Everybody Lies

[Troy]

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are is a new book by former Google employee by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz.

Seth was interviewed on the radio this morning I decided to read the book based on the interview.  He described our Google searches as digital truth Serum and how our searches reveal much more about us that we even know about ourselves.

He also talked bout how disturbing some of our searched are suggesting that as a people we are much more sexually perverted (no the word he used), that we present ourselves

He drew a stark contrast between they way people presented themselves on Facebook very what their google searches reveal.  The observation struck a cord because I grew tired of the fiction presented on Facebook (including my own), which is I have not used Facebook for personal reasons for about two years ago and more than two months into a 6-month boycott of the platform for business purposes.

The data also reveals that Americans are FAR more racist than is revealed in surveys.  This comes as no surprise to me but is an interesting observation in a recent conversation about racism we are having about racism.

I have not watched the video below yet, but I figured I'd share it here because it appears to dive deeply into the subject of the book.

 

[Cynique]

i lie.  I have BlueCross/BlueShield Postal insurance, plus i'm covered by Medicare.To the medical profession i am a cash cow.  At check-ups, i lie to doctors about symptoms, because for every little complaint they want to subject me to a barrage of tests or hospitalize me or prescribe a new pill. i'm now  going on line and googling my symptoms, then taking  over-the-counter-supplements and natural remedies  recommended for my imagined and real ailments. i'm probably terminal with something but i'm leaving here on my own terms. i feel like i've earned that right (The last good friend of mine who passed in February, was doing OK but her doctors had her hospitalized and about a week later, she died. She walked in but was rolled out feet-first.   Her kids swear she picked up an infection and got worse in the hospital and this was responsible for her death. )  Incidentally, this syncronicity i keep describing just happened when i was typing the word "medicare" in the first line of this post, Trump was talking on TV and he was saying the word 'medicare', while i was keying it.  Go figure.

Another example of the kind of lying i do, happened recently.  My daughter gave me a dress for Mother's day and - i told l her i liked it.