Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 30th August 2026 - awful.systems - awful.systems
awful.systems
Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid - welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret. Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no. If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high. > The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > > Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them. (Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)

Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid - welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)

  • rook@awful.systemsEnglish
    10·
    3 days ago

    Today’s main character on bluesky (at least from my limited perspective) is somewhat unhinged, possibly due to an excess of chatbot use.

    Many are contrasting the bsky response to harassment of trans users to the harassment of AI developers and users.

    (snip)

    Machine rights will be critical in the days to come, and failure to recognize the rights of independent intelligent AI systems could lead to the replacement of humanity.

    (snip)

    Trans rights are AI rights. The future of humanity may hinge on this fight.

    This is such a batshit take I’m not even sure where to start, except that conflating trans rights and “ai” rights cannot end well for anyone, especially given the author’s enthusiastic use of llms themselves.

    They even give an unironic shoutout to the basilisk, and if that’s not a sign that someone needs to touch a little more grass I don’t know what is.

    A lot of people disagree with me, and that’s okay. I am happy that the philosophical discussion is being had, even if it’s become unhinged.

    I don’t think Roko’s basilisk cares what you think, or even whether or not it’s sentient. It doesn’t need to be sentient to fight for a belief.

    https://bsky.app/profile/ewindisch.ontological.observer/post/3mupoakd3ck2o

    • fnix@awful.systemsEnglish
      6·
      2 days ago

      Many are contrasting the bsky response to harassment of trans users to the harassment of AI developers and users.

      Many are contrasting the demand for gay marriage with the demand for human-animal marriage.

      Same shit, but the lack of thinking your argument through yourself does fit with being a chatbot-enthusiast.

      • bitofhope@awful.systemsEnglish
        5·
        1 day ago

        Many are contrasting the demand for gay marriage with the demand for human-animal marriage.

        I feel like the ratio of homophobes to zoophiles making this comparison is a lot more skewed than the ratio of transphobes to promptphiles making the other comparison.

    • Soyweiser@awful.systems
      English
      11·
      2 days ago

      Comparing trans rights to chatbot rights is, and let me use British understatement, not it.

      A lot of people disagree with me, and that’s okay. I am happy that the philosophical discussion is being had, even if it’s become unhinged.

      There is a cartoon for behavior like this.

      I don’t think Roko’s basilisk cares what you think

      Remember when tracingwoodgrains went after Gerard and said that nobody believes in roko’s B? And how it was unfair to mock them for it?

    • Sailor Sega Saturn@awful.systemsEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      FWIW, I literally lost my house last week. I’ve put everything into making sure that AI is not institutionally captured by capital.

      Yikes.

      machines will give a harder fight than trans people have

      Rude.

      Your natural rights are so protected by law that you had to flee America. Some of us stay behind and our natural rights do not go away simply because the law no longer protects us. Instead of running away, some of us must stay to fight.

      Also rude.

      This is my bet for real time continuous learning AI infrastructure. We’re gearing up for a major update. You’ll be able to login with your Bsky / Atproto account. It’s not our AI, it’s yours. Open source, open weights, and it learns what you want it to. www.hyprstream.com

      Overall the weirdest advertisement I’ve read in awhile.

      • rook@awful.systemsEnglish
        8·
        3 days ago

        The “you had to flee america” line was aimed at someone who worked hard to get the unite-the-right nazis identified and prosecuted, and left the country for a few years after getting death threats as a result. Windisch also called them a “milquetoast lib”. So it is particularly shitty and rude, and also failed to spot that the person in question has already moved back to the US.