Information should NOT be free, and other crucial ideas

[icehorse]

So many crucial ideas and perspectives from this podcast:

1 - “Information should be free” is a horrible idea that’s helping to ruin our society.
2 - Virtually ALL social media feeds into “the pervasiveness of manipulation” that is another huge contributor to our ruination.
3 - We are in desperate need of the return of unions.
4 - We need to start paying for google and facebook and .., and we need to remove advertising from such sites.
5 - We need to protect individual IP

and so on

#136 - Digital Humanism | Sam Harris

BTW - For me, the first 29 minutes of this podcast was free. I did not intend for anyone to have to pay any money!

 

[amorphous_constellation]

I tend to think information ought to be free, if possible. If we aren't progressing toward making things free, then what is progress

 

[sun rise]

4 - We need to start paying for google and facebook and .., and we need to remove advertising from such sites.

RF gives me a choice: pay or get ads. Some streaming sites give us a choice: pay or pay more for no ads.

I'm in favor of having facebook etc offer people the choice.

"google" is an information conglomerate. I have a google phone I paid for. I pay for extra storage for photos/email/...I have a fitbit watch (now owned by google). I do google searches etc.

So 'pay for google' is way way too broad a statement.

 

[sun rise]

I tend to think information ought to be free, if possible. If we aren't progressing toward making things free, then what is progress

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that musicians easily and simply did variations on other people's tunes without copyright.

Now we have copyright etc holders trying to extend their rights to eternity and demolish fair use.

I think pay for everything has gone too far in these areas with unbridled greed taking precedence over every other consideration. It needs to be scaled back quite a bit.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So many crucial ideas and perspectives from this podcast:

1 - “Information should be free” is a horrible idea that’s helping to ruin our society.
2 - Virtually ALL social media feeds into “the pervasiveness of manipulation” that is another huge contributor to our ruination.
3 - We are in desperate need of the return of unions.
4 - We need to start paying for google and facebook and .., and we need to remove advertising from such sites.
5 - We need to protect individual IP

and so on

#136 - Digital Humanism | Sam Harris

I can meet you halfway on it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that musicians easily and simply did variations on other people's tunes without copyright.

Now we have copyright etc holders trying to extend their rights to eternity and demolish fair use.

I think pay for everything has gone too far in these areas with unbridled greed taking precedence over every other consideration. It needs to be scaled back quite a bit.

It does remind me of pay to win thinking.

Only those with money to burn will flourish. Media will be only for the whales.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that musicians easily and simply did variations on other people's tunes without copyright.

Indeed, that is why when I upload folk songs to youtube that I perform , I search for melodies and lyrics published before a certain date.. Which oddly, I guess might make me the technical owner, since often, no one else does certain of these specific variations of these songs. I of course, would abolish all of this nonsense, and just allow the folk song cannon to be free of ownership

 

[icehorse]

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that musicians easily and simply did variations on other people's tunes without copyright.

Now we have copyright etc holders trying to extend their rights to eternity and demolish fair use.

I think pay for everything has gone too far in these areas with unbridled greed taking precedence over every other consideration. It needs to be scaled back quite a bit.

I would recommend that you listen to this 29 minute podcast.

 

[danieldemol]

So many crucial ideas and perspectives from this podcast:

1 - “Information should be free” is a horrible idea that’s helping to ruin our society.
2 - Virtually ALL social media feeds into “the pervasiveness of manipulation” that is another huge contributor to our ruination.
3 - We are in desperate need of the return of unions.
4 - We need to start paying for google and facebook and .., and we need to remove advertising from such sites.
5 - We need to protect individual IP

and so on

#136 - Digital Humanism | Sam Harris

Haven't listened to the podcast yet, but I would say certain types of information such as religious info should be free, also the amount of info necessary to give people basic education should be free.

 

[icehorse]

I tend to think information ought to be free, if possible. If we aren't progressing toward making things free, then what is progress

Jaron Lanier has devoted thousands of hours of time to researching and thinking about this topic. I'd be curious to find out if you feel the same way after listening to him?

 

[icehorse]

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that musicians easily and simply did variations on other people's tunes without copyright.

Now we have copyright etc holders trying to extend their rights to eternity and demolish fair use.

I think pay for everything has gone too far in these areas with unbridled greed taking precedence over every other consideration. It needs to be scaled back quite a bit.

No, now we have the situation in which most musicians are living gig to gig. This is not a recipe for success.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

Jaron Lanier has devoted thousands of hours of time to researching and thinking about this topic. I'd be curious to find out if you feel the same way after listening to him?

Coincidentally, I was going to listen to a Sam Harris podcast for my walk today. Perhaps I will listen to that if I have time , however , you must know that he prefaces his podcasts by allowing free access through subscription , which is why I am struck with incredulity that he would advocate payment for information ? Unless he disagrees

 

[Secret Chief]

"Information should be free” is a horrible idea that’s helping to ruin our society

So the poorest in society should remain in ignorance?

 

[sun rise]

No, now we have the situation in which most musicians are living gig to gig. This is not a recipe for success.

That's been true in the modern era - since the 60's at least. Big record companies took most of the profits from sales and gave pittances to musicians.

Last night I saw a show on American painters which noted that it was common for them to have "straight jobs" as cartoonists early on in their career.

This to me is an outcome of the lack of value society puts on artists of all stripes (as well as teachers and others).

 

[Quagmire]

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand if people had to pay for information maybe they'd be a little more selective about their sources.

On the other hand, to echo @Secret Chief , I think wealth disparity could easily become an information disparity.

 

[sun rise]

I would recommend that you listen to this 29 minute podcast.

I have a musician for a wife and know what she went through trying to make a living. And I know directly from all her friends what their lives were like.

I don't need to spend 1/2 hour on a podcast and have too much to do besides.

 

[sun rise]

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand if people had to pay for information maybe they'd be a little more selective about their sources.

On the other hand, to echo @Secret Chief , I think wealth disparity could easily become an information disparity.

I wish that high quality media would have a category between free and subscription. There are occasional articles I'd like to read and which I'm willing to pay a fair price for. But I don't read them because I'd have to subscribe.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I can see nothing good coming from a society where only those who can afford information have access to it.
Instead we need to teach media literacy and how to evaluate and research information.

 

[Quagmire]

I can see nothing good coming from a society where only those who can afford information have access to it.
Instead we need to teach media literacy and how to evaluate and research information.

How much should we charge for that?

 

[Quagmire]

I wish that high quality media would have a category between free and subscription. There are occasional articles I'd like to read and which I'm willing to pay a fair price for. But I don't read them because I'd have to subscribe.

I would love to see some sort pay-by-the-article set up. I think at some point, browsers are going to start using some sort of digital currency in this way for a lot of different things: music/videos/articles/what-not.

If it was set up peer-to-peer it could be a good deal for everybody.