Manufacturing Neutrality: The Encyclopedia of Our Time

How biases, vandalism of information, and data poisoning compromise judgment and consciousness.

In this talk, we will look at the infrastructure of our knowledge. We live in an era where "looking it up" has become a reflex, yet the platforms we trust to be neutral arbiters of truth are increasingly susceptible to manipulation, vandalism, and systemic bias. Naturally, when this is combined with our own cognitive biases and a lack of time, will or possibilities to verify facts, we are left vulnerable before we even make up our minds.

This session serves as the first chapter of what might be a new three-part series examining how emerging technologies, systemic biases and the curation of information shape our opinions and consciousness.

While this is a stand-alone talk requiring no previous knowledge, it builds upon our earlier discussions on rationality. We will move from the theoretical - a brief history of encyclopedias and the enlightenment ideal of organized knowledge - to the practical reality of Wikipedia and other platforms today.

This session will be led by Eyal.

Bring wine/beer/drinks/food/snacks/whatever if you want to.

Our events fill up very quickly. To avoid missing out on future events, join the WhatsApp group via this link:
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Press the buzzer marked Semi sotano 2 (bottom left on the panel) to be let in. It's down the stairs, first door on the right.

Image: An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby 1768