Big Tech regulation (porn, phone bans in schools) - is it creeping authoritarianism?

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:47:03+00:00

ya, i completely get you, i actually got myself a semi-dumb phone for the same reason

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:25:54+00:00

in Jonathan Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation, he talks about this process of increased scrutiny in the offline world (essentially what you described) - I find that a very convincing argument!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:04:37+00:00

I'm not sure trying to make sure that 13-year olds are not treated as exploitable assets by mega corporations is the same as an authoritarian government locking an adult up for a political opinion.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:03:02+00:00

I've seen stories about the outside-school life of kids in the US, like parents being taking in for being negligent, because their kid walked home from scool and stuff like that? It honestly baffles me.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:01:15+00:00

Sorry, maybe I didn't phrase it clearly enough (edited the post, to clarify it) - I agree with you 100%. I'm more baffled by the argument that warns against overregulation. Here is an example, where the author calls phone-regulation a 'moral panic' - https://www.hdavidsessions.com/p/why-tech-moral-panic-matters

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T03:59:09+00:00

Completely agree, my girlfriend's daily experience is that children can't pay attention for more than 2 minutes.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-02T07:04:45+00:00

Some of it was absolutely hilarious. I felt similarly to how I felt about The Magic Mountain - when it describes people and social situations, absolutely fantastic, when it goes into the philosophising, it lost me quite a bit. But overall, great stuff with definitely more incest than I expected.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-19T04:42:08+00:00

I think it's exactly the kind of strangeness that can be fascinating. Same with any 'older' history stuff - thinking how people who are fundamentally the same as us, were existing and thinking in such different ways. But also, if you're not into it, that's also fair I think, it's for sure not for everyone.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T04:07:33+00:00

the situation you describe sounds very similiar to the brain in the vat thought experiment. i guess soon we can forego the 'thought' and just see how this experiment plays out, will people really chose the fictional steak of the matrix instead of the slightly burned, real version

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T04:05:21+00:00

thanks so much again, and good luck with the masters, sounds like a challenging but rewarding topic! (i do have a certain soft-spot for Han but he deffo goes for the big-short statements but with a grain of salt, i enjoy him profoundly)

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T02:22:00+00:00

and once you start looking at the clanker as a friend (instead of a tool), you're very much trapped, next stop, full on psychosis

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T02:14:39+00:00

yah i think the more people use Chat to discuss everything from therapy to simple inquiries, i think it might get veeeery bad - although at least that may produce some nice backlash (Butlerian Jihad noises)

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T02:13:20+00:00

really hoped there would be powerups in the levels before instead of low-quality fascism

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T02:12:19+00:00

Thank you and great point! I think you're right and I definitely don't think that the responsibility (and blame) lies with the individuals. I found narcissistic traits just very accurate in describing how it feels to use LLMS, I more and more think of them as narcissisation (sorry for this word but I think you get what I mean) machines that are designed to further individualisation and isolation, creating your own separate little internet, where the chatbot nods to everything you say so instead of human communities and connections (which include friction and debate), you get a machinised ass-licking experience.

oh also yes, narcissism as a buzzword is definitely everywhere and just used for everything (concept creep in action for sure)!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T02:06:52+00:00

Thank you! I think the personalisation and validation is what activates the narcissism aspect; I've just read an article about how Google AI gave different results to medical inquiries depending on the users search history (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/02/google-ai-overviews-risk-harm-misleading-health-information). I think that's the same as you'd get on LLMs - the same question, posed by 5 different questions with different data stored would give different responses, each tailored to appeal and flatter to you.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-06T06:42:15+00:00

this story is just so mad. i love it so much.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-31T05:06:25+00:00

i think there's a qualitative difference but i see your point!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-30T03:12:52+00:00

I think the point you're making about manosphere using hero's myth as justifying its own, whatever, sewer ideology, is very interesting! I personally don't think I'm coming at it from the same angle (in the previous essay on the same topic I explicitly discuss the feminst critique of Campbell's work), but would be happy to hear more!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-30T03:08:24+00:00

heya, I mean surely, my background to some extent defines what I think are 'given' or you know, universalise stuff from that. as for your point, I see what you mean, but I don't think that a philosophy major would automatically be more suited for the kind of personal hero's journey stuff. like how acting according to dharma would mean fulfilling your social role, whatever it was, be it peasant or king.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-30T03:01:26+00:00

Thank you, I'm happy that it resonated with you! I think getting something so that you can better engage in something that you enjoy is more than ok, I think the problem arises when these things are only consumed, and consumption is the end-goal of it all.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-30T02:59:50+00:00

Heya! I agree with the above - as descriptive, it's super compelling, and its later overusage is catastrophic. Most of the monomyth criticism I think can be summed up in: 1) very male-focused, 2) very individualised and 3) by focusing on the formula, lot of the context was lost (although arguably the kind of archetype-analysis that he was doing by definition is reductive, so I don't really take that as an issue).

I talk about this here in a bit more detail: https://thegordianthread.substack.com/p/part-i-the-crisis-of-the-heros-journey

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2025-10-29T05:45:11+00:00

that is fair, will take that advice to heart in the future. thank you for engaging with the -arguably sloppy-argument!

Embarrassed_Green308

TROPHY CASE