Scott, many of us feel exactly the same way as you do. The challenge here is that money, power and cognitive dissonance rule. We live in a world where technology, science and knowledge are exceedingly available yet, facts are no longer facts. The earth is flat on Tuesday. Even if we choose to live as a “libertarian” we are certainly impacted by the consequences of the decisions of others. No seatbelt for me but the flying body is what killed the passengers in the other car. It pains me to read this because it pains me in general. What world are we advancing? AI is a lot of cool fun stuff AND bologna at the same time. I use it where it may be useful but it can quickly become a burden because of the lack of facts espoused. In this world where lies are just the norm, I don’t know how to approach this problem without potentially causing more harm.
You’ve named something I can’t solve, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
The article problem is a symptom. The disease is that we’ve lost shared epistemology. When facts are negotiable, persuasion becomes a power game rather than a truth seeking exercise. The best funded narrative wins, not the most accurate one. And any tool of persuasion, including a well researched article with citations, can be mirrored by the other side with equal production quality and opposite conclusions. You end up in an arms race where the weapons are indistinguishable from the defenses.
The seatbelt analogy exposes the libertarian fantasy. There is no opt-out. The billionaire’s climate decisions affect your coastline. The AI company’s training choices shape your information environment. The venture capitalist’s bet on fusion over solar affects whether the grid holds. We are downstream of each other whether we acknowledge it or not.
We probably can’t win the epistemological war, but we can at least document it, and discuss it, because silence is the only guaranteed loss, and the record might matter to someone we’ll never meet…
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin
Scott, many of us feel exactly the same way as you do. The challenge here is that money, power and cognitive dissonance rule. We live in a world where technology, science and knowledge are exceedingly available yet, facts are no longer facts. The earth is flat on Tuesday. Even if we choose to live as a “libertarian” we are certainly impacted by the consequences of the decisions of others. No seatbelt for me but the flying body is what killed the passengers in the other car. It pains me to read this because it pains me in general. What world are we advancing? AI is a lot of cool fun stuff AND bologna at the same time. I use it where it may be useful but it can quickly become a burden because of the lack of facts espoused. In this world where lies are just the norm, I don’t know how to approach this problem without potentially causing more harm.
You’ve named something I can’t solve, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
The article problem is a symptom. The disease is that we’ve lost shared epistemology. When facts are negotiable, persuasion becomes a power game rather than a truth seeking exercise. The best funded narrative wins, not the most accurate one. And any tool of persuasion, including a well researched article with citations, can be mirrored by the other side with equal production quality and opposite conclusions. You end up in an arms race where the weapons are indistinguishable from the defenses.
The seatbelt analogy exposes the libertarian fantasy. There is no opt-out. The billionaire’s climate decisions affect your coastline. The AI company’s training choices shape your information environment. The venture capitalist’s bet on fusion over solar affects whether the grid holds. We are downstream of each other whether we acknowledge it or not.
We probably can’t win the epistemological war, but we can at least document it, and discuss it, because silence is the only guaranteed loss, and the record might matter to someone we’ll never meet…
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin