It is common practice in the working world to choose language that softens or obscures the impact of our behavior. We talk about managing “externalities” instead of talking plainly about “the harm our manufacturing practices cause to the people who work in our factories and to the environment.” “Gamification to enhance the user experience” is easier to swallow than “we found a way to get people addicted to our product to boost our results.” Human beings become “data points,” and “data mining” is a more palpable way of saying that we are tracking people’s every click, trip and personal habit.
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