Category Archives: Internet, technology

A Dunbar moment

You have probably heard of Dunbar’s number. It’s all about the size of our brain and our relationship groups. To be exact, it’s about the size of our neocortex relative to the rest of our brain. Continue reading →

Modern lynch mobs

We keep hearing that “social media was enraged” or “social media went crazy”. Social media gets people fired, casts them off TV shows, has big corporations scrambling. There are no extinguishers at hand when the mob is on fire. Continue reading →

Now trending: hate and self-interest

Hate and self-interest are trending. Internet and the social media have provided the nasties with the means to find each other and create outlets for their bigotry.

Since they are truly nasty, in a way that this old lady doesn’t care to be, they do not hesitate to use these tools aggressively and successfully. Continue reading →

The alternativeFacts symbol

Donald Trump is just a few weeks into his presidency, and already he and his team have made history. Alternative facts are here to stay. No executive order was needed. The world learned by example. To commemorate this, I decided to create a symbol, the alternativeFacts symbol. Continue reading →

Dealing with complexity

When things become too complex, we simplify. Which works fine, if we know what we are doing. But let´s face it, when it comes to the brave new virtual world, BNVW for short, we don´t know what we are doing.

There is Continue reading →

Education in a world of clicks

A friend sent me the famous quote, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”The quote is from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Message for American Education Week”, a speech given in 1938.

The message is just Continue reading →

Facebook,Twitter, you and I

We are all being manipulated I am told. Not only by people, but by social bots, the software programs that mimic human behaviour on social media.

Angela Merkel worries that fake news providers and social bots will manipulate the German election. The Washington Post seems to know that Continue reading →