Now, I’m not perfect — far from it. So, it’s possible that this back of the envelope concept is based on some false assumptions. But, it’s just for fun, so here goes.
Maybe I can talk about this idea on The Town podcast. Wink.
There are three smaller media companies that seem perfect to glom together into one Big Company — Advance Publications, VOX Media and Penske Media. I don’t know how exactly you would go about it, as in what sequence this new media company would be built, but the idea is interesting.
By combining these three companies, you would have a wide range of publications that kind of inhabit the same mindspace. What’s more, you would have access to the robust online presence of VOX Media. And apparently Advance owns a big chunk of Reddit so that’s something to think about.
These three smaller companies put together would create a real cross platform powerhouse.
But, no one listens to me. So, lulz. It’s just fun to think about.
I continue to be amazed by Tik-Tok’s ability to figure me out to a very, very specific degree. I’ve written about this phenomena repeatedly — even going so far as to suggest Tik-Tok can read my mind in some way — but let’s talk about the latest version of this, which I think might be explainable without any strange, kooky ideas.
Jane Birkin
A long time ago, I had brief, intense celebrity crush on fashion It Girl, Alexa Chung. Now, what’s so weird about this is for some time I’ve been pushed videos of Jane Birkin (who Ms. Chung looks up to a lot) as well as her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg.
I find all of this kind of weird. I find it weird because I started getting pushed videos about Birkin and Gainsbourg pretty much out of the blue. But I will admit that once I was pushed the videos that I lingered on them and liked them, which could explain why I also got videos of Chung pushed my way as well. Maybe? Anything to explain what’s going on rather than to suggest digital telepathy. What about what I was looking and liking on Tik-Tok could possibly have narrowed down what the service knows about me down to my interest in Chung and, by extension, Birkin and Gainsbourg?
It’s all very strange. Spooky even.
I don’t think Tik-Tok can read our minds — even though it definitely seems like it at times, but….the mystery of algorithms remains very eerie.
I don’t really believe Big Tech can read our minds. I just don’t have any cold, hard evidence I can point to and have someone who is “normal” believe me. The idea that the technology exists — but is somehow being hidden — for technology companies to peer into our minds is just too fantastical for anyone with a “normal” life to take seriously.
So, I’m just daydreaming about this. I like to run scenarios and so I’m just thinking out loud. I’ve done this before, I think, but I feel like doing it again just for fun and to get it out of my system.
The key thing would be who knows that this technology not only exists but is being used in a practical manner for commercial reasons? A subsequent question would be, of course, if Big Tech is monitoring our minds, then what can the NSA? The NSA is often times a few years more advanced in such technology because there is a practical intelligence use for it.
In fact, one reason why I have my doubts about Big Tech being able to read our minds is it would be such a huge, powerful secret. It just doesn’t seem like the type of thing that could be kept a secret. Of course, if you limit your concerns on this issue to just Tik-Tok being able to read your mind, then the possibility such a secret could be kept grows significantly.
What is interesting — an a little disappointing — to me is if Big Tech eased us into the idea that Digital Telepathy existed, then we could get cool shit like $1,200 “mindcaps” that would replace an array of existing media devices. We could, maybe, “watch” TV and movies using our own minds. We could send “mind mail” to each other. Record dreams. All sorts of interesting commercial applications — and abuses — come to mind. Strange Days and Dreamscape are two movies that come to mind that play with such technology and its practical, real world applications.
I suppose the fear — if such technology exists — is that people will freak out and want to storm Silicon Valley so they can burn it to the ground. The idea of “mind rape” being used in regards to Digital Telepathy definitely does enter your mind when thinking about such things.
Anyway, I have no proof. Just a mild unease. Whatever Tik-Tok is doing — if it’s doing anything — seems to be most potent when it comes to things associated with the body. When Tik-Tok pushes you a video that seems to make reference to things about your own fucking body that only you know….that’s enough to weird you out.
And it’s not like when Target started sending pregnancy related stuff to a house of a teenage girl who hadn’t told her folks yet. I’m limiting my concern to only those specific instances when Tik-Tok pushes me a video for something that is very similar to something I’ve thought about really hard and there is absolutely no one or no thing that knows about it besides me.
The issue for me is — either way, there needs to be some regulation. If Digital Telepathy exists, we need regulations and if it’s just an instance of alographtms being really, really good…we need regulations.
This particular instance of suspected “mind reading” on Tik-Tok’s part is very dubious because there really are plenty of other potential explanations for this particular “spooky” incident.
But here’s what’s going on.
I have a VERY active imagination and a lot of mental energy to spare and so, as such, even though I’m constantly thinking about how to develop the universe associated with a six novel project, I also am aggressively world building a scifi concept as well.
As part of this, the last few days I’ve really been obsessing about the state I live — Virginia. The concept “Virginia” has been at the forefront of my internal monologue in a really intense way for some time now. Well, would you believe, today I got pushed a video on Tik-Tok about the name “Virginia” and how funny it is that that’s it’s inspired by the belief that Elizabeth I was the “Virgin Queen.”
This incident of suspected “mind reading” isn’t as clear as some because I do live in Virginia and I’m sure that there’s a solid case to be made for the Tik-Tok algorithms picking up on where I’m from and simply pushing a video about my state’s name.
The short answer is, of course, no, of course not. This is a demonstrably silly idea and I am a fool — and maybe a bit of a kook — to even bring the subject up. And, generally, I just don’t believe in conspiracy theories. I’m of the opinion that the vast majority of actual conspiracies are well known and the public generally doesn’t care.
Ok. Having said that, let’s yet again ponder a scenario whereby Big Tech, and specifically Tik-Tok, is in some way able to not only monitor what’s rolling around in our minds but use that information to push content to us in an eerily specific way.
Up until a while ago, Facebook — now Meta — was, in fact, looking into how they could read people’s minds to the point that they even patented a way to do it. They have since scrapped this research and so, lulz, obviously they aren’t using any such technology to read people’s minds, right?
So that should be that. Big Tech isn’t reading our minds and if they were, we would obviously know about it because it would be such a huge milestone in technology. The ethical implications of reading people’s minds without their consent would be just too big for Big Tech to overcome and so why are we even talking about this?
One thing I will note is how beneficial it would be for, say, the NSA or CIA to be able to monitor the minds of diplomats and other major officials in foreign countries. And, in general, some of the most cutting edge technology used in a practical way is developed not by private industry, but by government agencies like DARPA — which came up with the Internet.
This brings us to Tik-Tok
Tik-Tok is a Chinese company and there is little or no separation between Chinese tech companies like Tik-Tok and the security agencies of the CCP. So, if you were of a conspiratorial bent, you could definitely find yourself pondering the possibility that Tik-Tok is using digital telepathy is not only read the minds of America’s youth, but use that information to push them ever-more addictive content to keep them using what is now one of the most popular social media platforms on earth.
This is the point where you laugh at me and say all of this is just crazy talk. And, honestly, whenever I find myself talking to a tech person I go out of my way to try to get them to dissuade me of my paranoia. I explain to them what’s happening and I ask them to explain to me why I’m wrong. The most common explanation they give me is it’s all a coincidence and Tik-Tok’s algorithms simply now me so well that it just seems like it can read my mind.
This is similar to how there is the horror story of a young woman being sent pregnancy related coupons in the mail because of what she was looking for on a big box retailer’s website. Ok, I get it that makes a lot of sense and explains most — but not all — of what I’m noticing.
As an aside, I’ve started to try to keep these suspicions to myself — especially at bars — because, well, people think I’m completely insane and don’t want to talk to me anymore when I causally broach the subject. Which, all things considered, is probably understandable.
The only reason I keep thinking about the bizarre conspiracy theory is the fact that some of the video’s that Tik-Tok pushes me aren’t nearly as general as what happened with the pregnant teen and the coupons. I still struggle to understand how Tik-Tok’s algorithms can be so good as to narrow down a very specific thing I thought about intensely in passing.
Usually these spooky events have something to do with my body, something I haven’t told anyone about. And sometimes, it’s something I just think about really hard for a moment or two out of the blue. It’s those specific type of incidents that give me pause for thought when I get pushed a video on Tik-Tok that is about that very specific thing.
But I have no proof and probably never will. And even if it was happening, it is the CCP we’re talking about, so it’s not like we’ll ever find out. Though if Big Tech in the United States was also reading our minds, then, I suppose the secret might pop out eventually.
Which leads you to wonder what the reaction would be. I’m of the opinion that after the shock wore off, there would either be a huge outcry where the population demanded some sort of regulation crackdown of Big Tech — or nothing would happen.
It would just be another thing that we all knew about, but didn’t care because, in general we got better products and services because of it. Though, of course, if it was proven that Tik-Tok — and by extension the CCP — was reading the minds of America’s youth….I suppose that might be considered something akin to an act of war?
Relations between the US and China would definitely suffer.
Anyway, this is all nuts. There’s no way Big Tech can read our minds. I’m just noticing really good algorithms.
I’m not one to believe in conspiracies, but damn if Norwegian singer Sigrid doesn’t look identical to Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. It’s spooky how much the two women look alike.
The fact that they’re both really hot is the cherry on top.
Sanna Marin Sigrid
Probably what I’m seeing is a dominate Nordic phenotype. But damn if those two women don’t look a lot alike.
The “multiverse” is having a moment, it seems. I’ve toyed with multiverse concepts my entire life and, as such, I think now that audiences have been exposed to what it all means you could do a lot with it in storytelling.
The chief place to start is a revamping of the time traveler trope. The novel that really got me interested in the multiverse was James Hogan’s “The Prometheus Operation.” It’s all about the butterfly effect, the multiverse and time travel. (It would, come to think of it, make a good movie.)
Anyway, here’s what I’m talking about. To date, almost all time travel stories have a fatal flaw — the basic paradox associated with it all. A few movies, like the Back To The Future sequels actually use the multiverse concept well…but the overall application was kind of meh.
What I would do is make a drama about a man (or woman) who finds themselves sent back in time Back To The Future style, but it’s a different timeline in the multiverse so none of the paradoxes apply. It’s not campy like what we saw in the Back To Future franchise, but far more like Arrival or The Martian. We get a serious depiction of what happens when you have knowledge of the future without having to worry about the paradox.
The movie I want to see goes something like this — somehow, a man gets zapped back in time to, say, VJ Day 1945. We see how he changes history over the course of the decades. The story is something of a mystery and ends with a DNA test that proves the impossible — the man who was our time traveler’s assistant all those years was his father.
Or something like that.
That’s the type of time traveler story I want to see.
Another multiverse and timetravel concept would be “Star Wars meets timetravel.” Instead of your heroes zooming around space, they zoom around time. So, you have all these different eras smash into each other in interesting ways. Or, if you wanted to be a little less complex, there would be no timetravel, just multiverse.
We learn that there is a “multiverse empire” and a band of “rebels” who bounce around different alternative universes looking for booty.
Anyway, no one listens to me and no one cares. But I find the multiverse endlessly entertaining.
I’m very well aware that any suggestion that Big Tech can read our minds is demonstrably bonkers. It’s just not something any reasonable person can take seriously. And the only reason why I even mention it or keep thinking about it in a very conspicuous manner is how often Tik-Tok pushes me videos that are very, very specific to me personally.
If there was any reasonable explanation for how their “algorithm” knew something specifically about me, then I would dismiss the idea that digital telepathy was possible just like any one else.
But consistently since I started using Tik-Tok, I have been pushed videos that seem to reference specific things that I’ve thought about — and told no one else about. I have not written about it. I have not tweeted about it. I have no spoken about it. It’s something that’s been exclusively a part of my internal monologue.
I guess it seems so ridiculous on the face of it because it’s just something the average person is unwilling or unable to believe is even possible. We would know about it if they were doing it, right? For Big Tech and Tik-Tok to read our minds, it would be such a big technological advancement that they would tell us about it, right? Right?
But Arthur C. Clarke said once that, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” If Tik-Tok can read our minds, this is what I think is happening — it’s not granular. They can’t turn off any specific element of what your thinking about, so you only notice what’s going on when it deals with issues surrounding your body.
It’s things to do with the body that your most likely not tell anyone else about and, as such, when you get pushed videos by Tik-Tok that reference such things, you notice that it’s something you haven’t told anyone about.
Now, of course, you could say that it’s similar to how Target got in trouble once for sending to a young woman’s home coupons for pregnancy related things, even though she had not told her family yet. It think figuring out that someone is pregnant through what they do online is a lot different that being pushed a specific video about this or that thing about your body that has exclusively been a part of your internal monologue.
Another thing that goes against the idea of digital telepathy is someone, somewhere, would know the technology exists and, as such, it would leak out and we would know about it. It’s well known that Facebook and others have been looking into digital telepathy, but Facebook recently made a big deal about how they were scrapping the project.
So, I don’t know. For the time being, I’m just going to have to accept that I sound bonkers for even mentioning the possibility that Big Tech can read my mind through my cellphone.
Absolutely no one listens to me. And I’m no expert on Russia, but I do love scenarios. So, here’s my back-of-the-envelope scenario for a Second Russian Revolution.
It seems to me the main issue facing Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union is Russia has had an identity crisis. It really doesn’t know what it is. It doesn’t really have a core set of beliefs that it can hang its national Id on. So, if the Russian government collapsed and there was some sort of 1917-like power vacuum, what I would do is grab the nearest Romanov and proclaim them the new tsar.
I, being the real power behind the throne, would then dress up my cause with the built-in legacy of the Russian Empire. But I would flip the script and promise people a constitutional monarchy with an iron-clad bill of rights. I would also promise extensive economic reforms meant to pull Russia into the 21st century.
Russia has the potential to be a major economic power — especially with in the context of global climate change. So, as part of your revolution, you do some creative destruction and dramatically reform a whole host of different aspects of the Russian economy.
I would also promise that if I got control of the government that I would totally re-imagine the Russian military infrastructure.
Anyway. I’m a nobody in America. I just had to get that out of my system.
I’m being silly with this one. But this came to the forefront of my mind again when the “news” broke that AOC was enjoying a visit to Miami. The thing about AOC is she’s a demonstrably gorgeous woman.
As such, being a human being, she must have at some point worn a bikini in public. Now, this should not be a big deal. Just because she’s in the public eye as a politician should not somehow make it impossible for her to wear a bikini.
AOC, Smoke show.
And, yet, here we are.
If *any* picture of her wearing *anything* other than something that made her look demure came out, Fox News would explode into a very thirsty rage and demand she resign and be put in the stockade. (All along furiously masturbating to the picture in private, natch.)
It’s all very dumb. But it’s simply amazing that AOC’s media team has manage to avoid any such snaps from coming out. I will also note that the center-Left’s insistence that we can’t talk about how fucking hot AOC is, that we can see her as anything but a Very Serious Politician is, unto itself, something of a trap too.
I say this because AOC is fast approaching 35, the age when veep and POTUS talk will begin to swirl around her. And, remember, even the Clintons popped out a baby. And even those two hippies were willing to get marrired!
So, for crass political reasons, something’s gotta give for AOC’s lovelife. The moment she turns 35, there’s a chance that the “Why isn’t AOC married with child” discourse may enter the mainstream.
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