An Essay on Human Intelligence, Written by AI

[byco42]

To make these calls, a program, which has no freedom, will have to assign a value to freedom.

That will apply only to us minions and not to the people who have everything, think of everything, invent everything, and decide everything.

You know, "Them."

 

[Michchamp]

Our options aren't that limited. You might be able to catch a Phil Collins concert at Disneyworld.

LOL, yeah, I know I'm not being totally fair. If you don't like Phil Collins you have the freedom to go see Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Barbara Streisand, or Celine Dion imstead.

AARP members are eligible to see shows featuring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, or Bob Hope lookalikes.

 

[Michchamp]

That will apply only to us minions and not to the people who have everything, think of everything, invent everything, and decide everything.

You know, "Them."

The 1%

 

[Gulo Blue]

That will apply only to us minions and not to the people who have everything, think of everything, invent everything, and decide everything.

You know, "Them."

I'm not sure. To maintain their wealth/position, those people will have to do what their AIs tell them, or someone else's AI will outsmart them.

 

[byco42]

LOL, yeah, I know I'm not being totally fair. If you don't like Phil Collins you have the freedom to go see Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Barbara Streisand, or Celine Dion imstead.

AARP members are eligible to see shows featuring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, or Bob Hope lookalikes.

Don't Forget Faul McCartney. He's getting up in years, though. He's 83.

 

[byco42]

I'm not sure. To maintain their wealth/position, those people will have to do what their AIs tell them, or someone else's AI will outsmart them.

So the "movers and shakers" will have their own internal revolt and "They" will reorganize.

 

[Michchamp]

Don't Forget Faul McCartney. He's getting up in years, though. He's 83.

You're right, except Faul McCartney was removed from the list of approved performers at the request of the American Association of Meatpackers, due to his advocacy for vegetarianism.

 

[Spartanmack]

Ask the computer how they would design society with the caveat that they had to live in it afterward, and they couldn't pick who they get to be.

Think they'd pick a society where the wealthiest 0.1% control vast amounts of wealth - far out of proportion to the labor they contribute - and are essentially above the law, while the bottom 50% have no wealth, or live in debt to the 0.1%?

No, if they develop a decent value system, they would clearly pick capitalism, where everyone is treated equally and they're compensated based on the value of their labor/capital rather than their mere existence. If they were programmed by immoral people who think like you then they'd choose your society where only government bureaucrats get wealthy and everyone else has a shitty standard of living.

 

[Spartanmack]

Freedom = you have a mortgage, an auto loan, and student loan debt for all your adult life. you work as an excel spreadsheet formatter, paper-pusher or box-checker for 40 years to pay for it all, then die of a heart attack brought on by the high cholesterol/high sugar diet you have to eat all that time. Once and a while you get to take a couple days off and go to Disneyworld, or a Phil Collins concert.

You have to spend 4 hours a weekend at some combination of costco, home depot, or kroger's.

if you don't want to work as a spreadsheet formatter, box checker or paper pusher, you can enlist in the military, where your job will be to sit in a dark trailer, and pilot a flying robot around a Middle Eastern or African country inhabited by goat herders, occasionally pushing a button to tell the robot to fire a missile and kill some of those goat herders.

your options for recreation are still the same though: Disneyworld or a Phil Collins concert.

you actually believe this is an outcome of capitalism and not government intervention, regulation and crony corporatism and that it would be better if people didn't have access to mortgages or car or student loans. And you seem to think individuals aren't responsible for voluntarily living beyond their means and getting themselves into too much debt. And you think more government control will fix all of it. That's hilarious.

 

[Michchamp]

No, if they develop a decent value system, they would clearly pick capitalism, where everyone is treated equally and they're compensated based on the value of their labor/capital rather than their mere existence. If they were programmed by immoral people who think like you then they'd choose your society where only government bureaucrats get wealthy and everyone else has a shitty standard of living.

what country practices this form of capitalism? I was describing the United States in my example.

you actually believe this is an outcome of capitalism and not government intervention, regulation and crony corporatism and that it would be better if people didn't have access to mortgages or car or student loans. And you seem to think individuals aren't responsible for voluntarily living beyond their means and getting themselves into too much debt. And you think more government control will fix all of it. That's hilarious.

So government is responsible for every radio station being owned by ClearChannel (now iHeart Radio) and playing Phil Collins or Billy Joel all the time? Did they pass a law requiring that, or something?

 

[Gulo Blue]

So government is responsible...

I bet you know what would happen if you typed 'crony' into google to see how it auto-completes. I'm skeptical that that's an accidental substitution.

 

[Michchamp]

I bet you know what would happen if you typed 'crony' into google to see how it auto-completes. I'm skeptical that that's an accidental substitution.

I assume that's why he changed it to crony "corporatism," instead of crony capitalism, AKA just capitalism.

 

[tomdalton22]

So government is responsible for every radio station being owned by ClearChannel (now iHeart Radio) and playing Phil Collins or Billy Joel all the time? Did they pass a law requiring that, or something?

They still have radio stations?

 

[Spartanmack]

what country practices this form of capitalism? I was describing the United States in my example.

what you described is nothing like the United States. But don't worry, gulo won't challenge your nonsense or ask for "context" - you're free to make up whatever bull shit you want.

So government is responsible for every radio station being owned by ClearChannel (now iHeart Radio) and playing Phil Collins or Billy Joel all the time? Did they pass a law requiring that, or something?

no, i'm sure that was all due to capitalism. maybe we should have all media controlled by the state so we can have better music, like what they had in the Soviet Union, or what they have in Cuba and Venezuela or are you more of a Eurovision guy? You seem like the type that would prefer democratic socialism pop music although it's hard to picture you smashing keyboards in a fit of rage with ABBA blasting in the background.

 

[Spartanmack]

I bet you know what would happen if you typed 'crony' into google to see how it auto-completes. I'm skeptical that that's an accidental substitution.

I get "ism" as the first autocomplete. But does it matter? Once you add the modifier, it's no longer "capitalism." Even then, it's better than socialism.

 

[Michchamp]

what you described is nothing like the United States. But don't worry, gulo won't challenge your nonsense or ask for "context" - you're free to make up whatever bull shit you want.

You might not like what I described, but according to the St. Louis Fed, and the Federal Reserve, my description of the United States is accurate.

no, i'm sure that was all due to capitalism. maybe we should have all media controlled by the state so we can have better music, like what they had in the Soviet Union, or what they have in Cuba and Venezuela or are you more of a Eurovision guy? You seem like the type that would prefer democratic socialism pop music although it's hard to picture you smashing keyboards in a fit of rage with ABBA blasting in the background.

We don't need state media, we just need the Fairness Doctrine and the limits on corporate cross-ownership of media put back in place by repealing that 1996 Act.

Corporate LOBBYING got us where we are.

What is "democratic socialism pop music?" Whatever it is I definitely prefer it to Phil Collins

 

[Gulo Blue]

But don't worry, gulo won't challenge your nonsense or ask for "context" - you're free to make up whatever bull shit you want.

He is free to make up bullshit. When he does, or when I do, my impression is that we understand what points are being made, what's bullshit, what's supposed to be funny...

That's how it works with almost everyone here.

 

[Spartanmack]

He is free to make up bullshit. When he does, or when I do, my impression is that we understand what points are being made, what's bullshit, what's supposed to be funny...

That's how it works with almost everyone here.

bit of a stretch to include yourself with "everyone" - or him for that matter...

 

[Spartanmack]

You might not like what I described, but according to the St. Louis Fed, and the Federal Reserve, my description of the United States is accurate.

No, it's not and you're confusing the issue - probably intentionally. It's not the income distribution or wealth gap that matters. What matters far more is the standard of living which has improved dramatically for all Americans at every income/wealth level.

We don't need state media, we just need the Fairness Doctrine and the limits on corporate cross-ownership of media put back in place by repealing that 1996 Act.

Corporate LOBBYING got us where we are.

What is "democratic socialism pop music?" Whatever it is I definitely prefer it to Phil Collins

Oh if only we had the fairness doctrine, then MC wouldn't have to listen to Billy Joel and Phil Collins. You realize you can get Spotify and listen to whatever you want whenever you want, right? You can even get a free version of it if you don't want to give any of your money to the capitalist pigs.

Once again, no it's not corporate or even union lobbying - at least not exclusively. It's government overreach that got us where we are. Lobbying is a product of government having control of things it shouldn't. You get rid of it by shrinking the influence of government, not ceding more control to it - that will only create more corruption and waste, not less. If government doesn't have powers they shouldn't, where's the incentive for unions and corporations to be part of the corruption?

 

[Michchamp]

No, it's not and you're confusing the issue - probably intentionally. It's not the income distribution or wealth gap that matters. What matters far more is the standard of living which has improved dramatically for all Americans at every income/wealth level.

You think standard of living has improved? relative to what? how do you square that with average lifespans dropping in this country?

Standard of living is entirely dependent on wealth, and income, and as that gets worse for most Americans, their standards of living will continue to decline.

I'm not confusing anything... you're confusing it because you don't like the numbers.

Oh if only we had the fairness doctrine, then MC wouldn't have to listen to Billy Joel and Phil Collins. You realize you can get Spotify and listen to whatever you want whenever you want, right? You can even get a free version of it if you don't want to give any of your money to the capitalist pigs.

Once again, no it's not corporate or even union lobbying - at least not exclusively. It's government overreach that got us where we are. Lobbying is a product of government having control of things it shouldn't. You get rid of it by shrinking the influence of government, not ceding more control to it - that will only create more corruption and waste, not less. If government doesn't have powers they shouldn't, where's the incentive for unions and corporations to be part of the corruption?

You can't seem to keep the historical narrative straight between corporate power and government power, and why government had to get involved in the first place.