Data: Lust, Tension and Irene

[Kyle Bown]

So at the end of Tension, we were told it was all a lie. That the whole point was gathering data. I think most people accepted that as truth.

After the events of yesterday. I’m fairly certain it is. Why would Irene and her group ever do Tension/Lust in the first place? They have been around awhile. They seem to be doing well for themselves. But they want a bigger piece of the pie. Why change things? Because they want more control. A better way to control. A way to control more people easier. So, what’s the plan?

Step One: Gather Data
This is fairly obvious. Get as much information on as many people in as many situations as you can. Study reactions, feelings, outcomes, etc.

Step Two: Prediction
Using the data, find patterns. Figure out how a certain person with certain attributes will respond in a given situation. Know what will happen given certain inputs.

Step Three: Manipulation
Once you can predict outcomes, you can change them. Use the data you have and have analyzed to create a situation in which a desired outcome occurs.

Small things are knowing your average person is going to give an older woman the window seat on a bus if she asks. Or buy her yogurt on her birthday.

For a more complicated example: You’re a big multinational corporation. And the only thing keeping you from drilling in the Arctic is a single regulator at the EPA. How do you get rid of him without it being obvious you did. You know, because of the attributes of his wife, that if she discovered he was cheating on her, she would murder him. So, you figure out next, what would make him cheat? Maybe he’s perfectly happy right now, but if his wife suddenly became distant, and he wasn’t getting the attention from her he wanted, maybe then he cheats. So, you figure out the wife loves her dog. That dog is everything to her. If that dog dies, she’ll go into a deep depression and ignore her husband. So, you kill the dog. The wife gets depressed. The husband cheats. the wife finds out. She kills the husband. And you have your drilling and no one is ever going to know you poisoned the pooch.

Yes, that example is ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated. I apologize for that. Hopefully it doesn’t undermine my point.

Control. Data is the first step towards total control. It’s why everyone wants it. Look at most apps. Facebook, Moviepass, Twitter… you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

Now multiply that on a worldwide scale.

[Russell]

Small things? That’s part of my confusion. (And, man…. I am confused these days.)
At the end of Ascension, wasn’t part of Michelle’s overall frustration with the pace of progress for the OSDM seemed to be, in her opinion, glacial – because of the tactics of her predecessors?

She wanted bigger actions. She wanted bigger, faster results.
Are some powerful people still wrestling with these desires?

Your comments do point to the very valid concept that small actions can have big consequences when you manipulate- uh… engage- uh… whatever… the correct strategic game piece (person).

Are we facing a series of small actions? Small interactions. Small face-to-face conversations, all in the name of a bigger master plan? Perhaps.

Right now, I am afraid I am seeing trees and I am obviously not seeing the forest.

P.S. @bruinbown, your example may be “ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated,” but with a mind like that, my guess is you might be just the type of creative thinker some people around these parts are looking for. Stay frosty, Sir! 🙂
(Oh, and I never want to get on your bad side! Hahah!)

[Kyle Bown]

Don’t worry Russel. I only use my powers for good (that is a total lie…).

This didn’t occur to me until I read your post. But it clicked something in my brain.

It’s essentially weaponizing the Butterfly Effect.

[Russell]

Well put, @bruinbown

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