Well, crap.

I just had the very brilliant idea of doing a Google search for the word "read" and then giving a critical analysis of whatever search options came up first.  Well, out of curiosity I made the mistake of clicking on the search term "Reading Eggs," which led me to a page selling a reading program for small children.  Interesting enough, but the problem is that now whenever I type the word "read" into my search bar, the options that come up are: "Reading eggs," "Reading eggs app," "Reading eggs school code," "Reading eggs review"... (etc.). 

What if I am interested in more than just reading eggs?  What if I want to expand my horizons by hearing from perspectives other than my own ("my own perspective" being represented by my previous search history)?  What if the things Google shows me have more to do with incidental choices like my choice to click on "reading eggs" than with anything actually connected to my identity, personality, or learning interests?
We've spent some class time talking about how our commodity-based culture jumps on our buying (or search-bar) habits.  This system, especially way Google and other technologies respond to our preferences, leads users in the direction they are already going; it shows them more and more of what they like, leading them deeper and deeper into that world and isolating them from other potential choices. 

What interests me here is the fact that the direction Google is leading me is so... random.  In my initial search, I could just as easily have clicked on "reading lists" or some other search option, but now those options are no longer available to me; I would not even know they existed.  In this system of tailoring consumer options to their previous preferences, there seems to be a whole lot of chance at play.  Who we become as consumers (that is, who our technologies push us to become) may depend more on chance than on any original direction we ever chose for ourselves.