
The Internet's loop of action and reaction is worsening - anigbrowl
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/technology/shut-down-internet-donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html?ribbon-ad-idx=36&rref=business&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&pgtype=article
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leoedin
In engineering systems can often be characterised as having feedback - that
is, the output feeds somehow back to the input. Active suspension, robotic
navigation and amplifiers are all examples of this.

The problem is that these types of systems can become unstable. A classic
example is a microphone too near a speaker. The output over-influences the
input, resulting in larger output, resulting in a correspondingly amplified
input... etc. Quite quickly everything has fallen to bits.

What if the internet is simply providing too much feedback for our system of
governance to handle?

Interesting thought. I suspect only time will tell what happens.

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Retra
You're talking about positive feedback. Negative feedback is also a thing, and
it doesn't lead to instability.

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commentzorro
Yellow journalism (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism)
) has been around for a long time. Its rise on the internet should probably
have been expected. I don't know how it will be resolved, but until the money
doesn't flow to the "first and most" eyeballs I suspect we'll have to put up
with it.

