“When these techniques fail, they fail in ways that are not human. AI is simple math, there’s no room in it for ethics, or common sense, or empathy. Some of the egregious errors we will catch, but a lot of them we will not. These systems, which would require an extraordinary level of oversight to run safely, are being deployed across the planet by naive Stanford grads with almost no human supervision, for profit, and have the potential to profoundly reshape our society.”
The number of Americans killed in all the wars this nation has ever fought is indeed equal to roughly one per cent of all Americans alive today. This makes for questionable math and disturbing logic. It is in totalitarian societies, which demand complete mobilization, that dying for one’s country becomes the ultimate badge of honor.
“If we keep pounding on the wedge of inequality and chewing through our living planet, the whole thing is going to implode. The choice is stark, and it seems people are waking up to it in large numbers: Either we evolve into a future beyond capitalism, or we won’t have a future at all.”
Welcome to the Moral Machine! A platform for gathering a human perspective on moral decisions made by machine intelligence, such as self-driving cars.
We show you moral dilemmas, where a driverless car must choose the lesser of two evils, such as killing two passengers or five pedestrians. As an outside observer, you judge which outcome you think is more acceptable. You can then see how your responses compare with those of other people.
“To me, that Nixon legend is the opposite of reassuring. What will happen when President Trump orders some eyesore removed from his sight, only to discover the limits of presidential power? Revenge is a narcotic, and Trump of all people will be in need of a regular, ongoing fix. Ordering his people to abuse the surveillance state to harass and destroy his enemies will offer the quickest and most satisfying kick he can get.”
— Rick Perlstein in The New Republic. He’s Making a List Trump is more paranoid and dangerous than Nixon. (via protoslacker)
“I think there’s a legitimate question about how much many people actually ‘believe’ what we call ‘fake news’. In many cases, 'fake news’, the latest manufactured outrage, functions as a kind of ideational pornography, ideas and claims that excite people’s political feelings, desires and fears and create feelings of connection with kindred political spirits.”
— Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo. Why You’re Fooling Yourself About ‘Fake News’ (via protoslacker)
“To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow”
“I witnessed something powerful and profound today. Wes Clark Jr and the assembled veterans took a knee and collectively asked for forgiveness for the genocide and war crimes committed by the United States Military against tribal nations in this country. Leksi Leonard Crow Dog on behalf of the tribes in attendance accepted and asked for forgiveness for any hurt that might have been caused June 25, 1876 when the Great Sioux Nation defeated the 7th Cavalry. The last thing he said to the veterans was, “… and today we forgive and ask for world peace.” All the veterans replied in a single unified voice, “WORLD PEACE!!!!””
— Jon Eagle quoted an article at U.S.Uncut. A group of veterans just did an incredibly moving thing at Standing Rock (via protoslacker)
“When the levers of power are seized by the small hands of hateful men, you work hard, you stand with those who are most vulnerable, and you don’t give up until it’s morning again. The rest is commentary.”
— Liel Leibovitz in Tablet Magazine. What to Do About Trump? The Same Thing My Grandfather Did in 1930s Vienna. Historical analogies are always flawed, but some moral principles shine eternal (via protoslacker)
“So journalists who do not report that Trump has selected for a top spot in the White House an enabler of white nationalists—which certainly could qualify Bannon as a white nationalist himself—are doing the public and the truth a disservice. Thanks to Trump, a comrade of racists—many of whom are now cheering his appointment—is slated to help run the US government. This fact should be front and center, as the nation heads toward the Trump era.”
— David Corn at Mother Jones. Here’s Why It’s Fair—and Necessary—to Call Trump’s Chief Strategist a White Nationalist Champion Stephen Bannon said he was. (via protoslacker)
“Rule #3: Institutions will not save you. It took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and four years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed. The capture of institutions in Turkey has been carried out even faster, by a man once celebrated as the democrat to lead Turkey into the EU. Poland has in less than a year undone half of a quarter century’s accomplishments in building a constitutional democracy.”
— Masha Gessen in The New York Review of Books. Autocracy: Rules for Survival (via protoslacker)
The iceberg model is a valuable tool to encourage systemic thinking and help you contextualize an issue as part of a whole system. By asking you to connect an event–a single incident or occurrence–to patterns of behavior, systems structures, and mental models, the iceberg allows you to see the structures underlying the event. Just like an iceberg, 90% of which is invisible beneath the water, these structures are often hidden below the surface. However, if you can identify them and connect them to the events that you are seeing, you may be able to develop lasting solutions that target the whole system rather than short term, reactive solutions.
