5 ms·
This is a hilariously naive take. We, as humans, are well beyond being mentally ready for the internet and social media alone. Most of the key communication of
by agloe_dreams 3y ago
This is a hilariously naive take.
We, as humans, are well beyond being mentally ready for the internet and social media alone. Most of the key communication of the 20th Century was based on a tradition of duty and service in reporting and, generally, leadership. The Natzis of the 40s died not because the idea was 'wrong' (which it was) but because bad leadership and greed caused extinction. Before Poland, Europe was plenty happy letting Hitler be. Why was Hitler successful? Because he told people what they wanted to hear. You are better. We are better. We deserve more. It's their fault we are like this.
Self bias is the critical failure of the human mind. Tell someone that they deserve more and that they are better than others and they will believe you.
In a world where politicians and companies (same thing really) can use AI to collect your online persona and then fill your day with advertising designed just for you, telling you that you are right and it is 'them' who are wrong will work on nearly everyone. It already does. People watch news channels and follow influencers that make their feeds echo chambers, it drives extremism. How does a society tell you that you are wrong, that the other person is right?
Humanity and humankind made Hitler. Humanity and human kind will make tools that succeed at their goals to make others do what they want. We are already in freefall, this is a rocket booster on our back.
- goatlover 3y agoHow is that any different form the past several thousand years of civilization? Hitler wasn't the first or only genocidal dictator. He wasn't alone in the 20th century either. Colonization and the slave trade were worse, albeit spread over several centuries. But empires waging war, conquering, enslaving, eradicating other groups and manipulating citizens has been going on for a long, long time. Plato wrote to counter the sophists and skeptics of his day. The gospels have Pilate asking Jesus a philosophical question, "What is truth?" This is hardly new, just the technology is better.
- forgetfreeman 3y agoHow is it any different? Are you serious? For the overwhelming majority of our time on this planet communications were limited to word of mouth over geographically limited areas. Now it is trivial for any form of bullshit to spread worldwide in minutes. The stakes have changed.
- carlosjobim 3y agoThis change came already with the invention of radio. We have a century of radio and TV propaganda of the absolutely vilest kind behind us already. At least now there is an exchange with the instant communications, not only one-way.
- synetic 3y agoIt did not already come as you say. We are in a new era. It is now very easy to target specific people over a wide geographic region and to do so cheaply. It is easy for bad actors to hone in on those susceptible to the false beliefs they peddle. Hence the rise of morons who won’t vaccinate their children. I’ve read that around 50 percent of the posts online are bot driven. Soon that percentage will be a lot bigger. This is an era of easy, cheap, targeted messaging. It’s an era where we will mostly exist in information bubbles whose messages cater to what we are most susceptible to being influenced by.
- carlosjobim 3y agoBroadcast radio has been a cheap way to target everyone over a wide geographic region. With catastrophic consequences seen in the massive wars in all continents that were fueled by radio propaganda. I much prefer living with today's polarization and people disagreeing on minor things like those you mentioned, than in the age of one-way broadcasts where there is no arguing and no other perspective at all.
- forgetfreeman 3y agoDo you really? Because at least in the US we are approaching an inflection point where a third of the country decides to kill a different third while the middle third starves to death or dies of disease. I question the notion that adding pundits, industry shills, and random-ass suburbanite influencers to the conversation balances that equation.
- legendofbrando 3y agoAll of these arguments center on how different now is from “past” versions of transformative technologies and ignore that to past versions of people a radio show that you could tune into that was broadcast nationally likely felt as transformative as a network that connects the globe. You can’t measure the difference in progress from a modern vantage point. Once upon a time large numbers of people thought we were actively being invaded by aliens because of a radio broadcast that wasn’t even deliberate manipulation. Nevertheless, we made it through. Everything is relative.
- Nasrudith 3y agoWhen have we ever been ready ahead of time for changes? How the actual hell would that even br worked towards? Readiness seems more an invocation of Xeno's Paradox engineered to halt progress.