RE: Has Google Begun To Rewire Our Brains?
Great article! I think part of the problem is that the nature of information sharing and network effects is to create a "winner take all" dynamic. McDonald's can be the biggest fast food chain, but there is still room for Burger King. Search and social media, on the other hand, guarantee that #1 stays #1 and there's no reason to ever use the 2nd biggest search engine or 2nd biggest social network, at least for most casual Internet users.
You probably know better than anyone that the top search result is positioned to get the most clicks, and this creates a positive feedback loop, ensuring that results further down the list never see the light of day.
I'm not sure what the answer is. I don't think blockchain or other tools of decentralization would fix it, because even the simplest algorithm of ranking by clicks results in this scenario every time.
Getting rid of the sponsored ads would be a good start, though.
Gosh sorry for the late reply I only saw this comment now trying to create a steem forever post lol!I completely agree with your thoughts on this it is a winner take all and funnelling people and their thoughts not to the most accurate information but the ones that give the quickest answers, simplest answers and meet today's internet users instant gratification expectations and as opposed to quality and this feedback loop continues
As for fixing it I also dont think there is a technology that can compete with these guys let alone have people adopt it, they will marginalise you even if you had a great idea. The only way around it is providing some sort of education so people can see the results they get for what they are, understand the context and don't just think the top 3 results or whats in their news feed is the 10 commandments. A bit idealistic perhaps we will just continue to move into a world were the rest don't think they absorb what the outliers create