Schlagwort-Archive: Rules

What remains for most of us?

A gate agent of an US airline recently denied boarding to passengers for improper clothing (leggings). The Paris Opera expelled a Muslim woman from the hall due to her niqab. In Mallorca it is forbidden to walk in bath clothes through the city. The so to speak public areas are more and more limited and regulated. When do we start regulating buying in the supermarket, going by bus, visiting the cinema and all the other profane things of everyday life, with an order that extensively limits the individual rights and privacy? What remains for most of us?

The whole thing is intensified by the fact that less and less areas are common property that you can use at will. The desired behavior in these areas, like buildings, roads, parks, forests, and places, is regulated by private or governmental bodies. With the increasing provision of generally accessible places by businesses and the retreat of public areas, the free spaces are narrowed, where the general public can fulfill itself – sometimes free of charge and sometimes with an entrance fee.

All these places are subject to different regulations. The green may not be entered. On public streets are less and less parking lots. This leads to the fact that on one airline you may not fly with leggings and in the other one you may; you may enjoy a performance veiled in one opera hall and in the other not; you may enter one building with a dog and the other one only without; you may be under video surveillance in one road, without knowing, what they do with the images and in the other one you may not; you may spend the night in one park and in the other one not;  you are not allowed to mountain-biking in one forest and in the other one you may.

In the US some companies drain the water reservoirs of communities for a small fee. Afterwards, they sell the water filled in bottles for a lot of money to customers – also to the residents of the communities, who got in the meantime water problems. The remaining common properties, like air, streets and education, will become administered on a trust basis and likewise chargeable – for each breath.

The regulation of the everyday life is progressing continuously. The consequences are already visible, although deterring futures were already extensively depicted in literature and in movies.

  • The big brother is watching you in 1984 by George Orwell – nowadays also during Internet usage (more here).
  • The prohibition to read books in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – nobody knows, which filters are already restricting the access to certain information.
  • The consequences of the virtualization in Matrix by the Wachowski brothers – it is worthwhile to look into the near future with Ray Kurzweil (Transcendent one).
  • The assisted suicide in Soylent Green by Harry Harrison – so far only the multi-media attractions are missing.
  • The preventive pursuit of future perpetrators in Minority report of Philip K. Dick – for the time being potential suicide bombers get already electronic tags before the first criminal act, in order to prevent that they blow themselves up.

In extreme cases you can only live your personal style in the context of certain rules. The related convictions will limit the variety and colorfulness of the world. Do we really want this?

Bottom line: Since more and more examples arise frequently that mean restrictions for the majority of the population, the time has come to observe these trends. The community gets more and more limited. Everywhere evolve regulated zones. At the same time other cultures are pointed at and their local rules are stigmatized as unfree. The question that arises is what remains, if we get in the so to speak public areas more and more rules imposed. Which dress-code is valid for the evening walk or shopping? When do individuals make money with common goods like fresh air, good streets or education? And what is the cost of using it? What remains for most of us?
Obedience?

Beyond the informational bubble

If Socrates would have already known the term, one of his famous sayings would have been going like this – “I know that I know nothing outside of my informational bubble.” The fact that we cannot know what we do not know, is an uncomfortable situation. Since Gutenberg the availability of information has grown immeasurably by the mass media. Today we arrived in the Internet, where everybody can reach everybody, as long as they are found. In this complex world it is natural that the web pages are linked with like-minded ones – creationists link to creationists; supporters of the theory of evolution link to supporters of the theory of evolution. What constitutes these spheres? How can you get beyond the informational bubble?

The informational bubble is for example defined by the following aspects.

  • Consistency
    The cohesion in an informational bubble results from a consistent correlation. The individual components repeat and complement each other or even built on each other. In any case they never contradict themselves. For this purpose the necessary logic must be as simple and understandable as possible.
  • Language
    The consistency is guaranteed by a common language. The contributions always repeat a similar pattern. This leads over time to a High Context culture, which is only understandable from the outside and/or is interpreted in the wrong way. Informational bubbles subsist on their technical jargon.
  • Dogmatism
    Informational bubbles have to resist the tendency of influencing their consistency and their jargon. Different world views are as early as possible nipped by all means in the bud and are actively ignored. Repeating the contents through re-use is rewarded. Failure is defamed immediately, mostly as lack of knowledge or as lie or as fake news.
  • Internal linking
    An important function is the use of cross references within the own informational bubble. In the interest of consistency the link to opposite or other opinions is forbidden. Thus, a closed explanation system evolves that lacks openness and a discourse with other topics.
  • Filter
    The Internet insinuates complete accessibility. Therefore the net providers and the social platforms have the possibility to insert and in the meantime even the obligation to filter at any time. These filters prevent the visibility of certain web pages. Particularly countries and enterprises, which believe that they have to exercise control, can fade out undesired contents with simple measures and without being recognized immediately.

There is actually no way out of the bubble, except you have a look beyond your own nose. Additionally it needs:

  • Neutral search engines
    As long as there are overarching search engines, which can look into all informational bubbles, there is a large probability that you can look out of your own informational bubble. The problem is that one does not have any objective way of recognizing filtered contents except you get hints from other media or by word of mouth. You never know, what you don’t know.
  • General rules for filters
    In the best interest of maximum openness, rules for an open Internet should be defined. They should regulate technical blocking, the elimination of search results, the deactivation of web pages and self-censorship. In principle there are cases, in which filters are justified – pedophilia, terrorism, or the like. Unfortunately there is still no generally accepted interpretation, which web pages are to be filtered and which not.
  • Mutual tolerance
    The acceptance and connivance of other opinions is an approach, which is available for everybody, but for understandable reasons is not applied. The discussion of contrary positions would guarantee that the own approach gets more stable. Only with the appropriate tolerance, discourses become possible.

Bottom line: The informational bubble is a natural phenomenon. The common language, the necessity of consistent contents, the inherent convictions, consistent cross references and filters create an integrated approach. With neutral search engines, general rules for filters and common tolerance you can get beyond the informational bubble.