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People aren’t machines. Imagine yourself as a terrorist leader. The US Army is combing the area you’re hiding in and you’re just waiting for an opportunity to

People aren’t machines. Imagine yourself as a terrorist leader. The US Army is combing the area you’re hiding in and you’re just waiting for an opportunity to slip away to fight another day. The isolation and paranoia are mounting, and you’re wondering why you decided to put yourself and your compatriots through this terrifying time. News from the field: they raided one of your supply caches and captured your closest co-conspirator. What about my family? What would my father think of me right now? And then a disembodied voice gently beckons you to surrender.

azernik 9y ago
Sure, it could have an emotional effect - same as loudspeakers, only more intimate. But proposing that someone would "mistake the experience for some sort of divine intervention or a deteriorating mental condition" is a statement about a person's view of the factual reality you live in, which tends to remain intact even in stressful situations. My issue is not with the funding of this project or with its use in counterinsurgency operations; it's with journalism that paints (mostly Muslim) terrorists as superstitious primitives, when in fact they are thoroughly products of modern society.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 9y ago
  You are right. Once technology is known, people don't see magic. Nobody interprets airstrikes as fire from the gods.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. It's much more rational to think you have a deteriorating mental condition. If you believe in a personal god that communicates directly with people, that's also a viable option. That's a very common belief in the US.
  - jerkstate 9y ago
    >voices in their head are being beamed in by the government. Good point! Maybe they should also work on a lizard-person suit, or the technology to actually replace all of someone's family with robots, to help those "paranoid delusions" along.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    > Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. Of course they would, if a) it was common, factual knowledge that the government actively uses such technology, and b) if they were a target for such government. a) and b) will immediately be true for terrorists, if this tech gets deployed.
    - jryle70 9y ago
      >> Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. > Of course they would, if a) it was common, factual knowledge that the government actively uses such technology, and b) if they were a target for such government. a) and b) will immediately be true for terrorists, if this tech gets deployed. Governments use propaganda, sure, but "beaming voices into people's head", without their knowledge? I haven't heard of it, definitely not common knowledge. Do you have a source?
      - daveFNbuck 9y ago
        I believe the source is this article.
        jryle70 9y ago
        Yes. My reading comprehension failed. I read it as something that had been going on.
    - daveFNbuck 9y ago
      The original complaint was about Muslims being depicted as superstitious primitives. Your current complaint is about Muslims being depicted as typical members of modern society rather than typical members of a future in which this type of weapon is common knowledge. I think that even in such a future, mental deterioration and religious experience would remain viable potential explanations for hearing voices in your head. Even if you were 90% sure that it was the US government, that 10% chance that you're losing your mind or getting instructions from God is powerful. You'd probably also be psychologically motivated to come up with an explanation that doesn't involve a large well-funded group of trained killers who are out to get you knowing exactly where you are and having their weapons trained on you.
- bfuller 9y ago
  >a person's view of the factual reality you live in, which tends to remain intact even in stressful situations. if youre forced to stay awake for a week straight your view of reality will entirely dissolve.
  - azernik 9y ago
    For which loudspeakers will do just fine, if you know where someone is with enough precision to pull this off.
    - jryle70 9y ago
      But something more immersive, more discreet like this, works even better
    - bfuller 9y ago
      The laser allows you to achieve that to no detriment towards your own soldiers
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
virgilp 9y ago
This reminded me of Grubber's review of the "digital touch" feature of Apple watch. It's probably similarly accurate :D https://daringfireball.net/2015/04/the_apple_watch https://daringfireball.net/2015/04/the_apple_watch
njharman 9y ago
> a disembodied voice gently beckons you to surrender And then I'll remember this article and dismiss it / Get even more entrenched in my conviction that my "do anything to win" enemy must be destroyed.

azernik 9y ago

Sure, it could have an emotional effect - same as loudspeakers, only more intimate. But proposing that someone would "mistake the experience for some sort of divine intervention or a deteriorating mental condition" is a statement about a person's view of the factual reality you live in, which tends to remain intact even in stressful situations. My issue is not with the funding of this project or with its use in counterinsurgency operations; it's with journalism that paints (mostly Muslim) terrorists as superstitious primitives, when in fact they are thoroughly products of modern society.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 9y ago
You are right. Once technology is known, people don't see magic. Nobody interprets airstrikes as fire from the gods.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
daveFNbuck 9y ago
Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. It's much more rational to think you have a deteriorating mental condition. If you believe in a personal god that communicates directly with people, that's also a viable option. That's a very common belief in the US.
- jerkstate 9y ago
  >voices in their head are being beamed in by the government. Good point! Maybe they should also work on a lizard-person suit, or the technology to actually replace all of someone's family with robots, to help those "paranoid delusions" along.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  > Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. Of course they would, if a) it was common, factual knowledge that the government actively uses such technology, and b) if they were a target for such government. a) and b) will immediately be true for terrorists, if this tech gets deployed.
  - jryle70 9y ago
    >> Typical members of modern society wouldn't assume that voices in their heads are being beamed in by the government. > Of course they would, if a) it was common, factual knowledge that the government actively uses such technology, and b) if they were a target for such government. a) and b) will immediately be true for terrorists, if this tech gets deployed. Governments use propaganda, sure, but "beaming voices into people's head", without their knowledge? I haven't heard of it, definitely not common knowledge. Do you have a source?
    - daveFNbuck 9y ago
      I believe the source is this article.
      - jryle70 9y ago
        Yes. My reading comprehension failed. I read it as something that had been going on.
  - daveFNbuck 9y ago
    The original complaint was about Muslims being depicted as superstitious primitives. Your current complaint is about Muslims being depicted as typical members of modern society rather than typical members of a future in which this type of weapon is common knowledge. I think that even in such a future, mental deterioration and religious experience would remain viable potential explanations for hearing voices in your head. Even if you were 90% sure that it was the US government, that 10% chance that you're losing your mind or getting instructions from God is powerful. You'd probably also be psychologically motivated to come up with an explanation that doesn't involve a large well-funded group of trained killers who are out to get you knowing exactly where you are and having their weapons trained on you.
bfuller 9y ago
>a person's view of the factual reality you live in, which tends to remain intact even in stressful situations. if youre forced to stay awake for a week straight your view of reality will entirely dissolve.
- azernik 9y ago
  For which loudspeakers will do just fine, if you know where someone is with enough precision to pull this off.
  - jryle70 9y ago
    But something more immersive, more discreet like this, works even better
  - bfuller 9y ago
    The laser allows you to achieve that to no detriment towards your own soldiers
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

virgilp 9y ago

This reminded me of Grubber's review of the "digital touch" feature of Apple watch. It's probably similarly accurate :D https://daringfireball.net/2015/04/the_apple_watch https://daringfireball.net/2015/04/the_apple_watch

njharman 9y ago

> a disembodied voice gently beckons you to surrender And then I'll remember this article and dismiss it / Get even more entrenched in my conviction that my "do anything to win" enemy must be destroyed.