# Reading Responses
## Oct 2 Tue - Cooperation is not as Easy as it Sounds
Like how a Yin always comes with its Yang, competition will always be present with conflict. The struggle between conflict and cooperation is one that is central to life, and there are many factors that play a part in each. it is human nature to want what is best for yourself, but how far are you willing to go to get it, and under what circumstances?

The Prisoners Dilemma is an interesting model discussed in the reading that represents natural selection and how humans in most cases choose the best outcome for themselves. Natural selection in itself is all about competition, winner takes it all and everybody wants to be the winner. But when cooperation comes into play and there is the possibly of both parties benefiting, will the mindsets of the competitors change? Marotzkes advertisement discussed in the reading states that “ people can sometimes pool their efforts when the stakes are high and when the power of reputation is harnessed to catalyze cooperation.”, but they also found that failure was more common that success.

I believe that anonymity plays a huge role in cooperation and conflict. When people do not know that your are responsible for your actions, it is a lot easier to do what you believe is best for yourself without thinking about the repercussions or impact that it may have on the lives of others. But when the anonymity goes away and our reputations are on the line, it becomes a lot harder and people are more willing to cooperate. It is human nature to gossip, but no one wants to be the one that is gossiped about. These concepts become even more prominent online because of how simple it is to post gossip and how quickly it is able to spread. So while there are many factors that play a role in cooperation, I think the key issue to assuring cooperation rather than conflict is that humans brains are so vastly different that it is hard to find a solution.

## Oct 7 Tue - The Dark Side of Online Identities

In the age where digital connectivity is endless, the line between truth and deception has never been thinner. While catfishing has existed long before the internet and began in letter writing, referred to as the “419" (Whitty), reports show that “40% of people who said they lost money to a romance scam last year said the contact started on social media” (Fletcher). While this statistic may not seem startling, I think that people’s thought process behind catfishing and the effects it has on their victims is shocking.

When tested, Marches studies showed that most catfishing perpetrators were associated with traits like psychopathy, sadism, narcissism and machiavelianism. This came as a shock to me, because the way that catfishing is presented to me through social media comes off in a very joke like manner. Like discussed previously in class, it may be due to my filter bubble. But when I think of catfishing, I think of an unattractive woman wearing a fake identity online, and when it comes to meeting them in person the man is completely shocked. So for catfishing perpetrators to obtain such dark characteristics came as a shock to me.

While the major objective of catfishing is financial exploitation, according to Whitty this is not the hardest burden that victims of catfishing face. Most victims of catfishing claimed that the loss of the relationship was harder than the financial exploitation. Some even went as far as claiming that finding out the relationship was a hoax was as hard as loosing a loved one. So while wearing a fake persona online is not a hard act to sustain, it is important not to fall a victim to catfishing, and how might you prevent yourself from becoming the next victim?

## Oct 14 Tue - What is the Dark web and How is it Evolving?

Child pornography, recorded rape violence, selling of slaves, and the worst of the worst drugs are what used to come to my mind if you asked me about the dark web. And while those things may still be existent in very small quantities, the majority of the dark web consists of illegal transactions for drugs like marijuana, heroine, and cocaine. But how are these transactions being made without people easily being caught?

With the recent arrival of Bitcoin, a digital currency that is extremely hard to trace back to the user, it has become increasingly easy to engage in the purchasing of illegal substances online. With it being nearly impossible to track the usage of bitcoin back to the user, the worth of bitcoin has gone up as well. In 2011 when the creation of the Silk Road, a marketplace place commonly used on the dark web to buy and sell drugs, Bitcoin was the most commonly used form of payment. In 2013 when the Silk Road was shut down, “70,000 Bitcoin (now worth: $1.3 billion) was seized from the website” (Kozhipatt) this amounted to 80% of total bitcoin in the world being used just through the Silk Road.

While the Silk Road is frowned upon by many and the creator was given two life sentences in prison before Trump bailed him out, I find myself questioning whether I really think it was one of the worst things we have created. While it did allow for the sale of illegal drugs, it forbade any sales “whose purpose is to harm or defraud,”, and transactions became a lot more transparent, allowing buyers to leave reviews and know exactly what they are getting themselves into. While I know that buying and selling illegal drugs is wrong, I ask myself the question: If illegal transactions is going to happen regardless, why do we not allow people to go about it in a safer way?

## Oct 17 Fri - Exam Review

Multiple choice:

1. **Which of the following falls under Sturgeon's law?**
a) Relationships are both local and long distance
b)The value of network is proportional to the number of viewers
c) 90% of everything is crap
d) Happiness is "clumpy" in social networks

2. **Which of the following is not a sign of a Dark Tetrad personality?**
a) desire to hurt others
b) disregard for boundaries
c) lacking empathy in regards to ethics
d) entitled manipulation

Short Response:

3. Describe two significant associations that are often seen within the victims of catfishing scandals.
4. What combined tasks did we examine in class to prove that the human ability to multi-task is not very high.

## Answer Key

1. The correct answer is
**c) 90% of everything is crap !**

a) relationships are both local and long-distance
**This is incorrect, while we did learn about it, it falls under the category of networked individualism, not Sturgeons law**
b)The value of network is proportional to the number of viewers
**This is also incorrect because it is Sarnoffs law, which we discussed but is not the same thing**
d) Happiness is "clumpy" in social networks
**while this statement is true, it is incorrect for this question because it is not Sturgeons law. Happiness was discussed when we learned about how human attributes can be contagious when in close proximity**
2. The correct answer is
**b)disregard for boundaries!**
This is a character trait of a bad person, but was ever discussed as one of the dark tetrads

a) desire to hurt others
**This is incorrect because this is the definition of sadism which is one of the personality types of a dark tetrad**
c) lacking empathy in regards to ethics
**This is incorrect because this is the definition of psychopathy which is one of the personality types of a dark tetrad**
d) entitled manipulation
**This is incorrect because this is the definition of machiavellianism which is one of the personality types of a dark tetrad**

3. **Two of the following that would be considered correct are:**
- victims of catfishing often have a high sense of urgency and are quick to act on their impulses
- they are often very attention seeking
- - they have addictive personalities and it is hard to pull them away
- they are less kind and lack a good social network because of it
- they are more trustworthy
- they have a higher education and are perhaps over-confident because of it

4. **A correct answer for this question would be:**
- Researchers found that less that 5% of college students are able to text on the phone at the same time as driving. this goes to show that humans are not as proficient at multitasking as we claim to be.
- In class we tested our ability to count up by 1's at the same time as singing the alphabet. The majority of student struggled with this task, which goes to show that humans are not very proficient at multi-tasking.

## Oct 24 Fri - Shaped
Lady Gaga once said "You were born this way, now all you have to do is hold your head up and you’ll go far because that’s all you have to do is just love yourself and you’re set", but how easy is it to really abide by these words when there are constantly internet trolls telling you otherwise? While it is easy to put on a brave face an pretend it doesn't bother you on the internet, or in the presence of others, there's a truth behind the facade.

While digital communication allows us to talk to loved ones or stay in contact with friends that live far away, it also provides easy platforms for haters to find their victims and loose their sense of mindfulness. While "Online comment is reactive and short", the effects can often be long lasting. Personally, I have only received one hate comment on an Instagram post of mine 3 years ago. While there are way more extreme cases, I still haven't forgotten how johnstaker64 told me "that blonde hair looks brassy darling". Like stated in the chapter, statements like these make teens question "Am I ugly?" or in my case; does my hair really look that brassy?

While hate comments have an negative impact on the self-esteem of adolescence, craving validation from positive reinforcement online becomes even stronger. Checking social media to see how many people viewed your story, and who liked it has become a part of day to day life for many. And while some some may consider this a form narcissism, I believe it is just the result of social media being one of the leading forces in everyone's lifestyles. Ultimately, the overall consensus I have came to is that social media has reshaped modern self-perception, highlighting its effects on our confidence and mental health.