The Dead Internet Theory

[Madre Muerte]

Assuming this is all true (and to me, it appears to be at least very likely, and backed by good evidence) I don't know how to cope with every facet of reality being so manipulated, to the point that I cannot even trust what I see before my eyes in the real world as something genuine.
I can't determine whether a person is real online. I can't determine a real person's thoughts or words to be formed genuinely within their mind or completely farmed by outside influence, again by real people or imposters.
The more I observe, the more I begin to believe that will is a force within this universe; that with enough collective will, anything can come into being. And that will can be artificially created. The will of one or a few, at least those with the proper resources, can become the will of many through these means, and thus that will can become realized. It's like some kind of arcane magic, it reminds me of the shit Kirkbride experienced while high out of his mind, writing Elder Scrolls lore.
I feel like a fucking schizo typing this. That too, is probably the result of someone's desires. Force assimilation, destroy those who will not assimilate. I generally feel like I can deal with a lot, but losing a grip on reality like this - insofar as it can even be called real - instills in me probably the deepest desire to kill myself of anything I've ever experienced.
I don't think I'm at that point yet, but the logical evolution of this phenomenon will probably bring me there. This is the type of reality I would expect in hell.
I don't know what I hope to accomplish by saying all of this. I apologize for the blogpost, but I all of this information being introduced to me in addition to many years of a sort of nebulous feeling that things aren't what they seem has just kind of mindfucked me, and I needed to express that somehow.

Don't think about it, just go along for the ride.

 

[Snom Clubber]

Don't think about it, just go along for the ride.

I know, I try to live by Terry's words. Sometimes it's hard.

 

[Large]

The more I observe, the more I begin to believe that will is a force within this universe; that with enough collective will, anything can come into being. And that will can be artificially created. The will of one or a few, at least those with the proper resources, can become the will of many through these means, and thus that will can become realized. It's like some kind of arcane magic, it reminds me of the shit Kirkbride experienced while high out out of his mind, writing Elder Scrolls lore.

Red 'uns go fasta

 

[Blamo]

The algorithm driven social media platforms pretty much exploit parts of the human mind and turn them into predictable bots. Basically the platforms curate both our reality and our reaction to it.

Also actual bots and shills are really out there. Not to mention the paranoia of the age will make them seem like they are everywhere.

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[12FluidOunces]

(Archive.md seems to be down - I'll archive this as soon as I can)

How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda

The web of 350 fake social media profiles aims to discredit the West, sometimes with garish cartoons.

www.bbc.com

How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda​

Much of the content shared by the network focuses on the US, and in particular on divisive issues like gun laws and race politics.
One of the narratives pushed by the network paints the US as having a poor human rights record. Posts from the fake accounts cite the murder of George Floyd among examples, as well as discrimination against Asians.

I'm not sure how they got 'pro-China' out of this story as it appears this particular network is only used to smear opponents and the USA but whatever, journalism in 2021.

 

[Drkinferno72]

Welcome to your cyberpunk dystopia

No flying cars, but your social media is dictated by AI

 

[ditto]

I'm not sure how they got 'pro-China' out of this story as it appears this particular network is only used to smear opponents and the USA but whatever, journalism in 2021.

Also.. only 350 accounts? Even Boogie has more sockpuppets.

 

[stares at error messages]

Love these kind of threads: they act as a window to the American way of thinking.

Instead of cleaning up USA as their dear constitution perscribes the modern US inhabitant prefers meticulously writing up page long essays describing how the federal, marxist, AI, pharma bot banned them from Twitter.

Cough the aliens made the Internet to learn about what humans were thinking and solve murders really fast. Cough Richard Thieme may have the answers you seek. But here, the walls have eyes.

Gees this cough; maybe I have covid?

 

[ReturnedHermit]

I like this theory. Maybe it is the timing, as I discovered it when I was grinding out some AWS certs and really getting familiar with DevOps. I like the twist on previously held 90's enthusiasm about the internet. "Anything is possible!" slowly becoming "Anything is possible..." until finally "Dear God, at this point anything's possible." When I consider what you can do with the cloud (particularly spot fleets), with conversational AI, with IoT, with all that data, and with algorithmic addiction optimized at the individual level - I feel that combination of awe and fear. A Scanner Darkly comes to mind. A dash of Diamond Age too, now that I think about it.
Anyways, I think this is all good news. Human beings have finally created an ecosystem that threatens them and promises great reward. So many doomers want a purge or filter or whatever other social darwinism... I mean, this is it, pal. On paper, you shouldn't beat a sabertooth. It is faster, stronger, has built-in weapons, better reflexes, can see in the dark, etc etc etc. On paper, you also should not beat an algorithm or an AI. You should not beat a drone, either. The reasons you should not beat these things are similar to the reasons you should not beat a sabertooth. We now have good reasons to work together, push our limits, and evolve again.
It took something like 10,000 years to domesticate the dog if I'm remembering right. A good supplemental study is the aurochs, and the litany of bull symbolism all across the world. We could probably re-domesticate the wolf in 30-60 years if we really wanted to dump money on it. We don't, because the people with power are dumping that money on domesticating you.
Brace for bad futurism: Imagine Jurassic Park but run by robots that are constantly upgraded to be just slightly more dangerous than the captive humans, but also existing in their own sub-park for the captives to gawk at. The robots are controlled by a system beyond the reach of the captives. The panopticon-esque fear that if a captive somehow tries too hard to understand that system it will cause the robots observing them to learn how to break free first. Plato's Prisoners Dilemma or something. Anyways, so long as the "ones running the show" maintain this MAD situation between the biological and the technological progress should be maximized, the human organism advances, and you have some semblance of a natural order once again. If said shadowy elite cabal fucks up, I assume everyone dies. However, I think tethering the evolution of machines to the evolution of humans as a sort of Big Brother (heh) vs Little Brother dynamic is a good strategy. The nefarious powers that be with access to datasets from both robots and humans will have a tremendous advantage, likely becoming a mixture of both along the way. The best genetic modifications and the best technological augmentations rolled into one package. Hopefully they advance so far beyond our comprehension that they leave in search of new horizons, leaving us to choose our own destiny.
The only problem I have with this is I don't even know for sure anymore whether said elites even exist. Maybe we are all choosing our destiny already and the "impending robot takeover" is a result of our collective insecurity. The nihilist, atheist, liberal, etc etc people I know who deeply internalize this "no one is in control" mentality see the sum of human behavior as chaotic. Those people also tend to be the biggest proponents of Big Tech. The ones working in the field quickly dispel all Chicken Little talk about AI because they are predisposed to have a goal in mind when asked about it. They see "chaos" and determine that AI has an inconsequential effect on that chaos, thus it is nothing to worry about. What they really mean is, "The technology is currently being used to do other things rather than what I want it to, progress is being halted. You have nothing to worry about because the company I work for is not interested in changing this chaotic state by any drastic means and actually prefers it. Profit drives the decision-making, so I can't really see a situation where AI is going to threaten profits by minimizing chaos. The hard-AI singularity type situation you fear will likely never come to pass." They usually see it as a matter of direct power. AI has no direct power and the people working on it have no direct power, so AI is powerless. The little things like bots, algorithms, dead internet, etc etc that have a massive impact on hundreds of millions of people are inconsequential to them. I could get into the reasons, but maybe some other time. Long story short:video They don't see how the power of this technology is funnelled away from them to people who work more subtly. They see stupid people slowing them down and nothing more, because they think everyone must obey reason. They see the failure of technology because they see the decline of everything around them and cannot imagine it is the result of their good intentions.
At the end of the day, 8 of the top 9 most valuable companies deal with data and tech while the other 1 is the Saudi royal family. The exact goals of the elites are not clear, but the consolidation of wealth and power through data collection + monopolized services + influence of behavior has reached the point where these are no longer technological innovations. They are institutions determined to maintain their position of dominance by any means necessary. They sell themselves as the future of governance. They cooperate with anyone who can pay, doesn't matter if it is cash, property, or data. Things are coming to a head and if the current state of things is a result of incidental collaboration I am very curious what it will look like when they really start moving in unison. Maybe it will be better.

 

[Regenbogen]

i never found it ;~;

 

[Cheetahman]

Some spooky /a/ shitbots on /qst/ from earlier this year.

/qst/ - Quests » Thread #4647069

Archived.moe is a dedicated archive of all boards from the largest discussion imageboard website 4chan

archived.moe

Observation thread: https://archived.moe/x/thread/27622750
At this point I'm not really surprised to find out that /a/ is half fake, but I'm absolutely livid that some glownigger is using their quantum computers to make Dragon Ball spambots.

 

[:gold:]

Go the fuck outside

 

[Bad Gateway]

View attachment 2456963

I poop in this thread, not you. This is where I poop.

 

[BroccoliBrain]

Just saw this on 4chan. Makes a lot of sense this is happening. I saw another user here comment he would typically see identical comment chains on Reddit threads 2 weeks apart. The exact same comments. Given that they are doing this in "problematic" communities, I wouldn't be surprised if KF is targeted at some point.

View attachment 2194202View attachment 2194203

lol if they want to be convincing they have to teach their bots how to say troons and niggerfaggots.

 

[Cabelaz]

This is genuinely interesting to think about. I hardly participate on social media. Hell I hardly participate here. So does my normalfag friend group. The idea of plebbit being a giant botnet really gets my schizoboner raging.
Does anyone know how much these professional shills or bot managers make?

 

[seri0us]

Does anyone know how much these professional shills or bot managers make?

I make six figs.

 

[DerKryptid]

Yeah the internet is dead bro, I killed it

 

[teriyakiburns]

I make six figs.

That's no good. God hates figs.

 

[12FluidOunces]

The 'Dead-Internet Theory' Is Wrong but Feels True - The Atlantic

archived 31 Aug 2021 13:41:54 UTC

archive.md

Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet ‘Died’ Five Years Ago

A conspiracy theory spreading online says the whole internet is now fake. It’s ridiculous, but possibly not that ridiculous?

www.theatlantic.com

Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet ‘Died’ Five Years Ago​

A conspiracy theory spreading online says the whole internet is now fake. It’s ridiculous, but possibly not that ridiculous?

Good news - The Atlantic has looked into the Dead Internet Theory and done some cutting edge research to show it's fake:

“I’m absolutely the type of loser who would get swindled into living among bots and never realize it,” a member of the 4chan-adjacent Something Awful forum commented when the theory was shared there in February. “Seems like something a bot would post,” someone replied.

The author goes on:

Thankfully, if all of this starts to bother you, you don’t have to rely on a wacky conspiracy theory for mental comfort. You can just look for evidence of life: The best proof I have that the internet isn’t dead is that I wandered onto some weird website and found an absurd rant about how the internet is so, so dead.

So now that The Atlantic has declared it to be "absurd" (it's even in the URL: dead-internet-theory-wrong-but-feels-true) we can all rest easy.

 

[Akashic Retard]

Love these kind of threads: they act as a window to the American way of thinking.

Instead of cleaning up USA as their dear constitution perscribes the modern US inhabitant prefers meticulously writing up page long essays describing how the federal, marxist, AI, pharma bot banned them from Twitter.

It's not the naive devotion to state power that bothers me about Europeans, it's how smug they are about their naivete. Maybe it's because their rinky dink "intelligence services" spend all their time arresting citizens for saying muslims smell bad online, and don't have a storied and publicly known history of manipulating public opinion in foreign countries and at home for political ends like the United States' do. It creates an inferiority complex, always living in the United State's shadow.