Elon & Twitter

[Norbert]

...
Because I'm really unaware of any schools that don't teach that Washington was the first POTUS and the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army (which is what I learned), so if he's going to make such a claim, he should give the names.

This. In so far as that little story actually happened (and it wasn't just a teenager reply to a right-wing father), might as well claim that happened as a result of anti-woke-ism turning racial issues into a divisive hotly debated topic. Otherwise it would be just an obvious part of history. Is it not remarkable that as a Founding Father, Washington was (still) engaged in slavery, that this wasn’t the point in history where slavery was abolished, and not the point in history where women were granted voting rights, that freedom wasn’t achieved in a single step 1776? Is it perhaps more about promoting the right wing meme that wokeness is not patriotic, than about a problem in education that might cause the end of civilization (which was part of Bill Maher’s question)?

I've heard about illiteracy and other shortcomings in US education long before wokeness became a thing, now suddenly wokeness is to blame?

Or wokeness is "anti-meritocratic”. Yes it is, however it is meant to balance the "anti-meritocratic" effects of racism itself, the long-term goal is to achieve an overall higher meritocratic level. Or is there a privileged part of society where minorities and women are already over-represented in general? Is that a real problem? If this isn't about denying the actual problem, then what is the real problem and what to do about it?

I can't see how any of that conversation can be considered substantial in any way. How any of that would be the words of a wise man.

 

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652441759899865088

 

[brkaus]

I asked my daughter l, high school junior about George Washington. She answered first President, revolutionary war, and owned slaves. I asked where she heard about the slaves and she said twitter is talking about it now. Didn’t cover on school.

 

[Electroman]

I seriously doubt our education system is only labelling the Founding Fathers as slave owners.

Some people either deliberately or by design are not making an attempt the get the nuance of a message being delivered.

Musk was not blaming our curriculum. Musk was not blaming our education system in general. What Musk was saying is, there is culture being fostered in our educational institutions not by design, but out of just peer pressure where some aspects are given much less weightage than others. For example a class discussion or a debate might dwell on the slave ownership of Washington in depth, while glossing over other aspects of his contribution.

 

[STS-134]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652441759899865088

Twitter is social media.

Some people either deliberately or by design are not making an attempt the get the nuance of a message being delivered.

Musk was not blaming our curriculum. Musk was not blaming our education system in general. What Musk was saying is, there is culture being fostered in our educational institutions not by design, but out of just peer pressure where some aspects are given much less weightage than others.

What my AP US history teacher said was (and I'm paraphrasing) something along the lines of "George Washington and many of the other Founding Fathers owned slaves. This shouldn't be surprising, because they were mostly wealthy landowners and this group of people at this time period tended to own slaves. And you have to view them through a lens appropriate to the historical period in which they lived." It was something we discussed, but there wasn't much of a point in discussing it in detail because a lot of people who are "nobodys" (historically speaking) also owned slaves. The reason we discuss the Founding Fathers is because of their historically significant actions.

For example a class discussion or a debate might dwell on the slave ownership of Washington in depth, while glossing over other aspects of his contribution.

At which schools does this occur? Name them.

 

[DrGriz]

Some people either deliberately or by design are not making an attempt the get the nuance of a message being delivered.

Musk was not blaming our curriculum. Musk was not blaming our education system in general. What Musk was saying is, there is culture being fostered in our educational institutions not by design, but out of just peer pressure where some aspects are given much less weightage than others. For example a class discussion or a debate might dwell on the slave ownership of Washington in depth, while glossing over other aspects of his contribution.

Oh, yeah. I remember now. He said all of that.

/s

 

[Electroman]

Oh, yeah. I remember now. He said all of that.

/s

 

[InDaClub]

Don't shoot the messenger.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652478499704418304

There's always Bluesky.

 

[italian bread]

Don't shoot the messenger.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652478499704418304

Not at you, but at the tweet…

Message appears to be saying people shouldn’t criticize or voice their discontent aka put up or shut up… funny thing to suggest doing about a “public square” owned by a “free speech absolutist”.

 

[italian bread]

Dark Brandon shows up at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Roy Wood Jr. Torches Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon at the WHCD

Biden cracked a few jokes, including that Rupert Murdoch is so old he makes him "look like Harry Styles," Fox News reporters are there because they "can't afford to say no to a free meal" following the $787 million Dominion settlement, and mocked Elon Musk's tweet that NPR should be "defunded," saying that "the best way to make NPR go away is for Elon Musk to buy it."​

 

[JRP3]

Don't shoot the messenger.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652478499704418304

There's always Bluesky.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652478728075632640

 

[italian bread]

Oh, yeah. I remember now. He said all of that.

/s

There are a lot of Musk Whisperers on this forum.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Not at you, but at the tweet…

Message appears to be saying people shouldn’t criticize or voice their discontent aka put up or shut up… funny thing to suggest doing about a “public square” owned by a “free speech absolutist”.

Elon made cancel culture okay now.

 

[sunwarriors]

Don't shoot the messenger.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652478499704418304

There's always Bluesky.

Top Twitter influencers flee to Bluesky amid Musk’s continued debasing

Bluesky's CEO clarified: "Twitter does not own us."

arstechnica.com

I could see the distributed social media platforms "work" if news orgs are on 1, other topics on another, etc...But from that article, it's still relatively new with the usual new company issues. The main thing going for it is that it was originally started by Dorsey so you assume he knows how to create something like Twitter (which he already did) and possibly not having trouble with funding as some rich folks may want to invest/have an alternative to Twitter/Musk.

 

[Tiger]

So, is the world going to be a better place if the Babylon Bee can misgender people on Twitter?

It is ironic that gender labeling is fashionable while racial mislabeling is going out of fashion.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652554191527706624

 

[STS-134]

When Elon Musk Killed the Blue Check Mark, He Actually Took Away Something Much Bigger

Twitter verification went from a mark of reliability to one of shame.

slate.com

The Life and Death of the Blue Check Mark​

The blue check, once a symbol of reliability, became a symbol so toxic that major accounts not only refused to subscribe to Twitter Blue—they didn’t even want it when Elon Musk gave it to them for free...
With his changes to the platform’s verification system, Elon Musk has managed to transform the blue check mark: First into a tool for fraud, and then into a mark of shame...
The blue check mark wasn’t meant to generate revenue; it was a way to address a problem on social media. The verification process was partly the result of a lawsuit by then–St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa after the site failed to take down accounts impersonating him. Users could make accounts and post content that looked like it was from other users. These fraud issues made public figures not want to use the platform, and Twitter wanted to keep those accounts around because of the engagement they generated. La Russa voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit...
The check mark allowed verified users to transmit a sense of authority—for journalists, academics, and other not traditionally famous but nevertheless in-the-public-eye people, it functioned as sort of badge of honor and a way to show significance within the field. It was also a way for Twitter to demonstrate to the public figures and brands who brought in money as content generators and advertisers that it was serious about addressing misrepresentation and fraud...
This whole spectacle is an example of the idea that introducing payments for a good or service can change the thing we’re buying. In some cases, this is because the good is supposed to be responsive to something other than money—like verification of identity, in the case of the check mark. For this reason, the philosopher Michael Sandel argues some goods and services should not be for sale; his preferred example is a Nobel Prize, which should be responsive to achievements in the field rather than monetary considerations. If something can be bought, then it can be hijacked to create the appearance of achievement or (in the case of the blue check) verification...
Now, the meaning is completely different: It signals brand support (for Musk himself, not just Twitter as a product). Once a symbol of verification, the blue check mark may now turn into an internationally recognized jersey for team Musk—and in doing so, kill off a valuable part of the company’s legacy.

 

[JRP3]

The Biden DOJ is throwing a man in jail for posting memes back in 2016

“The defendant, Douglass Mackey, tried to steal people’s right to vote,” a prosecutor, Turner Buford, told jurors Monday morning during his opening statement. “He did it by spreading a fraud.”

Trial of 2016 Twitter Troll to Test Limits of Online Speech

Douglass Mackey tried to trick Black people into thinking they could vote by text in the Clinton-Trump presidential election, prosecutors said.

www.nytimes.com

 

[ProtonopeSJ]

Real point of Twitter purchase?? The top firm in the world for predicting election results for some years has been Advanced Symbolics in Ottawa, Canada who do it with their own Artificial Intelligence they call Polly. Polly correctly predicted both Trump's defeat of Mrs Clinton and also Brexit. Balances adjust dynamically throughout campaigns. Polly can not only tell you what is happening but also give you helpful insights into why. In an interview on the Agenda program of TVO dot org Erin Kelly the CEO of Advanced Symbolics not long ago said she thought the greatest value of Twitter was the ownership of all its data for artificial intelligence purposes. She thinks Mr Musk is at pains not to have people fully understand what he is doing. I have great respect for her, having listened to her a number of times over the years. She has made me totally drop my theory that Musk had simply become addicted to his favorite toy. The clown show is just a distraction from what is really going on by a guy who is a great measure smarter than most of us. Think TruthGPT - Musk's AI.

 

[Crutonius]

I'm signed up for bluesky. Unfortunately there's a bit of wait to get in. It seems close enough to twitter that I'm pretty sure Elon is going to sue them. I only follow about 9 people. If they're on bluesky then I'm set.

 

[Crutonius]

Real point of Twitter purchase?? The top firm in the world for predicting election results for some years has been Advanced Symbolics in Ottawa, Canada who do it with their own Artificial Intelligence they call Polly. Polly correctly predicted both Trump's defeat of Mrs Clinton and also Brexit. Balances adjust dynamically throughout campaigns. Polly can not only tell you what is happening but also give you helpful insights into why. In an interview on the Agenda program of TVO dot org Erin Kelly the CEO of Advanced Symbolics not long ago said she thought the greatest value of Twitter was the ownership of all its data for artificial intelligence purposes. She thinks Mr Musk is at pains not to have people fully understand what he is doing. I have great respect for her, having listened to her a number of times over the years. She has made me totally drop my theory that Musk had simply become addicted to his favorite toy. The clown show is just a distraction from what is really going on by a guy who is a great measure smarter than most of us. Think TruthGPT - Musk's AI.

Is TruthGPT the AI Musk is using to reply to every tweet with:

"interesting"
"concerning"
"looking into it" ?

I'm not blown away by it.