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Blows my mind that “my eyes hurt” is something that people would type into Google.

Perhaps I am using it wrong




I use Google like this unfortunately, I just search random things that come to mind if I want to know more.

Example: I see a squirrel nibbling at a pinecone or something. My brain literally thinks to search "squirrel diet pinecone" or "what do squirrels eat pinecone" and if I have my phone on me I search that. Otherwise I just search it when I get home.

I did an experiment where I ditched my smartphone for a year and this thought pattern went away. When I picked up the smartphone again the thought pattern came back.


Your search terms make sense to me though. Whereas “my eyes hurt” seems like a crazy search term to me. I would ask something like “eye pain causes” rather than just tell Google my eyes hurt haha


Yep. /s

But honestly a % of people will instinctively and stochastically Google anything that happens to them. It's readily apparent that using AI to identify potential bioterror attacks and pandemics by looking at both medical product and prescription purchase data in aggregate, and combining it with Google searches like how Google Flu Trends worked would be an excellent public service. This is similar to how BioSTORM worked. [0]

0. https://biostorm.stanford.edu




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