2022 archive
Supply Change 0
Now this is too much to bear . . . .
Uncomfortable Truths 0
At The Roanoke Times, Rob Neukirch reminds us that, taught honestly, history is not about feelings.
It’s about stuff that happened.
Stray Question, Diagnostic Dept. 0
Does this remind you of anyone?
The Futurist 0
At the Des Moines Register, Jim Chrisinger offers a vision of what the future might look like if Donald Trump and his dupes, symps, and fellow travelers get their way.
No summary or excerpt can do his work justice. Follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Repairing the Disinformation Superhighway 0
In an article syndicated by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, three scholars speak out on the role of “social” media in spreading mis- and disinformation, suggesting possible remedies to the flood of falsehoods pouring out of our screens. Here’s a bit of what one of them, a Michigan State professor, has to say (emphasis added); follow the link for the rest.
The bit I put in bold reinforces something I’ve observed since my earliest days participating in computer bulletin board systems and Usenet: For some reason, persons will believe unquestioningly something they read on a computer screen when they won’t believe the same thing if if happens right before their eyes.
And the reverse is also true: persons will refuse to believe something that happens before their very eyes if some rando on “social” media tells them that it didn’t happen (see the link to Dan Casey’s article in the previous post).
We are a society of stupid willing to cling to the stupid if being stupid makes us feel better, regardless of the harm it will bring in the end.
I am not sanguine.
School Daze 0
A teacher calls Sam to discuss what it’s like to be a teacher in these viral times.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
We are again reminded that a polite society is a clean society.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Charles Blow decodes de code:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
QOTD 0
John Crawford, in the voice of Vern Hackler:
There ain’t no problems that a few boilermakers can’t solve.
Afterthought:
I drank a boilermaker once. I spent the rest of the party sitting on the floor, back propped against the wall, watching the party go by. I rather enjoyed it in a hazy kind of way, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Arthur Dobrin explains that algorithms are amoral. Here’ are his key point; follow the link for his reasoning.
- Machines making decisions has become commonplace.
- The choices machines make reflect the biases and values of the programmers.
- Morality is too complex to be solves by an algorithm.
- Machines can’t be any more moral than the people who program them.
Aside:
Methinks the last point goes a long way to explaining why “social” media isn’t.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
As we know, politeness takes practice.
One more time, “accidental” and “negligent” are not synonyms.