For this question, read over “Escape the echo chamber,” which is linked above the Final Capstone Project on our Moodle course page.

1. The author of this article makes a distinction between echo chambersand epistemic bubbles. What are the similarities between the two? What are the differences? What are the dangers of epistemic bubbles? How can they be shattered, according to the article? What is the basic check the author notes for identifying an echo chamber? Why might an echo chamber be more worrisome than an epistemic bubble? What are your thoughts on echo chambers and epistemic bubbles?

 

For this question, read over “Say goodbye to the information age: it’s all about reputation now,” which is linked above the Final Capstone Project.

2. What is the fundamental paradigm shift that the author identifies in this article? What does the author mean when she claims that reputation has become a central pillar of collective intelligence today? Why does the author believe that the Moon landing actually took place? What are the questions involved in reconstructing the reputational path of a piece of information?

Why do you believe that humans did or did not land on the moon in 1969?

How would the questions involved in reconstructing the reputational path of a piece of information assess the conspiracy theory below?

From Live Science:

One conspiracy theory involving the moon is the claim that aliens live on the moon. This conspiracy goes like this:

The moon is not real, but an alien space station that is used to monitor our planet, according to another conspiracy theory. This came from a website written by a person named Scott C. Waring, who claimed to have found two photos in the NASA Image Atlas in 2013 that have since been deleted.

“The evidence that NASA deleted is not just a UFO, but is also 100% evidence that the moon is not real, but actually an alien space station,” he wrote. According to him, the surface of the moon is covered in debris to make it seem like a natural celestial body, but in reality, it opens up like a gate and allows spaceships to enter in and out.

This same self-proclaimed UFO researcher also claimed that there was an “alien city” on the “dark” side of the moon. He came to this conclusion after analyzing a photo of the Giordano Bruno crater — a 14-mile-wide (22 kilometer) crater that lies on the far side of the moon. There, he said, he found destroyed or damaged “structures” that could be a hundred million years old. Some of them had reflective roofs and some looked like ships, he explained in a YouTube Video.

3. This question* relates to the article“A World Without Work,” which is linked above the Final Capstone Project on our Moodle course page. Just read the sections of the article noted in the instructions below.

*Please note that there are two sections to this question.

i) Skip the first section of this article and start at the second section: 2. Reasons to Cry Robot. For this section answers these questions: What does the end of work mean? What segment of the population will be largely affected by the end of work? If you are a college grad, what does it mean to say that you are “underemployed”? How do you feel about your job prospects in the future?

ii) Move on to the third section entitled, 3. Consumption: The Paradox of Leisure, and answer these questions: What does the term “post-workist” mean?

As you will see in this section, Benjamin Hunnicutt’s vision rests on certain assumptions about taxation and redistribution that might not be congenial to many Americans today. If much of labour is not done by humans, what might it be necessary for the government to provide?

What are some of the positive aspects regarding the end of work that are mentioned in this section? What are some of the negative aspects? What are your thoughts on the possible end of work?

 Links: 

1. A World Without Work – The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/world-without-work/395294/

2. Say goodbye to the information age: it’s all about reputation now
https://aeon.co/ideas/say-goodbye-to-the-information-age-its-all-about-reputation-now