Where to get information from?

  21 Century has not been kind to information sources. A long time ago, in the last century, we still had a profession called journalism which was striving to bring us information. Often, the press was biased and partisan but even in the most oriented papers and magazines you could still find informative articles in which you could learn something valuable. Then came the 1990s and the Internet revolution which was supposed to open up the world. Instead, journalism lost it's main income source, advertising, and almost overnight became public relation mouthpiece for large corporations and propaganda engine for the state. 

  Since, finding information has become a struggle. No wounder people are reading blogs as this one. This is one of the very few places where relatively unbiased information is being curated and reprinted for public consumption. 

  As such, I regularly scan the Internet looking for deep articles with original angles on interesting and current subjects. And sometimes, as was the case yesterday, I find nothing!

  One great source of information, I have been using over the last few years has been Zero Hedge:  https://www.zerohedge.com/

 Zero Hedge used to be edgy although mostly talking about finance and related subjects. Then slowly, "deep state" style articles started appearing, one at a time first until recently where they represent over half their line up of articles. The rest being mostly trashy click-bait articles on irrelevant current events. 

 Then there is the Burning Platform style of news sites. Right wing, conservative stuff for chem-trail, flat earth, moon hoax believers. You find one diamond a week on what is mostly a pile of trash. https://www.theburningplatform.com/

 There are of course tens of other sites like Lew Rockwell but the problem there is that you don't know what you have until you've read the article. Not exactly convenient for a quick scan! https://www.lewrockwell.com/

 And then there are videos. Unfortunately, on this blog hosted by Google, posting videos from YouTube is easy and from everywhere else in particular Rumble far more difficult. YouTube used to be a great source of videos until they started censoring left and right so that now, what is left is little better that what was there at the very beginning: "A day at the Zoo!" If I remember correctly the name of their very first video 20 years ago. 

  And if all this was not bad enough, now, we are starting to feel the effect of AI on news filtering, censorship and far more insidiously, bubble making.  

  If you're like me and try to understand the world, the ONE thing you do not want is web site like YouTube slowly encircling you with the same stuff specifically designed for your taste while slowly distancing you from interesting stuff by omission, cancelling and burying. There are still ways to avoid this but it's getting more and more difficult almost by the day. It was already hard with cookies, and now becoming almost impossible in the cookie-less world of mobile and machine number recognition. 

  I am already using ChatGPT regularly for advice on many subjects. It is simply amazing if you know what you are doing. Although there too the risk of manipulation will soon rise exponentially since slowly the AI will learn to know us better than we do and will consequently acquire unbelievable power through these means. As long as you're manipulating people and they are aware of it, you're doing a bad job! AI will not. It is truly on the verge of becoming more intelligent than we are. 

  Concerning YouTube for example, here's the suggestion of ChatGPT. 

To escape from profiling and get more diverse and neutral suggestions on platforms like YouTube, you can try the following strategies:

1. Use Incognito or Private Browsing Mode:

   • When you browse in incognito or private mode, your browsing history and cookies are not saved, which can help you get more neutral suggestions.

2. Sign Out of Your Account:

   • Use YouTube without signing into your account. This can prevent the algorithm from using your profile to suggest videos.

3. Clear Your Watch and Search History Regularly:

   • Periodically clear your YouTube watch history and search history. This can reset the algorithm and provide more varied suggestions.

4. Create a New Account:

   • Consider creating a new YouTube account for a fresh start. Avoid watching too many similar videos in the beginning to keep the suggestions broad.

5. Use a VPN:

   • Using a VPN can mask your IP address, which might lead to more diverse suggestions based on different geographical locations.

6. Manually Explore Different Content:

   • Actively search for and watch a variety of content that interests you. This can help diversify your suggestions over time.

7. Use Browser Extensions or Tools:

   • Some browser extensions can help you see more diverse content. Extensions like "Unhook" for Chrome can remove algorithmic suggestions and show you more random or trending content.

8. Adjust Your YouTube Settings:

   • YouTube settings allow you to manage your data. Go to Settings > History & Privacy and manage your watch history and search history. Turn off the "Include your YouTube activity from the web" and "Include your YouTube activity from the app" options to limit tracking.

9. Use Alternative Platforms:

   • Explore other video platforms that might have different recommendation algorithms or less aggressive profiling.

10. Provide Feedback to YouTube:

    • Use the "Not interested" option on videos you don't like. This helps improve the algorithm's understanding of your preferences, but it can take time to see significant changes.

By incorporating these strategies, you can help mitigate the impact of YouTube's profiling and receive more neutral and varied suggestions, enhancing your overall viewing experience.