> Or maybe something like being able to read thoughts at a distance or even influence them. We have that, it just doesn't work quite the way you think. One of

> Or maybe something like being able to read thoughts at a distance or even influence them. We have that, it just doesn't work quite the way you think. One of its many manifestations is called "Twitter". This isn't a joke. Consider the conventional notion of a mind control device, a magical mind-laser that can target one person at a time from a distance and modify their thoughts or even beliefs. Compare to what a motivated billionaire could accomplish, today, using paid botnets and content farms. Today's version is wildly more influential, can not only change beliefs but also inoculate the targets against future influences in the other direction(s), and operates at a mass scale. It is so successful and effective that it doesn't even need to be kept secret like the usual scifi version. The only thing exaggerated in my description is that it doesn't require the resources of a billionaire. You can operate it for far less. We need an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's "sufficiently advanced technology" quote.