In a world of information, misinformation is a powerful weapon.

Have you ever heard of the “Citizens United” decision by the US Supreme Court? The chances are that you haven’t, even if you are an US citizen. That ruling, however, is one of the more important events in the history of democracy and remains highly controversial to this day. It reveals how ruling elites are adapting to the conditions of the age of information and provides a blueprint for how to manage democracy today.

The Citizens United ruling, released in January 2010, gave the green light to corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want to convince people to vote for or against a candidate (1). It ruled that political contributions are a form of free speech and outside groups can spend unlimited amounts of money to influence voters. Media expenditures skyrocketed. The dam walls protecting US voters from the ocean of information and misinformation broke.

The most fervent, global protector of the idea of democracy — the United States—confirmed that:

Information is not so dangerous, if you have the means to produce unlimited amounts of it.

All that was before the 2016 presidential campaign.

Too Much Input. Cannot Compute.

I will refrain from addressing politics too much. It is simply an important sphere where significant amounts of capital are being converted into arguments, ideas and emotions. It is most definitely not the only field where this is happening. I am confident that you have noticed that:

We are all drowning in information.

If there is a feature that marks our global society today, that is our love/hate relationship with information. We produce exabytes of it every day and yet it is hard to make a judgement on its overall effect. Does more information makes us happier? Does it make is more informed? Or does it confuse us and leads us to exist in our own informational bubbles, unable to see the larger picture?

The More the Better? Art by Jihyun Ham

What we have to deal with today is “information overload”. It is a term used to describe the difficulty of understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information about it (3). It is affecting individuals, companies and governmental organizations alike, leading to prolonged indecision in times when quick reactions are required. With so many options, opinions and real or imagined facts, how is one supposed to take the right decision? What can we do?

Who Filters Your Information?

Two big names immediately come into mind — Facebook and Google.

Almost 2 billion people use Facebook today. One of the most important services that it provides to its users is personalization of information or “filtering” based on complex profiling. Facebook’s Newsfeed Algorithm helps you be exposed only to content relevant to you.

That’s great, right? Well, as usual, there are two sides to this. What happens when you only see what you want to see is that your worldview or position on various issues get entrenched. Without realizing it, we develop tunnel vision. Rarely will our Facebook comfort zones expose us to opposing views, and as a result we eventually become victims to our own biases (4).

Moreover, you could unknowingly be exposed to manipulations. The Guardian and the Observer have recently presented evidence of Google’s search algorithm and its autocomplete function prioritizing websites that declare climate change a hoax, being gay is a sin, and the Sandy Hook mass shooting never happened (5).

What can you do? With so much information floating around and our most relied on filters being subject of controversies, who can you trust?

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

I am sure you have all heard this popular expression. It relates to the idea that “talk is cheap”, a statement that is infinitely more valid in our internet-based, social media-led virtual society.

Will the so-called “internet trolls” exist in such numbers today, if they had to pay for each of their controversial comments? Will you continue receiving hundreds of spam messages per year, if e-mails had a cost? Surely, the answer is not “No”. There will always be groups willing to convert cash to information. However, the volume of data would definitely be reduced.

What if there is way to allow everyone to express their opinion and profit from being correct? You think OneCoin will replace Bitcoin as the dominant cryptocurrency? Are you so confident as to bet, for example, 5 BTC? No? Well then, keep your opinions to yourself — they obviously lack the necessary conviction. Or alternatively — “Yes”. Even better. Losing 5 BTC can have far reaching therapeutic effects on the individual.

Markets are Excellent Sources of Information

Betting or creating a market on a certain subject, creates a source of information on that subject that expresses beliefs, backed by value. One can use the price as an indicator of probability, 0.5 USD representing a 50:50 chance. Have a look below: