PJ @pj@qoto.org

***Six Misconceptions About #Misinformation***

>1. Misinformation is just a social media problem
2. The internet is rife with misinformation
3. Falsehoods spread faster than the truth
4. People believe everything they see on the internet
5. A large number of people are misinformed
6. Misinformation has a strong influence on people’s behavior

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051221150412

Interesting exercise. I've got the rabbit sitting on top of a tree wrong. 9 out of 10, not bad 😎

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-15/quiz-artwork-artificial-intelligence-human-dalle-2-open-ai/101734522

>The best things in #life we don’t choose — they choose us. A great love, a great calling, a great illumination — they happen unto us, like light falling upon that which is lit. We have given a name to these unbidden greatnesses — #genius, from the Latin for “spirit,” denoting the spirit of a universe we can only submit to but cannot govern.

https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/01/21/emerson-genius-shakespeare

>For subjectivists #life is meaningful, they say, but its value is made by us in our minds, and subject to change over time. Landau argues that #meaning is essentially a sense of worth which we may all derive in a different way - from relationships, creativity, accomplishment in a given field, or generosity, among other possibilities

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-secret-to-a-meaningful-life-is-simpler-than-you-think

I feel something is wrong with this line of reasoning but I can't quite put my finger on it.

It has something to do with the flawed assumption that it is social media that "rips the fabric of civil society".🤔 What about the effects of the growing #inequality between the rich becoming wealthier and the poor even more impoverished?

#SocialMedia, despite all its flaws, is actually the only democratic tool able to increase global awareness about the fact that such economic inequalities, despite being a global phenomenon do not originate from some "others" (race, nation, religion), but from your very "own people".

The excerpt is from:
https://www.eurasiagroup.net/issues/top-risks-2023

Lots of interesting articles in this issue of ***Collective Intelligence***

https://journals.sagepub.com/articles/COL

Do you agree with #Plato that
> *in a system where political power (‘cratos’) lies in the hands of the people (‘demos’) statecraft is not guaranteed? In fact, it is unlikely, that those best equipped to rule will get a chance to manage public affairs because the loudest voices will dominate, irrational, ill-motivated decisions will be made and the complex arena of politics is in need of careful ordering and management will turn into a crazy circus.*
https://philosophynow.org/issues/101/The_Ship_of_Fools

The follow-up to this bit:

>**Bezos**: "I'm going to space so you can go to space one day"

>**Me**: "I don't want to go to space. I want to go to Italy. Can you work on that?"

https://twitter.com/i/status/1473386289424650244

The exciting future of #energy is in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

➡️ Along with solar, wind, and water, more #diversity in the used technologies means better overall performance and #robustness.
➡️ Simpler #distribution with local clean and small-footprint #production means there is no need for long unsightly power-lines
➡️ Better #safety (smaller reactors and energy outputs means also smaller consequences of possible failure.

I'm waiting for the model below to install on my 1983 DeLorean😀:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/small-modular-reactors

**Radio Paradise** is having a party and you are invited:
***New Year's Eve VR Live Stream***
https://radioparadise.com/blog/new-years-eve-vr-livestream

I believe none of the stated *reasons* for revisiting "#Darwin'sDangerousIdea" in this most-read Guardian article of 2022 will have any effect on how "#ModernSynthesis" explains #Evolution.

For example:

1️⃣ "The study of the way *organisms alter their environment* in order to reduce the normal pressure of natural selection – think of beavers building dams" only shows that #NaturalSelection favors beavers *genetically programmed* to build better dams.

2️⃣ "The *Senegal bichir* adapting to land in a single generation” and *dung beetles* growing larger wings in cold weather only show the co-producing relationship between *nature* and *nurture* and the known fact that the ***same*** set of genes (*genotype*) will produce slightly different *phenotypes* in different environments. It surely does not explain *speciation*.

and lastly

3️⃣ I really don't see the difference between passing to the next generation randomly as opposed to artificially induced *mutations*. Natural selection will *"weed out"* one **and** the other the same way.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/28/do-we-need-a-new-theory-of-evolution

Just listening on
https://radioparadise.com/home
Beautifully weird

https://youtu.be/xNaDghdfo9g

I see there is a "Show replies" in the settings but it doesn't seem to work.
I see only toots that are boosted. Anyone?

I'm less interested in toots people I follow have boosted than I'm interested in some of their replies to other threads that I can find only if I go and check their profiles one by one. Is there a switch for fine tuning what appears in the timeline?

Is #Technology #ValueNeutral?

I would say YES because anything can be used either for good or for evil. Here is an interesting article that argues the opposite. Not sure how successfully though:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0162243919900965

Is there a way to include replies to others from instances I follow in my Home or/and Local timelines?

"The Many Faces of #Resilience"
by Ted G. Lewis. Very interesting article about #Complexity, Self-Organizing Criticality (#SOC), and preventing #CascadingFailures

https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2023/1/267957-the-many-faces-of-resilience/fulltext

Mobs behave nothing like flocks of birds as this article would like you to believe. Even the author had to admit it at the end of the article.

#Murmuration is the result of birds blindly following a few simple #rules without any #leader, obvious #target, or "higher" #purpose, much like in #JConway's "#GameOfLife".

On the other side, there is nothing "spontaneous" in mobs. You can always identify the lead instigator, the target and it is pretty obvious what they want.

https://www.noemamag.com/how-online-mobs-act-like-flocks-of-birds/

"Users flocking to the platform will need to shift their expectations for social media and become engaged democratic citizens in the life of their networks."
https://www.noemamag.com/mastodon-isnt-just-a-replacement-for-twitter/