What do you think about the commodification of knowledge?

[noname223]

Are platforms like Youtube solving this problem or making everything worse? Your data on Youtube is mined and analyzed, sold for profits and the platform is highly addictive.
I think me with my internet addiction I am a lost cause. There is very good niche content on Youtube. I watched many lectures on Youtube. Without this platform these videos would be unavailabe to me.

Maybe I would have deeper knowledge if I spent less time on influencers (Secular Talk) analyzing politics. Though, independent media in the US has some good creators. (on the left lol) In Germany there are barely any good independent creators. I watched a video today how philosophy is commodified on Youtube. The way philosophy is discussed is way more personalized and less in-depth on specific topics. There is some irony because I watched someone on Youtube who produced the video on the platform criticizing Youtube. But most criticism comes within the system. That's often unavoidable.

I think for politics this is also true. Media reportings are very personalized. Stories come on go when the public loses its interest. The medium determines the message. The attention span is short, thrilling stories get the most intention. The systemic roots for inequality for example are not that appealing.

Isn't most content just pretending to be actually worthwhile when it isn't? I don't like how influencers are selling their products. I have high respect for the self-discipline of Secular Talk and that he doesn't rely on ad deals. Though, it is obvious he often pretends to be smarter and more knowledgable than he actually is. Much information are speculative and some stories feel like from the yellow press. If he is wrong on a story he just changes the narrative and moves on. Though, I think if you are involved in this business this is the most healthy thing to do. And they are not interested in an epistemological form fof truth.

chatGPT and other AI bots bring this to a new level. They are now the new gatekeepers of what is considered the truth. They determine new modes of communication and the impact will most likely be growing. What can go wrong when an elite group of billionaires decides what goes on in the mind of the average voter? The things that cross their mind, helping them to make financial decisions, or decisions on the dating market. While it is further alienating the individual of what it is like to be human and a critical thinker.

 

[Dejected 55]

This is nothing new, though.

There was a time when books (outside of the bible) weren't valued because you were needed to work the land. If your family had a farm and there were chores to do, they needed you doing those chores and not wasting time reading. In modern times people are considered intelligent for reading, even if their reading is mostly comprised of fiction. People used to mock trashy romance novels, but lots of people today are considered intelligent readers if they read a lot of them.

People aren't reading the most intelligent books or books for educational purposes to learn. Most people are reading for entertainment. I'm not even knocking that... but I'm saying you can't brag about being an avid reader if what you're doing is entertaining yourself. Might as well brag about being an avid videogame player because that at least theoretically requires some skill as well.

Point is... people will always pick some current thing to mock and other current things to accept... today's music is crap while the music of our youth was awesome and great and layered... or whatever. Each generation mocks the previous one while adopting something else. Things go in and out of popularity.

There is absolute crap on the Internet and most Web sites... but there's a lot of good out there too... it all depends on how you want to spend your time and whether your interest in a thing is genuine OR merely so you can brag or join a tribe or whatever.

One day all the current crop of social media sites will be barely used if they exist at all... and the masses will have moved onto the next thing. People who want to be informed will find ways to do so... people who don't will find ways to do so. Tools of the day will be wasted and abused and twisted by many, while others will use them to near their potential.

On and on and on it goes...