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Facebook -- with or without Google -- will destroy the world as we know it
On Monday, Facebook announced the launch of a platform that will set in motion a process that will catastrophically terminate the world as we know it. Known by the end-user as the rather demure 'Messages', and internally as Project Titan, it is only those that look toward the future that know its true name: Skynet.The future can be defined as a flow of time that has the potential to become anything. With an almost-infinite number of possibilities, it's no surprise that we occasionally get dizzily lost in our thoughts of the future. It's also no surprise that most of our life is about making choices, for it is the only way we can control our future. Should I get out of bed? What should I make for lunch? Who will I meet today? Should I ask her out? These are all choices, all decisions that irrevocably alter the future.
Unless we choose for something to happen -- unless we cause an event to occur -- everything else happens to us. When you lose the power of choice, you lose the power to affect your future. You are no longer you -- instead, you are the punching bag of the universe.
Which brings us back to Facebook. We are rapidly approaching a point in time -- a technological singularity -- where Facebook knows enough about you, me and all of mankind that it can make better choices than us.
Choices, choices
One day soon, you will log into Facebook and a 'choice feed' will tell you what to do with your day. You won't have to push a button or type in some kind of query -- you will simply load up Facebook.com and there, in bold type, your choice feed will tell you what choices to make for the next 24 hours. Wear these clothes; take this route to work; don't say Hi to Richard, he's a dick; buy your boss a birthday present -- and so on. You won't hesitate in following Facebook's choices because they'll feel completely right; they'll feel just like your own choices, only they're not -- they're a computer's.
But it gets more terrifying. When every one of us uses Facebook -- and given a few years, this will be the case -- choice feeds will be tailored so that they match up with other people. My feed will say "pick up flowers at 4pm", while the florist's choice feed will say "have a bouquet of pink lilies ready at 4pm for Sebastian."
The social, cultural and financial implications of a system that can match-make with such incredible accuracy are staggering. You will never have to look for a girlfriend or boyfriend -- Facebook will find you one. You will never look for a job -- Facebook will assign the perfect match for your skill set. Want to see a new film but don't have someone to see it with? Don't worry: Facebook will choose the perfect cinema buddy.
With Facebook calling the shots, you won't ever want for anything.
Messages, Titan, Skynet
As far as you and I are concerned, there is only one fundamental difference between Facebook and Google. They are both in the business of accruing monstrous amounts of data about its users -- but they both have very different sets of data. Facebook only knows what we explicitly say about ourselves -- our age, our hometown, our favorite TV show. Our Facebook profile represents who we aspire to be; Schindler's List might not actually be your favorite film, and you might have only read the first page of that Nietzsche book, but who's to know?
Google, on the other hand, can only implicitly deduce facts by our browsing habits. Google might not know our exact age, but it knows a lot of things that we would never tell other people, such as our late-night browsing habits. Google knows that we like to spend hours looking at stupid pictures of cats and videos of pandas sneezing. Google knows that our favorite film is actually American Pie.
In other words, Facebook knows who we want to be, while Google knows who we actually are.
It's when you join those two halves that everything slots into place. That's when the singularity is reached; that's when superhuman intelligence will indelibly alter the landscape of humanity.
With Messages, Facebook will be privy to both your explicit and implicit profile. It will know that, publicly, your favorite book is Lord of the Rings, but that you secretly spend hours writing Harry Potter fan fiction. It will know your exact age, but it will also know your actual mental age and reading level. It will know if you long to live in other countries, or whether you are unhappy in your current relationship. Facebook Messages will know you better than you know yourself.
When the Facebook consciousness awakens, everything will change. You will still make choices, but you won't know if they originate from within or without.
You will be given the choice of opting out, of course. But think about it: can you see yourself leaving Facebook today? Now fast forward a few months, a year. Imagine what it will be like once all of your communication goes through Facebook; quitting won't be an option.
Comments
26
Subscribe to commentsNyaRNov 17th 2010 1:49PM
Consider that Google launched with the tech community, beta invites, all that.
Facebook pushed this crap on people who are tech-clueless
I'll let the noobs beta test, let me know when yu0r megahurtz haev been stoeled.
Sebastian AnthonyNov 17th 2010 1:57PM
Resistance is futile!
YusufNov 18th 2010 7:48AM
Thats a gloomy outlook but when you critically look at it, I can see every single one of your points becoming a reality...and its scary (deactivates fb account).
anonymusNov 17th 2010 2:56PM
Serves you right, lemmings.
When did you ever think it's a good idea to voluntarily enter everything about yourself into a giant corporate database? When did you ever think at all?
kojo87Nov 17th 2010 3:08PM
thats a mighty nice tinfoil hat you have there.
anonymusNov 17th 2010 3:14PM
That's a mighty big fall from the cliff you have ahead of you.
tlwinslowNov 17th 2010 2:58PM
Facebook is like that Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man": you will end up being consumed by it. It will end up like that Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet": you will have to risk your life to get out of it, if you're smart enough to see the danger before it's too late, and be called crazy for doing it and most likely hauled away. If Revelation 3:16 has a meaning, Zuckerberg and Facebook are it, a horrible end to all personal privacy offered free like a Trojan Horse.
More:
http://boycottfacebookblog.blogspot.com/
kojo87Nov 17th 2010 3:06PM
i'd like to think at some point it will get too far for people and they will just leave facebook before this happens. but then again i may be greatly overestimating the intelligence of the masses.
Silent BobNov 17th 2010 3:25PM
The american people selected George W Bush to be president. twice.
you are greatly overestimating the masses intelligent (I'm not saying Americans are dumber than others, just an example to prove how stupid the human race can be)
Silent BobNov 17th 2010 3:16PM
Leaving Facebook might become harder and harder as you mentioned, but not joining it actually becomes easier...
suchandsuchNov 21st 2010 4:15AM
Stop using Bush as the example of stupidity...that was 2 years ago and we have a much better example of lemmings and ignorance 'leading' our country now, and not just in the Presidency.
NeoprimalNov 17th 2010 3:42PM
This is all a bit much.
I can see the same argument going down for myspace a few years ago. What happened? Something better came. Something simpler, something more people could identify with and use.
Sooner or later, FB is going to be squished by something newer and better. Perhaps a more cleanly designed, completely ad-free offering? Who knows.
evman182Nov 17th 2010 3:54PM
Just like that time when Linux replaced Windows.
The difference here compared to myspace, is that myspace was not the worlds largest repository of personal photos. A shift away from facebook that would allow people to migrate their pictures, as well as tags, friend lists, etc, that they've built over the past 5+ years would be a massive undertaking. Hear about diaspora lately? Me neither.
isotrexNov 17th 2010 4:14PM
I knew it! xD
WilliamNighthawkNov 17th 2010 4:16PM
I say bring it. I have nothing to hide. Normally this would equate to a boring life but for me it is more or less due to my aggressive narcissism. Who cares that I went cliff gliding naked (or want to go sky diving the same way)? My information is who I am, if I lie about it, hide it, than I am not being true to my true self, and my real self is a lot more interesting than any fake me I could create
:D That is one side of this. However, on the other side I can understand why people would see this as a bad thing, I see it as a thing (I don't believe in good or bad) that has the potential to cause damage. I'm not nessarcrly against the chaos but to me the average person already fears life, there is no reason to play to those fears and make people even more insecure about their security. Bad Doggy, Bad Facebook Doggy.
Kat2Nov 17th 2010 6:03PM
hyperbole much?
qsprnNov 17th 2010 9:59PM
Hyperbole is the best thing ever.
Sebastian AnthonyNov 19th 2010 6:04AM
This isn't hyperbole -- it's scaremongering perhaps, but not hyperbole.
Even then, it's not like my conclusion is particularly SCARY. Just crazy.
yie101Nov 17th 2010 9:52PM
I don't careless.
mynetdudeNov 17th 2010 10:47PM
Linux hasn't replaced windows and never will and never did.
George Bush may have been elected twice, we don't have an electoral college our votes mean shit they will vote who they please twice or theirds, who cares.
I do agree corporations (Government) will control way of life, and if you want me to begin about what the bible says I don't have to do that because you can see it for yourself. Facebook isn't a bad thing, we can CHOOSE to put out what we want to say or don't want to say we have the ability to show what friends, etc. You do NOT have to tell all of your friends and every time Facebook adds more privacy controls you shitheads scream and bitcha bout how unsafe it is when clearly you can adjust it yourself really not a big deal.
Don't like it? Hate it don't use it, you idiots really need to see it all I have lists that I have created and when I have certain content I don't want to share with anyone but my best friend and family I can do that hell I can do that without facebook just takes longer for crying out loud.
people... GROW UP! Oh wait, you can't because nobody else has grown up; they are just as childish as you started off with. (AKA.. ROLE M