pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Conspiratorialism and the epistemological crisis; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/25/black-boxes/

1/

LiberalEd,
@LiberalEd@mastodon.social avatar

@pluralistic

OMG

"in 2019, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection sought comment on its water safety regs. Dow Chemical ... arguing that WV should have lower standards for chemical contamination in its drinking water ...
<said that> West Virginians safely can absorb more poison than other Americans, because the people of West Virginia are fatter than other Americans ...
They also say that West Virginians don't drink as much water preferring to drink beer instead."

RowinSpeez,
@RowinSpeez@mas.to avatar

@LiberalEd @pluralistic “These fat drunks love poison in their water!” I often wonder if it’s a matter of deliberately sabotaging public trust in an institution to then subsequently justify removal of the regulatory body, or if bad actors just pick shots where they can get them. I guess it doesn’t matter, doesn’t change the necessary work to hold people accountable.

LiberalEd,
@LiberalEd@mastodon.social avatar

@pluralistic

"For me, faith in vaccines didn't come from a broad, newfound trust in the pharmaceutical system: rather, I judged that there was so much scrutiny on these new medications that it would overwhelm even pharma's ability to corruptly continue to sell a medication that they secretly knew to be harmful, as they'd done so many times before"

This is exactly correct. Thank you for another excellent article.

LiberalEd,
@LiberalEd@mastodon.social avatar

@pluralistic

That reminded me to look and I'm due another COVID booster.

As much as I have increased my skepticism of the medical industrial complex, I will always be grateful for vaccines.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@pluralistic Take a look at this diagram:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-general-model-of-a-sociotechnical-safety-control-structure-in-STAMP-Leveson-2012_fig1_274399861

Its from work by Nancy Leveson, who has pioneered STAMP, a new model for understanding safety failures.

The concept (to oversimplify) is about identifying potential loss of control in feedback loops, whether that is loss of control of an aircraft by a pilot, or of an industry by the government. Each feedback loop control system is embedded in others that are intended to monitor and correct when the lower level goes wrong.

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me next weekend at Wondercon in Anaheim (Mar 29-31), then Boston (Apr 11), Providence (Apr 12) and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Conspiratorialism and the epistemological crisis: We may not know what's in the box, but we can tell if it's been damaged in transit.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112157100368648937

3/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Hey look at this

4/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar
18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar
18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar
18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Unless companies pay, their Facebook updates reach 6% of followers https://time.com/34025/the-free-marketing-gravy-train-is-over-on-facebook/

Unless companies pay, their Facebook updates reach 6 percent of followers https://time.com/34025/the-free-marketing-gravy-train-is-over-on-facebook/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190323163700/https://xychelsea.is/?page_id=28

Man stole $122m from Facebook and Google by sending them random bills, which the companies dutifully paid https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/lithuanian-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-100-million-from-google-facebook/

Video from the Radicalized launch with Julia Angwin at The Strand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbdgdH8ksaM

8/

18+ pluralistic,
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18+ pluralistic,
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Saturday's threads: Someday, we'll all take comfort in the internet's "dark corners"; and more!

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112145985926198944

10/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

My last novel was "The Lost Cause," a solarpunk novel of radical hope in the climate emergency, from Tor Books (US)/Head of Zeus (UK):

http://lost-cause.org

Signed, personalized copies available from Dark Delicacies:

https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/

--

My latest nonfiction book is "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" from Verso Books:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

Signed copies available from Book Soup:

https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245

Both are national bestsellers!

11/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."

https://craphound.com/shop/

12/

18+ pluralistic,
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Upcoming appearances:

13/

18+ pluralistic,
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Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

14/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

15/

18+ pluralistic,
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Recent appearances:

16/

18+ pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

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17/

18+ pluralistic,
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I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me next weekend at Wondercon in Anaheim (Mar 29-31), then Boston (Apr 11), Providence (Apr 12) and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

eof/

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