and thinking about how social media has been being used to spread information and misinformation, and about the seeming rise in far-right support around the world, and how that all was sort of like a virus spreading, too.
And then it occurred to me that everything else in history could be viewed in the same way. Ideas, beliefs, practices take hold and spread... and if they are bad ones, they may eventually get changed; beaten back by other ideas and practices (like an immune system)... or they may not, and either way they may cause a lot of misery and death in the meantime.
Ah, I had in mind Anthropocene extinction event, spurred on by ever greater technology. Social evolution that hinges on learning and reward is a whole different beast.
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That thought occurred to me after reading this:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/02/whatsapp-groups-conspiracy-theories-disinformation-democracy
and thinking about how social media has been being used to spread information and misinformation, and about the seeming rise in far-right support around the world, and how that all was sort of like a virus spreading, too.
And then it occurred to me that everything else in history could be viewed in the same way. Ideas, beliefs, practices take hold and spread... and if they are bad ones, they may eventually get changed; beaten back by other ideas and practices (like an immune system)... or they may not, and either way they may cause a lot of misery and death in the meantime.
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