Ever get the feeling that the echo chamber has taken on a life of its own, and doesn’t reflect the opinions of any real people? Back in 1964, Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message”. It is even more true today.
McLuhan believed that a medium itself shapes and controls “the scale and form of human association and action”. Sound familiar?
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This reminds me of the group of scientists who asked for a set of morals to be inplanted in the various smart robots and intelligent electronic devices we use nowadays before it becomes sentient. They say that the devices only lack the ability to learn by itself and they could become perfect electronic sociopaths. People, including informaticians, are laughing at them, saying there’s no way in hell any electronic device can become that smart.
Technology does move fast, doesn’t it?
I think this cartoon does a terrible injustice to the literally hundreds of young and middle aged males, overweight and bathrobe clad, sitting in their parents basement with Fox News blasting in the background, desperately trying to prove their superiority by banging out comment after comment in a noble crusade designed to ensure the world will one day come banging on their door pleading with them and only them to take the role of Earth Emperor and lead everyone into the flying car filled future!
This reminds me of the novel ‘River of Gods’ in which a soap opera, ‘Town and Country’, became sentient and attempted a coup. We’ll know when a rogue AI takes over the Republican Party when their leadership starts to appear LESS programmed.
To paraphrase Pogo: “We have met the internet, and he is us.”
il-08- 🙂 My new neighbor recited all the old Myths about Obama. “And where did you learn that?” “That’s what everyone says on the Internet. 93% dislike Obama”
No arguing with fools.