Blog Post #9: EOTO 2, Machine Learning

     In this Age of A.I., the ability for machines and A.I. to learn in ways similar to humans has become something that has accelerated greatly in recent times. 

    Machine Learning is a branch of both computer science and A.I. that focuses on data and the use of algorithm to imitate learning like a human. The actual term was coined by American computer scientist Arthur Samuel. 

(Photo of Arthur Samuel and the IBM 7094)

        Samuels originally based it off of the game Checkers. The master of Checkers at the time, a man named Robert Nealy, played against the IBM 7094 computer in a game of Checkers and lost the match.

 (https://www.ibm.com/topics/machine-learning)

    Machine Learning is an important part of data science that uses statistical methods to create algorithms to make predictions, classifications, and uncover insights in data mining projects. These discoveries help make decisions concerning applications and businesses. The market for machine learning will expand over time as big data continues to expand. 

    

    Machine learning works in 3 steps:

    

    1. Decision Process: Machine Learning uses algorithms to make classifications and predictions. Based on some input data, the algorithm will predict a pattern.

    2. Error Function: It evaluates the prediction of the model. If there are already known examples, it can use those to assess the accuracy of the model. 

    3. Model Optimization Process: If the model can have a better fit for the data points, the model will repeat the "optimize and evaluate" process until the threshold of accuracy for the model is met. 

    Machine Learning has become incredibly popular as of late due to the popularity of A.I. in certain forms, with chatGPT being an example. Machine Learning is crucial component to any A.I., as an A.I. is supposed to learn though the 3 step process showcased in machine learning.

    

    

Blog Post #8: Diffusion of Innovation and the Printing Press

 

    Rogers' Theory of Diffusion (pictured above) is used to show and explain how a product gains momentum and spreads throughout a specific population or social system. (https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html#:~:text=Diffusion%20of%20Innovation%20%28DOI%29%20Theory%2C%20developed%20by%20E.M.,spreads%29%20through%20a%20specific%20population%20or%20social%20system.)

    The Printing Press and it's growth replicate this theory very closely. 

    

    Innovators/Pioneers: The Printing Press was created by Johannes Gutenberg in 1436. The invention itself was seen as a great way to produce printed goods, but he found distribution to be a large challenge. He ended up dying penniless without figuring out how to distribute his printed material out to a larger populous. 

    Early Adopters: Distribution began being figured out soon enough. People travelling or going on voyages would take printed material with them to distribute around. Slowly, a global market was beginning.

    Early Majority: The Market has now expanded quite bit, with the literacy rate slowly increasing as well as the number of books and other printed goods being produced. Religious, informative, and scientific texts were being produced and distributed at a rate never before seen in the world. The market was greatly expanding.

    Late Majority: The Italian Renaissance began entering it's full swing because of the invention of the printing press. Printed goods became cheaper to produce and procure, so it wasn't just limited to the upper class. This allowed for more fringe voiced to be heard instead of just those in the upper class. It also disallowed for as much censorship as the upper class didn't have the same amount of control that they did when printed goods weren't as easy to make or get. 

    Laggards: There's not much to say here besides the fact that some people who were extremely poor did not have access to the printing press until later on when it became cheap enough to warrant it. 

https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance

Blog Post #7: Invention of Paper

     Before paper was invented, it was incredibly hard to store and share information in general, much less on a global or even countrywide scale. Le-Yang and Cai Lun (particularly the latter) are credited as the inventers of progenitors of paper.

    Paper has very obviously become a massive market. With the mass production of paper, printed material became way more accessible and affordable. It was the most important method of communication for centuries, only recently becoming slowly overtaken by the internet. 

    Though this is no way to say paper will be going out of fashion anytime soon. It is still a resource that is incredibly useful and still in circulation everywhere. The paper market isn't dying any time soon, both as a material and as a communication technology.

(Plus, without paper we wouldn't have the office)

Blog Post #6: Anti-War and Other Fringe Voices

     For as long as news has been around, there have been viewpoints that are clearly favored in the eyes of the public and the government. This makes the more radical voices who oppose the mainstream have an extremely difficult time being heard, much less listened to. A majority of the time, these opposing views are even censored.

    A very good example is Twitter. Twitter often shuts down accounts that spread opinions that aren't held by a majority of the public, or that isn't the opinion that is shown positively in the news. If the accounts themselves aren't shut down, they may be shadow-banned (their tweets are prevented from circulating around), have their account suspended, or have the specific tweets removed.

    

    A very solid website/news source for anti-war opinions is, naturally, anti-war.com (https://www.antiwar.com/) is the way to go. I think it's safe to say that most people don't desire war or violence, but the government often attempts to silence that. The government, no matter who is in the presidency, relies on war a bit and censors those who loudly fight against it so the anti-war opinions can become too powerful for the government to fight back against it.

    Antiwar.com has tons of articles that showcase the horrors and tragedies that happen due to war. These stories and viewpoints are quite depressing to read due to the horrors of war itself, and would surely make a lot of people speak up more in an anti-war campaign, which is not something the government wants. Hence, Antiwar.com is a relatively small website/news source despite the legitimacy and informative nature of the pieces on their site. 

    The American Conservative (https://www.theamericanconservative.com/) is another website kept on the fringe. Obviously a right wing news source, and a radical one at that. Radical right wing news sources are often the most censored or pushed back against of any other viewpoint. 

    Even I as someone who is not personally right wing, much less radical, notice that those who are often don't get as much of an equal chance to speak their mind. They are pretty much immediately pushed back against most of the time. Even if I personally don't agree with a good amount of the articles I read, I still believe that the writers and voices on the site deserve just as much of a chance to give their opinion and have people read it without bias, and be heard out and not simply dismissed.

    Overall, most radical voices are often ignored, pushed against, or censored because they don't "fit" with the mainstream or what the government want you to believe, which just isn't fair and hides potentially important ideas and problems that could completely change people's perspectives or at least give them a different perspective. 

Blog Post #5: History of the Printing Press

     The Printing Press was a revolutionary invention created by a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg in 1436. It is worth noting that he didn't start automated book printing, as various types of it had been going on for about a century in both China and Korea. However, Gutenberg's became the most successful and influential. His machine included a screw-type wine press that pressed down on inked metal type. 

    The machine didn't originally gain much popularity at first. It was a revolutionary invention, but distribution of the printed material became a problem. Gutenberg could sell a few books around his town or nearby areas but found distributing to a greater population proved difficult. Because of this, Gutenberg ended up dying penniless before his invention took off in influence and popularity.

    The struggle with distribution was solved eventually, with solutions including sending copies of printed material with people who are traveling to distribute them on their travels, eventually creating a global market. 

    The literacy rate still wasn't very high when the printing press began getting more popular, so those who were literate were paid to read for those who weren't literate. 

    The most prevalent texts that were distributed were religious, informational, and scientific texts. The fact that the global market expanded also led to faster distribution of ideas and information. This in turn led to faster scientific discoveries and technological advances. 

    The Italian renaissance began before the invention of the printing press, but it's creation again sped up the process of gained knowledge and known ideas, as well as giving more people access to it, Printed material became cheaper and easier for people to get, not just the upper class. Less censorship was able to be done on fringe voices because of the weight and volume of printed material being sent out into the world.

    Because of the printing press, Martin Luther became the first best selling author in the world, with his writings making up almost two-thirds of books being sold in Germany at the time.

https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance

Blog Post #4: Eight Values of Free Expression: Which Ones Are Most Prominent?

     The Eight Values of Free Expression are all very useful to know in the modern day when expressing opinions on things. They are very useful and important to keep in mind in the modern political climate. The Eight Values of Free Expression include:

Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent.

    I think the most important value in regards to politics nowadays and in the past is Check On Government Power. The definition of this is that freedom of press allows citizens to learn about abuses of power, and allows citizens the option to try and do something about it, thus keeping the government in check. The government often tries to hide things it does and attempts to cover it up, and this is true on both sides of the political spectrum. The government often manages to hide or undersell what they have been doing, which leads to scandals, or in some cases absolutely no repercussions whatsoever if they get away with it. Keeping a check on government is always a good idea, as it at least makes it harder for the government to get away with doing things under citizen's noses. We live in a democracy, a government in which the citizens decide what is best for the country, but that is impossible if the government is doing things without confronting the citizens and country they are governing. Without giving the citizens a full picture and allowing them to decide what they feel and what to do about it, the government is depriving people of the basic right of a democracy. 

    Another one of the most important values in my eyes is Promoting Tolerance. The definition of this is pretty much how it sounds, stating how society should be more tolerant overall. It notes that hate speech is technically protected by the first amendment because society will condemn those who use hate speech themselves, serving as just enough punishment and curating a more tolerant society in the process. This is often seen on something like social media. If someone were to spread hate speech, they could get their account banned, could lose their job, or other such punishments. While not punishments done by the government, they are strong enough to make most people know that hate speech is not something to spread around and should/will be condemned. 

https://www.aclu.org/other/freedom-expression 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12142-020-00608-8?awc=26429_1681316387_20ff5e6b293999fd8c631429adc39c09&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=awin&utm_campaign=CONR_BOOKS_ECOM_DE_PHSS_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&utm_content=textlink&utm_term=143466