Reblogged from Sun in Gemini:

Last night BBC2 aired part two of the documentary Secrets of Silicon Valley, subtitled ‘The persuasion machine’. by Jonathan Bartlett.

The programme charted the rise of the modern Tech giants, many of which are not traditional ‘product or services’ companies in the sense we have become used to. For example, Facebook, one of the main subjects of the programme, is viewed as not only a social network but one of the world’s largest publishers of information. Yet, Facebook actually originates nothing, rather providing a world-wide platform within which others – us – publish our thoughts and, increasingly, emotions, to a network of our ‘friends’… or those we seek to influence.

The word ’emotions’, above, is the key to much of what followed in the programme. Recent motivational studies, representing the cutting edge of how people (we) can be psychologically profiled – put into data silos of opinion and response – have shown that there are two ways in which the human mind absorbs and responds to information.

Source: What value the human? (2) – The disassembly of consent – Sun in Gemini