Topics

1

Aneristic Illusions / Its time travel, or not

« on: August 13, 2019, 06:14:18 pm »

Dammnit, 4chan get all the best scoops

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/fdny-investigating-jeffrey-epstein-4chan-post

2

Aneristic Illusions / My two Pence worth Redux

« on: February 28, 2018, 08:58:14 pm »

Quote from Mike Pence Tue Feb 27 2018

"I know in my heart of hearts this will be the generation that restores life in America. If all of us do all we can, we can. once again, in our time, restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law."

He should have been saying this about the urgent need to address the gun epidemic afflicting America; of course, sadly, he was actually talking about abortion.

America my dear, you are so fucked.

3

Apple Talk / A Treatise on "Isms"

« on: December 13, 2017, 09:45:07 pm »

As "Isms" have historically proved to be somewhat controversial subject on the board I thought some of you might get a buzz out of this presentation

https://www.wired.com/2006/12/the_12_isms_of_/

4

Aneristic Illusions / Stanislav Petrov the end of Days

« on: September 18, 2017, 08:30:32 pm »

I wasn't sure where to put this, but it kind of feels kind of discordio-political. Please move if inappropriate

RIP Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov. Thanks for Saving The World.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/18/1699419/-RIP-Lt-Col--Thanks-for-Saving-The-World

5

Techmology and Scientism / Milgram Redux

« on: May 11, 2017, 10:27:47 am »

Long ago and far away, when Americans [and Brits] had a better claim to being heroes than seems to be the case today we all knew who the bad guys were; the Germans. They were apparently uniquely and spectacularly evil. They were so evil that their evil was "banal", just another accounting tool in an empire of evil that superceded any previous evil empire in born in the bone depravity. Then our old friend Stanley Milgram steps up. He can't bring himself to believe that there is something wrong with all of the German people, he believes that the motivating force for the grotesque behaviour of ordinary Germans faced with unthinkable orders and decisions is situational. To test his hypothesis he put ordinary Americans in equivalent laboratory situations and lo and behold

"Milgram recorded how far his participants were willing to go when told to deliver larger and larger shocks. In one version of the study, 26 out of 40 participants continued to the highest shock level – two steps beyond the button labelled “Danger: severe shock”.

But this was 50 years ago – surely the same wouldn’t happen if the experiment were conducted today?"

New Milgram replication in Poland finds 90 per cent of participants willing to deliver highest shock

It goes without saying that a straight replication of Milgram is not possible. Well actually it is but you would never be able to publish your results and the litigation would be crippling. The present research has developed interesting and apparently quite robust strategies to compensate for the restrictions which modern ethical standard impose to get as close to the original experiments as possible. Even allowing that they did not stress their subjects as highly as Milgram did his there seems to be a disturbing tendency towards more "obedience to authority" [as Milgram called it] in the 2017 version than just after the War. Or it could just be that Poles have now become the most evil people on the planet.

The thing which immediately struck me is that in contemporary society we are more programmed for action at a distance by our everyday technologies. We remote control our environments in ways which back in Milgram's day were the province of 'Bond villains'. Makes you think, doesn't it?

 https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/05/new-milgram-replication-finds-90-per-cent-of-polish-participants-willing-to-deliver-highest-shock/

6

Techmology and Scientism / Bring on the Future

« on: April 22, 2017, 11:32:29 pm »

First coal-free day in Britain since Industrial Revolution

Yay for the future and two fingers up to the luddite drumpf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39675418

7

Techmology and Scientism / Nightmares, anybody?

« on: February 28, 2017, 11:57:11 am »

Hey guys, just in case you were still managing to stay nightmare free despite everything here's a little something I saw today

Boston Dynamics unveils 'nightmare-inducing' hybrid robot
Meet Handle, the two-wheeled, four-legged creation from the Google-owned robotics firm that even company founder Marc Raibert says is frightening
The footage of Handle had previously leaked at a presentation from Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert to investors, when even Raibert described it as a “nightmare-inducing robot”.

Google’s parent company Alphabet is reportedly looking to offload Boston Dynamics, following tensions within the company about its subsidiary’s fit within the wider corporate culture. After a previous robotics video was posted to YouTube, Google communications staff sought to distance the company from the hardware, according to emails leaked to Bloomberg News, citing the feeling that such technology could be “terrifying”.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/28/boston-dynamics-handle-nightmare-inducing-hybrid-robot-google?CMP=twt_a-technology_b-gdntech

8

Aneristic Illusions / Stranger than fiction

« on: January 15, 2017, 08:14:51 pm »

Since the next short while, possibly even the next four or eight years, is likely to generate some unbelievable news and comment I thought it might be fun to have a place to dump it - 'cos resistance is likely to be easier if we are pissing ourselves laughing.

So I caught this one today which is kind of both news an comment rolled up into one delicious morsel:

Enjoy
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/15/1620787/-Trump-inauguration-TV-preview-Scottish-newspaper-s-amazing-trolling-of-Drumpf
and yes its real.

9

Apple Talk / Top Trumps -Xmas cards 2016

« on: December 25, 2016, 11:59:38 am »

I'm feeling a tad dyspeptic this morning so I thought I would share some xmas spirit in the only way that seems appropriate for 2016.
Ayn Rand Christmas Cards!
Here's one from the Donald to all of us really great people on PD

10

Aneristic Illusions / A question for America

« on: December 21, 2016, 08:36:27 pm »

So this odd thought keeps wandering through the back of my mind. How many Americans thought they were voting for the end of the world on Nov 8th? Now excuse my ignorance if this is a dumb question but we don't have a "Rapture" culture over here in GB. Its a term I had never even come across until I was nearly 50. It definitely seems to be a key part of some voters mindset though. I was very struck by the number of times people would reply to incredulous reporters saying to them "but he's not a Christian" "he's a serial philanderer" "he's a liar" "he's not a good man" something to the effect of "god can work through anyone like he did through prostitutes ".

So was Armageddon on the back of ballot in flaming letters?

11

Techmology and Scientism / Collective Narcissism

« on: December 15, 2016, 10:56:30 am »

This just ran across my screen, and I think it might offer some interesting insights into our current predicaments.

The new findings suggest that any politician who ferments in their followers a grandiose belief in the in-group, combined with encouraging them to believe the in-group is being insulted or slighted by others, is arguably fostering collective narcissism and sowing the seeds for future conflict and hostility. One positive way to intervene might be to see if collective narcissists can be encouraged to channel their envy and sensitivity toward constructively helping their in-group rather than harming out-groups. 

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/12/09/theres-such-a-thing-as-collective-narcissism-and-it-might-explain-a-lot-thats-going-on-at-the-moment/#more-15011

12

Apple Talk / Bob Dylan gets Nobel Prize for Literature

« on: October 13, 2016, 04:42:14 pm »

I think this is an interesting and thought provoking choice -
and I can hardly wait for the screaming and protesting  to start

13

Aneristic Illusions / Baton Rouge police shootings

« on: July 17, 2016, 08:31:49 pm »

BBC news report

Three police officers have been killed and three injured in a shooting in the southern US city of Baton Rouge.
One suspect is dead and two others may still be at large. Witnesses reported a man firing indiscriminately.

and they just interviewed Rep Valarie Hodges of the Louisiana House of Representatives [white R].
Her take? They must have been from out of state because we all love our police. Also - that racism is the latest excuse for anarchy!

wake me up when they start shooting politicians would you?

14

Apple Talk / Happy St. Urho's Day!

« on: March 16, 2016, 05:21:23 pm »

St Urho, the Patron Saint of the Finnish vineyard workers.

15

Techmology and Scientism / Fish: the once and future fast food

« on: August 05, 2015, 11:09:00 am »

http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/scots-research-finds-fish-evolving-to-evade-nets-1-3849689

Damn I hope this is right; Swim faster little fishy. I just love the Law of Unintended Consequences  , don't you? Eventually huge numbers of people may starve to death because we turbo-charged the fish stocks, and what is not to love about that