Information Awareness

What were they thinking? As if the conspiracy crowd didn't have enough to keep themselves occupied. Notice the focus. However, you won't find this on the IAO website anymore. In fact, you won't find the IAO anymore. It was headed by John Pointdexter. The IAO was in the news for using a scheme to develop a futures market to predict terrorist attacks. The magical marketplace knows all. (Economists are not the brightest people on Earth, but that's for another time.) When word spread, Pointdexter lost his job. The whole affair was another example of mediocrity in action. The public reaction was entirely predictable. How could someone not know how absurd the whole affair would sound. The people who enact such schemes are not competent enough to be fascist. Incompetence can be a blessing. The top is rotten. Anyone who reaches the highest leadership levels in Washington is generally an idiot. A Caltech PhD confers specialized authority. It does not extend elsewhere. Their beliefs are maintained by presentation. In short, in my experience, most over-educated types are dolts. Everyone has something to overcome; these people are not even aware of it. It never occurs to them that information can be manipulated to Maximum Advantage in all things.

A case in point is the Fatherland Security color code alerts. Millions of dollars are wasted in response to vague threats and "chatter." So by simply talking more, a movement like Al Qaida, can cause its enemies resources to be wasted and produce systemic strain. The government becomes discredited. But what choice do they have? If they fail to act, and something does occur, they will be held to blame. A system with few options is by definition mediocre. In addition, the hysteria might reach levels beyond control. I believe the few days following September 11, 2001 were problematic in this manner. The power structure does not desire too much agitation. Instability might soon follow. Generally, this system remains basically stable. It parts are different than its whole and is largely beyond direct human control. However, at certain times, the human factor can prove deciding and disastrous. The Iraq War is example of bad decisions eroding the whole. In part, poor information can be to blame. No matter one's beliefs, some information can only be gathered on the ground; sometimes at a price. More than an algorithm is required for this type of war.

On another note, the goal of the IAO was to gather all electronic information for the purpose of threat identification. You can bet that the technology developed at the IAO was not abandoned along with John Pointdexter.

Other DARPA programs can be found here.