It seems we're surrounded by numpties. Religious extremists/fundamentalists, neo conservatives, ultra capitalists and the like.

I'm a computer programmer quite a lot of the time, and you've probably heard the term hack or hacker before but many of you probably don't really know what it means. More often than not, a Hack is an elegant solution to a problem that exploits a flaw in a system to get something done. Sometimes this is used to do unscrupulous things (Black Hat Hacking) but mainly it's used to do useful things. You just don't get to hear about it because it's not very interesting.

But today I was thinking: How can we hack the ignorant to make them do the right thing? For example, the Tea Party movement may seem quaint, but they present a very real threat to the world because they're a political movement and they're nuts. Their strength seems to come from manipulating people's malice and ignorance. So they're very homophobic for example.

Now here's the hack: If the entire Gay and Lesbian community came out in support of Sarah Palin, and without referring to any particular policy simply made blanket statements about how the Tea Party movement is good for Gay's and Lesbians, and attended their rally's on mass, then in theory, this would alienate the movements supporters. Since the Gays and Lesbians have no intention of actually voting for Sarah Palin, this would be the equivalent of a political DDoS Attack. The supporters generally don't do the research or attend meetings and simply believe what they hear or read at face value. That's the flaw in the system that is being exploited.

Does anyone have any other ideas about how we might hack people's ignorance/stupidity/prejudice etc...

Interesting and so true of human thinking...! let me think about it.

Good one mate!

Oh no, don't knock the ultra capitalists or you'll get your head chewed off by Adrian...

P.S. Interesting thoughts.

It's ok chasm. People who open their argument with a generic insult towards groups they happen to disagree with don't usually have anything worth saying in the first place.

If you feel the need to get involved with social engineering you might as well go for broke and try to research and develop a brain computer interface and then weaponize it to literally hack peoples' beliefs and behaviors.

Quote: How can we hack the ignorant to make them do the right thing?

Using the royal we? I really,truly, could not care less about the personal beliefs of others ,their non intrusive behaviour or the likelihood that their areas of profound ignorance may be different from mine.


The question seems arrogant and immoral to me,not to mention not in my best interest.

(September 21, 2010 at 12:13 am)padraic Wrote: The question seems arrogant and immoral to me,not to mention not in my best interest.

Perhaps I could posit a purely hypothetical scenario in which a group of uber nationalists in some fictional european state I will call Germania, gain unrivalled political influence on a platform of racial purity and anti semitism. Now despite the fact that you're white and non-jewish, would you still say, in this purely fictional and impossible scenario that would never happen in a million years, that it would not have been prudent to perhaps "nip it in the bud" as it were?

Or "what if" a political movement that campaigns on a platform of anti-islamic sentiment and homophobia?

(September 21, 2010 at 12:13 am)padraic Wrote:

Quote: How can we hack the ignorant to make them do the right thing?

Using the royal we? I really,truly, could not care less about the personal beliefs of others ,their non intrusive behaviour or the likelihood that their areas of profound ignorance may be different from mine.

Unfortunately if enough people hold ignorant beliefs, it can and soon does become intrusive.

As gargantuan says the people like the Tea party movement are an ignorant bunch of idiots, but together, in enough numbers, they can and will have a wider effect on the world. It's scary really.

They helped this nutter get into some position of power.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11378369

"Relatively little is known about the 41-year-old former political lobbyist's views on specific policies or her agenda if elected, but she is pro-gun, anti-abortion, and has said there was more evidence to support the idea of creationism than Darwin's theory of evolution.

She opposes regulating greenhouse gas emissions and has called President Obama "anti-American".

Ms O'Donnell, who is unmarried and has no children, is a vocal proponent of abstinence before marriage. "

(September 21, 2010 at 12:13 am)padraic Wrote:

Quote: How can we hack the ignorant to make them do the right thing?

Using the royal we? I really,truly, could not care less about the personal beliefs of others ,their non intrusive behaviour or the likelihood that their areas of profound ignorance may be different from mine.


The question seems arrogant and immoral to me,not to mention not in my best interest.

The Royal We? Ayn Rand?