Tag Archives: media

The Bright Side of Deepfakes

AI is continually getting better at creating “deepfakes” of real people. A deepfake is an AI-generated image or video that depicts real people saying and doing things they did not actually do. Such deepfakes have fooled viewers into believing the scenes depicted to be real. Many are understandably alarmed about these developments in AI and fear the implications for the future—the political chaos and societal upheaval deepfakes may cause. While such negative outcomes are a worrisome threat, there is an upside to deepfakes as well.

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Newsflash: The News Was Always Fake

Many people today think America is more polarized than ever due to social media and the proliferation of fake news on the internet. But the country was just as polarized (if not more so) in the 1770s and 1860s when there were major wars fought between fellow citizens on American soil. Those were times before television and radio, when newspapers were the only form of media. The early American era was more akin to the present, with rival sources from each side of the political spectrum giving biased news to their bases. The difference then was political conflicts were more localized. Each town had multiple competing local newspapers, so political attention was more regional, as opposed to a national bipolar culture war between two diametrically opposed tribes. The advent of decentralized mass media on the internet allowed that. 

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Best Nonfiction Books I Read in 2022

1. Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious (2018) by Eric Wargo

This is a fascinating book about the type of precognition often experienced in dreams, built off the work of J.W. Dunne. Author Eric Wargo provides numerous famous examples of precognitive dreams, often about traumatic events such as plane crashes or the sinking of the Titanic. Wargo claims such cases of precognition are actually “prememory”: your unconscious mind remembering a future memory, not of the event itself, but of your emotional reaction to learning news of the event. Both the author and I are aware of how crazy and “woo” this all sounds, but Wargo’s research is scientifically rigorous, and he walks a fine line of being both skeptical about paranormal claims but also open-minded to their possibilities (something I wish more on both sides of the paranormal/skeptical debate were willing to do).

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Free Speech is Essential to Find Truth

There is a growing debate between free speech and censorship on the internet. Many believe certain controversial figures with large followings should be banned from their platforms. But why would a tech company ban any single user entirely from its platform, so long as they aren’t breaking the law, no matter how controversial they are deemed to be? After all, “controversial” doesn’t mean “bad” or “wrong,” it just means provoking disagreement—meaning many agree. Though some users will indeed want a controversial user banned, many others will not—and most won’t care at all. Therefore, let the choice be up to each individual user for who they do and do not want to ban. If you don’t like what someone is saying, personally block them, and you’ll never have to hear from them again—but those who do like that user will still get to hear them. This way, everyone wins.

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The Misunderstanding of Elon Musk

Musk-sword

Elon Musk’s appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast will go down in history and be rewatched forever by whatever form of humans/AI exist in the future. I love podcasts and have listened to thousands over the past dozen years, but this one may be my favorite yet. It’s better than the best science fiction movies because it’s not science fiction. High-speed maglev tunnels, self-driving electric cars, solar-powered roofs, AI brain interfaces, space exploration, Mars colonization, and VR simulations are the reality of our present and future. Continue reading