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Response to: Research in India suggests Google can influence an election by Craig Timberg. 

In this article Timberg suggests that major search engines can manipulate search results to ultimately influence the voter choice and voter preferences. Timberg focuses on referencing psychologist Robert Epstein's experiment in India to support this suggestion. Epstein found that search engines can "profoundly influence voters without them noting the impact". Epstein calls this Search Engine Manipulation Effect. 

The critics of this study pointed out that there are other factors to be taken into account that effect this study, such as the voters prior "party allegiances, potent issues and ethnic and religious affiliations." Critics also pointed out that major search engine operators have reason to avoid the appearance of manipulating election search results on the account of not undermining the public's trust and the backlash that would occur. 
However, the studies Epstein conducted do make sense. Manipulating the results on his search engine did impact the voter's choice in candidate. We may also account this manipulation having such an impact because of confirmation bias, priming, and framing; as these studies were conducted right before the voter voted for his/her candidate of choice. 

On a side note, there were rumors that Google had manipulated their search results with Hillary Clinton cr ...., instead of criminal, crime reform, cried, etc comes up instead. I put it to the test and I got a mixed result.

Social Bias Creeping Into Web Technology

Elizabeth Dwoskin wrote an article for WSJ explaining how social bias has creeped into web technology and algorithms have "reproduced old patterns of discrimination" creating new challenges in our technology.

The most important take away that I get from reading this article is how seemingly dependent we are on technology to produce results for us in which we expect to be unquestionable, correct, and unbiased. Just because we have these amazing innovations in technologies and exceptional algorithms for these systems to work for us doesn't mean that these systems, created by us are not unlike us. It is still our responsibility as people privileged to have access to and use these technologies to look further, do our own research, pursue more options than what we are just simply being presented on the web or with these technologies. These very systems do not relinquish our responsibilities to look further. It is a huge mistake that we can fathom this being the situation.

That being said technologies are not error-free. As this article stated, the only way we can see where there are errors, is by having a large number of users. We will continue to detect these errors in our use and maybe we can alter our systems algorithms etc.. to produce more accurate, unbiased results. In the resolution of our expectation for sole-dependence, absolute accuracy, and unbiased results (unrealistic), we can begin to have a healthier idea of what these technologies are for and how we can expand our results possibly lessening the reflection of the systems bias onto our own situations, mistakingly translating as biases of our own in modern day society.  

Privacy

Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a Customer Letter to inform Apple customers and U.S. citizens why it was so important that Apple not create an operating system to circumvent its many security features or help give the "key" to its encrypted information; because this technique provides opportunity for a back door into many other systems including those in homes, stores, and banks. Put into the wrong hands, this is a major threat to the security of American people and go against the very fundamentals of the basis of our government.

I believe that Apple was undeniably justified in not helping the U.S. government build a "back door" into its own products to protect its customers but ultimately help protect the American people. Security is important and with so many threats to our worlds physical safety, it is nice to think our devices, home, banks, and stores are for the most part, protected. 

They say millennials do not care about their privacy, however, we do. It just may seem this way because we are accustomed to technology, how it works, and the kind of surveillance it comes with. However, this request from the government goes beyond surveillance. It crosses a security and privacy boundary that is too much of an invasion and a threat to our security and freedoms as American citizens. I believe that even though it may seem that as a generation we are less private, we recognize the crossing of boundaries of surveillance into a threat to our securities and privacies and when it has the potential to undermine our basic freedoms and liberties.

Social Media and Depression

Kelsey Sunstrum wrote How Social Media Affects Our Self-Perception insinuating that social media may be plaguing us with smiling depression, a term coined to describe someone who struggles with clinical depression, however appears to be happy.

Although this issue has especially been prevelant in this generation I beg the question--is this really anything new? Is it really social media or is it just us? I say it is not anything new because before social media outlets there were magazines, and before that we had visible class differences (lifestyle, clothes, opportunities) and still, not everyone was on a leveled playing field. It is somewhat human nature to want the things we cannot have. It is human nature to want to achieve self actulaization. If we sit and contemplate our reasons for using social media what will we find? If we ask ourselves how social media is affecting our moods, beings, aspirations, or goals...again, what will we find?

If we find social media and its platforms affecting us negatively it is time to re-frame our thinking. We must condition ourselves to move past the "FOMO" and view social media as a platform for self-expression, opportunity, and inspiration rather than just a place where we attempt to exhaustingly "keep up with the Jones's". Just reframing with this healthier perspective and intention for ourselves on social media may we begin to find peace and then maybe not let this be the cause our smiling depression. 

Giving Our Brain a Reset

Daniel Levitin wrote the article Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain for The New York Times. This article explains that our conscious minds have a limited capacity for processing information, therefore explaining the overwhelming feelings we experience as a result.  Levitin references the fact that our brains have two dominant modes of attention, task positive and task negative. Both modes of attention crucial to the other, citing that some of the most important discoveries have been made during task negative thinking. The third component to this network of this attentional system is our attentional filter. It is used when we browse through social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Instagram, and text messages and "we find ourselves not sustaining attention on any one thing for very long — the curse of the information age". Every time we go engage in these mindless activities on our social media we force our brains to compete for resources for more important things such as in our current situations, our school work.

It is recommended that we take the time to mindfully "partition" our "day into project periods". Social networking (Facebook, email, etc...) should be done at designated times during the day rather than constant interruptions throughout the day. By taking this advice we will give our minds-- ourselves the opportunity to be more productive and creative. This increase in creativity will happen to us " naturally while we tame the multitasking and immerse ourselves in a single task for sustained periods of, say, 30 to 50 minutes".

Levitin notes that a walk in nature, listening to music, or even a nap can do so much more for us than mindless browsing as it activates our task negative system which in turn does wonders for our task positive system (which is where we are actively focusing and engaging our attention and mind on a project or task at hand).

In an extension of thought from this article, we can see this actual neuroscience coincide with some philosophical advice and teachings; where it is prescribed or encouraged that we relax and mediate in some teachings or in others that we take moments in our day to engage our breathe and let that be the reset connection between us and the moment we are actually living in. It is encouraged that we take these breaks and habitually give moments to ourselves of mindful rest. These are all methods of giving our mind a break and a true opportunity to reset itself so that we may function, think, and maybe in turn live better and more meaningful lives.