Let's think about the time
before search engines were born...
When I entered into a conversation, it was my personal responsibility to determine whether or not the conversation had truth or not. I may refer to input from family/friends/colleagues, reference materials, newspapers, etc... to validate that convo. That means I didn't solely rely on one person's input to tell me: 'This is the truth' or 'This is false'. It was
me that had to figure it out, on my own, to form my own opinion.
Now, enter a search engine (a single source, instead) and what the general public assumes it is: the electronic version of obtaining
'input from family/friends/colleagues, reference materials, newspapers etc...' as I stated above. Most people have the expectation that search engines provide relevant information based on my query - whether the information provided is correct, completely false or somewhere in between.
Since technology is built by people, bias is automatically built into results (depending on the subject matter), to
@Alex Snyder's point. Furthermore,
people have created algorithms that determine 'relevance' (ie: search engine rank) and can easily be manipulated without the average person 'questioning' the validity of search results. If SERPs are not 'neutral', then you are being manipulated.
I'm pushing Brave to the front because undetected bias creates manipulation and propaganda, much of which is never questioned because 'I trust Google'.
Be curious. Question everything. Use multiple sources. Think for yourself. Live longer. Go Bills!
