a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by b_b
b_b  ·  880 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Facebook wants to lean into the metaverse. Here's what it is and how it will work

But this all makes a ton of sense when you stop to consider that Zuckerberg is the archetypal badguy from bad Marvel-level sci fi. It's as if he saw the Matrix and really sympathized with the robots who were giving all those useless, ungrateful humans food and shelter.





kleinbl00  ·  880 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Facebook makes sense if you presume that Mark Zuckerberg is a sociopath that has built a successful industry by hiring sociopaths.

EDITED TO ADD:

Something pointed out in Yuval Hariri's Sapiens is that Neanderthals were smarter than us. They had bigger brains. They initially had more sophisticated rituals. But they also limited their socialization to small family groups.

Cro Magnons, on the other hand, were smaller-brained but more social. The result was that they formed larger social groups, which allowed a greater spread of innovation - if you invent an atlatl but you only show your family, the tribe that shows 150 people how to use an atlatl is going to kick your ass.

Hariri didn't make the link that sociopathy and libertarianism are basically neanderthal behavior, but I will. Society exists because we evolved to protect it. There are deviants from the norm but by and large, the structure only works when the participants have a heapin' helpin' of altruism.

It is my measured opinion that as soon as we normalize our relationships with algorithmically-mediated content and landscapes, the initial benefit gained from sociopathy will be neutralized.