Mind Control and the Internet

Imagine a simple implant that could access a dictionary of every language in just second, and allowed you to store an up to date map of every city in your head so you never go lost. Oh, the places you'll go! However, Sue Halpern proposes in ‘Mind Control and the Internet’ that arguments to enhance the human brain using biochip technologies, so that the internet would become part of us, are naïve as they do not take into account the true control over information exercised by search engines such as Google. According to Halpern, since December 2009 “ Google has aimed to contour every search to fit the profile of the person making the query,” (Halpern, 2011 p 1).  This means that while two people may search the same term, Google directs each person to material that is most likely to reinforce their own worldview, ideology, and assumptions. Consequently true evaluation and critical thinking is hindered as each person may get different results that appear objective but are lacking dissenting opinion and conflicting points of views (Halpern, 2011).

While the ‘personalisation’ of results alarms me as it establishes a framework for censorship and misinformation, I am also concerned about my privacy in a future with biochip implants. In the wake of the NSA spying scandal, secure email provider Lavabit shut down abruptly last week rather than become complicit in what it considered crimes against the American people. Owner/operator Ladar Levison claimed he was not allowed to provide the reasons that lead to his decision, however warned “ I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.”(Levison, 2013) Already it is evident that the US government has or demands access to all online communications, I am not so sure I would want to receive an implant and potentially allow access to the information in my head aswell …

Ms. Virtue

Reference List

Halpern, S 2011, 'Mind Control and the Internet' New York Review of Books, June 23.

Levison, L 2013, Lavabit, viewed 15/08/2013 <http://lavabit.com/>