A.I.

Artificial Intelligence has the ability to completely change our society. As of right now, it is for the most part used for un harmful, time consuming practices. The problem however is just that. It saves time. If we look to A.I. for our everyday lifestyles it can completely take away our ways of living by leaving us stranded in not having anything productive to bring to the table. Think about a world where all our blue colored jobs where taken over by AI.

I liked "in the age of AI" because it showed all the possibilities that could come about in the next 10 to 15 years. It also goes in depth about what AI is doing right now. China has so much data on individuals through surveillance that it has the ability to right away identify a person and everything there is to know about that person. Corporate surveillance has invaded so much privacy in these other countries. A game called go is a board game over 4,000 years old where there is a huge amount of different move possibilities. 

An AI generated playmate took on the worlds greatest Go player and ended up winning, creating a new move that no one had ever thought about before. AI had the ability to learn data at an incredibly fast rate and was able to actually create new possibilities based on its abilities to adapt to the game. This is a blue print of what AI could be come in our ever day lives, bringing people to unemployment. 

"We thought we where searching google, little did we know google was actually searching us". This is something that was mentioned in the video and I found it super interesting. AI has the ability to learn us due to the accessible amount of data it is ingesting. It has gotten so far, that it has the ability to predict our future decisions. This is when it can become evil. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dZ_lvDgevk

Spiral of Silence Theory

 The Spiral of Silence Theory is the theory when someone has an opinion on a specific subject, but does not want to go in depth on their own personal beliefs because they are afraid people might disagree with them, leaving them isolated. This often times happens when new government policies, politics, and religious beliefs are widely spread. 

This theory was studied in the 1960s by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann when she studied a people by giving them topics to go in depth about with other people around them. Those people around them where in on the experiment where they would make body gestures implying that they disagree with their opinion, leaving that person afraid to go in depth regarding their opinion. As the experiment went on, slowly by surely that person would grow silent and even second guess their beliefs.

In 1974 the study became a theory as we all know as the spiral of silence theory. Elisabeth found that the main issue with this theory is the fear of isolation, and this fear becomes so outwardly noticeable that it can paralyze peoples thought process regarding their own personal beliefs.

This theory if activated in peoples way of living can be detrimental to our society as a whole. The inability to be courageous for what you believe in is operating out of a state of fear, which will hold back our true potential not only in our own personal beliefs, but as innovators to discover new things within our resources around us, and more importantly our minds. 

This has the ability to affect virtually everyone, but specifically goes after people who are afraid of rejection and isolation. If that is the case, everyone at some point in their lives needs to be careful not to fall into this trap, as it can sneak up on you when most vulnerable. This is mostly targeted with an agenda behind it to accomplish something good or bad, but because the root results in fear, we know that is a very evil tactic.

If you dive even deeper, this fear driven agenda can cause even bigger issues. Think about a nation that is entirely to scared to talk about their views due to isolation. The surface level belief on a specific topic can bring people to not wanting to go deeper into it, bringing agreement on something that has serious tangled wires beneath, which can bring people to agreeing with something they don't actually agree with, just to keep their resume with others acceptable. The idea everyone is "agreeing" with becomes a monster, and brings confusion and hierarchy that is unwanted. 

One way we can avoid this is to be open minded individuals with one goal in mind. Seeking truth. If we can seek truth with everything we have and make that our passion, when an issue rises up where we need to speak on, our passion will overdrive our fear and we will be acting out of a state of courage rather than fear. We are created in the image of God who knows no fear. Fear is something the devil tries to get us caught up in because it has the ability to paralyze us, which is what he wants because he is afraid if we operate out of a spirt of courage, we will break down barriers and strong holds. He wants us in bondage, but God wants us free. 

https://noelle-neumann.de/scientific-work/spiral-of-silence/

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence/

The Government Knows You

 It absolutely blows my mind how there is so much information about each and everyone one of us that can be accessed to the government due to the amount of cameras, cookies, social media, etc.. I never really think about it, but it is crazy that the government knows how I tend to act based on the decisions I make through digital interactions and social interactions. 

It is not something that bothers me because in a weird way it keeps me honest to myself to be the best version of myself because I don't want to become a public figure one day and get black mailed for the benefits of others. However, I do find it creepy. 

I think all these "tools" can truly be "tools" for the betterment of our country, but the problem is that there is just way to much power within the system that can benefit the government with an unbelievable amount of money. Think about the advertising possibilities. If they know what decisions you are prone to making at a specific time then why would they keep it solely for criminal justice?

 I found it super interesting that the telephone was created first for surveillance, then secondary for communication. Our conversations with our loved ones can be easily accessed through wire tapping that can be accessed to the government. The surveillance system can be hacked to either our government, a different government, or a hacker. However, there is encryption tools which allows unauthorized access to digital information to be prevented. 

This is a great way to prevent people from invading our private property. The problem is that crime activities that take place over the phone can do this same thing, and now the people that are left having their phones monitored are the people who are unaware of knowing how to do this. 

You would think the people that know how to do this the best are the criminal that are trying to hide things from the government, which leads to many citizens getting their information exposed for the betterment of other people and organizations. It is a twisted system.

https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_soghoian_how_to_avoid_surveillance_with_the_phone_in_your_pocket?language=en

Can't We Get Along?

 I find it super fascinating that we can not easily access these anti war articles online, which I believe the big reason is because the government does not want us to have easy access to all the different wagers they are participating in. They do not want rumors to form or do not want the truth to get all over the internet at a rapid pace, so they use the algorithms of SEO (search engine optimization) to favor their tactics in keeping it out of the hands of American citizens. Or at least, limiting it. I saw this article on antiwar talking about how the government is keeping a Russian billionaire's yacht captive which is bringing them to paying 7 million dollars a year in obtaining it. 

Whether it be smaller issues with other countries, or much bigger ones, The government does not always feel like having every single wager, conversations, or threats at the hands of every web user. I kind of understand their reasoning behind it because people can easily twist things and it might get back to the other countries government which could cause misunderstanding regarding the actual wager at hand, but at the same time I feel like there can be a better way of going about this topic. It makes us feel like the government is hiding things by trying to do their own thing, which is wrong  due to our not only our right, but our duty to critique the government. 

Reagan and Gorbachev had a great relationship and even went on a 1 hour walk alone and talked out personally how they could bring peace between the two countries. Its funny that Biden has not talked to Putin in 3 years, it shows a sign of laziness regarding what is truly needed at this moment in time. 

https://www.antiwar.com/

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/biden-to-nation-no-problems-here/

Netflix

 I liked learning more about Netflix which was what Chris did his presentation on. Netflix was created by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997. What I found super interesting is the reason why these two created Netflix in the first place. Reed was fined a hefty fee for not returning his VHS tape rental in on time, and it ended up sparking the vision to create a monthly subscription for people to rent movie dvd's. It was not short after when They decided that their idea was going to be a big hit, but they needed to figure out a way to create some sort of an online streaming algorithm that could allow customers to do the same exact thing, expect instead of renting discs they would rent the online version. This would lift their business up drastically because not only would it be incredibly convenient for the producer and consumer, but it would create a whole new world of possibilities. 

What I find interesting is that this innovation was formed out of a negative experience that Reed experienced personally. It seems like a lot of inventions step from a negative manor of some sort, kind of like how Samual Morse created Morse code because of his inability to communicate fast that ended up leading the to death of his wife. Now obviously a VHS fee is much smaller than the death of a human being, but you get the point.

In 2010, Netflix opened their online streaming platform and in 2016, Netflix was able to go global and have their platform streamed in nearly 190 different countries. In 2021 Netflix has had over 200 million subscribers. Going back to 2013 was when Netflix started creating their own content as we all know to be "Netflix Originals" and there are over 2,400 Netflix originals up to date. 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reed-Hastings

Telegraph

Telegraph: Any device or system that allows the transmission of information by coded signal over distance. The Telegraph was created in order to meet a desperate need of a more efficient long distance source of communication. In 1837, the telegraph was the first "device" created to meet that need. Before hand, Instead of using electro magnetic signals, people would use semaphore systems which is communication via flags and lights. The word "signal" was taken into consideration when Micheal Faraday invented electromagnet, and Samual Morse learned how it worked in order to better understand the vision of of using electromagnet to send electromagnetic "signals" to be a much more advanced innovation of the current long distance signal system being used. 

In the 18th century, the Atlantic coast had come to a conclusion that they absolutely needed a better way of long distance communication and posted a $30,000 workable proposal. However, This was not the driving force for Samual Morse to create a better way for long distance communication. Dating back to 1825 before Morse even remotely thought about creating the telegraph, he was an artist that was struggling to make a career out of it. Finally, he received word that he would be commissioned to paint a portrait of Marquis de Lafayette in New York. On his travels, he received a letter from his wife Lucretia explaining how she was proud of him, and how she was excited about having a third child in next day or two to which he wrote back how he missed her. A couple days went by and he did not receive any letters from his wife, but rather a letter from his father saying how Lucretia died from a heart attack during child birth. Morse was devastated and heart broken over the fact that he was unable to utilize a better, more efficient way for long distance communication. 

7 years later when Morse was on a ship back from Europe, He met a man by the name of Charles Thomas Jackson who was well educated in electromagnetism. Jackson explained to Morse they there was conversation regarding sending electrical signals through wires. This is when Morse's deep drive to come up with a better way of long distance communication become more real. In 1832, Samual Morse transitioned from painter, to inventor. It was not until 1840 that Morse sent a patent for "improvement in the mode of communicating information by signals by the application of electro-magnetism" which was granted by the United States patent office. The communication through dots and dashes as we all know now is Morse Code. 

Samual Morse did not allow a tragedy to stop him from creating one of the most innovative inventions of all time. The telegraph started a snowball effect through the electromagnet signals to later on create the radio and then the television. The Telegraph is a bedrock in technological innovation that has lead all the way to you reading this blog. The seed planted through a negative experience for Samual Morse has created a lifetime positive affect on technological innovation. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBkAF0OhiQA&t=86s

https://www.loc.gov/collections/samuel-morse-papers/articles-and-essays/invention-of-the-telegraph/

8 values of free expression

 The freedom of speech, which as we know is one of the principles found in the First Amendment, has 8 core values of free expression. The marketplace of ideas, participation of self government, stable change, individual fulfillment, Check on government power, promote tolerance, promote innovation, and protect dissent. The marketplace of ideas is this observation that John Milton had considering if the truth and lies where to be freely grappled (engaged in a close fight), than the truth would always win. This is super interesting to me because we know that Gods principles that can be found in the bible are the truth. Milton is saying that the truth will always defeat the lies that might be formed by the world. 

The participation of self government explains how we the people of the U.S. would not be informed well enough to vote to their full knowledge of what they believe in if they are not properly informed. basically, it provides a properly informed electorate involved in a debate. Alexander Meiklejohn explains how free speech and its relation to self government is absolutely vital. Stable change is the practice of allowing citizens to speak on whats on their mind in order to keep them a more peaceful body of Americans. This allows people to not store things up and out of an impulsive decision act in a manner of violence. This goes hand in hand with our first amendment right for the people to peaceably assemble.

The ability to possess individual self-fulfillment is the action in which we are able to have our own identities where we can live by specific principles that make us who we are. The ability to live free spirited and make our own decisions in correlation to what is best for us as individuals. Moving on to the 5th value of free expression, the ability to check on government power. It is not our right, but our duty as U.S. citizens to, along with the press, be apart of the checks-and-balance system to keep the government from becoming too powerful. We do not want any form of dictatorship, that is why this is a free country. 

Promoting tolerance goes hand in hand with how the first amendment now protects hate speech because we as a nation have the ability to grow through painful situations especially regarding the relationships around us. Promoting tolerance regarding hate speech helps us become more tolerant in other aspects of life, which means at the end of the day we are growing as a nation because of it. The 7th value of expression is the promotion of innovation. This value envisions the idea that if we are a nation that practices the freedom of speech, then we will be more likely to be free'd up in the mind enough to come up with new ideas and receive more energy and self motivation to be innovative.

 Protect dissent is the last value of expression which explains how we have not the right, but the duty to criticize and disagree with the government. This shows that the government wants all citizens to experience freedom unlike any other nation, and actually encourages us to do quite the opposite of other countries that possess a dictating government. 

I believe that the 8 values of free expression is very important because it goes in to more depth of what our first amendment hits on especially regarding the freedom of speech. I believe all 8 are very important, but I believe that the first one which is the marketplace of ideas is the most important. People can take advantage of freedom when they start re-identifying what the truth is. The truth will always rise to the top, and although we are a free country, we need to realize that there is an overall truth and an over all lie. At what point do we draw the line?

https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/commercial-speech-values-free-expression