Bonus question

Who is This Guy?

Dog Father, Husband, Software Engineer, Researcher, Teacher, Web Developer, Board Gamer, Philosopher, Artist

(roughly in that order)

Tweet me @mlhale_

Back to the Central Question:

Are you free?

Note: Not Talking about Freedom With a Capital "F"

March 31, 1999

This is not a New Question

This is not a New Question: PROPAGANDA and Dystopia

June 8, 1949

This is not a New Question: Technology and Nature

1762

This is not a New Question: THe allegory of the Cave

381 BC

Basic Premise #1:

Our perceptions are mediated by context*

* may be framed in terms of circles social, religious, family, tribe, local, state, national, etc

The Basic Premise #2:

Perception can be illusory; institutions are often responsible and often benefit.

2018: The Internet of Things

What is the Internet of Things?

Sensors & Actuators Everywhere

Including on your wrist, in your cloths,

on your face and ...

...In your Body

While this is cool and Useful, What about Free will?

2018: Social Media, Fake News, Alternate Facts

The average time that users spend on Facebook is nearing an hour. That’s more than any other leisure activity surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the exception of watching television programs and movies (an average per day of 2.8 hours). It’s more time than people spend reading (19 minutes); participating in sports or exercise (17 minutes); or social events (four minutes). It’s almost as much time as people spend eating and drinking (1.07 hours).

- JAMES STALWART, 2016, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Users Polarization. (Left) Activity of users across the five largest communities. (Right) Null model where users’ activity is randomly distributed. Vertices of the pentagon represent the five largest communities and the central point all of the remaining ones. The position of each dot is determined by the number of communities the users interacts with. The size and transparency indicate the number of users in that position.

Anatomy of news consumption on Facebook
Ana Lucía Schmidt, Fabiana Zollo, Michela Del Vicario, Alessandro Bessi, Antonio Scala, Guido Caldarelli, H. Eugene Stanley and Walter Quattrociocchi, PNAS 2017 March, 114 (12) 3035-3039. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617052114

...in other words

Are we in the Cave?

On the walls of the cave, only the shadows are the truth

- PLATO

What can we Do AS Technology Creators and Developers?

Be Mindful

Respect Data
Think SecurIty
Design Ethically

What can we Do AS Individuals?

Be Mindful

Question Always
Ask for Evidence
Engage Diversely 

It is the task of the enlightened not only to ascend to learning and to see the good but to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honors, whether they are worth having or not. And this they must do, even with the prospect of death.

- PLATO