Relentless

According to Numerati author and technology analyst Stephen Baker, we are closing in on a definitive new era.

What do you think happens when you submit a search query in Google? Apparently as reality moves into digital territory, it adopts the form of code and archives. Would the Internet slide down yet another conspirational slippery slope? Thankfully there are voices of reason.

Pretty much everything that happens on the Internet stays on the Internet - where we go, what we do and generally what we are about. Everything is archived, tagged and sorted. There are entire software suites designed to manage such information.

As dreary as it may sound this is quite an exciting time for us. Now, more than ever, we have the resources to model forecasts with incredible precision, simply because of the accuracy and completeness of this data. It is gathered around the world in near real time and it is archived very quickly and efficiently.

Such a daunting task, of course, requires a new level of competence that surpasses the somewhat antiquated model of social sciences. Author Stephen Baker argues that this will form the basis of a new era of literacy – a numerical one.

In an upcoming talk at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, himself and James Harking – the author of Cyburbia, will be covering the topics of privacy, optimizing decision-making and forecasting. The speakers will be adressing the nature of metrics gathered online, as well as the moral and practical implications of the subject.

The talk takes place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on Tuesday, May 14 2009.