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Tag Archives: Algorithms Democracy.

THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: ARE GOVERNMENTS BECOMING OBSOLETE.

05 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Cyberocracy., Democracy., Digital age., DIGITAL DICTATORSHIP., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Political voting systems., Politics., Robot citizenship., The essence of our humanity., The Future, The Obvious., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., United Nations, WHAT IS TRUTH, What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Politics

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: ARE GOVERNMENTS BECOMING OBSOLETE.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Cyberocracy., Direct Democracy, Erosion of democracy., Government’s., Information revolution., Modern Day Democracy., NEW DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT, old monarchies and governments, Out of Date Democracy, Political Trust

 

 

(Twenty-minute read)

In terms of almost everything, no one can be sure what the next fifty years will hold nor can anyone be sure just what a government will be doing fifty years from now, never mind next year.

As history has repeatedly shown, political systems come and go.

Given our rapid technological and social advances, (a trend we can expect to continue) we will be looking at many different possible futures because there is a new kind of creature that has entered the world.

When we change the way we communicate, in today’s increasingly interconnected world we change society, creating entirely new systems of thought to deal with complex issues like climate change, and by whom/what and how we are governed.  

We are in the throes of the digital age with all of its unknown consequences and it along with Climate Change is ushering in a new phase of the world. Perhaps we are looking at democracy being replaced by Cyberocracy. (Computer(s) make the decisions.)

A precise definition of cyberocracy is not possible at present as it is still hypothetical in form, but it may bring a new emphasis on ‘soft’ symbolic, cultural, and psychological dimensions of policymaking and public opinion.

It will be however a product of the information revolution and it may place a premium on gaining information from any source, public or private, radically affect who rules, how and why.

(That is, information and its control will become a dominant source of power, as a natural next step in political evolution.)

In essence, a smartphone could show us how and can train us in the latest developments to increase effectivity, while making sure a human or a group of people are not directly interacting with the information.

In theory a great idea for efficiency but in practice, those in charge will probably use the information to crush dissent and sell the information off to private companies.

Ideally, the point of cyberocracy would be to ultimately overcome the faults that lie in typical bureaucratic systems, effectively creating an artificially intelligent head of state.

Luckily there is a pitfall, in that the control of all gathered information would then ultimately lie in the proverbial hands of a machine, wherein true humanity becomes lost to the legislative and governmental processes.

The consequence of the information revolution may thus mean “greater inequalities. speeding the collapse of closed societies and favouring the spread of open ones.

Algorithms are already undermining the power base of old monarchies and governments, and these same technologies will subsequently “turned into tools of propaganda, surveillance, and subjugation that enabled dictators to seize power and develop totalitarian regimes.

New modes of multiorganizational collaboration are taking shape, and progress toward networked governance is occurring to enable hybrid systems to take the form that do not fit standard distinctions between democracy and totalitarianism.

A double-edged sword that revolves around symbolic politics and media savvy with governments straining to adapt.

For example vast new sensory apparatuses for watching what is happening in societies and around the world. Of all the uses to which the new technologies are being put, this may become one of the most important for the future of the state and its relationship to society.

Each generation must address its own challenges even though it is not yet clear which future will emerge with the current climate crisis.

Policy problems have become so complex and intractable, crossing so many jurisdictions and involving so many actors, that governments should evolve beyond the traditional bureaucratic model of the state.

Only time will tell.

We now have communications tools that are flexible enough to match our social capabilities, and we are witnessing the rise of new ways of coordination activities that take advantage of that change.

Setting priorities among government’s current endeavours need to  involve at least four decisions:

Which endeavours should be continued or stopped; Which are most important; Which are the government’s greatest responsibility; and which should have the highest priority?

Back to the present with climate change.

There is one thing for certain that with climate change there will be tragedies not yet imagined. It will drive people into compact groups and we know that if a group of humans get together without some sort of organised leadership they end up killing each other.

So for the good of all humankind, in fact, all life on earth and the earth itself, we need to push ahead in this area. Or else go back to pre-industrial times and abandon modern life as we know it. Staying the course we are on will lead only to ruin.

Government’s greatest priorities of the next fifty years can be found in their greatest disappointments of the past.

My point is, the government doesn’t remind us of the good things in life, not often. When it works, we barely notice, but when things go wrong, the glaring deficiencies of the system present themselves everywhere.

As a result, the Government used to be for the lack of a better word the parent of the group/ nation hated some days and loved other days.

Should they now be limited to the implementation of certain social norms desirable for holding the structure of society in place?

I want to see some politicians with the forethought and imagination to understand this.

That’s because I need to be reminded of what I’m living for, not an Algorithm of everything, not a government elected on lies, false news, predictive algorithms which is a two-way relationship manipulated by social media platforms, owned by monopolies that are no longer trusted by the citizens they represent.

Without knowing how decisions are taken or who the decision-makers are, and without knowing how decisions are implemented or to what end, citizens feel undervalued and disenfranchised.  They do not believe that the government is listening to their concerns.

So where are we?

The freedom that we see emerging from the networked environment allows people to reach across national or social boundaries, across space and political division. It allows people to solve problems together in new associations that are outside the boundaries of formal, legal-political association like governments. 

If the past is prologue, however, the government will continue to the extent that a society is measured by what it asks its government to do.

Sure the information revolution will foster more open and closed systems; more decentralization and centralization; more inclusionary and exclusionary communities; more privacy and surveillance; more freedom and authority; more democracy and new forms of totalitarianism.

Yet setting priorities is not just about addressing past failures. It is also about protecting past achievements.

To solve the problems and understand the role and limitations of government, will require a new way of thinking and working and a new level of trust and understanding of people.

The revolution in global communications thus forces all nations to reconsider traditional ways of thinking about national sovereignty.

A longer view of history provides little assurance that the new technology favours democracy.

Firstly, governments must be seen as capable and effective in carrying out their activities. Secondly, the government must be seen as treating all people equally and impartially, without favouritism or discrimination.

And thirdly, the dimension of human concern and personal connectedness: government must be seen to be sincerely caring about each person’s welfare.

Digital is offering a great way to respond to this at a service level but is only part of the answer when it comes to mending and building relationships with people.

Even in the best of times, delivery is hard for governments: objectives are not always clear; they change in response to events or leadership transitions.

An endeavour cannot be a top priority, or a priority of any kind if it is not worth pursuing at all. The term “greatest” does not mean either “most successful,” or “most important,” or even “most appropriate.” Rather, the greatest endeavours of the present are the ones in which the government has made the greatest investment.

This fact base speaks for itself.

The first step, then, is to choose three to six priority outcomes—any more will be too many. They can’t all be equally important.

These priorities must be written into the constitution of a nation so they cannot be tampered with.

And establishing the right metric for each priority to ensure it does not yield unintended, negative consequences must be set by citizens assemblies rather than relying on leaders political instincts.

People must feel ownership of the plan by agreeing on criteria for continuation funding.

Communicating is only the beginning.

Stakeholders must be engaged all the way through to delivery of the promised outcomes. Accountability is established,outcome-based budgeting, so that funding is directly linked to and contingent on the delivery of key outcomes.

This, as we know, is notoriously difficult to pull off in a world of silos, disparate agendas, and competition for funding. But a small number of priorities will go a long way toward securing the support required.

Government achievement ebbs and flows with changing economic, social, and political circumstances, with the mere passage of time.

The worst form of government is the tyrannical form, where all power is with one man, a leader who rises from the chaos of democracy, thirsting for power but not having the wisdom or learning to use it wisely.

With the issue of government Citizens, bonds targeting citizens funding will resolve this problem. They could unite as a human race and get our priorities in check so we can find out what’s really out there and perhaps where we really came from.

Their performance should be measured against agreed international benchmarks a portfolio of targets at varying levels of ambition.

Who would set the levels?

The U.N. is essentially an incredibly weak confederacy it should be disbanded, and a new, better UN made, with a written Constitution. All member countries hereby agree to uphold and abide by all constitutional clauses upon entry to the United Nations and any violation of any of the several clauses herein will be punished with the full force of each member state.

And finally, here are a few endeavours.

Reduce Carbon emissions.

Continue reducing nuclear weapons.

Reduce discrimination, pollution, poverty, and inequality.

Expand health care.

Devolve digitally responsibility to promote and protect democracy with the right to vote by electronic voting.

Create a Digital government performance platform.

As to which type of government is the best for mankind, well, if only we had the answer to that…Hierarchy does not end. 

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR DEMOCRACY IN THIS AGE OF TECHNOLOGY.

15 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Democracy

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR DEMOCRACY IN THIS AGE OF TECHNOLOGY.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Artificial Intelligence., Democracy, Digital Divide., Direct Democracy, Technology versus Humanity

 

(Three-minute read)

These days how is the will of the people manifested and defined? Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of vote"

There are two sides to this argument.

Firstly, social movements and groups devoted to progressive issues and social change use technology to improve democracy.

The other side of the argument is that new advances in technology can be
distinguished from the media that preceded it as it is relatively cheap, easy to use, difficult to control and interactive.

Technology does not only divide the haves and the have-nots but also is important to facilitate democratic transitions by creating a more open political culture.

As a result, there is the problem re-striking a balance between state, market and societal control of IT, where the state and society emphasise the equality of access, while the market emphasises efficient development of technology and production.

As the capabilities of technology increase, so does our dependency on it.

Nowadays, we find yourself looking at our iPhone almost every ten minutes.

So what leverage does technology have on our democratic proceeds or institutions?

Without physical human interaction, we fall subject to potentially losing our sense of real connection. We’ll become desensitized, numb, and oblivious to the social cues that we would have witnessed had only the conversation been made in-person.

Is the democratic system more to do with how the app works?

Is digital technology leading us into a new dark age?

Will it be thanks to technology, politicians are no longer essential to

the formation of organized society?

Look at initiatives like Democracy. Earth, Asgardia, and Artisanopolis are envisioning new forms of society in which the people govern themselves.

These societies could have economies that are powered by Bitcoin, governing documents that are drafted through peer-to-peer networks, and decisions that are recorded via blockchains. They needn’t apply declarations written centuries ago to today’s unique landscape — they can start from the ground up.

These are the technology incubator of a new democracy.

But are technology and democracy compatible?

 Illustrative: A hacker in action. (BeeBright; iStock by Getty Images)

Social media manipulation of elections.

Politics has become far more emotional, as a result of our total

immersion in information at the cost of a more rational view of things.

Voter data mining, online polling, electronic voting booths, and, of course, twitter, facebook and emails.

All these communications have left the door wide open for misinformation to seep into the public consciousness, clouding what was already complicated and leaving many unsure of where to look for the truth…or what the truth even looks like.

Brexit being the current prime example, which is turning into a power struggle camouflaged in democracy called the will of the people.   

The average citizen will need to work even harder to separate fact from fiction on the internet over the course of the next four months of Brexit.

“We the People” online petition.  People no longer need to wait for an issue to bubble over before taking action.

It’s probably too early to reach a conclusion about the correlation between
technology and democracy but it is evident that technology can shape challenges in the political, social, military and economic environment of the political system.

In essence, if democracy is impacted by technology by way of a systematic
the application of knowledge to resources to produce goods and services, it will enhance stability and equality.

Therefore, it can shape challenges in the environment of a democratic political system.

There is no doubting as technology advances, humans will increasingly delegate responsibility to intelligent machines able to make their own decisions.

This entails considering various ways of adjusting the organisational structures that are relevant for economic productivity, political participation and cultural diversity in line with preferred social scenarios; and the cultural.

As far as technology is concerned, any definitive claim whether it is utopian or a Luddite when it comes to democracy can only succumb to technological
determinism.

Finally, the technology could in future greatly benefit society if its advancement is harmonious with national democratic imperatives and if it is intended to serve the needs of the people.

The goal for the future will be to somehow bridge the theoretical possibilities
with technological capability.

This involves creating information technologies that reduce the threat and
vulnerabilities and encourage environmentally sustainable applications of IT.

The most obvious problem is that information and communication technology companies will have little incentive to develop new products to meet the needs of people who cannot use or afford their existing services.

Thankfully, we have no shortage of ways to discuss the topic.

All human comments appreciated. All abuse and like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: 2018 HAS BEEN A TURBULENT YEAR BUT ARE WE ON THE CUSP OF SOMETHING MUCH MORE DANGEROUS AND LONG -LASTING IN 2019.

22 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Democracy, European Union.

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Democracy, Direct Democracy, Erosion of democracy., European Union, NEW DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT, Out of Date Democracy

 

(Ten-minute read)

We need to get smart about improving our institutional defects.

Why?

Because it is becoming more and more difficult to discuss political opinions openly without being slandered as a racist or a sexist.

Because if we don’t we are looking at a form of unregulated direct democracy run by social media popularism with no long-term thinking.

You might think this is trivial compared to other world problems but if we are to have any chance to address climate change, immigration, inequality, and the like we need stable leadership now more than ever.

It is no wonder if you live in a country where you are mired in poverty and constant violence you could not be blamed for thinking that’s what democracy is.

You wouldn’t want it eighter.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of democracy"

In 2018 saw many elections worldwide where voters vote did not matter- Hungary, Russia, Venezuela. Poland the USA.

More voting does, not = freedom. If you are in any doubt just look at where Venezuela or Hungary are.

So can Democracy be restored or has too much damage been done?

Its worldwide acceptance today that Democracy is the best of imperfect options for managing society.

However, as people realize that democracy can go hand in hand with populism, isolationism, and even racism it strives to balance individual liberty with public order.

What we are witnessing is more and more begging on our TV screens for funds to save everything from whales to homeless people.

While Social Media is encouraging individual self-interest, non-corporation between countries, profit for profit sake, confusion, and downright madness. It is facilitating both pro-democracy and anti-protest, spreading false news and information to bye pass the gatekeeps giving rise to nationalist-populists who don’t seem inclined to prioritize strengthening democracy, their constituencies must at least appreciate having had the democratic opportunity to put them in power.

But have the very widespread democratic aspirations of people around the world declined?

I suspect not, but I am concerned that the structures and processes that enable fulfilment of those aspirations may be eroding and that there is a lack of international leadership in countering that erosion.

The inability in many countries to deliver broadly shared prosperity, the increased distance of the political class from everyday citizens and rampant corruption in many nations will be crucial as democratic and authoritarian leaders alike decide their trajectories.

There are, however, people on the streets yelling for increased equality in income, opportunity, and government efficacy.

These are the concepts at the very heart of well-functioning democracies.

Centrism.

It’s a decidedly wimpy and unexciting word and it often inspires derision as a kind of pallid purgatory for those afraid to take bold action or propound creative political ideas.

Centrists are the least supportive of democracy, the least committed to its institutions and the most supportive of authoritarianism.

Humans are not infinitely flexible or perfectible. They cannot use reason to transcend fully their basic impulses and prejudices.

Centrism, then, is defined by a number of assumptions and tendencies; it is not defined by policy dogmas.

Civilization is a brilliant achievement, and the centrist wishes to celebrate it. But such a celebration doesn’t require ignoring its flaws or discouraging innovations.

Societies and polities are incredibly complicated and our understanding of the way social systems and human nature interact is excruciatingly limited.

Ideas that require significant harm today to bring about a better tomorrow are particularly pernicious. Uncertainty about the future requires humility and a commitment to order and well-being in the here and now.

Although science cannot solve all social problems, it is the best instrument we have for measuring the success or failure of particular policies.

It is important, therefore, to protect vigilantly free speech and free inquiry so that the best ideas are rigorously debated in the public forum.

Political ideologies tend to blind people to the best policies.

One should not seek a “conservative” answer to poverty or a “liberal” answer to immigration.

Because humans are naturally tribal, factionalism is easy to create and dangerous for a broader cooperative union among dissimilar peoples.

It is useful to be sceptical of human nature in the broad sense but to be charitable to individuals, especially in the domain of public discourse. This charity encourages free and pleasant public debate and discourse; and, all things equal, free debate leads to the best solutions to complicated social problems.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of democracy"

2019 will see an election in the European Union and it is highly unlikely that any political party has a monopoly on truth.

However, Europe must seek the best answer.  to balance the will of the majority with the rights of the minority, so that the powerful many, cannot trample the few.

Why ?

Because warning signs are flashing red – Democracy is under threat.

THERE MUST BE REFORM NOT PROMISES in order to allow citizens to change previously made decisions.

Perhaps today’s problem resides in the erosion of the power democracies have to comply with this norm or promises. Yet this is a problem connected to the power of the sovereign state, rather than democracy.

The EU must prove to citizens that it can deliver tangible dividends in a consistent, transparent manner.

Democracy derives its attractiveness from its ability to absorb a wide variety of hopes, desires, and fears, which can include the desire to put strong men in power – Hilter

It’s reassuring to think authoritarian governments depart with their leaders.

It’s also wrong.

That government within the EU  are “social contract” between people and their rulers, which can be dissolved if rulers fail to promote the people’s welfare.

It will be its ability or inability to deliver both economically and politically, which will be fueling populism.

It’s not too long ago that the nations of Europe were led by monarchs, who exercised the divine right of kings and owed little or no consideration to the will of their subjects.

Democracy surely never had much appeal for “strongmen” who seem ascendant in various parts of the world.

History is on the side of the oppressed, not their oppressors.

Rising political polarization and populism signal dissatisfaction and if not addressed will divide the public into intolerant communities.

To counter all of this the EU should issue guaranteed peoples Bonds to allow its citizen member to invest in its future.

These bonds would allow its, citizens and businesses, to connect directly with rewards for doing so.

The Funds could be granted by an Independent, total transparent elected EU Citizens Organisation, independent from the EU budget, Commission or Parlement at a fixed rate of repayment into projects that encouraged sustainability, promoting environmental improvements, infrastructure, health, reduced cost of energy etc.

We cannot turn a blind eye to what I call Algorithms Democracy giving political power to the uninformed.

The larger point is either we are capable of self-rule or we are not.

The democratizing and decentralizing of information of the last few decades should improve our ability to engage in political discourse more effectively by loosening controls over who produces or provide information.

If it doesn’t, the fault will lie with ourselves.

It is as much up to us to use that freedom and resource carefully and responsibly, as it was up to the Athenian citizen to listen warily to the smooth-talking orators.

All human comments appreciated. All abuse or like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S : Is it time for liquid democracy or what some like to call Direct Democracy.

30 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in 2018: The Year of Disconnection., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Big Data., Communication., Democracy, Facebook, Fake News., Fourth Industrial Revolution., Freedom, Humanity., Life., Modern Day Communication., Modern Day Democracy., Our Common Values., Politics., Populism., Privatization, Reality., Social Media, Sustaniability, Technology, The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Internet., The Obvious., The world to day., Twitter, Unanswered Questions., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Organisations., World Politics

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE SAY’S : Is it time for liquid democracy or what some like to call Direct Democracy.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Democracy, Direct Democracy, Inequility, NEW DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT, Out of Date Democracy, SMART PHONE WORLD, Social Media, Technology, The Future of Mankind, The internet and Democracy, Visions of the future.

( A six-minute read)

I AM NOT TALKING HERE ABOUT DEMOCRACY THAT IS FOUND AT THE

BOTTOM OF A BOTTLE OF WHISKY BUT REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY THAT

MAY HAVE RUN ITS COURSE.

Technology is fundamentally shifting how government works and how it relates to the citizens it ostensibly represents. In the wake of fake news, algorithms operated by business are shaping a world in which earthly government is becoming less and less functional.

Smartphones with their ease of use and constant accessibility are changing our social networks and reshaping our political world.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of direct democracy"

Because Social Media companies, not Governments are launching new policies. We need to take a more critical look at the role of social media in society.

The biggest challenge is technology that could potentially help end corruption and lobbying, allow people to delegate votes to trusted friends rather than politicians, and empower experts in a field to meaningfully impact policy cannot be achieved while the content of social media has no legal means of ensuring transparency or verification of authenticity prior to any posting.

WHILE THIS STATE REMAINS  Representative democracy may have run its course.

Social Media companies like Facebook, Twitter, U Tube and their like are now shaping a world in which earthly government is becoming inoperative. 

SO HOW MIGHT SOCIAL MEDIA – ALGORITHMS – AI – MACHINE LEARNING – ALTER THE CAPACITY OF CITIZENS TO GOVERN THEMSELVES?

As unprecedented numbers of people channel their political energy through this medium, it’s now being used in unforeseen ways with societal repercussions that were never anticipated.

We should all be very wary news feeds which are being personalized.

ONE OF THE GREATEST PROBLEMS for the future is the worldwide existing inequality in access to new communication technologies. It threatens to aggravate existing social inequalities.

How does social media influence a democratic society? 

By allowing us to create our very own feeds and essentially live in them.

By allowing algorithms to design communication packages just for individuals with each component full chosen in advance.

By allowing advertising without checking their source of purchase.

By allowing petitions to be voted on.

By allowing algorithms to create what’s called polarization, or an information cocoon.

By allowing another communication channel between voters and politicians.

If there’s one fundamental truth about social media’s impact on democracy it’s that it amplifies human intent — both good and bad. At its best, it allows us to express ourselves and take action. At its worst, it allows people to spread misinformation and corrode democracy.

One way or the other we are arriving rapidly to a crossroads whether we want true freedom of choice or short-term data-driven decisions to rule the roost.

If we can bank online, we can vote online.

We can now publish online, shout online, share music and ideas online, expose new knowledge online, regroup and connect online, bank online. The only thing we still can’t do online is voting on our own laws. No, instead we’re still living under a bizarre psycho-political industrial-era system that wants us to believe we’re represented by elected officials.

The structure of a direct democracy government is simple, and yet profound, giving rise to several questions that need a wide-reaching topic for debate.

SUCH AS.

The people have the final say in every decision that the government makes. That is because, in this government structure, the people are the government.

This can only work if everyone is involved in the voting process in some way. WHICH IS TOTALLY UNWORKABLE. 

WHO WANTS MOB RULE.

Voters cannot authentically decide a course of action to take if they are not presented with complete and accurate information. This structure of government requires that all citizens be given the same information and shared within an equal time frame.

It could also allow a majority of people to oppress certain groups in a harmful manner.

IT CAN ONLY WORK IN THE VILLAGE HALL.

Once we count on AI to decide what we do our concept of life will have to change.

Democratic elections and free markets might cease to make any sense, as with most art and religions.

Can parliaments and political parties overcome the challenges?

At the moment it does not seem so. Technological disruption is not even a leading item on the political agenda.

Google and Twitter are attention merchants. They capture our attention and resell it to advertisers. We are becoming their product.

Governments need to nationalize our data.

It is now or never that regulate the ownership of data if we don’t want to end up living in a digital dictatorship.

 

Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of direct democracy"

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: ARE WE SEEING THE BIRTH OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY.

06 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in 2018: The Year of Disconnection., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Democracy, Environment, European Union., Evolution., Facebook, Fake News., Google, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Humanity., Life., Modern Day Democracy., Modern day life., Our Common Values., Politics., Populism., Post - truth politics., Social Media, Sustaniability, Technology, Terrorism., The common good., The essence of our humanity., The Obvious., The world to day., Twitter, Unanswered Questions., What needs to change in European Union., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage., World Leaders, World Organisations., World Politics

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: ARE WE SEEING THE BIRTH OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Democracy, Direct Democracy, NEW DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT, Out of Date Democracy, SMART PHONE WORLD, The Future of Mankind, The internet and Democracy, Visions of the future.

 

( A Five-minute read)

A common complaint about representative democracy is that it creates a distant class of lawmakers who will often collude with vested interests, or become so detached from the lives of the general public, that they will make decisions that the public does not support. By contrast, in a Direct Democracy system, such corruption of decision-making is impossible if every citizen is an equally powerful participant in the process.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of direct democracy"

However, it does not make any sense to think that direct democracy is somehow ideologically predisposed in any particular direction.

Direct democracy is simply a median-reverting institution.

It pushes policy back toward the center of public opinion when legislatures move too far to the right or left or is it, in fact, an opportunity to organize a kind of socio-ecological revolution to break away from the western development model of politics.

We know that every political system man has invented is open to corruption.

It is obvious that modern western democracies are now confronted with a change in culture mainly due to the integration of migrants, globalization, terrorism, and artificial intelligence.

Direct Democracy is presented as a solution to these challenges mainly by Social Media with its partitions and manipulation of voters with false news and software bots that amplify specific conversations on Twitter and Facebook by posting videos, photos, and biased statements targeting particular hashtags and wordings.  

Resulting in phony debates, nurtured by cliches and prejudices that are destabilizing the political systems we have had for hundreds of years.   

At what cost?

One of the obvious cost is Brexit and the not so obvious Donald Trump.

It is simply impossible to have direct democracy as the common Googlefied smartphone citizen does not have a grasp of political understanding nor the cognitive capacities to achieve direct democracy.

However, this view cuts against democracy in general.

As it implies that politicians always know better than the average citizen.

This is far from the truth when one looks at the current state of the world that is crying for some common action.

Politicians don’t necessarily show expertise and interest and certainly don’t know all the issues and are not always well informed.

They depend on shortcuts and have to ask other politicians and experts.

This morning I received an email from John Taylo in response to my last post ( The Beady Eye ask’s: Does anyone really know what quantum chips will do.)

He sums up the situation by saying and I quote

” We have yet to invent a political system that will harness the knowledge of mankind. if AI can be used for the benefit of all to reduce poverty and increase living standers of all without wrecking the planet it will be ……. Only dreaming”

I replied  “What a dream”

Perhaps I should have said ” Where do dreams come from. Look around you. That is where dreams come from. The only planet we know. ”

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: IT’S TIME TO ESTABLISH A GLOBAL REGISTRATION FOR ALGORITHMS

07 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Big Data., Evolution., Fourth Industrial Revolution., HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Humanity., Modern Day Communication., Modern Day Democracy., Our Common Values., Religion for a digital age., Social Media, Technology, The cloud., The Future, The Internet., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage.

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Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms for Profit., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Global integration, Technology, The Future of Mankind, THE UNITED NATIONS, Visions of the future.

 

( A seven-minute read)

I am sure you will agree with me when I state the obvious that the world has more than enough problems on its plate.

While we are all distracted there is not a day that goes by without some new App appearing.

 ( What lies behind our current rush to automate everything we can imagine?

Perhaps it is an idea that has leaked out into the general culture from cognitive

science and psychology over the past half-century — that our brains are

imperfect computers. If so, surely replacing them with actual computers can

have nothing but benefits. Yet even in fields where the algorithm’s job is a

relatively pure exercise in number- crunching, things can go alarmingly wrong.)

I HAVE JUST WATCHED ON TV THE FIRST PERSON WHO COULD BE DESCRIBE AS ALGORITHM SLAVE AND IT MADE ME WONDER.

One day, the makers of an algorithm-driven psychotherapy app could be sued by the survivors of someone to whom it gave the worst possible advice.

When we seek to hand over our decision-making to automatic routines in areas that have concrete social and political consequences, the results might be troubling indeed.

However, we are where we are with most of us unable to conduct our lives without our smartphones, the internet, and algorithms.

Is there still a place for human judgment?

Our age elevates the precision-tooled power of the algorithm over flawed human judgment.

From web search to marketing and stock-trading, and even education and policing, medical care, credit rating, the power of computers that crunch data according to complex sets of if-then rules is promised to make our lives better in every way.

Automated retailers tell you which book you want to read next; dating websites compute your perfect life-partner; self-driving cars will reduce accidents; crime will be predicted and prevented algorithmically.

If only we minimize the input of messy human minds, we can all have better decisions made for us. So runs the hard sell of our current algorithm fetish which is eroding our free will.

Automatic analysis of our smartphone geolocation, internet-browsing and

social-media data-trails grows ever more sophisticated, and so we can thin-

slice demographic categories ever more precisely.

From such information, it is possible to infer personal details (such as sexual

orientation or use of illegal drugs) that have not been explicitly supplied, and

sometimes to identify unique individuals. Even when such information is simply

used to target adverts more accurately, the consequences can be

uncomfortable.

So let me ask you.

How do algorithms decide exactly what should count as ‘hate speech’ or obscenity?

No one knows, because the company, quite understandably, isn’t going to give away its secrets.  Rather than pursuing mere lexicographical analysis, such a system of automated pre-censorship is, making moral judgments.

We need to create a class of ‘algorithmic auditors’ — trusted representatives of

the public who can peer into the code to see what kinds of implicit political and

ethical judgments are buried there and report their findings back to us. This is a

good idea, though it poses practical problems about how companies can retain

the commercial edge provided by their computerized secret sauce if they have

to open up their algorithms to quasi-official scrutiny.

It is very unlikely that this will happen. We are however in danger of

App exploitation not only for profit but when there is no immediate cash peril –

culture, education, and crime.

We are well on the road to becoming slaves to the algorithms with computers

taking more than some tough choices out of our hands if we let them.

Such automated augury might be considered relatively harmless if its use is

confined to figuring out what products we might like to buy.

But it is not going to stop there.

There is so much out there that even the most popular human ‘curators’ cannot possibly keep on top of all of it.

If we erect algorithms as our ultimate judges and arbiters, we face the threat of difficulties not only in law-enforcement but also in culture.

Would it then be acceptable to deny people their freedom on such an algorithmic basis?

If you are feeling gloomy about the automation of higher education, the death of newspapers, and global warming, you might want to talk to someone — and there’s an algorithm for that, too. A new wave of smartphone apps with eccentric titular orthography (iStress, myinstantCOACH, MoodKit, BreakkUp) promise a psychotherapist in your pocket. Thus far they are not very intelligent and require the user to do most of the work — through this second drawback could be said of many human counselors too. Such apps hark back to one of the legendary milestones of ‘artificial intelligence’, the 1960s computer program called ELIZA.

Indeed, a backlash to algorithmic fetishism is already underway — at least in those areas where a dysfunctional algorithm’s effect is not some gradual and hard-to-measure social or cultural deterioration but an immediate difference to the bottom line of powerful financial organizations.

Are we all so brain dead that we are passively becoming technological slaves.

I now that there is little point in closing the gate when the cow has departed, but we got to start somewhere and soon if the next generation is to function as intelligent free people.  It cannot be stopped.

At the moment there are a lot of dummy robots existence but if they acquire intentional desires what then. What happens when they can adjust those desires.

It’s too late.  Scientist Fiction will be a lie that tells the truth.

At the moment they are no set of values for AI. Just write a little program and wait and see what happens.

HISTORY IS LITTERED WITH THE ANSWER, AND IT’S NOT GOOD.     Résultat de recherche d'images pour "picture of a strongroom"

It is time for the United Nations to establish A CLOUD STRONGROOM, WHERE ALL AI PROGRAMMES ARE REQUIRED TO DEPOSIT A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM OR ALGORITHM WHICH IS AVAILABLE TO ONE AND ALL.

ON DOING SO THE UN ISSUES AGAINST ITS FOUNDING CHARTER.

# A WORLD VALIDATION APPROVED LICENSE.

All human comments appreciate. All like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

 

Global registration, Accuracy  is essential

 

 

 

 

 

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THE BEADY ASK’S: IS IT TIME TO REMOVE THE IMMUNITY OF PROFIT SEEKING ALGORITHMS,THE WORLD BANK AND THE IMF.

01 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Fourth Industrial Revolution., GDP., HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Humanity., Our Common Values., Social Media, Sustaniability, Technology, The essence of our humanity., The Obvious., The world to day., Unanswered Questions., War., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage.

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Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms for Profit., Algorithms trade., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Inequility, Technology, The Future of Mankind, Visions of the future.

 

( A seven-minute read)

We all know that Social Media as it is called is having an effect on many if not all aspects of society both for good and bad.

TECHNOLOGY is now described as the third Industrial Revolution, with profit-seeking algorithms being the mercenary soldiers of the platforms on which Social media relies that are not only going to cause an algorithm war that will continue to unstabilize the world we live in.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "picture cyberwar"

An algorithm war will be the great oxymoron of our time.

Why will they cause a war? A digitally controlled systems war.

Because of originality.

At the moment it is vital that natural substances and public knowledge remain in the public domain so that we all have equal access to the collective humanity’s intelligence. Soon, however, we will not know who owns what, seed patenting, plants, medicines, and genetic materials, data, you name it and some algorithm will be controlling it.  The more a nation or group of people is dependent upon digital systems, the more vulnerable they will become.

If we are to have a planet where companies can roam the planet in search of ever cheaper means of making a profit with these algorithms we must demand a global minimum wage.

Algorithms are already addictive. Promoted by multinational corporations that are avoiding taxes by their home countries.

The most effective way to take back control is to establish a Cloud Strongroom where all software programmes, are registered to their origins and a copy of the original program is held for future reference, transparency, available to all.

There is no doubt about the impact of AI. What will be automated next?

AI is only one fish in a vast ocean of technological progress.

” You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” Jobs.

Scientific data is piling up around us telling us that we are currently destroying what is left of the earth  >  deforestation, warming and acidification of oceans, CO2 emissions, melting ice caps, species extinction 100 to 1000 times faster than before the last Industrial Revolution, overfishing, soil degradation, over-exploitation of the earth ecosystem, running out of oil,  pollution of drinking water, breathable air etc.

The list is endless combining to what we call human progress – GDP.

When in reality what is need is to decouple GDP from material throughput.

Consumption in rich countries is outpacing CDP growth. Perhaps if we placed a moratorium on Advertising for a few years we might reduce consumption and release us from the tyranny of growth at any cost.

If we peel back the false promises of technology the problems we have are much deeper causes, to tackle such as inequality, and consumption that is putting our plant at risk. Not to mention technology replacing many jobs creating a crisis of unemployment.

It’s time before the technology of profit-seeking algorithms plunders what is left of the world resources that we redistribute on merit bases that reflect the population of a country and their development needs the voting power within the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO.

If you look at the World Bank and the IMF you will see that most of the countries representatives in both institutions are finance ministers, or central bank governors while the WTO has trade ministers neither of which have people or the environment as their mantra.

This needs to be done as

Our major world institutions are long overdue in need of reform.

In order to create a fairer global economy is it not the time to democratize the major global institution’s and remove the veto powers.

Right now votes are apportioned to each country according to the financial shares in the institutions with the rich countries claiming over 60%.

The World Trade Organisation is technically democratic with one vote for each member state, but in reality, it is the countries with the biggest markets that pull the punches.

The poorer countries are don’t have the negotiating prowess or the funds to make their voices heard.

Instead of a few powerful countries setting the agendas and predetermining decisions in what is called the green room a large dose of transparency is required allowing the media to access whether the rules and penalties stand up to the common sense notion of fairness.

Perhaps we can get social media to evolve to where it is the people of countries that elect who represents them in these Institutions.

If we don’t bring our institution into the technological age there is little likelihood that the next wave of general learning algorithms (that will be able to solve problems with us specifying how) will place power in our hands but rather in the hands of a few companies and as we have witnessed recently power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When men run out of words they reach for their swords, not their mobile phones.

One way or the other Algrothims are going to change human history.

All human comments appreciated. All like click chucked in the bin.

 

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. EUREKA! ARE WE ALL FOOLS TO THINK THAT A PLATFORM IS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS USERS.

22 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Facebook, Freedom, Google, Modern Day Democracy., Social Media, Technology, The Internet., Twitter, Unanswered Questions., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage.

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. EUREKA! ARE WE ALL FOOLS TO THINK THAT A PLATFORM IS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS USERS.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms for Profit., Algorithms trade., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Big Data, Capitalism and Greed, SMART PHONE WORLD, Social Media, Technology, Visions of the future.

 

( A six-minute read)

Facebook is simply a platform and will never be held responsible for its users.

We can’t blame tech makers for making their products so good we want to use them. We are in control. But are we?

Facebook like all other platforms has been distorted by the fortunes they have been able to earn through advertising.

Why?

Because the techniques these companies use are not always generic: they are algorithmically tailored to each person.

There can be no ethics when it comes to technological manipulation that can be sold to the highest bidder.

The problem is that there is nothing the companies can do to address the harm unless they abandon their current advertising models. Thay have little incentive to deviate from the mantra that their companies are making the world a better place.

But how can Google and Facebook or ANY PLATFORM for that matter be forced to abandon the business models that have transformed them into the most profitable companies on the planet?

Notification technology enables hundred unsolicited interruptions into millions of lives, accelerating the arms race for people’s attention. Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The company’s famous ‘likes’ feature has been described by its creator as ‘bright dings of pseudo-pleasure’.

When you consider that the total size of all global data hit 20 zettabytes in 2017.

This probably means nothing so picture this: If every 64 – gigabyte I Phone were a brick, we could build 80 Great walls of China with the I Phones needed to store all the above data.

It’s growing every second and completely out of any control.

All of our minds are being hijacked.

Our choices are not as free as we think they are. The technologies we use have turned into compulsions, if not full-fledged addictions.

Billions of people have little choice over whether they use these now ubiquitous technologies, and are largely unaware of the invisible ways in which a small number of people in Silicon Valley are shaping their lives.

We now have an internet-shaped around the demands of an advertising economy with technology platforms contributing toward so-called “continuous partial attention.

Manipulating people into habitual use of their products or platforms with rewards or short-term social affirmations, while harvested valuable data about the preferences of users that could be sold to advertisers.

So what if anything can be done.

It is very common, for humans to develop things with the best of intentions and for them to have unintended, negative consequences.

We’ve truly reached a new level of technological time wasting, with the young generation unable to communicate.

If we the adult world cannot wean ourselves free a good starting point would be if we are to exercise our freedom by banning,  iPhones, iPads, laptops and mobile phones from places of education.

They will become a real problem if you don’t, as they are ridiculous thing to be addicted to. It just something to use when you’re procrastinating or is it a procrastination-trap, a slate of tools destined to get you addicted.

We have to learn to deal more effectively with our emotions if we want to procrastinate less.

Such as varying the rewards people receive to create a craving, or exploiting negative emotions that can act as triggers. It makes them look like they have a life.

Social media and other addictive technologies have and are creating an attention economy, which is severely limiting people’s ability to focus, and is possibly lowering IQ.

One reason I think it is particularly important for us to talk about this now is that we may be the last generation that can remember life before the Internet.

Drawing a straight line between addiction to social media and political earthquakes like Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump, digital forces have completely upended the political system and, left unchecked, could even render democracy as we know it obsolete.

The mere presence of smartphones damages cognitive capacity – even when the device is turned off. Everyone is distracted, all of the time.

Feelings of boredom, loneliness, frustration, confusion, and indecisiveness often instigate a slight pain or irritation and prompt an almost instantaneous and often mindless action to quell the negative sensation by looking at your I Phone, I Pad

If the people who built these technologies are taking such radical steps to wean themselves free, can the rest of us reasonably be expected to

”Chrome extension, called DF YouTube, “which scrubs out a lot of those external triggers” an app called Pocket Points that “rewards you for staying off your phone when you need to focus”

Get a life and use one.

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the bin.

https://embed.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention

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THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: SOON THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO WAIT FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS

11 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Algorithms.

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE SAY’S: SOON THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO WAIT FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms for Profit., Algorithms., Artificial Intelligence., Artificial life., Inequility, Technology, The Future of Mankind

 

( A four-minute read)

If you look at the direction the world is going in life itself is about to break out of organic life into to nonorganic life.

If you were expecting some kind of warning when computers finally get smarter than us, then think again.(filistimlyanin/iStock.com)

In reality, our electronic overlords are already taking control, and they are doing it in a far more subtle way than science fiction would have us believe.

Another word we will have different biological classes of people with new types of gods with new tec religions that produce new bodies, brains, and minds.

There will be no more going to heaven.

It is these invisible computations that increasingly control how we interact with our electronic world. There will be new stories, new thinking to match the new technologies.

Algorithms will be the new form of Communism.

These days we die not because it is in our DNA or Genes but because of Techo problems.

Calico a Google subsidiary is a research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan.

Its ambition is to solve the problem of human health/death.

It’s all being done right before our eyes.

Algorithms can now detect personalities via human language conversation.

What’s next? Will WW3 be launched via algorithm?

Perhaps not but inequality will be the norm with Fundamentalism gone.

The power of algorithms has spread far beyond Wall Street and now touches all of us–starting with today’s young innovators.

Algorithms are doing a lot more than automating stock trades.

Most people don’t know that there are algorithms that decide how customer service calls get routed or how customer service requests will be treated. When people call these big companies like their health insurer or telecom company, they’re actually being categorized, sliced, diced and parsed by a bot.

It’s incredible to think that the words someone chooses on a given morning will forever change how that company treats him or her.

These algorithms don’t just affect people involved in computer science.

No-one would doubt that Google system has made searching a whole lot easier, but at what price? As algorithms spread their influence beyond machines to shape the raw landscape around them, it might be time to work out exactly how much they know and whether we still have time to tame them.

Algorithm change because they know they’re getting gamed.

Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything.

They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos but are they putting too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity, and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment.

How far Google’s data-crunching algorithm go in harvesting our personal data and shaping the web will be the Story of the Future and because our brains are becoming more and more reliant on the internet for memory

The Google story could well be the god of the future.

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the bin.

 

 

 

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THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: WHAT IS THE STANDING OF DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD TO DAY AND IS IT SOCIAL MEDIA THAT IS ALIENATING US FROM THE VOTE.

05 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by bobdillon33@gmail.com in Algorithms., Democracy, Facebook, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, Humanity., Modern Day Communication., Modern Day Democracy., Modern day life., Politics., Populism., Post - truth politics., Social Media, The common good., The world to day., Twitter, Unanswered Questions., What needs to change in European Union., What Needs to change in the World, Where's the Global Outrage.

≈ Comments Off on THE BEADY EYE ASK’S: WHAT IS THE STANDING OF DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD TO DAY AND IS IT SOCIAL MEDIA THAT IS ALIENATING US FROM THE VOTE.

Tags

Algorithms Democracy., Algorithms., Democracy, Out of Date Democracy, Social Media, The internet and Democracy, Visions of the future.

 

( A Slow read of twenty minutes)

Democracy has many strengths, including the capacity for self-correction, but the question is can it survive social media.

The word ‘democracy’ has its origins in the Greek language. It combines two shorter words: ‘demos’ meaning whole citizen living within a particular city-state and ‘kratos’ meaning power or rule.

Democracy of sorts had existed for centuries but there is no absolute definition of democracy. The term is elastic and expands and contracts according to the time, place and circumstances of its use.

Meaningful democracy only arrived at a national level in 1906, when Finland became the first country to abolish race and gender requirements for both voting and for serving in government.

Even in established democracies, flaws in the system have become worryingly visible and disillusion with politics is rife. Yet just a few years ago democracy looked as though it would dominate the world. The combination of globalization and the digital revolution has made some of democracy’s most cherished institutions look outdated.

It is far short of the settled, comfortable state of maturity that many of its early adherents expected (or at least hoped) it would be able to claim after decades of effort.

Just a few years ago, Facebook and Twitter were hailed as tools for democracy activists, enabling movements like the Arab Spring to flourish.

Today, the tables have turned as fears grow over how social media may have been manipulated to disrupt the US election, and over how authoritarian governments are using the networks to clamp down on dissent.

They are fast becoming tools for social control.Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of social media democracy"

So has democracy’s global advance come to a halt, and may even be in reverse.

The notion that winning an election entitles the majority to do whatever it pleases no longer holds water.

Since the dawn of the modern democratic era in the late 19th century, democracy has expressed itself through nation-states and national parliaments. People elect representatives who pull the levers of national power for a fixed period.  But this arrangement is now under assault from both above and below.

From above, globalization has changed national politics profoundly.

From below Modern technology is implementing a new modern version with national politicians surrendering more and more power to Social Media.

For example over trade and financial flows, to global markets and supranational bodies, and may thus find that they are unable to keep promises they have made to voters.

International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, and the European Union might have extended their influence, but they no longer have the power to implement what they preach.

There is a compelling logic too much of this:

The fragility of the United Nations influence elsewhere has become increasingly apparent with the state of the world.

How can anyone Organisation or a single country deal with problems like climate change or tax evasion?

National politicians have also responded to globalization by limiting their discretion and handing power to unelected technocrats in some areas. The number of countries with independent central banks, for example, has increased from about 20 in 1980 to more than 160 today.

So is the power now in the hands of multi Clongormentts like Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Mircosoft etc.

Certainly, the perception that democracy in decline has become more widespread than at any time during the past quarter-century. Erosion of freedom over the past few years, adopting smarter methods for m of subversion

There are four main sorts of Democracy.

  • Direct democracy
  • Representative democracy
  • Constitutional democracy
  • Monitory democracy

A liberal democracy (that is, one that champions the development and well-being of the individual) is organised in such a way as to define and limit power so as to promote legitimate government within a framework of justice and freedom.

Social media is a double-edged sword it allows us to speak truth to power but on the other hand, it allows power to manipulate public opinion and polarize the electorate.

Citizens use it to speak truth to power, and authoritarian governments use it to spread misinformation.

Twitter users got more misinformation, polarizing and conspiratorial content than professionally produced news.”

They fake petition signatures. They skew poll results and recommendation engines.

Rather than a complete totalitarianism based on fear and the blocking of information, the newer methods include demonizing online media and mobilizing armies of supporters or paid employees who muddy the online waters with misinformation, information overload, doubt, confusion, harassment, and distraction.”

And yes, governments are increasing their efforts to censor the internet, but that’s because they recognize that the internet poses a threat to their control.

Every authoritarian regime has social media campaigns targeting their own populations.

If the liberal world order is indeed coming apart under pressure from
the authoritarians, the future of democracy will be deeply affected.

Social media firms are “largely immune from responsibility” in the legal sense, but that “in the court of public opinion it is a different matter, and future US/EU legislation seems likely if they don’t address these issues in a meaningful way.

So what is the answer?

Is social media basically good, or does it have a “negative impact on society”

There are no gatekeepers when you publish via your social profile, (outside of each platform’s terms of use) – you can write anything and anyone has the chance to view it.

Social Media has truly democratized media and given everyone a medium through which to be heard.

It has also opened the system up to those who would exploit it to push their own agendas. The platforms are now looking to police this, but it’ll likely always play a part.

To make democracy work, we must be participants, not simply observers.

One who does not vote has no right to complain.

Here are a few questions to mull over.

What can be done to fight citizens’ political alienation and distrust?

Are representative democracy and greater public participation the answer or do we need to think beyond current practices?

How can the cultural and historical factors involved and reflected in present developments help us look into the future?

What knowledge is needed to understand and inform decision-making in the future?

Which values are and which values must be at the base of decision-making?Résultat de recherche d'images pour "pictures of social media democracy"

If we are indeed heading for a Smartphone Algorithms Democracy: Who, or What will be in control. 

The algorithms behind social media platforms convert popularity into legitimacy, creating echo chambers, overwhelming the public square with multiple, conflicting assertions.

Today, social media acts as an accelerant, and an at-scale content platform and distribution channel, for both viral “dis”-information (the deliberate creation and sharing of information known to be false) and “mis”-information.

“Populist” leaders use these platforms, often aided by trolls, “hackers for hire” and bots, on open networks such as Twitter and YouTube.

Sometimes they are seeking to communicate directly with their electorate. In using such platforms, they subvert established protocol, shut down dissent, marginalize minority voices, project soft power across borders, normalize hateful views, showcase false momentum for their views, or create the impression of tacit approval of their appeals to extremism.

And they are not the only actors attempting to use these platforms to manipulate political opinion — such activity is now acknowledged by governments of democratic countries.

In addition, advanced methods for capturing personal data have led to sophisticated psychographic analysis, behavioral profiling, and micro-targeting of individuals to influence their actions via so-called “dark ads.” to self-censor or opt out of participating in public discourse.

Currently, there are few options for redress. At the same time, platforms are faced with complex legal and operational challenges with respect to determining how they will manage speech, a task made all the more difficult since norms vary widely by geographic and cultural context.

Every democracy needs its justice system, so we must “catch up with the modern world”, to cope with the social media.

In reality, old power structures still have power, they just have it in new spaces.

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks chucked in the Bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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All comments and contributions much appreciated

  • THE BEADY EYE SAY’S. ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION. WHEN IT COMES TO A DIASTER WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT NOT TO BOMB THE PLACE WITH AID? February 7, 2023
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