The Dominance of Search in Our Daily Lives

I really enjoyed reading "The Search." What struck me most about Google in particular and search engines in general is the dominance of search in our daily lives. Most people use Google multiple times a day to make decisions on what they will do and how they will live. Going through a mental checklist of today, I used Google to check on a statement of a US Congressman, find a quote from "Fight Club" that I used to tease a friend on Facebook about his Ikea addiction("Save me from Swedish Furniture."), find a local Fed Ex, and try to find a better scale. Google has become the lens through which many of us view the world. That coupled with the increasing searchability of not only websites, but people, places, and things is at once alarming and exciting. Most people are excited to think that their luggage could have a tiny RF transmitter in it to ensure that it never gets lost. However, we cringe at the same technology being put to pernicious uses. US law is clear that people have no expectation of privacy in a public space. This means that video surveillance and facial recognition technology make your patterns and habits almost a matter of public record. Furthermore, although the Government's primary use of this information is for our security, corporations or other entities could use this information for unethical or illegal practices. Juvenal once asked, "Who will guard the guards"? In short, who watches what is being watched? I trust our government to a point, I trust corporations far less.

In the aftermath of the "Little Albert" experiments, psychologist John Watson went to Madison Avenue, and never looked back. Although shunned as immoral, at best amoral, by the scientific community; Watson and his deep knowledge of classical conditioning was welcomed by advertisers with open arms. Watson was a master at refining stimulus and response to get the desired result. He once taught pigeons to play ping pong. He later helped ad men sell to highly-trained consumers. What does classical conditioning and marketing have to do with Google? Everything. The effectiveness of advertisements can now be more closely tracked, stimulus and response. Marketers can more efficiently spend their money to get the right customers. This is all seemingly harmless. However, the implications of advertising becoming too good are evident in our consumer culture. The average German saves roughly 15-20% of her pay. The average American has more than $2,000 in credit card debt. Furthermore, the sweeping epidemic of dia-besity, type-II diabetes coupled with obesity, in America is an alarming and self-inflicted wound. We suffer from hyper-consumerism. I wonder if that has anything to do with Watson? I wonder if things will intensify as companies learn to harness the clickstream of intensions? Beyond this, as the expectation of privacy is stripped bare and people and corporations can come to learn where we go, what we do, and what motivates us to buy; I wonder how this will impact the human experience?

The internet is a two edged sword: with greater transparency comes greater accountability. Juvenal asked who will watch the watchmen, in America we do. We can all Google any of our Congressman or other leaders and find a litany of information on them. We can all Google "Santorum" if we want to learn about the unspeakable. In a sense, search engines have made information accessible and democratized information where the internet is free. This is good. "The Search" was a good read and predicted much of what has happened since it's publishing. I just hope that people are thoughful, if not wary, of the power of the clickstream of intentions. The net result of search engines could be overwhelmingly positive, but we must be thoughtful about how much power gets consolidated in how few hands. We must guard the guards.