My Sunday morning quest to put all of the ducks in a row led me to this article by Andrew Orlowski entitled, “Google cranks up the Consensus Engine”, that delves into the future editorial nature of Google.
Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It’s a historic statement – and nobody has yet grasped its significance…
…A few years ago, Google’s apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm “relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. ”
That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.
I would say that if Google is applying subjective human judgment directly on the process then, the machine is rigged. For Google is the machine. The clearing house of the democratic nature of the web is Google.
Hey, this Orlowski is pretty good. This is from an earlier article (March 8, 2006) called “Google outspooks the spooks with Total Information Awareness plan” in which Orlowski delivers a left hook to collective wisdom.
This hokum New Age idea, beloved by autistic technophiliacs, was rapidly shot down. But it has its fans in Silicon Valley, as this slide from Google’s analyst presentation shows.
Collective Wisdom?
Hunh!!?? Jack replies from the safety and security of the Winnebago parked on an undisclosed yet picturesque Ozark hillside.
Archetypal Practices for Collective Wisdom
Timeless Ways of Evolving Personal and Collective Capacity
© 2004 Thomas J. Hurley
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