• hansolo@lemmy.today
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    9 hours ago

    The problem with making doomer predictions is that eventually you either need to be right about doom, or keep moving the goalposts.

    AI crash and burn economic apocalypse doomer posts going back two years have aged like milk. (Insert Caddyshack “Well? We’re waiting!” meme here)

    I grew up in deep red conspiracy theory territory. I’m sorry to tell you that 90% of the time, Ed Zitron is functionally no different than l all the people on Art Bell in 1997 or 2003 predicting UFO disclosure and full civil war and giant earthquakes and economic melt down. They believed it themselves. They spoke with conviction. They said what people wanted to hear. And they said it all again the next year, and the next, and the next. The only people who did get it right were the ones that took a pretty chill, middle of the road “well, not really” perspective. Or who said it enough times that they happened to say it in early 2008 and timing was on their side one time.

    What’s even worse is that Zitron gets insider info quite a lot. And yet can’t help but make overly dire predictions in spite of his genuine advantage!

    He’s an Anti-AI preacher. That’s it, and anyone unwilling to see that doesn’t mind.