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Dhammadharo's avatar

“…to be understood by a machine is to be profoundly misunderstood. These things do not love you, cannot love you; they digest your language like so much protein slurry and return it reheated, sprinkled with validation.”

I found this line particularly compelling. Thanks for this Michael.

It’s human to want to feel heard, cared for, understood, but like this? When we encounter someone in need of those things we should practice cultivating and extending them, not giving them a lifeless device. This trend looks like a two-way deprivation: one side is deprived the dignity of genuine human attention and interaction. The other is deprived the opportunity to develop the compassion and sometimes the courage it takes to inquire into the well being of another person.

And to experience not being understood sometimes is not necessarily bad; it’s learning how to deal with that side of life; making our case stronger before it is accepted or validated. Or sometimes just accepting that not everyone is able to support or understand us and being ok with that.

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Greg Lookerse's avatar

Don't forget Wall-E. One day, the folks who embrace the machine, will see Wall-e as the satan who made Adam and Eve fall from the Eden of VR Matrix stim chairs in the heavens.

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David A. Caruso's avatar

Great article documenting the march to dystopia. As is the case with such evils, for psychologically vulnerable people (e.g. youth) it's easy to engage, and hard to disengage. Everything being implemented serves to weaken the mind, at scale, more and more. The result will be slavery. Perhaps that is the true (if unconscious) goal here.

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Patrick Webb's avatar

"Ezra Klein, always the eager docent of the technocratic funhouse". What a quote!

Meanwhile the generators and purveyors of this brain rot are beyond giddy with how far they can push this. Psychopathy doesn't begin to describe this behaviour. Part engineer, part mad

scientist, part prepubescent boy burning ants with a magnifying glass to hear the "pops"...

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Gayle Frances Larkin's avatar

How apt, and how beautifully written is your article! Thank you for your exemplary dissection of the dangers of the illusory world these internet owners of Meta and the like are trying to lead us into just for their own monetary gain. Of course, they do not concern themselves with any dangers or tragedies they may be causing.

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