Interesting Links for 06-08-2025

[andrewducker]

1. Scientific fraud has become an industry, alarming analysis finds

(tags:science research publishing fraud OhForFucksSake )

2. An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine (Finds that less than 2% of the money raised goes to the candidates)

(tags:democrats fundraising corruption )

3. Didn't Take Long To Reveal The UK's Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About

(tags:UK privacy censorship politics OhForFucksSake )

4. World Athletics' mandatory genetic test for women athletes is misguided. I should know - I discovered the relevant gene in 1990

(tags:genetics sports gender )

5. Tech billionaires are arguing amongst themselves about how exactly humanity should go extinct

(tags:extinction humans ai thefuture )

6. When Disney Went Digital (earlier than you'd think)

(tags:Disney history computers technology art animation movies )

7. Labour got a bunch of former-Conservative voters in Scotland, and are now in danger of shedding them to Reform (might explain a few things)

(tags:scotland politics Conservatives labour )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

Thank you. Good stuff, pretty informative.

[calimac]

3) Peter Kyle's offensive comment is an example of how supporters of measures disbelieve in disagreement over tactics - the question of whether the measure will achieve its goal. Instead, they read all disagreements as over the basic goals - despite that reading not making any sense.

4) It was a half century ago that I took courses in genetics and molecular biology, and I learned way back then that biology is messy, and that the notion that humanity is divided into two neat little boxes labeled M and F, is a fallacy.

5) I haven't encountered anybody advocating extinction as described here, but I did once know a man who was looking forward with pleasure to the idea of uploading his consciousness into a machine. But he suddenly died young, and if he'd known how fragile his physical envelope was, that might explain his attitude.

5.

[channelpenguin]

I never really cared about the long term survival of humanity. I am pretty sure the planet will host some sorts of life until the sun goes boom. I am also pretty sure that there are untold numbers of other lifeforms on other planets (and in other types of places out there too maybe).

But my views are not like any of those mentioned.

Those do seem to me to be like religion, suffering here on Earth is irrelevant it is your immortal engrams uploaded into *whatever* that matter (or we are all damned and deserve to die out). So it just gets filed in my brain under "total bollocks" the same way. Of course 1) it is a subject of scientific curiousity as to the psychology / sociology that leads people to think/feel/act like that - including myself and my views noted above. 2) it could fuck things up for lots of people,animals,plants etc. in the interim. Which isn't nice Sigh.

Re: 5.

[calimac]

The topic here isn't the demise of humanity in the long term, but the murder of it in the short term. That's the difference.

Re: 5.

[channelpenguin]

Ok. I read something wrong then. I didn't pick up any greater short term harm than what we're currently doing with extractive capitalism and utter disregard for the environment (which is shit, of course).

I guess I missed a bit advocating direct murder as opposed to "merely" a callous disregard for collateral damage?

Re: 5.

[channelpenguin]

Ok, I guess if you believe that AGI will *inevitably* wipe out humanity.

Re: 5.

[calimac]

You brought up "the long term survival of humanity." That's what I'm contrasting this to, not environmental collapse. Which is a different problem, and if that happens it could stop AGI.

"advocating direct murder" - it's murder if the advocates actually want it to happen and are encouraging it. Which they are.

I'm not the one who believes that "AGI will inevitably wipe out humanity." The people described in the article are the ones who believe it. It's their beliefs and goals that are the issue here.

Re: 5.

[channelpenguin]

Yes, it's always been clear that those views are not yours! I don't support any of these guys views, to make that also clear (I think humans should instead concentrate our time, energy and money on stopping and reversing environmental damage - at least in as far as it's possible at this stage.)

I did not, on a re-read of the article find mention of direct killing), but that's perhaps a niggle at this stage.

Re: 5.

[calimac]

You did write, "if you believe that AGI will 'inevitably' wipe out humanity," and it wasn't clear that "you" meant "a person" and not "me, calimac."

Second point: it's less than a niggle. If you (a person) take an action that you believe will result in the death of a human, and especially if you approve and encourage this result, then if the person does die as a result that is clearly murder. I suspect that even if they don't die, it's still attempted murder. (It doesn't have to be direct: setting up a Rube Goldberg or Heath Robinson contraption with the intention of killing somebody with it isn't "direct" but it's equally culpable.) The people being discussed in the post are not only advocating, but undertaking and promoting, actions which they believe will result in the imminent extinction of the human race. To call this anything less than a plan for murder would be grotesque; genocide or other such words might be even better.

Re: 5.

[channelpenguin]

Indeed I did. I should have use "one" but that has fallen out of casual use in English (but not in German!). Apologies.

Yes, genocide is a better word. By niggle, I mean that it was not truly clear to me that ALL those people are all advocating for the genocide of humanity. But certainly some are. So I meant that for me to quibble over me finding no explicit mention was "a niggle" not that the fact that some people have effectively genocidal plans is "a niggle"! Because that is NOT. And I DO believe that at at least some people have such plans.

Re: 5.

[bens_dad]

Sadly I don't think we can prosecute them for murder/attempted murder until the result occurs. Conspiracy to murder might be an option ...