The Data That Turned the World Upside Down

yebocan

yebocan

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Psychologist Michal Kosinski developed a method to analyze people in minute detail based on their Facebook activity. Did a similar tool help propel Donald Trump to victory? Two reporters from Zurich-based Das Magazin (where an earlier version of this story appeared in December in German) went data-gathering.

On November 9 at around 8.30 AM., Michal Kosinski woke up in the Hotel Sunnehus in Zurich. The 34-year-old researcher had come to give a lecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) about the dangers of Big Data and the digital revolution. Kosinski gives regular lectures on this topic all over the world. He is a leading expert in psychometrics, a data-driven sub-branch of psychology. When he turned on the TV that morning, he saw that the bombshell had exploded: contrary to forecasts by all leading statisticians, Donald J. Trump had been elected president of the United States.
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http://motherboard.vice.com/read/big-data-cambridge-analytica-brexit-trump
 
bloody hell. big data changing the world. and how. never would have believed it would have had such a huge impact on normal people. always thought it would be limited to company marketing campaigns. this is just next level. to think that dude doesn't even get royalties, etc.

basically got trump elected. amazing.
 
I just read this article and it blew my mind.
I tried the test on the Cambridge website (https://applymagicsauce.com/) which uses your facebook likes to generate a scarily accurate personality profile.
I hardly even ever use facebook and it used only 30 of my likes to generate a profile that was really quite accurate.
What it could do with 300 likes? And all the other data you continuously generate with your smartphone?
Is this is the end of democracy?
If people can be so easily manipulated by these sort of analysis then where does that leave us?
 
Maybe now people are going to take me more seriously when I say temperament is the single biggest determinant when it comes to political beliefs. :)
 
C4Cat said:
I just read this article and it blew my mind.
I tried the test on the Cambridge website (https://applymagicsauce.com/) which uses your facebook likes to generate a scarily accurate personality profile.
I hardly even ever use facebook and it used only 30 of my likes to generate a profile that was really quite accurate.
What it could do with 300 likes? And all the other data you continuously generate with your smartphone?
Is this is the end of democracy?
If people can be so easily manipulated by these sort of analysis then where does that leave us?
Click to expand...

I guess I'm safe :whistle:

"Sorry we are unable to generate a prediction. An insufficient number of your Likes match with those in our database, and we don't believe in guesswork."

Oh look Crabby's safe too. Guess we keep our schit off the internet :D
 
C4Cat said:
I just read this article and it blew my mind.
I tried the test on the Cambridge website (https://applymagicsauce.com/) which uses your facebook likes to generate a scarily accurate personality profile.
I hardly even ever use facebook and it used only 30 of my likes to generate a profile that was really quite accurate.
What it could do with 300 likes? And all the other data you continuously generate with your smartphone?
Is this is the end of democracy?
If people can be so easily manipulated by these sort of analysis then where does that leave us?
Click to expand...

I'll get my wife to do this as she's on facebook constantly.

Me, not so much
Sorry, we are unable to generate a prediction. An insufficient number of your Likes match with those in our database, and we don’t believe in guesswork. Please take our take more psychometric tests if you would still like to receive scientific feedback on your traits. Thanks!
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A very good read indeed. Now I actually understand why my own gut feel told me to stay off most social media platforms such as facebook, twitter etc.
 
Xarog said:
Maybe now people are going to take me more seriously when I say temperament is the single biggest determinant when it comes to political beliefs. :)
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When did you ever say that?

Based on other things you've said I don't think people will ever take you seriously tbh :p

But yes, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the relationship between temperament and political beliefs.
The thing here is the accuracy that temperament can now be measured and how it opens up opportunities for serious and dangerous manipulation.
 
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C4Cat said:
When did you ever say that?
Click to expand...
https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...of-the-USA?p=19009424&viewfull=1#post19009424

Based on other things you've said I don't think people will ever take you seriously tbh :p
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:crylaugh:

But yes, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the relationship between temperament and political beliefs.
The thing here is the accuracy that temperament can now be measured and how it opens up opportunities for serious and dangerous manipulation.
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Uhuh.

Edit: https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...of-the-USA?p=19010186&viewfull=1#post19010186

What kind of relationship does one have to understand to correctly anticipate the outcome?
 
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C4Cat said:
I just read this article and it blew my mind.
I tried the test on the Cambridge website (https://applymagicsauce.com/) which uses your facebook likes to generate a scarily accurate personality profile.
I hardly even ever use facebook and it used only 30 of my likes to generate a profile that was really quite accurate.
What it could do with 300 likes? And all the other data you continuously generate with your smartphone?
Is this is the end of democracy?
If people can be so easily manipulated by these sort of analysis then where does that leave us?
Click to expand...

Ironically, by using the web link you also contribute to big data gathering by giving them access to your FB account.
 
Mystic Twilight said:
Ironically, by using the web link you also contribute to big data gathering by giving them access to your FB account.
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought about that!
I don't think we can escape contributing to big data though, if we live in the modern world and use technology, even if we don't use facebook. As technology becomes more and more entrenched and pervasive in our lives it will become more and more difficult to escape being measured.

The questions for me though are
a) Can big data be used for good as well as evil?
b) Can we somehow immunize ourselves from being manipulated by big data?
c) Can our elections and polls be adapted to take big data manipulations into account?
 
C4Cat said:
I just read this article and it blew my mind.
I tried the test on the Cambridge website (https://applymagicsauce.com/) which uses your facebook likes to generate a scarily accurate personality profile.
I hardly even ever use facebook and it used only 30 of my likes to generate a profile that was really quite accurate.
What it could do with 300 likes? And all the other data you continuously generate with your smartphone?
Is this is the end of democracy?
If people can be so easily manipulated by these sort of analysis then where does that leave us?
Click to expand...

2017-02-02_15-30-28.jpg
 
C4Cat said:
Yes, I thought about that!
I don't think we can escape contributing to big data though, if we live in the modern world and use technology, even if we don't use facebook. As technology becomes more and more entrenched and pervasive in our lives it will become more and more difficult to escape being measured.

The questions for me though are
a) Can big data be used for good as well as evil?
Click to expand...
Not directly. The things big data are trying to manipulate fit together to construct a certain kind of social entity which could not exist without all four temperaments. That's a good, at least. It's why civilisation can work in a meaningful sense.

b) Can we somehow immunize ourselves from being manipulated by big data?
Click to expand...
Can you stop yourself from caring about the things you hold sacred? If yes, then yes.

c) Can our elections and polls be adapted to take big data manipulations into account?
Click to expand...
No, but you could change the political system so that the differences are actually recognised by the system in an official manner.
 
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