Some Nerd Reich holiday reads
Mystery drones, cognitive illusions and moral hierarchies
A few weeks ago, I wrote about "President Musk" and his current effort to take over the US government. In recent days, #PresidentMusk has been trending on social media – not because of anything I've written, but because Musk has gone out of his way to make it crystal clear that he sees himself as the real president.
Donald Trump has even been forced to address the issue, assuring his supporters that Musk can never be president because he was born in South Africa. So, all this talk of President Musk is reaching Trump's ears – and getting on Trump's nerves.
Musk has lots of money, but very little self control. He needs to be the center of attention, all day, every day. But Trump has the same obsessive need to dominate, so I expect fireworks ahead. I'll have more to say on that, soon.
Covering President Musk
Speak of the Devil: Journalist Jennifer Schulze interviewed me on the subject of how reporters should cover Musk. From the interview:
Musk has a talent for turning everything into a joke or a meme, but he is a fountain of disinformation and propaganda, and his plans are deadly serious. If journalism wishes to survive, it must evolve to cover these kinds of threats. Musk can no longer be covered as an eccentric tech CEO, and it’s unethical to give a known propagandist the benefit of the doubt. To cover him accurately and honestly, he must be treated as an existential threat to democracy, free speech and truth. Because that’s what he is.
One of the biggest mistakes the press makes is forgetting that Musk is an enemy of free speech. He pretends to be a champion, and they repeat his false claim like fools. But the first thing he did after buying Twitter was ban a bunch of journalists (including me) for no reason. He is suppressing voices with which he disagrees and boosting those that parrot his beliefs. He regularly does that which he accuses others of doing. So when he calls others the enemies of free speech, he is telling on himself.
Read the whole column here: "Welcome to the United States of Elon" in the Heartland Signal.
Austin Linfante
The Science of 'Mystery Drone' Panic
Over at FrameLab, I wrote about the cognitive biases that help create mass hysterias like the "mystery drone" panic on East Coast. I start with a memory from 40 years ago, when an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared on a stucco wall in East Bakersfield, California.
I was 8 years old and saw it with my own eyes. Or did I?
Was this "miracle" just a potent combination of anchoring bias, confirmation bias and groupthink? Click here to read "Virgin Mirages, Mystery Drones and Other Cognitive Delusions."
Gil Duran
Understanding Tech Authoritarian Hierarchy
Why have certain tech billionaires merged with the MAGA movement in 2024? The superficial explanation suggests it's all about taxes and regulations. But the alignment goes much deeper, and it's ideological in nature.
Over at FrameLab, I offer a preliminary analysis:
To understand why certain Silicon Valley billionaires have aligned with MAGA Republicans in 2024, we must examine their shared worldviews.
Some political observers have drawn a simplistic conclusion about the tech figures backing Trump. They see these billionaires as motivated by a basic desire for lower taxes and fewer regulations. But that’s only part of the story.
While taxes and regulations may be important issues, they do not fully explain the MAGA-tech alliance. In reality, this alliance is about power and about reshaping the world in the 21st century and beyond. A new ideological faction is emerging from Silicon Valley: tech authoritarianism. It overlaps significantly with Trump’s MAGA party and thus has resulted in a (temporary) alliance.
I examine George Lakoff's "conservative moral hierarchy" and offer a revision for the tech-MAGA age. For example:
Men above women:
Tech authoritarians are primarily men. They increasingly embrace a toxic brand of male aggression and supremacy.
They promote aggressive “alpha” masculinity and the new “pronatalism” movement, which redefines women’s roles mostly around subservience and childbearing.
Whites above Nonwhites:
Tech authoritarians are primarily white.
They decry diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, favoring a system that upholds white supremacy, which they consider the traditional (and logical) moral order.
The Rich Over the Poor:
Tech authoritarians are wealthy. They believe the rich should have more power than everyone else.
They are using their massive wealth to reshape politics and tip the scales toward MAGA.
They seek to solve many problems, but never the vast economic inequality from which they derive their power.
Read the whole piece at FrameLab: Understanding the MAGA-Tech Authoritarian Alliance: Hierarchies, Morality, and Shared Beliefs
Gil Duran
Thanks for reading. See you in the New Year.
