Kazin

The march of the americans

Narrated by David Attenborough

I understand what Tuffy is trying to say here by “evolution”.

But grumpy me cant help but think:

“Theory of mind / writing” has de-evolved into “Theory of feeling / meme”.

And now, it seems to have de-evolved further into cave art. The only thing that has actually evolved is the cave.

We all have seen message threads where the discourse amounts to shared images, often with no captions needed.

I would suggest a little experiment to see
how far we could take a discussion using only memes and uncaptioned images, but only in a “sociosafety level 4” app. This cannot spread!!

Retired: I have walked a mile in another’s shoes + Theory of mind

Wired: I have seen miles of posts with this GIF/webp* + Theory of meme

*shit, I thought it was a JPG! It’s too small….let me find the JPG and text it again….never mind, the moment is ruined!!

“Knock knock”

“Who’s there?”

“Orange”

“Source?”

*standing ovation*

This place really wasn’t the same without you, Sky!

Damn it. This is not an “if”, but a “when” purchase.

I can calculate how long my willpower will last on this one. If not sold out by 9PM, it’s going in the cart.

Two screenshots combined vertically. The first screenshot is a google search result with a link to Netflix. The result has the netflix logo and beneath it, the words “Watch Cadillac Man” in large blue font. The next image is a screenshot of Netflix after clicking the above link. It has a shot from the movie cadillac man (tim robbins and robin williams leaning against a car). There is no “watch” option. There is a grey bar with a bell that says “remind me”. This is some bullshit. Dont tease me when I want cadillac man.

If I were president, I would make this illegal.* ** *** ****

*After implementing “New Deal: The Next Generation
**I’d ask the ad enforcement section of the FTC to look into it
***Like, just task a couple of FTC folks.
****It’s cool because my FTC would have thousands of motivated ass kickers.

The terrifying thing is that - like -
a toddler being in a room with the unprotected mona lisa sitting on floor - they’ll simply rip it to pieces until someone takes it out their hands.

Expressions of horror from afar will only
make them giggle and, likely, go even further.

We do destructive things when we are bored…like chewing fingernails.

We do destructive things to get attention. (Ideally, that diminishes when we grow up)

And we do destructive things to get dopamine.

And we do destructive things when we dont understand our environment.

It’s a mix of all this.

It’s what you’d expect from this group.

Of all the things the US govt can do, dropping bombs is the most immediate and provides an instant “effect”.

And then they go to twitter to see the reaction.

This, to them, is governing. They are “doing something.”

I think this is accurate.

And I think people mistakenly try to explain this phenomenon with horseshoe effect…when it’s really a “theory of mind” scale.

Aliens are among us and using their names as brands on Amazon! 😂

“I need the thrill of the keys jingled in my face, i need the tension of my parents’ faces disappearing and reappearing, I need the terror of my uncle stealing my nose and I need to feel the chaos of the jack coming out OF NOWHERE from that box!”

She’s the holder of the chalice of Rixx or whatever now.

Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas, Holder of the chalice of Rixx and heir to the holy rings of Betazed, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Lady of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen…

*eyeroll*

Seconded!

Mmm….the smell of newsprint and coffee….

I think at some point, people are gonna get so sick of tech, a company will sell a car will “roll up/down windows” and make a mint.

Americans and polls, man…

Poll: “this is a test. Leave this question blank.”

O Yes
O No
O Undecided

Results:

46% Yes
12% No
20% Undecided
2% blank

Exhibit #737362834 demonstrating why Bouie was right to call him a loser.

Looking back on Star Trek now, something that sticks out to me that didn’t when I was watching the shows…is the way they do not let the tech/mediums dominate them.

If we were given the enterprise D today, almost all of us would never leave the holodeck!

But, as you rightfully point out, it was extremely valuable to certain groups who might otherwise never engage with this type of material.

I had not considered that.

The most influential book I’ve ever read was “amusing ourselves to death” by Neil Postman.

He was fine with trash TV. But not with Sesame Street. He believed it caused children to associate education with entertainment, which resulted in educators needing to add ever increasing amounts of “sugar”.

Excellent thread - thank you for sharing.

I agree that we need to fight for the mediums. And for the technology. As always, whether they are used for individual/societal growth depends on how they are used.

It’s a difficult, nuanced conversation that needs to be had in advance.

Oh god.

“Poastmortem.ai”

Oh hell, I almost forgot about the people selling ivermectin as cure-alls.

Im sure they’d be thrilled. Sigh.

But I think it’s definitely more of a stretch to think about financially than, say, new world screwworm.*

*which I suppose is infestation rather than infection.

It’s a stretch and it feels gross to even talk about financial implications…

…but i’m sure there would be an economic impact if a whole bunch of people were getting infected with roundworms.

Missed work/school - more hospital visits…etc.

Ahhh. Got it.

*apprehension intensifies*

For me!

I don’t wanna be on the awful men list!

Anyway, I dont know if there is more context, but I can see a very engaged anti-ICE activist answering the same way.