1 May 2024

1 May 2024

 

Sometime ago, Mr Culliton talked about the need of careful use of social media, because whatever comments and photos we upload to our account, they will become data for analysis. In addition, the websites that we visit, the short clips that we watch online, etc, all become information for the service providers to analyse our habits and interests, and provide further services, or to gear to or direct our interest; they will also suggest items we have not browsed through but that might interest us. So, each button that we punch and each link that we click become a sign showing our preference for something. This situation seems to make life easier on what we like, and what we might like keeps popping up.  But there are many dangers, or security concerns if we do not use data carefully.  Let me illustrate two dangers by the following analogy.

 

A 10-page research paper is written, using 20 reference sources. Little does the writer know that 5 out of the 20 sources that he quoted are biased or incomplete; another 5 are secondary sources.  If the writer has a clear head, and the discussion and the conclusion of the paper are fair, it will be useful to the readers.   But if the discussion and the conclusion do not address the problems found, then the writer will formulate a belief based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Worse still, ill-informed readers might take the research paper seriously; the paper might be used further.  More damages are afoot.

 

Now consider it on a much bigger scale, the wrong information may affect our society and our life.  If the information, or data, is deliberately tampered with, or leading us to think on a different path, massive problems may appear. It poisons the facts, and it poisons our minds.

With careful analysis and correct use of the data, our life will become much easier. Related items are presented to us before our needs arise.  But there is another danger if we do not exercise our own human power often. For example, the communication applications reduce our ability to communicate face-to-face, the typing reduces our writing styles and skills, the ready-made meals reduce our creativity over the stove, and so on. If we accept all modern-day comforts and technologies with most things automatically presented to us, we may slowly lose the power to choose, our faculty to distinguish, and our ability to analyse.

 

The newly-invented items are there to help us to live our life to the full, they do not dictate the direction of our life.

 

 

Anson Yang