Information technology is now akin to a shaman or fortune teller. Through technology, attempts are made to predict death, pandemics, global crises, and so on. All of this has become possible due to the massive collection of information by corporations and governments about people.
Based on the gathered information about an individual, algorithms attempt to predict their behavior, where they go, who they meet, their favorite leisure spots, political preferences, and forecast their future behavior. In this way, individuals are effectively confined within certain boundaries (like a prisoner in a cell) and are looped into their preferences, being served with advertisements, music, videos, and news that align with their interests. However, if a person deviates from their usual route, makes a sudden change in their life, tries to explore something new on the internet, or steps outside their comfort zone, such a person arouses suspicion. Interest in the new, the attempt to understand something, and the effort to explore become suspicious. This leads to the division of people into groups, and these groups are pitted against each other, manipulating information. Everyone seeks confirmation of their views and believes only in information that aligns with their convictions. Dialogue becomes increasingly difficult, and one can drown in the ocean of information flow. It becomes harder to distinguish between fake and truth, and the line between truth and falsehood blurs.
Such information gathering is a direct violation of privacy; in fact, the right to privacy no longer seems to exist. The smartphone that each of us carries in our pocket eavesdrops and spies, acting as a secret police gathering information on what people think about various topics.
And the holy of holies are the data centers where all this “golden information” is collected and stored. And the “sacred programmers” who serve day and night, performing the functions of secret police and censors.
People love to fantasize, create illusions, and have invented a whole illusory world in which they have believed. It is a world of simulation and simulacra, replacing reality. And we will continue to play in it until we get tired.
Shall we play?
