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Older people sometimes talk about the good old days when life was better. In fact, they talk nostalgically about their own youth that was irretrievably gone. The past century has made enormous progress in all fields. The standard of living, work environment, health care quality and mobility, and the availability of cultural programs, recreational activities and information _ all that clearly speaks in favor of nowadays.

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In the old days, a liberal and a conservative (a __ove_ and a __awk,_ say) got their data from one of three nightly news programs, a local paper, and a handful of national magazines, and were thus starting with the same basic facts (even if those facts were questionable, limited, or erroneous). Now each of us constructs a custom informational universe, wittingly (we choose to go to the sources that uphold our existing beliefs and thus flatter us) or unwittingly (our app algorithms do the driving for us). The data we get this way, pre-imprinted with spin and mythos, are intensely one-dimensional.

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In accordance with the prevailing conceptions in the U.S., there is no infringement on democracy if a few corporations control the information system: in fact, that is the essence of democracy. In the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the leading figure of the public relations industry, Edward Bernays, explains that __he very essence of the democratic process_ is __he freedom to persuade and suggest,_ what he calls __he engineering of consent._ __ leader,_ he continues, __requently cannot wait for the people to arrive at even general understanding _ Democratic leaders must play their part in _ engineering _ consent to socially constructive goals and values,_ applying __cientific principles and tried practices to the task of getting people to support ideas and programs_; and although it remains unsaid, it is evident enough that those who control resources will be in a position to judge what is __ocially constructive,_ to engineer consent through the media, and to implement policy through the mechanisms of the state. If the freedom to persuade happens to be concentrated in a few hands, we must recognize that such is the nature of a free society.

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Noam Chomsky

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies

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One of the most curious consequences of quantum physics is that a particle like an electron can seemingly be in more than one place at the same time until it is observed, at which point there seems to be a random choice made about where the particle is really located. Scientists currently believe that this randomness is genuine, not just caused by a lack of information. Repeat the experiment under the same conditions and you may get a different answer each time.

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Marcus du Sautoy

The Great Unknown: Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science