tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25534104888484557902024-02-02T05:23:19.515-08:00But SeriouslyA blog created solely to keep me from talking your ear off at partiesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06414163423679868401noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2553410488848455790.post-18815033950227264022013-08-24T12:43:00.002-07:002013-09-29T16:05:54.206-07:00That's not Data Science<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Hey folks, by request, here's the "sticker" from my data science Ignite rant, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f-XXR9j6m8&feature=share&list=PL055Epbe6d5ZoQB0bhHw5TMcXJMDPOLjs">How to Build an Effective Data Science Department</a>, wherein, fyi, I swear several times. Use it in good humor, please, don't be a dick about it. :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06414163423679868401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2553410488848455790.post-30819856564015131402013-08-10T18:32:00.001-07:002013-08-12T10:52:24.120-07:00Deception. It isn't just for breakfast anymore.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was recently in a conversation among very sharp people about a certain modern villain. He's screwed up in public a few times lately, and he's getting some big, bad press. For years, I've heard people talk trash about him, and I guess I've finally found my line. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just can't hear folks talk about my buddy like that. So I'm going to stand up and say it: I'm friends with the guy. He's got his flaws, but I like him. And I'd like to give him a fair introduction. His name is Deception. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, deception. The art of projecting a thing that ain't so. The ability of living critters to disguise their true state or nature from others. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The word "deception" has very negative connotations. And here, in this lengthy and possibly overly-vehement blog entry, I plan to flog those connotations to death. I think the reason deception has such a bad rap is that we </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">only notice it when it goes badly. The rest of the time, we don't see it. We just rely on it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deception, like anything else, is a tool. It's a very powerful tool. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Big power is scary and causes strong reactions. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We've seen deception go very, very wrong. And that's a real thing. </span>There is, absolutely, the potential for harm on a large scale. <br />
<br />
Even so, asking "is deception bad" is <b>just silly</b>. It can't be answered, because deception is <i>written into the very fabric of our beings.</i> Powerful tools are useful. Deception in particular is so useful that <span style="font-family: inherit;">it's used to positive effect all over the world, by all of us, constantly, all day long. That means me, you, and everyone we talk to.</span> Not only do we need deception, but in fact we all secretly <i>love</i> deception. It gives us all kinds of things we humans like. Like selfhood. And society. Don't believe me? Give me a minute.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tool of deception is in the hands of people, to use for harm or benefit. It can be unreliable: sometimes we try to use it for benefit and get harm. The interesting bit is learning how the tool works. Under what circumstances does deception lead to harm, robbery of free will, loss of systemic intelligence - and when benefit, increased free will, smarter systems?</span><br />
<br />
Let's start with defining some variables and categories in deception (lest we wind up trying to compare <span style="font-family: inherit;">leaf-mimic beetles to the the NSA). By the end, I hope to hear your thoughts about how we construct an ethical user's manual for this thing. Because I sure as heck don't know. And I want to know. The tool of deception is, I will argue, getting more powerful by the day. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
Factors in Deception </span></h2>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is the <b>power relationship </b>of deceiver <--> deceived?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">How <b>socially amplified</b> is the deception? Is it 1:1, or 1:many?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is the role of <b>consent</b> in deception?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What's the role of <b>motivation</b>?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What's the role of <b>skill</b> - when motivation alone isn't enough? </span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Types of Deception</span></h2>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tier 1: Local Deception</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>#1: Deception of biological necessity. </b></span> </h4>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_in_animals">Nature lives and dies by deception</a>. </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This means looking bigger, or dead, or like a rock to escape a predator or to get fed. Sometimes it's underdog behavior (the moth convinces the bird it's a hawk) and everybody loves an underdog. Sometimes it's not. Cats slink on silent feet, trapdoor spiders lie in wait, etc - the powerful deceiving the weak in order to eat them. No good, no bad: it just is. Nature has used deception from the tops of the redwoods to the bottom of the ocean, and since the dawn of time.</span> This is 1 : 1 or small-scale 1 : many, "motivated" by survival. </blockquote>
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<h4>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>#2: Deception of sociological necessity.</b></span> </h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is my favorite kind of deception. It's a party sampler of weird human ingenuity. We use deception </span>to perpetuate the literal thousands of polite fictions that keep society functioning. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Politeness itself is often deception, i.e. "You do not look fat in that dress," and</span> "this chicken is delicious." </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Specifically, I'd like to personally thank deception for allowing us to hide our biological responses. Ever been really attracted to a valued co-worker? Pretty great to be able to hide that. There's a Grey's Anatomy about a girl who blushes scarlet from head to foot whenever she feels attraction (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypSKdMRWOc">Short clip here. Fantastic.</a>). It's impossible for her to function in society. She has no secrets. Deception #2 is why teenage boys carry binders.</span> </blockquote>
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Listing all petty, socially-encouraged deceptions is an infinite project. They vary <span style="font-family: inherit;">by culture, too. In some cultures (example: the "saving face" Asian norms) social deception is one of the highest forms of citizenship ("Thank you, sir, I didn't want this job anyway."). Is it kindness? </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">More like social WD40.</span> They are society's rules of engagement. Sometimes they seem stupid and we experiment with them - carefully. When we break them, wackiness ensues. When they clash, c<span style="font-family: inherit;">ognitive dissonance </span>extraordinaire.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> "Do I tell my best friend that his wife is flirting with me?"</span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">They are</span> peer to peer, usually, and 1:1. What's the role of consent in this type of deception? We are all informed, subconsciously at least, of what deceptions are expected. In fact, socialization is composed in no small part of teaching kids how and when their society expects them to deceive. "Honey, it's not nice to tell grandma she smells funny. And don't make that face."</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<h4>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>#3. Deception of responsible custodianship.</b> </span> </h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Parents and guardians must deceive children regularly. Doing it well is a delicate balance. It's hard. Sometimes we do it with sad hearts, knowing we'll lose trust later.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Done well: creating magical adventures with fictions like Santa Claus & the Easter Bunny. Or, protecting children from knowledge that would be psychologically destructive. You can never tell a child that sometimes you wish you hadn't had a child. When you say "stay near me in this park," and they ask "why," you don't say "because of kidnappers & pedophiles."</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Done (understatement follows) poorly: I once knew a guy whose mother died suddenly when he was a small child. "To protect his innocence," his whole family lied to him about it for a <i>full year</i>. Not great. </span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Number three is powerful --> powerless. Mostly, we hope, "motivated" by kindness. It's 1:1. What does consent even mean with children?</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">#4. Psychological deception:</span></b> </h4>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4a. Psychological deception as maturation process:</b></span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deception is the underpinning of several major developmental phases. <i>Without deception, there is no privacy, and without privacy, there is no self. </i>It's considered a major milestone when children learn that no one can see their inner landscape. We see it when they first experiment with lying. Teens use deception to individuate. Without deception, teens could not create a self that was out of accordance with their peers' or parents' wishes. Where would gay teens be today without deception?</span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4b. Psychological deception of the self:</b></span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At Foo Camp, I gave my first talk ever. All day, me = full blown panic attack. I realized it was seriously distracting me from my first FooCamp experience. Finally, I said to myself: "I'm not going to give this talk." Let's face it, I know me: I’m giving the talk. But a little slight of hand, and voila: I'm relaxed and present all day. Then, just at the right moment, I blindside myself by standing up and giving the talk. </span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Manipulation / deception of the self is an art when used well. We can use it to motivate, pacify, and bolster our willpower. "I'm sure this surgery won't hurt much." "If I get through today without a cigarette, maybe I can have one tomorrow."</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> And the favorite sanity patch of young people everywhere:</span> "I'll probably never get old or die."</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The down side of this one is easier. "Just one more drink. Then I'll give it up." </span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We can rail against these first four levels of deception. Maybe it is lame that we need this tool to get by. </span>But what's the value in value-judging it? <span style="font-family: inherit;">It doesn't get us anywhere. The human race has thoroughly vetted this tool, and we have voted with our feet. W</span>e've been using all four, all day & every day, since we got our grubby little mitts on our first cerebral cortex. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Do they go wrong? <i>All the time. </i>Are they scary powerful? <i>Absolutely. </i>And does that mean we should eradicate the tool of deception from our mortal tool chest? To do so would change us so much we would cease to be what we are. </span>Ever read a SciFi story where people have always-on ESP? They scarcely seem human anymore. That's a world without deception.<br />
<br />
And let's face it. It certainly does make life interesting.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll say it again. The ethical meat of deceptions 1-4 is not <b>whether</b>, but <b>how.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now let's take it up a notch, to amplified deception. Where we use societal or technological megaphones to deceive <i>en masse</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tier 2: A<b>mplified Deception. </b></span></h3>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>#5. Deception by Organizational Leadership.</b></span> </h4>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I once worked for a company that was rapidly running out of money. There was a chance it would survive, and we would all keep our jobs, if we all worked hard and hit a deadline. The chance was small, but real.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This company prided themselves on transparency. It became clear though that when they were transparent, the employee collective lost hope and motivation, and all joy in our work.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hypothetical up side: they hide the financial problems and we give it 100% and hit the deadline, and everybody wins.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Down side: we miss the deadline anyway, and a bunch of people are quite surprised to find themselves unemployed.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I find this problem very difficult. In the end, with great discomfort, I voted for deception. This is why I never want to be in upper level management. I suspect, but don't know, that executives must occasionally deceive to make organizations work. And the best ones hate doing it.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a 1 : many deception. It's powerful --> powerless.</span> Given the option, we'd all rather the company live. Does that make it consensual? </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>#6. Deception by a Political Agency:</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span> </h4>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I hardly need to list examples here.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Deception up side: Sometimes, #5 (deception for organizational function) is clearly at play. If everyone believes we are in a recession, nobody spends money, and we remain in a recession. We all want everyone to believe we are not in a recession so that we can not be in one. But it would be stupid to be the only one to act on it. The magic only happens if the collective moves together.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Down side: horrifying human rights atrocities.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Politicians sometimes invoke #3 (deception of responsible custodianship) when they deceive on a grand scale. As though the people are innocents, and the politicians are the only ones who know what's really going on - so they have the right to make decisions for us. Generally, Americans don't like that <b>at all</b>. Equality of all parties is the very essence of American cultural mythology (even when we're hypocrites about it). It borders on being a religion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know this is uncomfortable, but I want to address the world beyond that belief. I think it's important to raise your head up and question religion once in a while, or you can end up really far from where you were headed. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In some cultures (China, Japan, Korea), political deception is a simple fact of life. Many people throughout history and all over the globe have believed "the leader/king knows better than we do," and sometimes that has produced stable societies.<b> There is no moral default on political deception. </b>There is just the way we see it, in this particular culture and era, and what we learn from history. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Am I saying the USA should become a totalitarian state? No way. I am however suggesting that it's just remotely possible - just once in a while - that the politicians who sit at the center of the vast clockwork of a nation know some things that we, the people, would not handle well. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkCwFkOZoOY">quote Men in Black</a>:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1: "Why the big secret? People are smart, they can handle it."</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2: "No - a <i>person </i>is smart. <i>People </i>are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it!"</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I see two factors at the core of this highly problematic space.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is <b>deception amplification</b> as at its maximum level. When a politician deceives, the ripple effect can impact billions of lives. The stakes are always high. And the farther we sit from the deceiver, the less we know about his/her motivations. They may say they deceive for the common good. But what if they're really just in it for the money, the power? They're too far from us. We can't know. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Collective action social dilemmas </b>are super hard<b>. </b>Each of us is two people: an individual a member of the collective. Sometimes the individual wants to act one way and to have the collective act another way. Don't infringe upon my freedom, but for god's sake make this damn population recycle / drive sober / stop having crack-addicted babies. We don't have good language for separating, and creating relationships between, the two different problems we each embody.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
</ol>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a fascinating tension here. We're currently handling it with a volatile stew of inefficacy, unvetted deception, and collective resentment. I think we can do better. And I think we do that by writing the manual of amplified deception.</span></blockquote>
<ol>
</ol>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Me, I want to talk about amplified deception first</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Level 1 deception isn't worth discussing. Biology is going to have to deal with its own conscience. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Levels 2-4 are interesting sociological exercises and are worth talking about. But, IMO, the real money problems are 5 and up. They're <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem">wicked problems</a>. And they're newer than #1 by a long stretch. They're problems we've created for ourselves by having <b>societies and media</b>. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if we screw up levels 5+, the casualties are scores of lives, and the course of history. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Talking about levels 2-4 is easier. The scope is smaller and the players knowable. Five and up are hard, scary and absolutely vital to our progress as a people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And from where I sit, the best, weirdest, most fascinating deception type is #7.</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>#7. Amplified Lateral Deception.</b></span> </h4>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Examples: I can create a fun game that'll teach critical thinking, but only if people don't know that. I can convince people to take this helpful medication if I mislead them a bit. I can get people to want this product. I can get people to ignore this candidate.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Number 7 is where change agents and innovators are playing, right at this moment. <b>The internet has democratized deception amplification. </b>It's not about the powerful - CEOs, parents, media moguls or presidents - it's us, deceiving one another, peer 2 peer on a grand scale.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Number 7 is where I myself sit in a state of profoundly inspired ethical lockjaw. I think I know how to push systems. Do I do it? Do I teach other people? I might (I do) think I'm trying to help. But I can't kid myself: you <i>never</i> know what's going to happen when you push a system. The cascade / secondary effects can be catastrophic. One day you think you're selling soda, and the next day you're the shamefaced parent of a new diabetes epidemic. And the next guy might not even be trying to help.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Call to Action</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So here we are, holding a tool. It is powerful. We've shown we can use it for good and for harm. And now everybody has one with a megaphone taped to it. What the heck do we do about that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Here </b>is where I most want to learn from you folks. I don't have the answer. Deception scares and inspires me. Nobody is smart enough to write the manual for this tool in isolation. But collectively, I believe we can do it. And until we set some ground rules, a lot of innovators like me are effectively paralyzed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Here's some more grist for the mill:</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Confounds:</b></span></h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The internet makes it harder to hide the truth. Yet, falsehood still thrives on the internet (see: climate change debacle).</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Social systems in the digital space are becoming more exposed and hackable.</span></li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
<h4>
Questions:</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;">Are there <b>other types</b> of deception? What are they?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is it ever true that <b>you know better</b> than other people? When is that ok? </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do we as individuals ever know better than we as a crowd mentality?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre;">When does deception produce <b>predictable</b> results, and when not? </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Thought experiments:</b></span></h4>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">I suspect consent is at the heart of some interesting conlficts. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">What if....</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">... We used lateral amplified deception as opt-in, but permitting deception in the actual execution? Meaning, the deceived always has the option of consenting to the goals of the deception, but waives awareness of the means of delivery? "I want to quit smoking" or "I want to stop fighting".... and then serve me up a game? </span></li>
</ul>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">... We tried that same thing on a governmental scale? This year we vote "less violence through manipulation" on the docket, and the gov't is free to create manipulative social programs towards that end. We let people try to decode them. Whether we decode them or not, in a few years, they're exposed. We decide as a society whether we liked it.</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
Deception. It's more than lizards, marketing and the NSA. It's life's innovation. Deception is the yang to the yin of perception. It makes us people. It grants us self. And it's easy to hurt each other with it, accidentally or not. But that's not on deception. It's on <i>us</i>. We <i>invented </i>the damn thing. So let's get into it and figure out how to use it well.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank your the use of your brains, folks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">--KSted</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06414163423679868401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2553410488848455790.post-45415899519767316082013-08-09T09:36:00.000-07:002013-08-11T11:06:51.501-07:00My Bias in a NutshellHello, World!<br />
<br />
As you read things I publish here, you may wish to be aware of my biases. I have lots of them! Here are some.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>First:</b> <b>nobody has a lock on the truth.</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anytime a debate has raged between multiple large groups of people for centuries, I figure each side is onto something. When the peanut butter meets the chocolate, is when we get smarter. </span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Second: tools are morally neutral.</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From data science to deception to fashion, we are surrounded by human innovations. Sometimes they work and sometimes don't. Sometimes help and sometimes harm. Sometimes they do what we expect them to, often not. They're tools. It's all in how we use them.</span> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Third: </b>I'm just going to say it. <b>The American perspective on all of these things is not the only perspective in the world.</b> </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many large, successful cultures now and throughout history look at this and many other issues differently than Americans. Learning from them is a great way to get perspective. See tenet #1.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06414163423679868401noreply@blogger.com0