We constantly bitch about the obnoxious results of algorithms on the web.
New thought: The most obnoxious shit happens when there ISN’T an algorithm.
An intelligence, whether you call it a brain or an algorithm or a program, does three things:
1. Take input from the world. Different types of intelligence take input in different ways: eyes, ears. skin, steering wheels, keyboards, electronic sensors.
2. Organize the input and compare with memory. BRAINS AND COMPUTERS ARE FILE CLERKS, NOT CALCULATORS. They filter, organize, compare with stored data, and store new data. Brains and computers do very little arithmetic.
3. Act on the organized and filtered input. Again, action can take an infinite number of forms, muscles or valves or sound or visual displays.
The most obnoxious output is obnoxious because it has NOT been compared with an input or a memory. It’s just an endless constant or random flow, like the rotation of the earth or the flow of a river.
Here’s what inspired the new thought.
Incoming calls to my fake “landline” phone for the last few weeks. I rarely use a phone, so there aren’t any outgoings or meaningful incomings in this span.
EVERY SINGLE ONE of these calls is from the federal or state Repooflicans. Occasionally I’ll listen to the voicemail when the source looks possibly important. They’re always Repooflicans.
There’s no algorithm behind these calls. The calling machine is NOT gathering input. It doesn’t notice that I never pick up the calls or respond by giving money. It just keeps hitting the same billion numbers once or twice each day, like the sun rising and setting.
Facebook or Substack spam is equally brainless. Facebook tends to highlight the same repetitive commenter over and over and over. Yesterday it chose to feature one commenter who simply says “Sad.” every single time.
This is the OPPOSITE of information. Information is something new by definition. An algorithm would sort through the comments, compare with memory, and find the least repetitive comment to highlight. Sorting for newness doesn’t need hi-falutin AI. Any competent programmer can do it with fairly simple code in Python. Facebook and Substack don’t sort. Like the Repooflican calling machine, they just repetitively pour out one thing over and over and over NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BLOCK IT OR IGNORE IT.
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One possible solution would be to impose a COST on repetition. High-volume cold calls were impractical in previous decades. Each call from DC to Spokane would cost several dollars if I answered and talked for a while. Advertisers were FORCED to call only the most likely customers, FORCED to use predictive algorithms.
Now each call has no cost. The calling machine pays a large monthly fee and pours out billions of calls, wasting unspeakable amounts of web bandwidth, electric power, and human attention for a TOTALLY UNPRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY. That’s not efficient by any rational definition.
Proof that cost matters: The state and federal Repooflicans also use paper mail for spamming, with MUCH less waste of resources and attention. They send me a letter every month or so, which is a reasonable quantity. Paper, printing and postage are far more expensive than phoning.
A tax on phone spam would do the job, since the ISPs aren’t going to change their pricing structure.
Per Wikipedia, the current excise tax is 3% on local service but NO TAX AT ALL ON BUNDLED OR TOLL SERVICE. (Note that the calls inside the state are nominally from Pullman and Walla Walla, not Spokane.) Before 2005 everything was taxed at 3%. Needless to say, George Bush, the universal destroyer of the universe, forced this change. The two Bushes are responsible for all “crises”, all wars, and all new evils since 1989.
Returning to the simpler pre-2005 tax structure would slow down phone spam but not social media spam. A more complicated tax or requirement on media platforms would be needed. Again, older FCC law forced users of the airwaves to avoid partisan crap and deceptive ads. The Fairness Doctrine was repealed in 1985, so I can’t blame the Bushes! It could also be restored.
Polistra's Mill 