...or to repeat a refrain, what's the antidote to "them 'as got the
gold makes the rules" (even in education)?
Robert C
On 9/27/10 6:13 AM, ERIC P. CHARLES wrote:
Of course, the question is really something more like: What is a good
way to keep the rich and powerful in check... except the obvious way
of having an educated populace?
Eric
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 03:46 AM, *Pieter Steenekamp
<[email protected]>* wrote:
We know and agree what Facebook's business model is: they do their
utmost to get more and more people to join and then they use all the
private stuff to target very focused adverts. Then there is also a
natural tendency for the rich to become richer (Epstein and Axtell's
"Sugarscape) and more powerful and then to abuse their money and
power.
My question is: how do you know when this is good or bad for society.
Well, I don't argue that the extreme of this is evil, but where is the
extreme? And further, what is a good way to keep the rich and powerful
in check? Is it good to regulate it, and to what extent do you regulate
it? If we regulate it, how do we prevent the regulations from getting
out of hand and limit our freedom too much? When are regulations
unnecessary and is it good enough to just tell everybody about the
"evil" things they do?
Pieter
On 2010/09/26 09:07 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
> I admit that's a good point. I don't accuse Facebook of forcing anyone
> to join them,
> it doesn't do this yet. But they try to force users to stay there once
> they have joined. Many users are lured in, or join out of curiosity,
> but Facebook doesn't let them out again. That's evil,
> especially because the high number of users
> is a key element in their advertising strategy.
>
> Another problem is that some data of your friends - photos, videos, or
> information about events - may be inaccessible for you if you don't
> join. Information is no longer freely available on the internet.
> Finally all the buzz generated around Facebook suggests that it is a
> wonderful place. It is not - only if you
> have something to sell. The buzz is generated partly because the media
> itself is involved in it - many journalists and newspapers have an
> account themselves.
> Imagine the language we speak would belong
> to a company. Every 5 years the company would invent a new version of
> the language with plenty of new words, and every time we would
> have to learn the new words and rules (and print new books). The
> language we speak belongs to us.
> Our private life, too. The Facebook operators don't violate privacy
> occasionaly, it is their core business to violate privacy. People
> should be aware of this.
>
> -J.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pieter Steenekamp"
> <[email protected]>
> To:<[email protected]>
> Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 1:23 PM
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] You Have 0 Friends [why Facebook is evil]
>
>
> If a grocery store offers to sell you a bread for a dollar, do you
> accuse them of forcing you to give you a dollar? Then why do you
> accuse Facebook of forcing you to do anything? If you don't like it,
> simply don't open an account with them. If you don't buy bread then
> you die, so I would rather accuse the grocery store of forcing me to
> part with my dollar. If you don't open a Facebook account, at least
> you don't die.
>
> Pieter
>
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
>
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
Eric Charles
Professional Student and
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Penn State University
Altoona, PA 16601
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
