Is this The End?

Lay off the heroin, OP

Breathe. Maybe take a break from the news?

Could be.

But in the meantime, I'm making apple butter with all the apples I picked from my neighbor's tree.

If we're dying, I'm going to go out with some delicious homemade apple butter slathered on bread before The End.

It is overwhelming, OP.. Here's what worries me: the internet hasn't been weaponized... yet. Politically, Obama was the first candidate to make use of it to raise vast money, which just scared the living hell out of Republicans (on top of the fact that he's black). Then Republicans discovered the power of social media, specifically advertising on facebook ann tiktok et. al. being like a direct line into the public's consciousness, and have used it to sway opinion away from fact and reality to belief and hysteria making people vote against their self interests, or as one analyst stated it, making them believe hatred and bigotry were their self interest. Now, AI looms as perfection for a fascist. We've previously lacked the ability to track everything all the time; not so with the limitless capabilities of AI. And we all have multiple microphones and cameras connected to the internet monitoring everything we say and do, and we carry a device capable to tracking us down to within a few inches.

I'm beginning to hope that we achieve ASI and the machines step in to save us rather than kill us.

[quote]Now, AI looms as perfection for a fascist.

AI looms as perfection for authoritarianism right or left.

Do a little research on surveillance in the UK. You ain't seen nothing yet.

I just wish humans weren’t so dumb

Yes, but It probably still would have happened without the internet.

Live. Laugh. LOVE!

Could be. The bad guy is supposed to come and formulate a peace deal in the middle east. Seven years of peace, and then? Kablewie!

All I can say is I’m grateful I was born when I was and that I don’t have kids.

It's social media that's the problem.

The early Internet was fine. Message boards, usenet, blogs, all that shit was OK during the 90s and 00s. It's social media from twitter to tiktok that made things a million times worse.

So long and thanks

They told me it was “the end” in 1968.

If it ends, it ends. I’ve had a good life. My parents are dead. Don’t really care if I live another 20-25 years or not.

It's completely within the realm of possibilities that these assholes are going to take us into a very messy war. With SOMEBODY! SHIT! They came out on Jan 20 SWINGIN! Ready to go! Stay tuned, babies. Watch!

[quote]Is this The End?

I sincerely hope so.

And the failed R1 obviously confuses her own alcoholism with the effects of heroin.

[quote]Lay off the heroin, OP

Or bump up the dose, whichever works best for you.

Most of those things have been around since the earliest days of the human race. So, no, if it wasn't the end then, it's not the end now.

WWI, The Depression, WWII, the riots and assassinations of the 1960s...

This too shall pass.

“Is this The End?”

God I hope so.

Music is your only friend until the end.

Read more history books, OP. Human civilization has been gruesome and life precarious for a very long time.

Now we may be on our way out because the planet may become uninhabitable for us, but on the positive side, once we're gone, surviving species and newly developed species will have a chance to thrive.

OP, I have a fun film pick for you. You'll feel so much better. Or not.

I think this may be the end of the US

I believe that when the Orange asshole bites the dust, there will be an AI replica ready to take his place.

His is a cult of personality, and his people will follow no other. So they're making sure he never dies. Perhaps hologram technology is advanced enough that people will actually be able to see him walking around, etc. But it will be a puppet -- this time, a real one.

Read 1984 again. Big Brother is watching you.

Did the internet end civilization?

No it ended Culture.

No. Not yet, anyway.

We were so much smarter in the '20s. With the emergence of mass media, smart regulations were put on newspapers, radio and television. One person or entity could own only one of each in each city, which limited the influence a single person corporation could have.

The worst thing Ronald Reagan did was deregulation. And people like Mel Karmazin and Rupert Murdoch spearheaded increasing deregulation of media up until today which has us in a right mess.

Anyway, there was zero appetite for ANY regulation of the internet in the mid-90s. And this is the reason the internet has fucked us over. Misinformation and misinformation run amok.

It's turned us into Russia.

Sorry meant to say "Misinformation and disinformation..."

As long as nukes aren't launched, we'll be ok.

The financial guys have already admitted we will have 3 degrees of warming within 20 years. This will cause widespread social collapse

The floating islands of plastic is a horror showl

The Living End.

[quote]The worst thing Ronald Reagan did was deregulation.

I'll put a fine point on that: the worst thing Ronald Reagan did was end the Fairness Doctrine. At the behest of Rupert Murdoch, no less. It opened the door for talk radio, Fox noise, and rampant polarization without pushback. When it's all said and done, the demise of the United States will be traced to a few events, and the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine will be the first on the list.

How would the Fairness Doctrine have controlled the spread of misinformation online?

R35 Today, discussing both sides of an issue is frowned upon by the left as well as the right. Note the flak CNN gets here when it tries to show both sides of a controversy.

The "Fainess Doctrine" is quaint, it would never work today.

Today R37, "both sides" means the right's position vs. the far right's position, and that's the reason that CNN gets flak. Look, we don't expect anything resembling fair and balanced from Fox; all they do is lie, make shit up, and suggest we kill the homeless. And no, I'm not letting MSNBC off the hook; they have presented some batshit crazy stuff from the far left, but if we're being honest MSNBC does a far and away superior job objectively presenting the news than Fox or CNN does.

The Fairness Doctrine, when it was observed, required that if a news outlet was going to present an opinion piece, it had to be labelled as such, and they had to offer an equal amount of time with an equal audience (so the opinion pieces usually went one after another) from a responsible qualified source. The doctrine, introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1949, required broadcasters to cover controversial public issues and ensure opposing viewpoints were represented fairly. It was viewed as a responsibility to the public. And it was healthy for democracy.

But you're right; it wouldn't work today. We don't have arbiters of truth any more.

There’s a video game called Metal Gear Solid 2. It was released in 2001 or 2. You’re like this super soldier guy. At the very end, you confront this AI, that had been simulating your commander and whatever. The AI then goes on to predict everything bad about our future as it tries to justify creating a total information control and surveillance system. I think about this scene all the time. Basically that peoples minds would be flooded with misinformation, petty conflict, and trivial information and turn into helpless zombies.

It's only the end when you die, silly.

I’m not ready for that final disappointment.

Patience, Grasshopper!

Does the Fairness Doctrine and other FCC rules apply to cable news though? I thought that only applied to the networks. I could be in error.