15 Sep, 2021

Nina and Tricia put these questions forward –

Q1: Name a cutting edge advancement in technology. Is there a clear intention behind this advancement? If not, what do you believe the intention should be?

A technology which has become extremely popular over the last few years is Blockchain. At its core, blockchain technology started as a way of storing information which would be impossible to hack into. The primary focus was to use it for digital money. This led to an increase in various cryptocurrencies which work on the blockchain technology. While it would appear that these are very clear intentions for this advancement, in terms of security of data, there is very limited knowledge around it. There are several debates around the use, accessibility and high power consumption of this technology. For an average person, it is a very complicated thing to implement it in their day to day life. The use of this technology seems focused only on a few people. There are many uses like NFTs or secure sharing of medical data using blockchain which are coming up. But they haven’t seemed to have made their way to everyone yet.

Resources:

https://builtin.com/blockchain/blockchain-applications

https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/what-is-blockchain

Q2: Describe a time when you’ve witnessed someone use outrage on the internet to their advantage. How did you feel about the use of this method—do you agree with it? If not, what issues do you have with it?

When COVID-19 had peaked in India and there were many social and political issues going on in the country simultaneously, people turned to the internet and social media to find resources and help. There were some Instagram users with high number of followers (a.k.a influencers) who were using their network and reach to put out any information they could on their posts or stories. While this was one side of the internet being used for the good, there were certain influencers who were using people’s panic and cry for help to promote their own personal brands or make money out of it by asking people to get in touch to “talk about their problems” or so-called “group meditation activities” which they were neither qualified nor experienced to be conducting. They did so and asked the people to pay some money to be able to avail these sessions. I absolutely condemn this primarily because it is ethically wrong to use people’s fears and lack of awareness around mental health to your own benefit. When called out on how inappropriate this was, instead of owning up to the issues, they made it seem like people “interpreted it wrong.” I was really shocked at how people would take advantage of others who probably have lesser resources or knowledge and try to play God in others’ lives.