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The constant fetishization of endless mindless entertainment and the relentless persuit of these unbeleivably vapid technology directions seems to insinuate an

The constant fetishization of endless mindless entertainment and the relentless persuit of these unbeleivably vapid technology directions seems to insinuate an almost utter contempt for people’s intelligence and any sense of a better future. It seems like every kind of company in leadership position cannot help but constantly invest in the most deeply pessimistic future visions of humanity consisting of nonsensical but very low cost babbling celebrity talking heads. What happened to Asmovian visions of the future, or Roddenbury inspired visions of cooperative societies? Meta is one of the worst offenders in this sense. Their products invoke the fat, clueless floating people who have outsourced all of their responsibilities to an incompetent crew and merciless AI on a ship, constantly entertained as they float through an endless consumptive universe just like the movie WALLe. Like it seems like they watched that movie and said, “welp i guess we found our corporate direction.” It’s gross and I really am starting to despise the pathetic visions of these deeply controlled and pessimistic corporate visions of the future. I didn’t build a career in technology so we could build a bunch of worthless crap that makes society worse. What is this shit?

varelse 3y ago
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drcongo 3y ago
Never underestimate how idiotic and vapid the general public are. After all, human influencers already exist.
- babymode 3y ago
  however fundamental this might seem, consider how the technologies that structure our society are actively producing certain kinds of people. Nobody comes into this world seeking out low effort parasocial relationships to overdetermine their personalities. there’s something oppressive about suburban life and full time work that, for heaps of people, makes that feel like the best way to spend your downtime
pphysch 3y ago
> What happened to Asmovian visions of the future, or Roddenbury inspired visions of cooperative societies? The global elite decided in the 90s that History had ended, and the Liberal Democracies of the West won through the domination of their perfect ideology. The eternal status quo had been reached. "Having a vision" means "rocking the boat", which is forbidden in a time of certain prosperity (for the elite, at least).
- dbish 3y ago
  Anyone can have a vision, talk to people around the world in an instant, and find others who might align or be inspired by what you're doing. We live in a world where you can create a website, ship a product, post to a public forum whatever you'd like (short of some illegal things and even those there are places for better or worse to do so). There are no elites shutting you down, there is a wealth of technology that has made it easier every day for someone with no initial power to get influence.
  - pphysch 3y ago
    I'm not talking about startup ideas, I'm talking about radical visions for political and cultural reform. Those are toxic in a society that strongly believes it is already on the right track.
    - dbish 3y ago
      You can post and talk about whatever you’d like and see if others agree. Others disagreeing doesn’t mean society is toxic imho
      - pphysch 3y ago
        Exactly, this thread more or less proves my point.
- mistrial9 3y ago
  in the old days, people were anthropomorphizing the forces of nature into persons doing battle; today "the elite decided" takes the place for incomplete thinking catch-all.. No - it is economic and legal systems that are competitive, shifting and unpredictable.. in other words, games run by game rules.. when one CEO won't do something, another takes their place, despite the personalities or ideas.. e.g. Shell Oil CEO in the early 2000s saying "we are diversifying our business to other energy sources" .. four years later, different CEO. The treadmill of mediocre entertainment-oriented Grand Corporate Product Challenge is some combination of "wealthy visionaries are on vacation due to wealth" and "grifter consultants have quick ways to make a buck and are always availble" .. while "stock price uber alles" it is undefensible in 2023 to say "the elite decided this" in any meaningful way unless the definition of "the elite" is expanded to a ridiculous degree, and even then .. no, they dont agree.. they bicker and push each other off the telephone post like seagulls do..
dbish 3y ago
Grand new futures have to take baby steps and actually be used along the way to get to something incredible. I don't think it's right to completely write off things like this since they are testing and proving grounds. For example, in this case a virtual influence, however vapid that might seem, can prove out more of the "digital cloning" type tech that will allow for you and your likeness to talk to your quadruple great grandkids and leave some of your essence behind, or have an AI that is far more realistic then anything today that someone interacts with daily for any number of things (which Asimov has in many stories). It isn't a black and white "this is good" or "this is bad" use of tech.
- nateskulic 3y ago
  > leave some of your essence behind Sounds egotistical. > have an AI that is far more realistic then anything today that someone interacts with daily for any number of things How is this good?
  - dbish 3y ago
    I don't think it's egotistical, I would love to ask some questions to my great great grandparents, learn more about our family, what things were like for them back then, and more. I assume (and hope) my descendants would be interested in the same one day. Re: more realistic AI, I don't know if "good" is the word, fun, easier to chat with? I'd love to have a smarter Alexa-like assistant who I can pop up on a screen or jump into where I am and have a chat with, have her pull up information for me, feel like she's really there working with me or helping out around the house. People love the human side of AIs so it's not just a cold interaction, it was always common for people to say "thank you" to alexa and write in saying they thought it was really nice when she would respond for example. I know I personally like that too. Even for video games it would be awesome to have very realistic NPCs you can interact with, keep embodied in the game.
- jazzyjackson 3y ago
  > "digital cloning" type tech that will allow for you and your likeness to talk to your quadruple great grandkids and leave some of your essence behind yeah i'm with the luddites on this one, let the dead rest. talking to a simulation of your ancestors for $19.99/month after 30 free trial, get out of town. A version of this I enjoyed? Visiting the living museum at plymouth, massachusets. A friend of mine got to meet and have her photo taken with an actor portraying her 7x-great-grandfather that came over on the mayflower. It was sweet for him to stay in character while they chatted about their different lives. It was an interaction between humans. All that facebook wants to do for its mission of connecting the world is take up marketshare of time we could be using to interact with each other, and interact with their softwate instead. its gross.
Yahivin 3y ago
> No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

varelse 3y ago

[dead]

drcongo 3y ago

Never underestimate how idiotic and vapid the general public are. After all, human influencers already exist.

babymode 3y ago
however fundamental this might seem, consider how the technologies that structure our society are actively producing certain kinds of people. Nobody comes into this world seeking out low effort parasocial relationships to overdetermine their personalities. there’s something oppressive about suburban life and full time work that, for heaps of people, makes that feel like the best way to spend your downtime

pphysch 3y ago

> What happened to Asmovian visions of the future, or Roddenbury inspired visions of cooperative societies? The global elite decided in the 90s that History had ended, and the Liberal Democracies of the West won through the domination of their perfect ideology. The eternal status quo had been reached. "Having a vision" means "rocking the boat", which is forbidden in a time of certain prosperity (for the elite, at least).

dbish 3y ago
Anyone can have a vision, talk to people around the world in an instant, and find others who might align or be inspired by what you're doing. We live in a world where you can create a website, ship a product, post to a public forum whatever you'd like (short of some illegal things and even those there are places for better or worse to do so). There are no elites shutting you down, there is a wealth of technology that has made it easier every day for someone with no initial power to get influence.
- pphysch 3y ago
  I'm not talking about startup ideas, I'm talking about radical visions for political and cultural reform. Those are toxic in a society that strongly believes it is already on the right track.
  - dbish 3y ago
    You can post and talk about whatever you’d like and see if others agree. Others disagreeing doesn’t mean society is toxic imho
    - pphysch 3y ago
      Exactly, this thread more or less proves my point.
mistrial9 3y ago
in the old days, people were anthropomorphizing the forces of nature into persons doing battle; today "the elite decided" takes the place for incomplete thinking catch-all.. No - it is economic and legal systems that are competitive, shifting and unpredictable.. in other words, games run by game rules.. when one CEO won't do something, another takes their place, despite the personalities or ideas.. e.g. Shell Oil CEO in the early 2000s saying "we are diversifying our business to other energy sources" .. four years later, different CEO. The treadmill of mediocre entertainment-oriented Grand Corporate Product Challenge is some combination of "wealthy visionaries are on vacation due to wealth" and "grifter consultants have quick ways to make a buck and are always availble" .. while "stock price uber alles" it is undefensible in 2023 to say "the elite decided this" in any meaningful way unless the definition of "the elite" is expanded to a ridiculous degree, and even then .. no, they dont agree.. they bicker and push each other off the telephone post like seagulls do..

dbish 3y ago

Grand new futures have to take baby steps and actually be used along the way to get to something incredible. I don't think it's right to completely write off things like this since they are testing and proving grounds. For example, in this case a virtual influence, however vapid that might seem, can prove out more of the "digital cloning" type tech that will allow for you and your likeness to talk to your quadruple great grandkids and leave some of your essence behind, or have an AI that is far more realistic then anything today that someone interacts with daily for any number of things (which Asimov has in many stories). It isn't a black and white "this is good" or "this is bad" use of tech.

nateskulic 3y ago
> leave some of your essence behind Sounds egotistical. > have an AI that is far more realistic then anything today that someone interacts with daily for any number of things How is this good?
- dbish 3y ago
  I don't think it's egotistical, I would love to ask some questions to my great great grandparents, learn more about our family, what things were like for them back then, and more. I assume (and hope) my descendants would be interested in the same one day. Re: more realistic AI, I don't know if "good" is the word, fun, easier to chat with? I'd love to have a smarter Alexa-like assistant who I can pop up on a screen or jump into where I am and have a chat with, have her pull up information for me, feel like she's really there working with me or helping out around the house. People love the human side of AIs so it's not just a cold interaction, it was always common for people to say "thank you" to alexa and write in saying they thought it was really nice when she would respond for example. I know I personally like that too. Even for video games it would be awesome to have very realistic NPCs you can interact with, keep embodied in the game.
jazzyjackson 3y ago
> "digital cloning" type tech that will allow for you and your likeness to talk to your quadruple great grandkids and leave some of your essence behind yeah i'm with the luddites on this one, let the dead rest. talking to a simulation of your ancestors for $19.99/month after 30 free trial, get out of town. A version of this I enjoyed? Visiting the living museum at plymouth, massachusets. A friend of mine got to meet and have her photo taken with an actor portraying her 7x-great-grandfather that came over on the mayflower. It was sweet for him to stay in character while they chatted about their different lives. It was an interaction between humans. All that facebook wants to do for its mission of connecting the world is take up marketshare of time we could be using to interact with each other, and interact with their softwate instead. its gross.

Yahivin 3y ago

> No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.