Twitter claims authority over the contents of my own mind.
It is said that in the future, AI will know us better than we know ourselves. It turns out the future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed yet.
We interrupt our irregularly scheduled programming to inform you that Twitter has seen fit to hand me my first lock out. Frankly, I was somewhat stunned it took them this long, but the particular tweet that triggered this is fascinating. Here's their message in full:
Apparently Twitter considers my own reflections on how my own opinion shifted according to my perception of the evidence, to be “misleading and potentially harmful information”. You know, the kind of thing that might “pose a risk to people’s health”. While I do have as high an opinion of my own thoughts as the next guy, it seems Twitter considers me to be downright telepathic.
Or perhaps it considers that my recollection of my own state of mind is false. While nobody truly knows the real workings of their own mind, if I can’t even be considered the authority on that subject, what is the point of social media? Picking and choosing which official press releases to share with each other?
I appreciate being linked to the WHO, but, you see, given their track record, I’d probably be better off trusting a magic 8ball.
Samizdapp.com better hurry, I don't think I'll last on this platform very long. Perhaps a reminder for anyone reading this who wants to keep in touch when the ban hammer inevitably comes down, to subscribe to this here substack.
This should tide us over until Substack, too, gives in to the forces that are already at its gates. Hopefully long enough to prepare something sustainably better.
And with that, I'm off to do something productive.
Funny--while commenting on other Substack threads I've been using the word "samizdat" a lot these days. Great minds 'n all that.
I'm grateful to Twitter (public threads; I only signed up after the Shrike stopped allowing non-account holders to read them) for at least having been the way I found you and many others worth knowing of, so I knew whose Substacks to look for. Kinda like hopscotch. Except of course the real carnage to people and the societies we must live in isn't a very nice game.
Hopefully you'll be out of jail in time to host your Sunday morning Rabbit Hole space.