Shattered Geeks
Internet Geek Image Shattered by New Study! This sounds like a farcical headline ripped from the Onion, but in fact it’s Reuters response to the World Internet Project: a study which finds that, surprise surprise, surfers read and have social lives. To get the results, the WIP polled both Net-heads and Luddites from 14 countries. The study yields some mildly intriguing results: Swedes were the most skeptical of information attained on the Net, while South Koreans, the most trusting. More disturbingly, participants consider that most or all of the info they find online is credible. This despite the fact that only a small percentage of sites operate with more editorial restraint than the Weekly World News. But the most shocking finding, to me, is that people apparently still think that surfers are illiterate dweebs. Netizens have always and implicitly been avid readers, because, since the BBS days, they’ve been reading stuff off the Net. To still consider them geeks is as naive as labeling gamers pimply young boys.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.