The Opposing Viewpoint
A thought I had today:
I have a fascination with recommendation engines on websites. Two of the best examples are at amazon.com and netflix.com. You rate books or movies you’ve read/seen and the website recommends other stuff you might like. Pretty slick and I use these sites all of the time to find new stuff.
We were talking about these recommendation engines when I was with my parents over Easter and my dad mentioned the one problem I have with these engines, which is that your life can become very two-dimensional if you use only these recommendation sites to find new stuff. You say you like something, the site finds something similar and says “try this”, and you like it, so it gives you something else that’s just like those other two, and it goes on and on and on.
Sometimes I want to see a recommendation for something completely different than what I just read. This expands my horizons and it is fun to try something new. Maybe I won’t like it, but I’ve tried it.
So it would be great to have an “opposite” button on these recommendations. You say you like romantic comedies, well try “Saw III” and let us know what you think.
A related but different thought is the “Opposing Viewpoint” extension for your web browser. If you always read articles from the same sources, and you always get news from the same sources, and you always read the same blogs, you may only be seeing one side of the story.
I would like a browser extension that will bring up the top five articles with the opposing viewpoint when I am reading an article. If I am reading an article that says global warming is true science and it is happening then it will list five articles that say it isn’t really happening. I can read the opposing viewpoint and make my own decisions.
It is interesting to think about the possibilities when you see all of the sides of a story, and if the technology can open new paths for you instead of just leading you down the same old one.
Now for implementation . . .
srg
