The Upside Of Self Deception

I'm a big fan of self-deception. I suspect it is the only thing that allows us to remain engaged with a meaningless existence in an indifferent universe... But, I digress.

The ruthless objectivity of Big Data promises to deliver us from self-deception - or does it?

http://www.nature.com/news/how-scientists-fool-themselves-and-how-they-can-stop-1.18517

Our knowledge of objective reality has always been mediated through the tools we have developed to extend our senses. Data science is no different; we are putting a great deal of trust in the belief that our black box algorithms are accurately reflecting objective reality.

And, continuing with our rumination on what role humans will ultimately play in the brave new world of artificial intelligence, this concept made quite the splash this past week:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/hci-hsc121815.php

Is this the "middle way?" I find it fascinating that human brains are being conceived as the "processors" in a massively parallel computing system where the computer is acting as the glue. Maybe the Internet really is the destined to be a form of global consciousness...

Finally, you knew it was going to happen:

http://qz.com/588323/this-self-flying-drone-can-carry-you-to-work/

(I'd be real careful getting out of that giant blender with a seat.)

Have a great weekend!