIWFFOUFI-OP-ANOTF-WAWTBWY-ITAO-FTB-YCFSFTBROD ~ The Most Important Weapon For Fighting Off Uncomfortable Facts Is – Other People – A Network Of The Faithful – Who Are Willing To Believe With You – In The Arms Of – Fellow True Believers – You Can Find Solace From The Brutal Reality Of Disconfirmation

~ TCTI-NETCIAUBAFMCAF-CAR-BABOFT ~ Then Came The Internet – Now Even The Craziest Ideas Are Usually But A Few Mouse Clicks Away From – Confirmation And Reinforcement – By A Band Of Fellow Travelers

~ WNADTITTOP-WDOOTI-WWUWIOOFI-RBAUBTM-TNICTBAWUTW;IIBAMTAUTGOUOOB ~ With News And Data That Is Tailored To Our Prejudices – We Deprive Ourselves Of True Information – We Wind Up Wallowing In Our Own False Ideas – Reflected Back At Us By The Media – The News Is Ceasing To Be A Window Unto The World; It Is Becoming A Mirror That Allows Us To Gaze Only Upon Our Own Beliefs

~ IGAPOA-‘P-S’-W-A-WAGIS-IHTGPTPAMFI ~ Informational Goods Are Part Of A – “Post-Scarcity” World – And – When A Good Isn’t Scarce – It’s Hard To Get People To Pay Any Money For It

~ ‘IWTBF’-I-TCCOTIG-B-INFTC-TLTR ~ “Information Wants To Be Free” – Is – The Clarion Call Of The Internet Generation – But – It’s Not Free To Create – Therein Lies The Rub

~ I-1980-IWHBABITMFLATEOAPSJWBE-N-FSJAE ~ In 1980 – It Would Have Been All But Impossible To Masquerade For Long As The Editor Of A Phoney Scientific Journal Without Being Exposed – Nowadays – Fake Scientific Journals Are Everywhere

~ HPP ~ Hollow Potemkin Publications

~ IAVSS-BIH-I-TTFANSINR-AH-B-AA-SR ~ It’s A Very Subtle Shift – But It’s Happening – Increasingly – The Target For A News Story Is Not Really – A Human – But – An Algorithm – Search Rankings

~ RAETW ~ Rankings Are Easily Tinkered With

~ AU ~ Artificial Unintelligence

~ J18WAB ~ Jennifer18 Was A Bimbot

~ AWT-SOITUIFTPIMF-STITTTHSWI ~ As With All Technology – Step One Is To Use It For The Purpose It’s Meant For – Step Two Is To Try To Have Sex With It

~ BS ~ Bacon Specialist

~ MMF ~ Make Money Fast

~ IWT-‘J’-S-W-FS-W-BI ~ Information Warfare Technique – “Jamming” – Swamping – With – False Signals – With – Bogus Information

~ DIGPTTP-B-IGEMTTWPUU ~ Digital Information Gives Power To The People – But – It Gives Even More To Those Who Prey Upon Us

~ IMWWETMT-ROP-WHTCOBIHOGMA-MI-MIR-TAOCUTS ~ In Many Ways We’re Easier To Manipulate Than – Rats Or Pigeons – We’re Happy To Change Our Behavior In Hopes Of Getting More Abstract – More Insubstantial – More Infrequent Rewards – Than Any Other Creature Under The Sun

~ PAMTIAVF ~ Performing A Mindless Task In A Virtual Fishbowl

~ SPCCPT-AATBJ-DTM-AE-MF ~ Social Pressure Can Cause People To – Act Against Their Better Judgement – Discard Their Morals – And Even – Misperceive Facts

~ GU-V-T-M-O-I-IRFLONAA ~ Giving Up – Valuable – Time – Money – Or – Information – In Return For Little Or Nothing At All

~ IIV-A-TGIUTITAAYOI ~ Information Is Valuable – And – To Give It Up Thoughtlessly Is To Act Against Your Own Interest

~ YMWDTYMHBSYOS-I-IAIW-TBACE-A-IITS-ATWCOATCOOOB-DTPTATTUUFTOP ~ You Might Well Discover That You Might Have Been Sacrificing Your Own Self-Interest – In Almost Imperceptible Ways – To Benefit A Commercial Enterprise – And – It Is Through Self-Awareness That We Can Once Again Take Control Of Our Own Brains – Despite The Parasites That Are Trying To Use Us For Their Own Purposes

~ IWWTBATTWRAWN-WMLTSTTHOVUTSAU ~ If We Want To Be Able To Tell What’s Real And What’s Not – We Must Learn To See Through The Haze Of Virtual Unreality That’s Settling Around Us

~ A-OIS-TTTOP-TMETCTROEBASOOTCU ~ As – Our Information Sources – Tailor Themselves To Our Prejudices – This Means Eschewing The Chatter That Reinforces Our Preexisting Beliefs And Seeking Out Ones That Challenge Us