@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai (Some) Men have this way of covering their deepest, darkest feelings of pessimism with this airheaded optimism that falls apart with the smallest amount of inquiry.
The tech related conversations I've had with some men I've known have run this weird (but now familiar) range of praising how tech will save us because it will allow us to essentially have a Star Trek universe while also saying that most of humanity should die because they're too stupid...
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai And, I think this in and of itself is the whole underlying psychology that is running around unchecked within Silicon Valley and now the world.
It is clearly a range of mental health issues that go alongside being smart in a certain way and not being given way more actual coping skills for being a human being, being around human beings and communicating with said human beings.
There's so much unchecked mental illness that's been set free with AI...
@clarablackink@writing.exchange @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai From listening to some of their pronouncements it strikes me that a lot of them just aren't very well-rounded in terms of knowledge, education and human experience. They've made tons of money out of a field that's clearly very impactful and intellectually stimulating but convinced themselves that it therefore must provide all the answers.
@d_mathieson@mastodon.ie @clarablackink@writing.exchange @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
Yes, but there’s something to be said about immense wealth. It makes you psychopathic. There’s a lot of research back that up.
Super wealthy as a small group reinforces their own thinking with nobody around them who is going to tell him they’re nuts. This is the chief problem with human psychology. We can have dangerous impulses. There’s supposed to be a community to put a lid on that.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai @d_mathieson@mastodon.ie @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green This is a big part of it.
I played Monopoly with my cousins every summer for years and I watched my somewhat egotistic but generally kind cousin turn nasty the one time he lost to me. Playing certain games with certain people you'll really see that transformative effect of the idea that being smart = winning and how the pressure and ego begin to reveal underlying mental health issues.
Competitiveness vs social engagement makes a difference here
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai @d_mathieson@mastodon.ie @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green People who play games for fun tend to be less shitty when the stakes are raised. The ones who see winning as something related to their identity are just beastly about even the smallest hint that someone might be slightly better for a brief moment.
It seems similar with wealth. The more it is correlated to identity, the shittier the people who have it and want it are.
But, there is the underlying anxiety and fear that they are masking.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai @d_mathieson@mastodon.ie @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green I think gaming spaces make it easier to see some of these psychological effects because you can generate wealth out of thin air and you can tune games to be more or less socially rewarding or competitive.
Wealth in life is also similar to in game resources except that it correlates to real resources but, especially with tge most wealthy, that is somewhat false. Many resources are under or overvalued in order to tweak those calculations.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai @d_mathieson@mastodon.ie @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green Which, is especially important to recognize if we want to break this spell we're under.
Tech bros are saying that data centers are more valuable than water. That pixels are more valuable than all life on earth.
They are attempting an end game table flip and we all need to recognize that.
ClaraBlackInk
