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How fateful?

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Re: How fateful?

#201

Post by elliottcarlson »

daveoc64 wrote: post #166
throwaway2037 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I stopped driving in the United States, I noticed a sharp drop in interaction with the police. Years would go by with zero interaction. In a car: A few times a year (or month if unlucky). All of those automobile-related interactions are an opportunity for you to make a small mistake that will be blown up by the officer.

It seems like the US has a real problem with this. I've been driving for almost 15 years in the UK, and I've only been stopped once by the Police at a heavily advertised drink-driving checkpost set up during the Christmas season.

I recall a road trip with my father (this is at least 30 years ago), where we went to see my grandfather a few states away. As we drove through some small rural town, we were tailed by the local police for quite some time until we hit the county line and they simply turned around -- my dad told me at the time that they must have been following us to see if they could find a reason to pull us over. As I grew up, and started driving myself, I believe that to have been the case. Quotas for tickets and arrests are definitely a problem in the US.

Re: How fateful?

#202

Post by ravi-delia »

andywood wrote: post #183
Bakary wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not much scarier than encouraging fertility via the religious apparatus or just traditional social norms

Exactly. If your entire right hemisphere is permanently shut down from making computers the core of your identity, these are exactly the same thing.

I mean if you pay more attention to results than vibe, yeah they are. But you know, less coercive.

Re: How fateful?

#203

Post by Cthulhu_ »

bombcar wrote: post #187
elzbardico wrote: post #118

Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…

It's a funny "joke" but for a large percentage of people, their college decision and entrance exams were the determining factor in who they married; where you put yourself has a huge effect on whom you meet.

I mean I moved out of my hometown with that - meeting people - as an additional objective. It didn't work relationship wise (I ended up with someone I met online over a shared hobby / community), but it was an interesting experiment I guess. I like to think I ended up a bit more worldly, a bit more resilient to social situations and dealing with people very different from me personality wise.

Re: How fateful?

#204

Post by arethuza »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #198
arethuza wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Babbage and Brunel almost ran into each others in trains - Brunel coming back from a night out and Babbage running experiments: https://moorsidepublications.com/2015/07/01/babbage-gets-inv...

Oh, literally ran into each other. "They were on a collision course and both would have been travelling at 40 miles an hour." What an amazing story. Thanks.

I love the cartoon series with Lovelace, Babbage and Brunel:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gallery/2015/apr/12/t...

Re: How fateful?

#205

Post by Cthulhu_ »

skapadia wrote: post #135
elzbardico wrote: post #118

Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…

That's some Black Mirror level dystopia there, and totally within the realm of possibility, if it isn't already happening. Sync that up with Apple Watch 8's ability to estimate ovulation, and poof, declining birth rate problem solved! I'm scared.

There was a case where someone was getting ads for pregnancy products before she herself even knew she was pregnant, iirc it was down to search queries but don't quote me on that (or that the story is actually true).

Re: How fateful?

#206

Post by tiborsaas »

scandox wrote: post #90

Can people now just meet each other without an App? Is it generally possible to just kick off conversations with people you haven't been introduced to? I mean if these two were sitting under the same apple tree, they'd be on their phones checking out Bumble, surely?

There are always people fishing IRL :) I'd argue that you have better chances compared to an app since you are there in person compared to a digital profile. It's more memorable.

It always took practice to be good at this, but apps made a lot of people lazy so I'm not sure about trends.

Re: How fateful?

#208

Post by WaffleIronMaker »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #205
skapadia wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's some Black Mirror level dystopia there, and totally within the realm of possibility, if it isn't already happening. Sync that up with Apple Watch 8's ability to estimate ovulation, and poof, declining birth rate problem solved! I'm scared.

There was a case where someone was getting ads for pregnancy products before she herself even knew she was pregnant, iirc it was down to search queries but don't quote me on that (or that the story is actually true).

I remember this happening with Target in 2012

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ...

Re: How fateful?

#209

Post by Cthulhu_ »

feintruled wrote: post #103
3pt14159 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took the pragmatic approach and said to myself "look, if Google really wants to know where I am the only way to avoid it is to go into the woods without my phone, so why not?" Then one day the Toronto Transit Commission police thought I was re-using someone elses streetcar fare because of how old it was. I just prefer the streetcar to subways, so I took a longer route. As soon as I pulled out my phone with my locat…

I think it was Isaac Asimov who wrote an article once speculating on a future utopia where there would be total information freedom and transparency - everyone would know everything about everyone's movements. You could see why it would be appealing - how could there be crime if you knew where everyone was at all times? No body could cheat on their spouse, no child would ever go missing. Seems hopelessly naive now of…

Naive indeed; on the surface it sounds utopian. But who decides what a crime is? That's where it quickly flips over into becoming a dystopia. I mean, for example homosexuality is still a crime punishable by death in a lot of places; if you cannot hide that, then a lot of people would be picked up.

Your last point is exactly poignant; it'll be lawmakers who end up above the law, above the control. Which makes it more like 1984 than a "borg" utopia.

Re: How fateful?

#210

Post by aloner »

bombcar wrote: post #187
elzbardico wrote: post #118

Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…

It's a funny "joke" but for a large percentage of people, their college decision and entrance exams were the determining factor in who they married; where you put yourself has a huge effect on whom you meet.

Going to an engineering college where the demographic was 99% male, I guess I was determined to finish alone ;). But honestly 100% agreed with your point, even with online dating, a lot of people end up dating people they know or people they meet through a common friend.
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