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Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

theguardian.com

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Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#11

Post by ianai »

baq wrote: post #8
buboard wrote: post #3

> There’s evidence of really quite disturbing experiments on American voters, manipulating them with fear-based messaging, targeting the most vulnerable, that seems to be continuing. Ironically, it's not clear which party they re referring to

Nothing ironic about everyone doing it.

Actually at this point the game theoretic best move for all parties is to be as manipulative as possible. To change back to a pre-manipulation equilibrium requires overriding effort against these tactics from all players. I’m treating the hostile sources/interests as outside the game in that examination.

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#12

Post by chopchopgoodbye »

It would seem as though people don't care. Time after time people are told to their face "you have been manipulated" and rather than resolving to be more vigilant they shrug their shoulders and go about business as usual. People of older generations seem particularly indiscriminate, accepting the "credibility" of any source that has a website. I'm not sure if it's a kind of desensitization or if people don't believe it / don't care but it strikes me as tacit acceptance of massive-scale manipulation which saddens me.

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#13

Post by ben_w »

ianai wrote: post #10
alamaslah wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw people express skepticism before this stuff, that is part of why this is effective. It partly depends upon there being low trust in "sources of truth". Want to know the funny thing? The people that eroded the trust are now the ones complaining the loudest about the results. Also, why does sex sell? Because people desire sex.

Yep, that’s what keeps me up at night. I’ve had family express their individual preference for sources with zero credibility or authority over sources from medical doctors/phds/other reputable sources. They’re predisposed to believe manipulative stuff and prefer it!

This came up recently in a podcast I listen to. One point was that people start off open-minded, but if you receive only confirmatory feedback, then you not only gain a belief, but switch mode to become less curious — Without curiosity, evidence that should persuade you no longer does.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/twiml-ai-podcast-forme...

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#14

Post by StuffedParrot »

buboard wrote: post #3

> There’s evidence of really quite disturbing experiments on American voters, manipulating them with fear-based messaging, targeting the most vulnerable, that seems to be continuing. Ironically, it's not clear which party they re referring to

Not ironic at all! If I were a foreign entity pushing for bilateral agreements I would seed paranoia and doubt everywhere I could. The degree of explicit control that comes out of this manipulation is miniscule compared to its destabilizing effects on political focus.

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#15

Post by anovikov »

See, in the present world, the majority of voters have no good prospects - for purely objective, technologically-driven reasons. Therefore, there are only two ways to make society workable - shut down popular democracy, or manipulate. Meaning, there is no way an average American, or even European, would vote for anything which won't be a blatant lie: because it is too grim.

Alternatives as i see them are either "democracy with prequalification", limiting voters pool to 1-10% of population (back to good old days, basically), or outright dictatorship (which is unstable). If i were to pick, i'd probably prefer the manipulations route.

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#16

Post by ben_w »

ianai wrote: post #9
pixl97 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is also a means to attack people. For example, what alternative sources. Are they also compromised? This falls under the Bullshit Asymmetry attack.

If you do enough research through multiple, reputable sources trends do emerge. If someone says something radical like the president is a lizard person and every news outlet is pretty convinced he was born in the US to human parents then it’s safe to work with the understanding that he’s a human-as a silly example to illustrate the concept.

As a counter example, I thought roughly 25% of Americans thought Obama was not born in America, despite the birth certificate? And that a similar percentage believe the Bible is the literal truth of God?

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#17

Post by bradleyankrom »

anovikov wrote: post #15

See, in the present world, the majority of voters have no good prospects - for purely objective, technologically-driven reasons. Therefore, there are only two ways to make society workable - shut down popular democracy, or manipulate. Meaning, there is no way an average American, or even European, would vote for anything which won't be a blatant lie: because it is too grim. Alternatives as i see them are either "demo…

“democracy with prequalification” is not democracy at all

Re: Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

#19

Post by on_and_off »

ianai wrote: post #4

Is there anyone seeing people reflect increased skepticism of internet sourced information following this stuff? Like, I learned in HS to discount the validity and value of “stuff I read on the internet” to 0 until I could verify if through alternate sources.

Maybe even more ? Not to pat my own back but I haven't waited for this to distrust information veracity (whether online or not).

The biggest problem is that you risk to distrust any new information, in particular any information that does not align with your worldview is easier to discard if you just scream "fake news" and get it out of your head without a thought.

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