The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[Anteater]

I'm pals with a guy who developed an AI chatbot that basically swings elections. He's had some interesting success with it some different districts throughout the northeast. I'm lulzing at the thought of Beto getting crushed by this stuff, because it is pretty awesome.

[OccultHawk]

So... anarchist fascism?

From me yes. Not Wilson. He’s not into looking stupid.

When he describes how and why ants and wasps do what they do in the language of evolutionary biology and then starts explaining human social structures in similar terms to me that **** was really ****ing disturbing.

It’s odd because he sees it as hopeful but I think for most people, myself included, being stripped down to pure biology is ****ing horrifying.

You may think you’re ready for it or you’ve come to terms with it already but damn - it’s like Kafka - but real lol

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Anteater

I'm pals with a guy who developed an AI chatbot that basically swings elections. He's had some interesting success with it some different districts throughout the northeast. I'm lulzing at the thought of Beto getting crushed by this stuff, because it is pretty awesome.

You big on keeping Cruz on?

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by elphenor

Populism is neither inherently positive or negative

There’s a definite negative connotation presently

You can argue the word is being used improperly but that’s about it

[OccultHawk]

Yes yes yes

Ffs I know

Still has a negative goddamn connotation that basically boils down to the new style fascism that Bat was talking about

I don’t need the goddamn word defined

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

From me yes. Not Wilson. He’s not into looking stupid.

When he describes how and why ants and wasps do what they do in the language of evolutionary biology and then starts explaining human social structures in similar terms to me that **** was really ****ing disturbing.

It’s odd because he sees it as hopeful but I think for most people, myself included, being stripped down to pure biology is ****ing horrifying.

You may think you’re ready for it or you’ve come to terms with it already but damn - it’s like Kafka - but real lol

Maybe I need it tbh. I want to believe in my fellow man who I know at work. I know they're politically illiterate, I know that given the chance they could be motivated against fascism, but I also know that it's a toss up and they could be motivated to fascism without any decision of their own depending on how politics becomes coded for them. They're simply political play doh whose current beliefs are shallow and based on historical precedent that is prone to change.

I can probably be motivated likewise without my even realizing it.

Originally Posted by elphenor

Populism is neither inherently positive or negative

Nah it's negative. People are inherently prone to siding with their own provincial interests. The vast majority don't and never will give a **** about any greater political ideology without their culture telling them to. The only way to save them is to mold them in a way that just so happens to not exploit them. And they'll always listen to the person who tells them not to trust the person who says things that are alien to them.

[Anteater]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

You big on keeping Cruz on?

Nah, I just think the Repubs are ahead of the game in regards to social media stuff. These AI bots are gonna be game changers for the 3rd party candidates (since a single bot can take the place of five or more staff members for certain functions) but right now its the Repubs that are jumping in feet-first. And I don't like Beto because he's Irish but wants to come off as Latino or some variation of it. At least 'ol Zodiac has some Cuban blood somewhere in there.

Originally Posted by elphenor

Have to trigger the libs!

Pay attention to me!

That's pretty rich coming from you.

[Frownland]

Anteater: the right knows how to meme, breh
Ted Cruz: *does bad Simpsons impresonations*

[OccultHawk]

I want to believe in my fellow man who I know at work

Wilson doesn’t say this. He would vehemently deny his work would lead anyone who understands it to this conclusion.

However, when it’s stripped down to biology which means it’s stripped down to genetics, your co-workers are genetic garbage that would need to be phased out to create a livable world with human descendants. These descendants would have to be of the sort that are genetically predisposed to be on Tribe Universe instead Tribe Self and therefore would not be Homo sapiens. In fact, they would probably be something that we would find repulsive. It might mean spreading out into the galaxy or it might mean losing interest in exploration and digging into the earth like ants instead. Once you come to accept that free will is an illusion... the thing is our DNA doesn’t care if our descendants live as bacteria or computerized space ghosts or not at all. It doesn’t think at all.

[Paedantic Basterd]

Originally Posted by Chula Vista

The GOP led Senate will vote him in unless something big comes out of the FBI stuff. They NEED him on the court badly if they hope to retain control of both the House and Senate in November. They want all of the GOP folks running to be able to campaign on a stacked Conservative Supreme Court - something the GOP has wanted badly for decades. Why?

- Roe v Wade might get repealed.
- Teaching creationism might be allowed back into schools.
- Campaign finance reform won't stand a chance in hell.
- Same goes for any further gun legislation.
- A woman's right to her own body will suffer.
- Consenting adult's rights to privacy within their own homes will suffer.
- Executive privilege will be expanded. Trump pardons Trump might just happen!

The big one is R v W though. Red meat conservatives have been aiming at this ever since abortions became legal.

Okay, but they don't need Kavanaugh, specifically, for those purposes. Any conservative nominee will do the trick, and they've got a long list of 25 equally-qualified candidates.

For some reason, they really, really want it to be Kavanaugh in particular. Whether that's because they can essentially blackmail him after or because they want to tell progressive thinkers that it's hopeless to even hope for justice is unclear.