[FRIAM] the slow red-pill

[Steve Smith]

glen -
> There’s a new tactic for exposing you to radical content online: the ‘slow red-pill’
> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/15/theres-a-new-tactic-for-exposing-you-to-radical-content-online-the-slow-red-pill
A modern application of "subliminal advertising" and "desensitization" I
think?   As I moved in my life from Red/Libertarian circles to
Blue/Green circles I noticed the subliminals and the desensitization in
my *new* circles but had to be pretty far from the *old* circles to
realize theirs were fraught in the same way.   I still cringe when my
Blue/Green friends try to slip things past my filters, but I am more
conscious by circumstance of the phenomena.   Red Rants these days seem
to be *nothing but* attempts to normalize absurd things.   I suppose it
might be part of a "great renormalization"?   Moderate Conservatives
(and perhaps Liberals if they join forces) may find that simply steering
clear of the radicalizing techniques will win them the attention, if not
allegiance of a population who are under extreme political adrenal fatigue?
>
> "There is no content moderation solution for a political problem."
I think this is a central point.  
> Related content:
>
> Common Carrier Status as Quid Pro Quo for § 230(c)(1) Immunity
> https://reason.com/volokh/2021/07/15/common-carrier-status-as-quid-pro-quo-for-%c2%a7-230c1-immunity/
I think this exposes the historical context/embedding well, but not sure
if it fully covers the space that we are now exploring.  I would guess
that media-studies researchers are all over this question in the
abstract.   It seems as if the soft/social sciences have adopted a lot
of quantitative methods whilst learning (or inviting in) mathematics.  
What is the appropriate basis space for studying the dynamics of social
media (companies, consumers, producers, exploiters/gamers)?
> The responsibility gap: Ascribing responsibility for the actions of learning automata
> https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10676-004-3422-1

I believe Mary Shelley coined an interesting character and let him play
out his nature in a somewhat allegorical setting some 200 years ago.  
The genre that emerged in its  pattern is elaborate, but perhaps yet out
of date.

DaveW has lectured on the topic of Asimov's Robots and their ethics.

Some interesting outliers in the genre include:

Jack Williamson's Humanoids:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands

and Stanislaus Lem's Medieval/Fairy-Tale highly anthropomorphic
cybernetic creatures:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cyberiad

What might be the "new questions" that have emerged in the last 20-40
years with the Global Internet and significant adoption?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_brain#History