Fall 2023 - OLLI Manchester - 

How Tech is facilitating dysfunction, division and disaster
(Short Website URL: https://is.gd/Dystopia )

Human weaknesses and incentives have existed for millennia - but the ability of technology to tap into these with unintentionally destructive impact is new and accelerating.  From teen self-harm to genocide there are strong indications our online environment is at least contributing to, if not driving social collapse.  

A recent book, "The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World" by Max Fisher as well as the related PBS documentaries, "TicTok Boom" (2022) and "Hacking Your Mind" (2020) have laid out the context in which online tools operate. They leverage profiles of our private data. They use this to capture our attention, draw us to misleading information, extreme groups, or into unrealistic comparisons. This triggers stress, anxiety, outrage, fear.  The results, for some may be depression, self harm, social violence, and even genocide.  The United Nations Human Rights Commission 2023 report indicates "Online rhetoric has spilled into real world terror, with military supporters using social media to harass and incite violence against pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders.” 

This class will look at how this is happening, why this is happening, and some of the potential ways to reduce the impact.

Syllabus

Part 1:

• A look at what motivates people (Maslow, Pink, money, "altruism")

• The "free" services revenue model

• The drive for growth, control, profit -- 

• Case Study 1: GamerGate -- the tie to identity, isolation, misogyny, violence - belonging gone wrong

• Case Study 2: Myanmar -- When tech puts growth over social impact - fueling genocide

• Case Study 3: Arab Spring, followed by The Fall -- not all social unrest is bad, or lasts
  (but some may be problematic: PizzaGate, Sri Lanka, Philippines , Jan 6th, Michigan, ...)

• Case Study 4: American Teens -- Post-Barbie images go viral -- teens hurt

Part 2:

• Free Speech -- censorship, paid speech, amplified speech, de-amplified speech
  "Trending", Algorithms, AI, who is in charge here?  

• Section 230: "protecting the Internet" (2023 SCOTUS cases, legislative proposals, etc)

• European privacy, digital services act, anti-trust

• "The answer to bad free speech, is more free speech?" 

Part 3:  So What?

• Personal considerations to avoid becoming "part of the herd of lemmings"

• Ways to minimize your risk of getting caught in the spiral(s)

Relevant Resources:

The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World;
Max Fisher; 2022 (painfully insight on the impact and background of social media)

How Social Media REWIRES YOUR BRAIN (& Our World) w/ Max Fisher | Rich Roll Pod cast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpJ1IhNq4BM  (2 hr)

 An excellent book on the impact of social media on privacy, trust, and more: The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World; Max Fisher; 2022

 Fisher provides deep history (like back to the 1960's) on how the principles and principals of Silicon Valley evolved into developing an addictive environment with social media, and how that environment transforms both participants and non-participants one dopamine hit at a time.

 His research, interviews (documented with citations at the end of the book) are impressive. The real world consequences of these products/environments are significant --- teenage self harm; street violence; perhaps even genocide --- it makes it clear that we are playing with fire, and do not understand the implications of what our technology can and is doing. 

Three billion people using one website… what could go wrong? Feb 2024  -- Facebook at 20

PBS Documentaries:

• TicTok Boom (2022, 1:30) 

• 4 part documentary "Hacking Your Mind" (2020)

NPR Fresh Air interview (36 Min) 

• Journalist Maria Ressa explains 'How to Stand Up to a Dictator'
  https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139889699/journalist-maria-ressa-explains-how-to-stand-up-to-a-dictator  Which points to the social media disinformation in the Philippines that affected elections and undermined democracy in that country.