@johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@jwz@mastodon.social @mikej@mastodon.online @mjg59@nondeterministic.computer @glyph@mastodon.social Well, two of the most common persistent cognitive effects of COVID - memory loss and attention deficit - are ripe for having a fake cybernetic solution swoop in like LLMs and "fill the gaps". Also, my guess is that low grade CFS and sleep disruption is *widespread*, and most people have less energy overall. Automation sounds good when you've got no energy.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@llorenzin The funny part is that the machine *doesn't* do what they do, nor is it cheaper, but the propaganda of "AI" companies is so ubiquitous that even people in a position to know better talk like the disinformation is facts. LLMs-as-coding-machines will collapse long before the long-tail impact of the short-term bullshit arrives, if only because we're already seeing the broken services and software that vibecoding produces. The real problem is COVID brain damage; that's harder to fix.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis All this but also: Trump et al do not see the point of exercising power if nobody can see it. These are rapists; they get off on watching their power harm others. This is one reason why paleofascism and neofascism can't coexist, and why Trump was so deeply uninterested in the subtle, far more powerful neofash methods of control.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

It's why I can't take liberals seriously, btw

"That will take many decades to change, so we have to sit tight and accept these rotten scraps in the meanwhile. Why are you so radical!? Just accept it for now and vote super hard for Democrats! That'll work eventually. I'm sure of it!"

every liberal, ignoring that over 10 years neofascists completely changed everything about the country culturally, socially, and economically

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis ...what you really wanted was to blow shit up and wear rambo outfits and dark aviators and look super cool and badass. It's not that they aren't trying to end the war; it's that they don't actually understand - like, truly don't - the difference between the hard, real work of diplomacy and the Theatre of Power that is the paleofascist central conceit. They're "negotiating" because *that's what you do in the movies*. Not because they understand what it is or how to do it.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social Personally, I think disambiguating between "AI"-caused psychosis and COVID-caused brain damage is nearly impossible after 5+ years of constant reinfection and re-injury. Is it the de-skilling technology being shoveled into our mouth and eyes without our consent? Or is it the cascading viral plague that, for some reason nobody can explain to me using facts, most USians have gleefully reinfected themselves with an average of 6 times? Or both? 🙇‍♂️ It may be both.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@tshirtman@mas.to @croissant@zeroes.ca "COVID skeptics" in the initial phases of the pandemic were 1) well funded and 2) tasked with creating the conditions necessary to get people back to work. The ruling class has known since April/May 2020 that vaccines wouldn't work well bc coronaviruses evolve too quickly, but infra/healthcare was against their ideology so 🤷‍♂️ It's why govt/rich people have advanced air-cleaning systems and UV222 installed, but schools/public hospitals do not.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@tshirtman@mas.to @croissant@zeroes.ca If you ever want nightmare fuel, read the op-eds by Great Barrington ghouls and their affiliated centrist boosters about how we should "infect all kids" to "create herd immunity" (we knew wasn't possible, btw) and "sacrifice the weak" to "get the economy back on track". Truly reads like a manifesto of some psycho killer in a bleak dystopian crime thriller. (those are not quotes from the pieces; they were far more circumspect and polite than to say that stuff *out loud*)

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@CJPaloma @artemis Yeah, it's a fundamental misunderstand of what power *is*, at the cognitive level. It's a delusion; maybe even neurological like object permanence: power and the appearance of power are literally the same thing to them. That's why they're so confused when they perform "lethality" so beautifully and...still lose the war. It's also why Trump's cabinet is essentially a Central Casting call for the Nazis in a Steven Spielberg movie.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Reading this makes the Socialists seem like adults and the fascists seem like petulant babies and

It should help you understand why I consider the Democrats to be merely an aesthetic not a substantive political concern.

Folks who are like "the parties are different!" need to internalize what adult, responsible policymaking and communication look like, then actually take a long, hard look at the Democrats.

Do they rise to that bar, or fall very, very short?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy511nln2xvo

bbc.com

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@jfmezei@cosocial.ca @croissant@zeroes.ca Your homework is to look up the "precautionary principle" and report back to the class

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@Craigp Personally, I'm now very interested in the FUCKBOI software you mentioned 🤔

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@tshirtman@mas.to @croissant@zeroes.ca Lockdowns didn't exist in the United States; most States had 2-4 weeks of precautions, followed by...literally nothing but death and disease. A few States (with big cities and blue govts) kept precautions for ~6 months, but they were never compulsory and people literally stopped caring about them by midsummer. It's why our death toll and LC burden per capita is literally multiples larger than any other modern nation.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@mhoye I think it's possible that the LLM push and the "age verification" bullshit will have precisely the opposite intended effect, largely because the technofascists are taking a page out of the paleofascists' book and simply...not caring if people see them coming? Which is a choice, I guess: publicly positioning yourself as a literal *enemy of society*. It could break the rentier economy / upgrade hypecycle you mention, in the same way Trump's Iran debacle might break the petrodollar.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis He's just Canada's Bill Clinton, busily dismantling their social services and installing a regime of privatizing, pro-corporate neofascist goons at every level of government and in every institution. Trump is the crisis they needed 🤷‍♂️

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social @dlakelan@mastodon.sdf.org @AdrianRiskin@kolektiva.social @mhoye@cosocial.ca @AnarchoNinaWrites@jorts.horse Found myself missing your voice multiple times over the last couple months take care of yourself and then come back and teach us more stuff 💃 Glad you're okay

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis They do not understand that you cannot pack this pipe with tobacco and then smoke it

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@tshirtman@mas.to @croissant@zeroes.ca As with all half-measures poorly implemented with one foot out the door, these didn't work, and that lack of efficacy due to half-assery was attributed to *the technique* not the *amount of effort and fidelity put into implementing it*, because we live in a clownshoe full of toe fungus Add to that the necessity for neofascists to shut down COVID social programs ASAP and we get the Long Con of "vax and relax" coupled with "but the death toll is low!" and "it's just a cold"

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@croissant@zeroes.ca @tshirtman@mas.to "I've always interpreted the idea that we should take 'precautions' as being cautious about doing literally anything to prevent disease until it's already killed tens of thousands of people." - most public health people in 2026

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@graydon@canada.masto.host @gfwellman@defcon.social The agreed-upon def of LC (with over 200 symptoms, btw) actually omits what I call "Common LC", which is what 40-50% of people get *per infection*. It can last anywhere from several months to, well, never ending. *Everyone we know* has some combination of "mild" autoimmunity, cognitive, gut, lung or cardiovascular conditions that have developed over the last 3 years. That's not an exaggeration PSA: RATs are not reliable. To know for sure when you get sick, use NAATs.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@rationaldoge That headline deserves to be unpacked lol "Forced labor" is such a term of art! Jalopnik should write an entire article about why they chose it rather than "slave-made". (they won't)

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@thomasfuchs LLMs just feel like the natural apex of a tech economy that develops "features" only to justify costly device and software version upgrades to keep the line going up. Not only does it (ostensibly) reduce the cost of developing said useless features, it is *itself* the ultimate useless feature.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis @CJPaloma haha as my husband says "::shrug:: they hate you and they love to lie" It's really like "understanding" dogs or whatever: you just have to accept that there are fundamental perspective differences that can't really be empathized with or resolved satisfactorily, and proceed from there. Like, when you train your dog the absolute worst thing you can do is think "what would motivate *me* to sit and stay?" You gotta train them like they're a dog. Cause they are.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@sennoma @GrimmReality Bahahaha I meant that he's happy and pursues communist/anti-capitalist policies (we'll see...) but imbuing him with my hopes and dreams is a cope I will enjoy indulging in

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@GrimmReality Happy Communism AOC/Mamdani 2028

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@xyhhx@438punk.house @HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social I think it's probably a combination; psychosis is just a blanket term for losing touch with common reality. It is a symptom of a lot of psych issues, incl common conditions like depression and anxiety and OCD. COVID directly damages systems in the body, incl the gut and brain, both of which are involved in cognition. This doesn't "cause" psychosis; it makes people less resilient when confronted with circumstances that *do*. Partly by causing things like depression etc

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@sleepy62@social.vivaldi.net @croissant@zeroes.ca 🧐 🤷‍♂️ Worries over airborne spread "tempest in a teapot", according to Bonnie Henry https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/controversy-over-airborne-transmission-of-covid-19-a-tempest-in-a-teapot-dr-bonnie-henry-says-1.5639958

CBC

Controversy over airborne transmission of COVID-19 'a tempest in a teapot,' Dr. Bonnie Henry says | CBC News

Dr. Bonnie Henry says the controversy over airborne transmission of COVID-19 has been overblown, after hundreds of scientists signed a letter calling for the World Health Organization to revise its recommendations.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@dave@alvarado.social @lykso@tiny.tilde.website @artemis@dice.camp In many areas, we're already careening into $7 and $8 gallons. And it's truly just the beginning. Just wait until the cost of food skyrockets in the fall...just before elections. Dems are going to win so much they might have to actually impeach someone, which would *really* piss them off.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@drahardja@sfba.social Maybe he's...the first domino?

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@graydon @david_chisnall @linuxgnome @ChrisMayLA6 The bubble bursting will simply be their final breath being released into the sky. Blessedly.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@artemis Haven't read this book in 25 years so don't quiz me lol but it's a good source on the West under neofascism, and the pus-like cultural effluence that Trump is accidentally pushing out of our political and economic culture. It's also kind of a guidebook for understanding the tech industry in 2026. Jean Genet's play The Balcony is another commentary on postmodernist politics, culture, and identity that I mentally refer to pretty frequently nowadays. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation

en.wikipedia.org

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@utterfiction@mastodon.me.uk @graydon@canada.masto.host @jwz@mastodon.social @mikej@mastodon.online @mjg59@nondeterministic.computer @glyph@mastodon.social Oh yeah. This particular issue is widely discussed in COVID educated circles. But bc COVID cognitive damage is so buried paychologically the signature studies on AI didn't even think to try to have controls for it. Anyway, avg # of infections is around five in the US, and 99% of kids have had multiple infections, meaning what we have now is a new normal. There *are* no controls.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@woo@fosstodon.org @Janet_52square@sunny.garden @nixCraft@mastodon.social Had a colleague once who was being recruited hard by a big company he didn't want to work for, so he asked for an obscene amount of money and bonus structure. When they agreed, he realized he could white-knuckle it for a couple years and get the capital to start his own thing. Which he did, and now he's happier than he's ever been.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@Janet_52square@sunny.garden @nixCraft@mastodon.social I'd be happy to, for 3x what you paid me before.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@troublewithwords@wandering.shop High or low rise?

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@wyatt_h_knott@mstdn.social @OrionKidder@mas.to @koen_hufkens@mastodon.social What crazy-ass pancake recipes are y'all making? Pancakes have milk, eggs, melted butter, baking powder, flour, salt and sugar. Also, I agree with your point but let's up our pancake game, friends. They are a gift to humanity. Let's show some respect! 😜

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@hasani@my-spaces.social Farmers who practice regenerative and indigenous agriculture are about to be the only reliable food producers, probably for years. Almost like that is the way.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@sidereal what could go wrong?

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@utterfiction@mastodon.me.uk Lot's of people are like "is this aging?" (butterfly meme) and no, it isn't If you've been finding the quality/length of your sleep to be insufficient, LC impacts sleep and causes sleep apnea. I'm not saying you have LC; obv I can't tell that, and you could just be tired and stressed. But *statistically* it's more likely than not that you do; and that's the thing about chronic illness: it sneaks up on you and until it worsens just seems to be "normal but less" @graydon@canada.masto.host @jwz@mastodon.social

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@ferricoxide @oli I don't see an FDR waiting in the wings to save the ruling class from their fascism and hubris, so While I don't think the US will go *full* guillotines, I do think that starting with local and State powers, the people will start making it incredibly difficult to be rich here. We're definitely entering "showdown over the 10th" territory soon

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@zimzat@mastodon.social Well, see, that's the trick: how can you tease apart a psych effect we've seen before and an ongoing plague that makes people *more susceptible* to it? If you know how many 40ish somethings I know who suddenly and without any apparent cause developed serious hypertension in the last three years? Other folks with no prior history of depression who's lives just fell apart? @HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@ZaneSelvans@social.coop They just didn't think of it. Sort of like when you forget your keys.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@wyatt_h_knott@mstdn.social @OrionKidder@mas.to @koen_hufkens@mastodon.social No because I always make my pancakes from scratch because I do not hate myself "Vehicle for syrup" was my nickname in college

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@humourmetom @SeanCasten If they were in his large intestine, they would have been involuntarily defecated out long ago, probably while he was signing executive orders in the Oval.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@Nonilex@masto.ai That's gotta hurt

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@zimzat@mastodon.social The science is pretty unequivocal: hypertension/depression are just two of the hundreds of vulnerabilities increased with each infection. And according to PMC, on average USians have had 5 infections each I mean, for ~40 years people who smoked were dying of lung cancer, heart disease, & emphesema at much higher rates. Other people died of those things, too. That doesn't mean smoking is good for you, nor does it mean that before people accepted it was bad for you, it was good for you

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@zimzat@mastodon.social @HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social Ever heard of "geographic tongue"? Me neither, until two of my friends got it within months of one another. The damage from SARS2 is slow and cumulative, and before you know it you can't remember your own wedding, you've got early onset rheumatoid arthritis, your liver enzymes need to be watched, and you're convinced you're a golden God bc a chatbot told you so. All of that *could* have happened without COVID. But it was much less likely.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@hugo@social.okeso.eu @thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io There are a lot of really exciting things happening and all it took was a planetary catastrophe taken to the brink, a petroclass revealed as pedophiles and leeches, an empire brought to its knees by its own hubris, and 40-50C days all over the world, 30 days a year. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/cement-recycling

University of Cambridge

Cement recycling method could help solve one of the world’s biggest climate challenges

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a method to produce very low emission concrete at scale – an innovation that could be transformative in the transition to net zero.

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John @johnzajac@dice.camp

· 4mo ago

Replying to

@zimzat@mastodon.social So, to be blunt: the idea that allowing a disease that literally wrecks your epithelium run rampant through a population has had only marginal effects on that population is what's "circumstantial", though I have less polite words I could use. Frankly, just the *8%* of the US that has had moderate to severe Long COVID for at least 12 months would dramatically change our society. Add to that Long COVID being the most prevalent chronic illness in kids, and, well "Increased tension"

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