The Internet Foundation
Solving Global Problems using the Internet

Most content, groups and products on the Internet are not easily verifiable

Richard K Collins All knowledge, All Languages May 6, 2024
Most content, groups and products on the Internet are not easily verifiable — In 26 years of the Internet Foundation, most papers on the Internet do not provide sufficient information to verify, let alone reproduce and test what is written. The publishers only consider themselves “paper printers”, even when it is in electronic form. I can tell you why the “code and data” groups all fail. Why “social media” never reaches “collaboration” or “open discussion”. All of them are just using “distribute news papers and never listen”. Look at Springer, “Our business is publishing”. They do not give a flip about the content or the people involved – enough to understand and really encourage. Enough to do what they only copy.
 

It takes a different way of looking at the world and the future of the human and related species to use the Internet at anywhere near what is possible. I usually find the potential is 1000 to 10,000 times what is achieved. Much is due to humans using business models and rules from the 1800’s, and older, that channel many small efforts for the benefit of a few. Anyone can stack rocks, but it takes a different effort to make sustainable systems.

Even though I spent much of my career as a “Senior Mathematical Statistician”, now there are so many tools that generate look-alikes, it is hard to find the real things. One loud person can drown out a million humans quietly living lives with dignity and purpose. Did you ever see a “news” organization actually expend effort to find solutions then spend effort to do the work required? My mind generated an image of news people and publishers as Neros fiddling while the world burns, with greedy smiles on their faces as the ticker shows income from every death reported.

 
To make all the papers verifiable requires supplying the effort that authors and publishers are not investing. Most groups using the Internet put LESS effort into something that could be seen by 5.1 Billion than into a paper thing that only reaches a few hundred, or a few million. And there are 8.1 Billion humans now and many more related species without which humans likely might not exist.
 
Much of my time every day for 26 years was aimed to find why all the global issues and opportunities never complete. Why does “nuclear fusion” never happen? Why did covid kill so many and so many organizations profit, when a week of Internet effort could have done better? Why does “education” and “government” always get more expensive and bureaucratic. Why do all large corporations grow to a few tens of $ billions, then peak and stagnate?
 
I am too tired to write cases. It is fairly easy to get a few million followers, but what do they do? Monetize, benefit themselves, retire in place.
 
I worked with a lot of economists and financial planners (companies, sectors, and countries) but they leave all the work and decisions to others. Smart people, more likely to produce papers than systemic changes.
 
Too tired to generate pithy conclusions and insights this morning. LOL!
 
Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation
Richard K Collins

About: Richard K Collins

Director, The Internet Foundation Studying formation and optimized collaboration of global communities. Applying the Internet to solve global problems and build sustainable communities. Internet policies, standards and best practices.

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