#Enshittification isn't inevitable: under different conditions and constraints, the old, good internet could have given way to a new, good internet. Enshittification is the result of specific policy choices: encouraging monopolies; enabling high-speed, digital shell games; and blocking #interoperability.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
But once #Adobe moves your software to The Cloud, your critical, labor-intensive, unrecreatable images are purely contingent. At at time, without notice, Adobe can twiddle the back end and literally steal the colors out of your own files:
“That’s why I find the legacy of the Cybersyn Project and Stafford Beer to be a very promising avenue for reinventing what socialism of the 21st century should be.”
No, it’s not. A better world is built on #trust, not on “cybernetic management principles”. Giving decision-makers “chairs with a set of futuristic buttons, a cigar ashtray, and space for a whisky tumbler built into the armrest” does not exactly project a picture that they may have the workers’ best interests in mind.
Medina has a much better understanding of the whole Cybersyn thing and the role technology plays in creating a better world:
1️⃣ Government can shape innovations to benefit the whole of society
2️⃣ Design bias can limit democracy and inclusion
3️⃣ Older technology can solve problems
4️⃣ Privacy is critical
5️⃣ Innovation alone does not build a better world
California bar suspends 1,600 attorneys for violating rules set up after Tom Girardi allegedly stole millions
More than 1,600 attorneys have been #suspended by the #California#State#Bar for violating rules about client trust accounts that were set up after disgraced L.A. attorney Thomas Girardi allegedly stole millions of dollars from his clients.
After the reporting component is fulfilled, the state bar will then begin compliance reviews and investigative audits when appropriate.
Originally, more than 1,700 attorneys were found in violation of the rules and enrolled as “inactive” with the bar, meaning they’re not legally allowed to practice law. As of Thursday afternoon, that number has dropped to 1,641 after some of the attorneys fulfilled their requirements, according to Special Counsel Steven Moawad, who works for the bar’s attorney #discipline#system.
Let's get this out of the way: they give a number of #reasons why #webservers "might wish" to establish that a web #client is running on a "#trusted" software stack, including things like "make sure other game players aren't cheating" and "ensure I'm talking to another human".
Using #Google as an example, Google #Chrome will probably only #trust the attestation of ... Google Web Environment Integrity Attestation! Well, plus Microsoft's and Apple's, so it isn't too obviously an anti-competitive #cartel. Which it would be, of course.
Do you think those attestation #services are going to give a "#trusted" #rating to any #browser that wants one? Do you think they'll give it to any browser with an ad-blocker?
#Terror attacks hardly influence #trust in political #institutions. In a new study published in the European Journal of Political Research #EJPR, Christof Nägel, Amy Nivette and I combine causal inference and meta-analysis methods to study rally-around-the-flag effects using 15 years of data from the European Social Survey.
There's a review on a paper that's a great put-down of the concept of renewable aviation fuels here. TL;DR Hydrogen & batteries are too heavy for long distance, and biofuel would require the additional cultivation of land the size of Argentina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUAaO3r_7Bc
Though I might have phrased that with greater clarity.
First, "appeal to authority" is one of several informal fallacies, that is, it doesn't automatically invalidate a statement, but it does suggest a weakness.
Second, appeal to authority refers to power or position independent of epistemic characteristics. In its classic form it often referred to reliance on religious or political statements, or perhaps on overreliance of ancient sources (e.g., Aristotle, classically, in mediaeval and Renaissance Europe). There are heavy overtones of Papal infallability to it.
Expertise is direct experience or knowledge of a subject, or general knowledge of a field. It is a measure of credibility for knowledge of which we cannot ourselves claim first-hand familiarity. Or, often, for which a first impression gives a false or misleading sense as compared to a deeper understanding.
It is expertise and not authority we are relying on when we cite a reference work (dictionary, encyclopedia, desk reference, statistics, textbook, article), or when we call on expert witnesses in legal or other hearings. There's some confounding of this in common parlance as an expert is often referred to as an authority, but in most cases that authority derives from specific experience, reputation, and credibility rather than some conferred political or social power.
**Expertise and credibility are not absolutes, and neither @vik nor I are claiming this. I've specifically indicated these are fallible. You've specifically misrepresented our statements as claiming otherwise. Which, I might add, makes you an unreliable source.
However as an initial prior for judging information it is a USEFUL guide. And in matters epistemic, utility has an extraordinary significance. We CANNOT be called upon to judge and assess each and every claim individually (regards the claim) and personally (regards persons). Instead we rely on standards, institutions, and practices of trust and presumed belief. We change our views as evidence changes, or as authorities previously viewed as credible come to be generally assessed as unreliable.
In the context of the present discussion, Sabine Hossenfelder is providing a summary news piece in which she's discussing items of interest to a general science community. Specific expertise in physics and mathematics is a valid basis for general understanding, and we can further presume that Hossenfelder has a team assisting in that process (she alludes to this in multiple ways).
What we're relying on her for then is:
To filter through candidate stories to find those of greatest relevance and significance.
To accurately summarize and present findings.
Where she does so, to accurately express opinions on the overall findings or nature of the items.
Which is to say: this is not scholarly or academic research itself, but a review of that research. Details of methodology and findings are going to be in the referenced documents.
And the general expertise and credibility are specifically what is relevant for a scientific communicator / news presenter, in such a case.
I noted above that the overhead of researching and rebutting every last claim is nonfeasible --- it's effectively a denial-of-serivce attack on our brains individually and on public knowledge generally. So is rebutting lazy, inaccurate, and if I may use the term, bullshit arguments or objections.
Mostly, though, it leads to extraordinarily tedious side tangents rather than a substantive discussion of the main topic at hand. There are times when it's reasonable to question sources. This ... really isn't one.
I'm at the age where I'm not seen as a peer to a younger audience anymore. I now face a new #challenge when building natural rapport. Instead of "being their pal," I build respect to achieve #trust and a #safespace.
One aspect I've been #contemplating is the "daring" among learners. I see it as a behavioural #spectrum. It promotes natural mischievousness that can obstruct a #process while it's also a key to expression and internalisation. #How do You #approach it?
To Understand the Upcoming Republican Primary, Follow the Dark Money
Chris Jankowski, CEO of the pro-#DeSantis group Never Back Down, documented as the “settlor” — effectively, the creator — of the #Marble#Freedom#Trust, a massive pool of cash #Leonard#Leo is using to finance conservative advocacy groups.
In 2021, the trust received $1.6 #billion from the sale of Chicago businessman #Barre#Seid’s surge-protector empire, constituting the largest known #dark#money donation in history and leaving Leo in control of an unprecedented political advocacy fund.
The role Jankowski played in developing the Marble Freedom Trust has not previously been reported, though he has for years served as a consultant for Leo’s dark money #network, which played a central role in flipping control of the #Supreme#Court and building its 6–3 conservative supermajority.
It’s well-documented that natural disasters take a disproportionate toll on women, but what’s less well-known is that these crises consequently shift women’s political attitudes. For one, women trust their government less after disasters, while men’s political trust increases.
The term ‘accountability’ is frequently thrown around Christian circles. It fills me with unease because I think of it as giving another authority to punish me for failure. Which is why Dr. Cruickshank’s definition in her book, Ordinary Discipleship, is so helpful to me.
“But accountability is merely the ability to ask for an account of [my] actions.” (pg 143)
My dogs, Ben and Charlie, trust me totally and completely. I wonder sometimes if I'm worthy of that level of trust. Oh, I won't betray them, but there may come a day when it will feel like betrayal.
“Dogs, lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and the mistakes we make because of those illusions.” - Dean Koontz, The Darkest Evening of
the Year #photo#photography#photographer#photographylovers#morning#dogs#trust
In the Q&A at #ConsPath1 several points were raised: are testimonial processes in (shared) #delusions really abnormal? is the problem that we #trust in-groups too much or that the in-group is too small? how do we square testimony with the self-referential qualities of delusions?
@raucao the is an issue with this that might not be obvuse to you - humans are social creatures - our feeling of safety and control comes from our place in groups and society, our individual actions are what builds this #trust
Have a think of this then as a social view of technology, you need to see the embedded social values in tech to separate the "geek" from "problem" in the #geekproblem hashtag.
#BetterHelp is advertising heavily on podcasts and YouTube channels. Apparently, they sold health information to third parties and used it to target information. This is of course a major breach of #privacy and #trust.
Let the people creating those videos and podcasts know that BetterHelp is not to be trusted and that they should not advertise for that service any more.
Let your friends and family know that this service cannot be trusted.