In a world increasingly dominated by digital tools, artist Simon Weckert's 2020 Google Maps hack offers a striking reflection on our technological reliance, Armed with 99 smartphones, Weckert walked the streets of Berlin, creating an artificial traffic jam on Google Maps. This seemingly simple act reveals profound insights about our modern lives. By exploiting the algorithms that power Google Maps, Weckert demonstrated how easily our perception of reality can be manipulated. This experiment, while humorous, underscores a critical point: our over-reliance on technology can lead us to accept digital interpretations of the world without question. Moreover, Weckert's project highlights the ethical implications of digital technology. It challenges tech companies to consider the societal impact of their innovations and the potential for misuse.
Okay, but this isn't new. Anyone living in a society more complex than a hunter-gatherer band is having their view of the world shaped in part by the testimony of intermediaries.
