My Relationship with Technology

Introduction

Technology is what separates humans from other animals. It is what has propelled us to the top of the food chain and given us the power to conquer diseases like measles and polio. Over 3 million years ago, humanity’s ancestors (like the Australopithecus) began the rise to the top with the development of the first tools made merely of stone. It’s nearly impossible to comprehend the span of 2 million years which took place before the next advancement of fire was made, or even the 980,000 years it took after that to develop the wheel. 

Nowadays, we have the internet, supercomputers, and artificial intelligence. Unlike the prehistoric humans who came before us, most of the technology we use throughout the day isn’t necessary for our survival. 

Screens 

Time Spent in Front of Them

We are all aware of the constant presence of cell phones and computers in our daily lives. The average person spends about three and a half hours on the internet, and that’s not including computer usage. Even more time is spent streaming videos or watching TV. When I think about my relationship with technology, I know for sure that I spend way more than the average time in front of a screen. In fact, I spend less time away from screens than I do in front of them. However, I still hold this perception that it’s better for me to spend more time in front of a computer rant than on a phone. In some way, this seems to be a healthier thing to do.

How Healthy Is It?

I believe I think this way because of social media’s dominance over mobile devices. Although I don’t use Instagram or Facebook as much as I used to, I am well aware of their harmful effects on the human psyche (they cause increased anxiety and depression along with other things). When I’m on my phone, there’s always the temptation to scroll mindlessly through hundreds of posts; most of which hold little significance. If I do click on the famed application, I almost always feel as if I’ve wasted precious time which could have been spent doing something more productive. 

On the other hand, I never feel as guilty or ashamed when I use my computer or watch television. Both of these screens provide entertainment just like my phone, but their presence is more positive. I rarely go onto social media sites like the ones mentioned before. The only one I do visit often is YouTube. I’ve never thought about the video-sharing site as a social media platform (although it is social media), and this contributes to my more positive perception of it. I also see my computer as technology that allows me to be productive in school, so there are several rewards I gain from spending so much time on it. 

During a normal school week, I spend more time on my computer, so overall I would say I have a healthy-ish relationship with technology. I use technology every day to learn new things, fact-check and communicate with others. These are all things I’m grateful I can do, yet I could reduce my screen time. Instead, I could spend more time reading or doing other various hobbies. I know I will never be able to completely get away from screens (especially since I’m majoring in Game Design), but I think that’s alright. 

Everything in Moderation

I’m grateful for the internet, social media, and everything related because without it all that I love to do wouldn’t exist. Technology has connected our world in a way that was never anticipated. It has created various opportunities for growth and the exchange of ideas. As with anything, there are a number of cons that come with modern-day technology. Yet, I know that if we use it properly, and educate people on how to do so, we will be able to reap far more rewards that will outweigh the negatives. 

EOTO Presentations: The Spiral of Silence

For our second Each One Teach One presentations we focused on different terms and concepts relating to media and speech. I was intrigued by several of them, but for this post, I will focus on my classmate David Pergamo’s presentation on the Spiral of Silence. 

What is the Spiral of Silence?

The Spiral of Silence is a communication theory formed by a German professor and researcher named Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in the late 20th century. The Spiral of Silence explains why and how public opinion grows. Em Griffen defines the term as “the increasing pressure people feel to conceal their views when they think they are in the minority.” The famous philosopher John Locke influenced Noelle-Neumann’s thinking. Locke defined three different types of laws (divine, civil, and opinion) and he argued that people only ever truly follow the law of opinion. 

Noelle-Nuemann talking with sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld

Public Opinion

Noelle-Neumann defines public opinion as “attitudes one can express without running the danger of isolating oneself,” but I believe one could also think about it as the majority’s opinion. Through Noelle-Naumann’s studies, she discovered that people generally know which way public opinion is swaying and they can often predict future trends. Noelle-Neumann named this size sense the quasi-statistical organ, and it is what people use when they are trying to gauge whether or not to speak about certain topics with certain people. 

An Example

So what does the Spiral of Silence look like? For example, imagine there is a group of friends discussing the latest policy of immigration. Let’s say that the majority of the group is in favor of opening a country’s borders to more immigrants every year, and the minority feels that the limitation on immigration should remain the same. Let’s also assume that no one is aware completely of where the public opinion lies within the group. 

Af first, Friend 1, someone with the minority view, may be willing to speak up and discuss their views with the group because they feel comfortable around them and/or think they will have similar views as their own. If Friend 1 starts to talk and Friends 2, 3, and 4 all furrow their brows and frown, then they are exerting “isolation pressure” onto Friend 1 whose views don’t align with theirs. Friend 1 then becomes very aware of the fact that they hold the minority view, and they start to enter the downward spiral. Let’s say there’s a fifth friend who wasn’t present during the initial exchange. If they enter the conversation and ask what was everyone talking about, Friend 1 is now way less likely to chime in and engage with the topic because they fear being rejected entirely by the group. 

How someone may feel after experiencing isolation pressure

Now imagine this situation with mass media in the mix. If Friend 1 saw several news articles holding the majority opinion and none holding their own, then they probably wouldn’t have spoken at all. Mass media and other social trends, such as cancel culture, are major contributors to the Spiral of Silence and how many people fall down it. 

Final Thoughts

Anyone can fall into the Spiral of Silence; I’ve experienced it myself several, perhaps too many, times. It is something that is hard to fight against, yet it is important that we do resist the societal and peer pressures exerted on us by mass/social media and those around us. Just because you’re in a minority group doesn’t mean that you’re alone. In his blog, David points out how important this is, and I agree wholeheartedly when he says, “Everybody’s voices should always be heard.”

Whistleblowers & The Spread of Information

Introduction

When people think of Freedom of Speech they usually believe that they have the ability to say anything positive or negative without consequences, but this isn't true and most likely never will be. Whistleblowing is one of the exceptions not fully protected by the First Amendment. The National Whistleblower Center gives a simple definition: "...a whistleblower is someone who reports waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, or dangers to public health and safety to someone who is in the position to rectify the wrongdoing." Intuitively, this seems like the right and natural thing to do, so why is it considered wrong and punishable by governments and institutions around the world? 

WikiLeaks & Murder

Julian Assange is one of the most well-known whistleblowers of our time. He is an Australian programmer who created the journalistic website WikiLeaks in the year 2006. This website is dedicated to sharing documents (including videos and pictures) of which whistleblowers want to reach the public eye. Since its creation, it has released millions of documents to the world covering various topics, but I will focus on documents released in 2010. 

Julian Assange

That year WikiLeaks published nearly 500,000 documents previously kept secret after receiving them from the US Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning (who at the time was named Bradley Manning). These documents revealed disturbing details about US involvement in the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. Videos of American soldiers hunting down and killing innocent people were also released and titled "Collateral Murder" (the link to the videos are here; TW: death, war, language). Following the release of this information both Assange and Manning were arrested; Manning for espionage and theft, and Assange first for unrelated charges then under a provisional warrant. 

Chelsea Manning

At first, Assange was on house arrest in Norfolk until 2012 when he sought asylum in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. He stayed there until UK authorities forcefully removed him from the establishment and arrested him mid-2019 (the whole event was broadcasted on live TV). Charges are still being pressed, and Assange is now being held in Her majesty's Prison Belmarsh as he awaits trial. Manning ended up spending over 7 years in jail, and her fight with the courts continued into 2020. The US especially has been pursuing the aforementioned whistleblowers supposedly for threatening national security, but that doesn't seem to be the only reason. 

"Collateral Murder"

If you did watch the video mentioned above, you know the horrendous acts committed by the soldiers present. If you did not watch it, I don't blame you (it was very painful for me to watch), so I will explain what happened.

In short, the video shows US military forces honing in on a group of unarmed people in Baghdad (which included two Reuters journalists: Saeed Chmagh & Namir Noor-Eldeen) and killing them using heavy fire from a helicopter. However, what makes the situation unfavorable is the fact that the military kept how the two journalists died secret until they were demanded for answers by Reuters. They also claimed that the actions took place in accordance with the US Rules of Engagement, but in the video nobody was attacking or partaking in especially suspicious activities. 

Still from video showing the group walking before the attack.

The soldiers wrongfully identify one of the journalist's camera as a weapon (specifically an AK-47) which to me doesn't make sense. Guns are long and narrow at one end and wide and almost triangular at the other while cameras are blocky. However, what disturbed me the most was how happy and excited the soldiers/military personnel sounded when they killed those people.

When Manning discovered the video she was shocked and felt the need to show people what the government was doing in the Middle East, and I'm glad that she did. I think that ever citizen, especially in a democratic nation, should know what their country is doing during a war, yet whistleblowing falls into awkward judicial territory. What Assange did with the assistance of Manning was technically illegal; Manning stole intel and Assange made public sensitive information. Yet some believe whistleblowers like Assange and Manning shouldn't be punished such as Daniel Ellsberg, another famous whistleblower. 

Whistleblower's Defense 

Ellsberg speaking at event to help free Manning.

At the end of an interview with Dennis J. Bernstein, Ellsberg states why whistleblowers are important: "Without whistleblowers we would not have a democracy. And there have to be people to distribute work and publish it. Julian Assange has done that in a way in which other publishers have not been willing to." The public deserves to be aware of what's happening both within and out of the country when it comes to foreign relations. For Ellsberg, Assange and Manning were doing what not only needed to be done but what should have been done earlier. I agree with Ellsberg, and I'm thankful for those who risk their livelihoods (and sometimes lives) to make important information known. 

Overall, I think it's sad that we have whistleblowers in the first place. The First Amendment gives us so much freedom, yet it has its limits. This is why whistleblowers are either admired or hated because they push the boundaries of the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press to better the world we live in. 

A.I.: The Future is Now

In the past 50 years, computer technology has been advancing at an exponential rate. Cellphones today are 100,000 times more powerful than the computer used in the Apollo 11 spacecraft (which is almost impossible to imagine). In class, we watched FRONTLINE PBS' documentary film In the Age of AI which focuses on one of the latest technological advances, artificial intelligence. With the growth of AI and automation, the world, and people's place in it, is changing. 

History & AlphaGo 

Famous game between Lee Sedol & AlphaGo

AI has been around for longer than most people think. The first artificial intelligence program was the Logic Theorist, and it was made in 1956. However, what put AI at the forefront of today's technological realm was AlphaGo's feat in 2016. AlphaGo is an AI program developed by Google which took on the world champion of Go, Lee Sedol. At this point in time, no one believed that a computer could come up with moves intuitive enough to beat a human at the game, but AlphaGo showed just how powerful AI has become. The program not only beat Sedol 4 out of 5 times, but it also came up with a move no human had ever thought of before (it was move 37 of game 2). This moment woke the world up, and several companies and governments jumped on the AI bandwagon following the event. 

AI Today

Now, there is a race to have the best AI technology between the West (America) and the East (China). Historically, America has been ahead of China in the technological sector, but China has advanced and reformed itself dramatically since the late 70s. They are now on an almost even playing field. At the time of the release of the documentary in 2019, there were 18 unicorn AI companies in China (unicorn companies are those who are worth $1 billion or more), and they are located in the best place in the world for AI implementation. 

https://searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com/tip/4-main-types-of-AI-explained

China is the best place because there is about 4 times the amount of cellphone users as the US. This meaning there is tons of information and data being created and exchanged every day. AI thrives off of data; the more data it has, the better it performs. However, this doesn't mean that people all around the world don't use AI on a daily basis. You can find AI programs in cellphones (used for voice recognition), online stores (used to predict what customers like/dislike), and factory warehouses (used to increase shipping efficiency). However, AI can also be used in more negative ways. 

Negative Effects

In my previous blog post, I talked about China's social credit system. Perhaps one of the most startling, and alarming, things to learn is how the Chinese government has embraced AI and uses it to enforce this credit system. The technology is being used to essentially spy on everyday people in order to give them a numerical score representative of their "trustworthiness." 

Cover of Kai-Fu Lee's book

There is a serious lack of privacy today in China, and AI has contributed to this fact. AI engineers are aware that things like this could continue to happen elsewhere, and they also know that AI poses serious risks. Kai Fu-Lee, one of the world's experts in AI, warns at the end of the documentary that maintaining safe environments for citizens with government use of AI technology is a complex issue that will need to be handled carefully as time goes on. 

Takeaways

Overall, I think it is amazing that humans have created machines capable of imitating the human thought process. AI has made life easier for us, but it also creates new dangers which could alter life as we know it. Already automation has taken jobs away and privacy issues have grown, and it's scary to think about the numerous ways things could go wrong if AI is misused. However, the negatives are avoidable. I hope that more people take the time to learn about what is affecting them and world leaders listen to the experts like Kai-Fu Lee. 

China's Social Credit System

What is the Social Credit System

The social credit system (shehui xinyong tixi) in place today in China rates the overall trustworthiness of businesses and individual citizens. It has been likened to an Orwellian dystopia similar to the one created in George Orwell's 1984 in which Big Brother is constantly watching the civilians through heavy surveillance. For years beforehand, the Chinese government had proposed a credit system some sort, but it wasn't until 2014 that the State Council put concrete plans into place with the release of a planning outline. They had aimed to create a nationwide social credit system by the year 2020, but they have yet to achieve this goal. 

Click here for a visualization of the social credit system and it's effects.

The overall idea behind the systems to "provide the trustworthy with benefits and discipline the untrustworthy...[so that] integrity becomes a widespread social value." Thus, people are given numerical ratings based on "big data" which shows how they conduct themselves in the social, economic, and commercial realms of society. There are other goals to the system than just the one mentioned above, and they are best explained by the State Council themselves. According to the planning outline:

"Accelerating the construction of a social credit system is an important basis for comprehensively implementing the scientific development view and building a harmonious Socialist society, it is an important method to perfect the Socialist market economy system, accelerating and innovating social governance, and it has an important significance for strengthening the sincerity consciousness of the members of society, forging a desirable credit environment, raising the overall competitiveness of the country and stimulating the development of society and the progress of civilizations."

Its Historical Significance

The overarching concepts which fuel the social credit system have been present in Chinese society for thousands of years. The system was influenced by Mohism and Legalism, but perhaps the most well-known influencer is Confucianism.

Confucianism is a historically eastern school of thought and some of its core theories/concepts overlap with other schools (Daoism, Buddhism, etc.). However, the founder, Confucius, promoted a strict moral code. He proclaimed that this code, if lived by, would nourish a life of peace and prosperity. The code includes Five Constants and Four Virtues: 

• Benevolence (Ren)
• Righteousness (Yi)
• Ritual (Li)
• Knowledge (Zhi)
• Integrity (Xin)
• Filial Piety (Xiao)
• Loyalty (Zhong)
• Contingency (Jie)
• Justice/Righteousness (Yi)

Undoubtedly, the cultural significance behind the social credit system makes it easy (or easier) for the Chinese population to accept it. To learn more about Confucianism, click here.

How Scores Are Determined

At first, the credit system was only focused on financial creditworthiness (similar to our credit system in the United States), but it soon grew to encompass social and legal trustworthiness as well. A person's score is determined by the data available about them. This data is pulled from all levels of government and private entities through sharing. All these figures and stats are then compiled into "big data" algorithms which somehow process the data to come to a social credit score. 

A group of people showing their credit scores  (AP / Imagechina) 
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/china-social-credit-system/

Businesses are also assigned social credit scores. Some of the questions that algorithms seek to answer when determining the score for a corporation include: "Were their taxes paid on time?," "Have they met the proper product quality standards?," and "Do they have the proper licenses to operate?" Similar financial questions are asked about individuals, but there are other more personal factors considered. In the terms of everyday life, some of what we would consider trivial things can impact an individual's social credit score. Things such as jaywalking (which is captured by traffic cameras utilizing facial recognition software), cheating in online games, and smoking in the wrong area can lower your score.

The System's Impact

For those in China who live in areas where the social credit system has been initiated there are several negative and positive effects their scores have on their lives. Those who receive a high score will be rewarded, and those with too low of a score will be punished. In 2018, there were already reports of various blacklists (both private and public) onto which people were added and restricted from doing certain things.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Kdnsbb9

Those with low scores are faced with slower internet, limited access to hotels and entertainment venues, and even face the risk of having their pets taken away from them. Travel bans limit the ways in which some people are allowed to travel; they are barred from using high-speed bullet trains and airplanes. Prospective students can be banned from attending certain higher education institutions if they OR their parents have a low score. Similarly, there are decreased employment opportunities as a result of the blacklists (employers often check them before hiring someone). And perhaps the most unsettling consequence for a low score is public shaming. 

On the other hand, people with high social credit scores not only avoid the negative impacts but receive financial and social rewards. Those deemed trustworthy have an easier time applying for loans and credit cards. Some places even allow people to rent without having to put deposits down first. High credit scores are even used by one of China's largest online dating services called Baihe.com which boosts people's profiles once they reach a certain score.

Its Implications

For China

The social credit system has the potential to favor the rich which means it could lead to an increase in discrimination against the lower class. It is easy for the richer population to obtain rewards through the system because they are already well established (monetarily speaking) and less likely to fall into debt. A small business owner, on the other hand, is more likely to need a loan to support their business and therefore at a higher risk of falling into debt. If they do fall into debt, they could struggle to raise their score. Thus leading to punishments, which could further impede their efforts to build credit. 

The credit system gives the Chinese government more control over its citizens. They say that the system provides incentives to behave, but this could also be considered to be a scare tactic. People either have to comply with the system or face consequences (some of which are irreversible). It can be draining to keep track fo everything you do and watching all the things you say, but people do it because they are too scared to live life with a low score. 

Image by James Barehand (source)

For the World

Another important thing to note is the impact China's social credit system has had on the world. People often see what's happening in China and think it's an isolated event, but this is not true. Already we've seen increased surveillance in cities like New York and London where there are thousands of cameras. But how does this relate to the social credit system? Surveillance and the cumulation of data on individual people is the start of a similar system in the Western world. 

Neil M. Richards warns about the dangers of surveillance saying, "Other than the vague threats of an Orwellian dystopia, as a society we don't really know why surveillance is bad and why we should be wary of it." With the latest technological innovations has come an alarming decrease in privacy. Government and business entities now house vast amounts of information on any given person. Everyone is affected by this, and it's important to understand that increased surveillance leads to decreased civil liberties and higher risks of discrimination and coercion.

In conclusion, I believe it is important that we learn about things such as China's social credit system (which restricts individuals' freedom) and understand it because we live in a globally-connected world where ideas are exchanged at astonishing speeds. What's happening halfway across the globe can (and probably will) affect us in some way, shape, or form eventually. 

Freedom of Speech and War

This past week in class, we learned about the Progressive Era which brought the introduction of the Espionage Act and the use of the term "incitement." This law and concept were both used to suppress anti-war voices, and they continue to be used today, even though the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech. So how is the government able to silence these voices? 

The Espionage Act

Critical vintage war poster

The Espionage Act of 1917 was enacted on June 15 of that year soon after the U.S.. entered World War I. This act made it illegal to criticize the government's choices during the war, and it barred people from avoiding enlistment into the army or even being insubordinate. Immediately, First Amendment (F.A.) privileges were threatened and several people were thrown in jail for expressing their opinions and concerns about the war. One of the most notable Supreme Court cases which resulted from this was Schneck v. the United States. 

Schneck v. United States

Charles T. Schneck was the general secretary of the U.S. Socialist Party. He and his party were opposed to the draft. Using his F.A. right, Schneck started to circulate flyers expressing this opinion and urging others to resist the draft as well. Unsurprisingly, he was arrested for violating the Espionage Act and charged on three separate counts. 

A picture of Charles T. Schneck

Schneck disagreed with these charges and his counsel used the defense that the Espionage Act was unconstitutional and that it was wrong for Schneck to be arrested for exercising his F.A. right. However, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that under the Espionage Act it is constitutional for some F.A. rights to be restricted if they present as a "clear and present danger" and/or incite violence. Of course what is considered to be a "clear and present danger" is put to the judges ruling over each case, so this leaves little, if any, leeway for counterarguments to be made.

The Espionage Act was made in a time of war when the suppression of voices was easily justifiable, yet it remains in use today with different applications (such as the case with Edward Snowden) and at a decreased rate. Now, anti-war (and other opposing views) are usually suppressed in a different way. 

Anti-War Voices & Their Suppression

For decades there have been numerous journals and websites writing articles about the anti-war movement and other dissenting views. Some of these include the websites World Beyond War, ANTIWAR.com, and the International Peace Bureau. If you take the time to read through some of their articles, you'll realize that the points being made in them aren't mainstream. Yet, it's not as if the arguments being made are inherently wrong or based on false pretenses; it simply boils down to the fact that they aren't in favor of what the government is promoting. I believe this is key to why their ideas aren't be shared as much as others'. 

2007 anti-war march in opposition to the Iraq war; Washington D.C.

Overall, the American government has been in favor of war, but supposedly only on certain conditions. There has long been an imperialist idea that America needs to help the rest of the world achieve American-like "democracy" and/or "freedom." However, some politicians (who are in charge of waging war) don't think critically enough about all the impacts a war can have. Questions like whether or not a foreign country is even asking for democracy or America's help are overlooked, but that's why dissenting voices (like the International Peace Bureau) are important. 

The news we watch and hear has been proven to change the way we feel and even behave. When thinking about this, it isn't surprising that some people in power wouldn't want certain ideologies, events, and criticisms circulating through mainstream media. How many people would change their opinions if ANTIWAR.com was more popular than BBC News? I think this is the ultimate reason why some people aren't even aware of websites like the ones mentioned above; Americans (especially the younger generations) have been conditioned to accept war as a constant reality. It is true that war has been a consistent part of human history, but this doesn't mean that history needs to repeat itself.

EOTO Presentations: Twitch

During our Each One Teach One presentations, one of my classmates (Carmen Fugate) talked about the communication technology Twitch. I was amongst the few people in the room who was familiar with it, and I use this technology on an almost daily basis. However, I didn't know anything about its history. I was very surprised to find out that Twitch started with just one person named Justin Kan. In 2005, Justin decided to live-stream his life 24/7 to the internet. He was inspired by the popular reality TV show Big Brother which, in a similar way, constantly records and broadcasts the activities of a group of people living in a house together. This endeavor turned into Justin.tv (which would eventually become Twitch). He wore a small camera on his hat every single day, and viewers were able to see what the world was like as Justin Kan. 

Justin Kan outfitted with his gear streaming gear.

At first, this was all that Justin.tv was; Justin Kan and those around him and their viewers. After initial hesitation, the website was opened up so that viewers could stream their content. Just six months later, Justin.tv grew to have over 30,000 streamers and several categories were added. It wasn't until 2011, that the gaming category of the website was turned into Twitch.tv. Instantly, Twitch became popular and the site grew to far exceed Justin.tv to the point where the latter was discontinued in 2014. Today, Twitch is home to hundreds of thousands of streamers and millions of viewers who hang out with each other via the internet and "make their own entertainment together" as Twitch puts it. 

The impact Twitch has had on the way we share experiences is astronomical. Now several other social media sites (including Facebook and Instagram) have the capability for users to live-stream whenever they want to. Live-streaming creates a strong sense of community because as viewers are watching the streamers they feel like they're there with them in that moment. However, as with all socialization-based sites, Twitch has problems. There are several cases of cyberbullying and, most recently, hate raids. Besides this, I believe that Twitch is an amazing development in communication technology because it brings people closer together and it has created a new realm of job opportunities for people who wish to entertain others.