Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: Zuckermuskian solopsism; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/18/seeing-like-a-billionaire/
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@pluralistic Reading this thread reminded me of the study I saw not too long ago, where researchers observing traffic at an intersection found a strong correlation between how expensive a car was, and how likely the driver was to ignore pedestrians trying to cross at a crosswalk. Not sure whether it's that affluence kills empathy, or that people without empathy can more easily become affluent. Probably some of both.
@pluralistic it looks like a terror-clown
@pluralistic @traverso I do like solo-psism as an extreme version of solipsism ... matches the mindset of the billionaire set. "My obsessive quest for enshitification is a result of my existential belief that I am the only person that matters."
@pluralistic I knew artists working with horror dolls. Your illustration is the epitome of what a horror doll means! 😁
Zuckermuskian solopsism: They just don't think other people are real.
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115050430725985761
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Hey look at this
* The Alternative https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-alternative (h/t Naked Capitalism)
* Is Price Fixing Protected by the 1st Amendment? https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/08/is-price-fixing-protected-by-the-first-amendment.html
* FT Business Book of the Year https://www.ft.com/content/b64257f1-2949-42e9-85a1-a115bdfc7d11
* Google is killing the open web https://wok.oblomov.eu/tecnologia/google-killing-open-web/ (h/t Mastodon Explore)
* How the Government Built the American Dream House https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/how-the-government-built-the-american-dream-house (h/t Naked Capitalism)
* Antitrust Liability Obligates Structural Change https://www.thesling.org/antitrust-liability-obligates-structural-change/
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@pluralistic ew, isn't new atlantis some right-wing site?
#20yrago PC disguised as a set of encyclopedia volumes https://www.mini-itx.com/projects/encyclomedia/
#20yrago Nobel economist on harm lurking in copyright monopolies https://web.archive.org/web/20060217023906/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-8-2005_pg5_12
#15yrsago Heinlein biography: LEARNING CURVE – the secret history of science fiction https://memex.craphound.com/2010/08/16/heinlein-memoir-learning-curve-the-secret-history-of-science-fiction/
#10yrago LAPD & Chicago bought “Stingrays on steroids” with asset-forfeiture & DHS money https://revealnews.org/article/chicago-and-los-angeles-have-used-dirt-box-surveillance-for-a-decade/
#10yrsago NSA kremlinology: spooks outsourced lawbreaking to AT&;T https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/08/was-nsa-trying-outsource-responsibilty-its-fourth-amendment-violations
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#10yrsago German chefs can claim copyright over the arrangement of food on plates https://www.techdirt.com/2015/08/17/germany-says-taking-photos-food-infringes-chefs-copyright/
#10yrsago Massive Star Wars lands coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World https://web.archive.org/web/20150815230427/http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/08/star-wars-themed-lands-coming-to-walt-disney-world-and-disneyland-resorts/
#10yrsago America’s “worst voting machines” dropped in Virgina (at last) https://www.wired.com/2015/08/virginia-finally-drops-americas-worst-voting-machines/
#5yrsago No one wants an H1B visa https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/17/aura-of-benevolence/#crickets
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#5yrsago Amazon bans podcasts that criticize Amazon #https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/16/combat-wheelchairs/#nondisparagement
#5yrsago Combat Wheelchairs https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/16/combat-wheelchairs/#combat-wheelchairs
#5yrsago How to Argue With a Racist https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/16/combat-wheelchairs/#race-realism
#5yrsago Self-driving cars are bullshit https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/16/combat-wheelchairs/#car-wreck
#1yrago MIT libraries are thriving without Elsevier https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/16/the-public-sphere/#not-the-elsevier
#1yrago "Disenshittify or Die" https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/17/hack-the-planet/#how-about-a-nice-game-of-chess
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Saturday's threads: LLMs are slot-machines; and more!
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115039036055524015
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