Walking the Line Between Civil Discourse and Yelling at one Another
Reader Ted dropped me a line today with a link for an article on a piece of software that can sift through messages and create a stunningly accurate profile on the author of said message. WarmTouch and how it nailed a grenade-stockpiling cyber extortionist.
WarmTouch uses a scoring system to guess at a suspect’s psychological characteristics. An overuse of the word “me,” for instance, might suggest an exaggerated sense of passivity, an indication the person may feel like a victim. The program can sniff out other clues about the individual, such as whether he is more of a loner (as evidenced by frequent use of the word “I”) or more of a team player (indicated by using “we” instead). The program also pays close attention to rhetorical questions, which are said to be a strong indicator of anger.
Sounds like an interesting piece of software to add to the digital forensics suitcase as the article discusses the accuracy of the software.
Which is something I would tend to buy into. I think people generally write in the digital world with their own passion, emotion, and general feelings on issue x, whatever x may be. Sometimes this writing occurs without regard to the feelings of others. I think this may be due to the disconnect that exists between communicating in the digital world and the real world.
This disconnect exists because we don’t physically see the other person we are dealing with so the human element has been lost. I think this is what keeps people from espousing half the stuff you can read on any Digg.com thread in real life. In real life many people do not wish to attack the feelings of others (especially if a job, promotion, or relationship is on the line) so we think a little more about what we say. In the online world we can write what we want and say, “If you don’t like it, don’t read it!”
Ted joked that a plugin for Wordpress and MoveableType is soon to follow. Joke aside it would be interesting to see the difference it would make with certain bloggers, say the more bombastic ones. Hell what about applying that plugin to Faux News? 
Welcome to my blog! Topics tend to focus on Science and Technology, but I throw in personal stuff too. I hope you enjoy!
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
The point of communications is to present your view in an exchange of equals. If one finds themselves tempering their words in order to curry favor or as*kiss, it’s not really communication.
I found it funny because your quoted section is sorta true in my case although I don’t plan to change my writing style to circumvent profiling tools. When they come knocking for me, I guess I’ll be headed to the gulags.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
And this is where things get dicey. My point above is not that people should moderate what they say, something I never wish anyone to do. Rather I would hope people take from what I wrote that they need to think about who it is they are trying to communicate with. The whole know your audience meme.
This is crucial for anyone trying to convey a message or idea. Some people are turned off by certain words or methods of communicating and if the goal is to convey the message or idea than this should be taken into consideration.
Is the goal just to hear one’s self or to read what one has written? Or is it to have influence on others. One reason why conspiracy ideas never really take off. Those espousing the conspiracies have yet to figure out how to debate their ideas clearly with “skeptics”.
I don’t really plan on changing my style for such a tool, but I also thought it might be funny to see how myself would be profiled. Then again, maybe that is something I should never see and just continue on doing what I do…
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Amen to that.
I once had a security clearance done. Afterwards under the FOIA, you can ask to see what information the government collected from people they asked about you.
Let me tell you that I would have been better off not knowing because people that I looked upon as friends said some downright unfriendly things.
The corollary to that (and you may learn it later for yourself) is that as a parent, you shouldn’t be too keen to know everything about what your kids do. There’s waaay to much disappointment lurking there. If you want to remain reasonably happy, stay judiciously (and by design) dumb on some things.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Which poses the question, is ignorance truly bliss? I say yes, but it’s important to learn from experiences to make yourself and the world a better place. If we were all truly ignorant to what Bush has done the world we be a horrible place because he would get away with whatever he wanted.
In your specific case, ignorance is bliss though.
Not there yet with kids, but it’s coming in the next 5 years… I assume you are speaking both generally and specifically (maybe about sex). I think that may be a standpoint the child appreciates too.