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MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

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Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#201

Post by munk-a »

gzread wrote: post #178
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Palantir isn't a good name. It's a disastrously bad one, if you ask me. It's a constant scandal as every five minutes somebody gets the bright idea that "ackshually the Palantir were a tool for evil made by a demon!!" They're never able to live it down. It always comes up. And it makes them seem, in a way, careless.

It's a great name if your target customer base is people who want to be evil by surveilling everything. Behold my next company, "Eye of Sauron LLC"

Nah - that customer base would much rather a mean-nothing name like "Salesforce". The real evil people don't revel so much in their evilness they're much more in the "ends justify the means" camp where they can try and hide their evilness from their conscience. Nobody wants to wear a pin saying "I am, in fact, a terrible person that the world would be better without."

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#202

Post by ljm »

Calavar wrote: post #182
__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #121

Obviously, just look at what the Palantir stones did to Saruman and Denethor. They're a corrupting force, both in the middle-earth case and in the our-earth case. Thiel has made no secret of his intent to use technology to dispense with that pesky democracy problem that billionaires have, and Palantir is pretty obviously his attempt to do just that. It's a reductio-ad-absurdum argument against listening to your citiz…

I still don't understand why Theil and Karp decided to name their surveillance tech company after a device that is best known for being used by an evil dark lord to decieve and corrupt. It's like the Mitchell and Webb skit "are we the baddies" except they're the ones who designed the uniforms with skulls on them.

I don't think you have to understand why they made that decision, you just have to understand who they are and what they believe in. Just have a look at what they talk about, and what they are quoted as saying.

Then it will start to make sense.

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#203

Post by cindyllm »

SlinkyOnStairs wrote: post #163
epistasis wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever I see Alex Karp speak I wonder why they can't even pretend to put on sheep's clothing. It says a lot about the breakdown of current US society and democracy that Palantir's leadership feels free to speak in the way that they do. People will not forget, because we all suspected that they were like this, but when given a tiny bit of power by electing a transient and weak president, they pulled their masks off…

> Whenever I see Alex Karp speak I wonder why they can't even pretend to put on sheep's clothing. Because shedding the sheepskin is the point. It's performative. A display of power. It doesn't matter that Karp has destroyed his brain with cocaine, nor that he's a massive bigot. It's a signal. "We have won. You can't stop us". > will likely lose all US revenue as soon as democratic check and balances are restored. The…

[dead]

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#204

Post by scarecrowbob »

bilbo0s wrote: post #78
dlev_pika wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascism puts a heavy emphasis on aesthetics

Italian fascists did have fashion forward uniforms. So did the German Nazis back then now I think about it. Maybe there is something with cult-like thinking, fascist or not, where the aesthetics seduces more people into wanting to be a part of it all?

There's a bit of writing in that direction if you're curious. I like Benjamin quite a but and have gotten a lot out of his thinking. Here's the wiki-level entry to it:

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

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#205

Post by generic92034 »

alephnerd wrote: post #193
generic92034 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the EU cannot work with China as long as China backs Russia and undermines European industrial exports. I mean, that is not that huge a difference compared to the USA (lifting sanctions against Russia, no tariffs there either, but plenty tariffs for "allies"; threatening NATO members in several ways; taking over Russia's "peace" plans for Ukraine 1:1 and putting the pressure solely on Ukraine; (I could go on fo…

> that is not that huge a difference compared to the USA It is for the EU. The EU dislikes the current deprioritization of the Ukraine Conflict by the US, but also recognizes that the PRC is directly providing material support and subsidizing Russia's military industrial complex [0]. That is the red line for much of the EU. Similarly, for the PRC it's continued support of Russia in their war in Ukraine is also a non-…

Very bold words. I am not even convinced the USA will stay relevant on the world stage, in the long run. Cutting ties hurts, but the process is underway. Also, "vassalage" is a bold word, if the US cannot make the EU give up Greenland or come running to help them in the Strait of Hormuz (there are also other examples). It is almost as if European politicians are playing it smart.

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#206

Post by 0x3f »

KaiserPro wrote: post #199
0x3f wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly haven't heard him talk much, so would appreciate specific quotes for my analysis/interpretation.

https://www.ft.com/content/a46cb128-1f74-4621-ab0b-242a76583... He has a paper thin understanding of classics, which he then uses a device to sprinkles everywhere to make him appear more clever. https://fortune.com/2026/02/04/peter-thiel-antichrist-greta-... I can't find the speech anymore, but his basic thrust is that Tunberg and anyone who thinks that unleashing raw AI on the internet is an antichrist. They are the…

I'm not sure being a pseudointellectual (if that's what he is) would make him evil, would it?

I've seen his 'antichrist' talk as part of headlines out of context and to be honest assumed that this is a rhetorical/hyperbolic device, rather than a literal thing. Is your claim that he actually literally thinks someone is the antichrist? So far he just seems to be someone with a bent against degrowthers?

Is there a specific quote or position that makes him _evil_? Rather than just ill-informed or with an unpopular political opinion? Like he might just believe in tech growth at all costs because he really does think it will benefit everyone, or he might pretend to think that because he thinks it will benefit him at the expense of everyone else. It's hard to tell from what you've provided so far.

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#207

Post by thatguy0900 »

Calavar wrote: post #182
__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #121

Obviously, just look at what the Palantir stones did to Saruman and Denethor. They're a corrupting force, both in the middle-earth case and in the our-earth case. Thiel has made no secret of his intent to use technology to dispense with that pesky democracy problem that billionaires have, and Palantir is pretty obviously his attempt to do just that. It's a reductio-ad-absurdum argument against listening to your citiz…

I still don't understand why Theil and Karp decided to name their surveillance tech company after a device that is best known for being used by an evil dark lord to decieve and corrupt. It's like the Mitchell and Webb skit "are we the baddies" except they're the ones who designed the uniforms with skulls on them.

Because it's funny and they genuinely don't care whether or not they're bad guys

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#208

Post by kypro »

LunaSea wrote: post #64
kypro wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If by spectrum the psychopathy spectrum is meant, then yes, he's on the spectrum.

People frequently misunderstand me for someone who is lacking emotions.

I can't speak for Karp but I just experience and express them differently.

He may be on the psychopathy spectrum. I don't know. But it wouldn't surprise me if people are misunderstanding him.

Given you're making assumptions that he is on the psychopathy spectrum here, I will assume statistically that's unlikely and it's much more likely that people are simply misunderstanding him in ways people often misunderstand neurodivergent individuals.

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#209

Post by thatguy0900 »

qweiopqweiop wrote: post #69

Can someone explain why Palantir are seen as such a threat? My understanding is their product is a PowerBI++ and they don't host any user data themselves. Are people scared of backdoors?

Even if the software is mundane I don't think most people should want their country offloading sensitive spy stuff to a guy who's obsessed with the antichrist to the extent the Vatican itself is complaining he's going to Rome and giving secret speeches about it.

Re: MoD sources warn Palantir role at heart of government is threat to UK security

#210

Post by alephnerd »

generic92034 wrote: post #205
alephnerd wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that is not that huge a difference compared to the USA It is for the EU. The EU dislikes the current deprioritization of the Ukraine Conflict by the US, but also recognizes that the PRC is directly providing material support and subsidizing Russia's military industrial complex [0]. That is the red line for much of the EU. Similarly, for the PRC it's continued support of Russia in their war in Ukraine is also a non-…

Very bold words. I am not even convinced the USA will stay relevant on the world stage, in the long run. Cutting ties hurts, but the process is underway. Also, "vassalage" is a bold word, if the US cannot make the EU give up Greenland or come running to help them in the Strait of Hormuz (there are also other examples). It is almost as if European politicians are playing it smart.

And my question is - are you fine sacrificing Ukraine in return for a Russian and Chinese military umbrella? This is the hard requirement for China to engage with the EU [0].

The answer in Poland, the Baltics, Czechia, and Finland is NO and that Russia is worse and that Ukraine must be supported, and will back the US no matter how transactional we become.

The answer in Hungary, Slovakia, and Belgium [1] is YES and that sacrificing Ukraine for Russia is acceptable.

[0] - https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3316875/china-...

[1] - https://www.ft.com/content/4ce01938-a671-4433-83a7-dada2b3ba...

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