Google, don’t be Evil. Please.
The internet era created arguably the greatest access to information and ideas that humanity has ever experienced.
However, this ability to share information, tinker, and experiment, has loosened the hold that governments, corporations, and academia have on the populace at large.
Recently, this freedom has become a precarious thing…
The Information Monopolies (such as Google and Facebook) have begun to curate and or suppress access to information on a variety of topics.
Although there is much debate as to the morality of these actions (they ARE private companies) one might wonder if, although these behemoths CAN do something, should they actually do it?
What is the motivation for Google making it remarkably difficult to find information on low carb, ketogenic, and similar diets?
Some may merely shrug and dismiss the whole mess, but a recent Harvard study looked at a low carbohydrate diet in type 1 diabetic children…this is a highly controversial topic, and in general the medical establishment views low carb diets as “dangerous and ill advised” for diabetics.
Yet the results of the study were remarkable…
The journal said that NO protocol of diet OR drugs had EVER produced the results obtained in this well-conducted, low carbohydrate diet study.
The discussion and basic information which underpinned this study is now verboten within the Google search algorithms which turn to outlets such as WebMD as seemingly the sole arbiters of truth.
It’s worth mentioning that this study was so impressive that it appears to have changed the culture within the governing bodies responsible for making public health recommendations related to diabetes.
The “establishment” may soon adopt guidelines much more aligned with the protocols detailed in the study…but the study occurred due to the vocal activity of online entities which educated and supported tens of thousands of families dealing with type 1 diabetes.
This same information is now actively suppressed by entities such as Google and Facebook.
This process, if left unchecked, will create an intellectual bottleneck which could effectively halt innovation which could occur if we meld network effects and basic science.
Does this make you angry? Scare the living daylights out of you?
Same…
Join us in the healthy rebellion
I searched google with the title of the study and it did list the link you provided 2nd, what’s the issue exactly?
I agree; Google has by far and away too much power, and it’s just too tempting to use that power for the agenda of its choosing, and I’m sure it’s more than just low carb info that gets suppressed. They own YouTube, for crying out loud. You can’t create an account without a gmail address. I switched to duckduckgo.com for searches a long time ago, and just recently switched to fastmail.com for email. And I refuse to use Facebook. BTW, loved your book Wired to Eat.
I switched to duckduckgo.com in 2016 as it’s a search engine which claims not to track you. Currently I believe them.
The UK NHS put a (thin) diabetic friend of mine on a LC diet 9 months ago and his doctors seem to know what they’re doing. He’s still on metformin but is almost non-diabetic.
Malcolm Kendrick in the UK, also an NHS doctor has referred to this creeping censorship on his blog. Wikipedia is up to it too, he says.
I second “James Bond’s” question. Perhaps Google fixed the issue? (Well, with this specific example at least…)
So sorry you experience that.
I don’t know the details of your case, and I’m trying to see your point here, but I honestly can’t agree with you on this one. I value your work, I recommend your books and podcast to people all the time.
I do know insides of the way google search works, and as a consumer, I’ve never had experience when the information(for keto and primal health benefits) was ever pushed down or suppressed. I’ve never had issues with getting your blogs and podcasts pop up in the search(even when names were not mentioned). In some cases search results might be skewed a bit from pay-per-click ads.
Also just did a search for “low carb diet for type 1 diabetic child” not even mentioning the name of the study you quoted. The results come up in the second link, smack in the center of search results page, hard to miss or say the results are being suppressed.
Though I strongly agree with you that we have to stay vigilant, and make sure that no private company controls access to knowledge.
Good luck and I hope you find the solution.