We've given up critical thinking

To the editor:

There was a fascinating column in the Sunday New York Times a couple of weeks ago, a portion of which I will share and offer an opinion thereon.

The piece by Soshana Zuboff, author of the book: "Surveillance Capitalism,” was headlined “The Knowledge Coup.”

In the column, Zuboff argues that we cannot have a surveillance society as well as a democracy. She further argues that our privacy, as well as our freedom, has been co-opted by the private corporations Facebook, Twitter and Google, as well as the internet at large. Our knowledge base is being, increasingly, constructed and driven by data and algorithms harvested and conceived by these entities.

Data is neutral when it comes to what is true or false; it cannot separate fact from fiction. An algorithm cannot discern mendacity from mushrooms. Data doesn't discriminate between misinformation and disinformation.

In other words, our knowledge base is increasingly being built on what we are told on Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Who we are, what we like and what we buy is sold to the highest bidder, with or without our consent, by the way. Privacy in the internet age is as ephemeral as a toddler's attention span. We give it away our privacy for the convenience of online shopping, or 15 minutes of fame on YouTube. We give an opinion and share it with the world irrespective of fact or truth.

We have capitulated our lives as well as our ability to think critically, to a medium that does the thinking for us.

We have chosen to be ignorant because it is convenient.

Michael Kinser

Portland