Zawinski’s Law in action

You’re significantly worse off assuming your government is adversarial than cooperative, regardless of what reality may be, and the majority of us know that. It’s why the chaos psyops aren’t working. We’re not happy with our government but apes together strong

These dismissals based on the source rather than the material are getting really annoying. We’re supposed to be intellectuals here, we can do better than that.

(Ad-hominem is not a counter-example btw)

Nothing about GP's comment is ad-hominem; it's neutral, factual context. Unless you dispute the factual claims?

It's counterfactual. The think tank has nothing to do with Russia and official denounces the invasion and upholds Ukraine's territorial rights. They have simply written critically about the role NATO has played in making this conflict inevitable and the history of NATO sabotage of peace negotiations.

> The think tank has nothing to do with Russia and official denounces the invasion and upholds Ukraine's territorial rights.

GP did not claim it was associated with Russia or that it had made specific claims about the invasion.

> They have simply written critically about the role NATO has played in making this conflict inevitable and the history of NATO sabotage of peace negotiations.

That seems aligned with the original claims.

In their own words

> We categorically condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and support U.S. assistance for Ukraine’s self-defense.

How is that possibly aligned with GP's blatant lies?

Literally in the same piece:

It has been suggested that QI’s approach is insufficiently critical of Russia. A cursory search of our writings and our website shows this to be false.

I wonder why would anyone suggest that, and frequently enough they have to get out of their way to write a disclaimer?

> How is that possibly aligned with GP's blatant lies?

Mate it's 2026, your gaslighting doesn't work for a few years now.

You’ve never heard it before because explicitly signaling “I know basic set theory” is kind of cringy

Is the implication that they are in fact the same thing or that you don’t like Elon?

Internet points demand obscure references these days. My system prompt has its own area code

Suppose you've managed to get a job as an editor at Communications of the ACM. As "Editor, Communications of the ACM" what do you think your job is?

This may explain the phenomenon but it certainly doesn’t excuse it - just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s smart or morally correct

They’re not being paid, at least not directly. They don’t need to be. “Educational” “content” is a play to increase the personal profile as a “thought leader.” This turns into invitations to conferences and ultimately funnels into sales of courses and other financial opportunities

Hype marketing can look spontaneous, but it's almost always planned. And once the momentum starts, others jump in. Influencers and opportunists ride the wave to promote themselves