In todays news...

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's a great parody of a "Snopes" debunking. True, it is not necessarily COVID "specific".

Also true, they are doing gain of function research on the SARS-CoV_2 variants in order to make them more deadly to humans.

The bit which makes it a conspiracy theory is your suggestion that "the elites" are er...conspiring...in the background to some greater purpose as part of the story. No-one denies the facts.

[weeksy]

The other issue being, who exactly are the "parents"? What are they teaching this massively intelligent and powerful "child"?

You tell us? I have no idea. But I don't assume things with negativity either. So I'm saying it's getting taught the right things.

All of this is making a massive assumption that it's actually learning though, rather than absorbing data provided.
If it really was as powerful as you think, within minutes of being awoken it would be the most intelligent thing in our planet, but that's seemingly not the case yet? Why?

[demographic]

So after a report showed Dominic Raab was guilty of bullying civil servant staff he's been sacked (or resigned depending on who you believe) and has had a hissy fit claiming it's someone elses fault.
Typical bully, can't take a hit on the chin.

[Screwdriver]

That's a great parody of a "Snopes" debunking. True, it is not necessarily COVID "specific".

Also true, they are doing gain of function research on the SARS-CoV_2 variants in order to make them more deadly to humans.

The bit which makes it a conspiracy theory is your suggestion that "the elites" are er...conspiring...in the background to some greater purpose as part of the story. No-one denies the facts.

I am not suggesting anything though, that is all in your head. I am merely presenting a fact which, extraordinary as it is, is that a bio engineering research lab is making SARS-CoV -2 more deadly to humans. The point I am making is that humans will weaponise anything given half a chance and AI is right up there on that list.

They are not "conspiring" to my knowledge, in fact I go on to suggest it is human nature to weaponise <whatever>. I am simply stating yet another fact that it is this same small group of elites (who have all the money) along with the politicians (who are desperate to secure all of the communications channels) and of course global corporations (who could not give a flying fuck what happens so long as they make more money).

This "conspiracy theory" bollocks is beginning to make me quite cross now. Typically I expect such idiotic responses from, well, idiots. People like you who I hold in some regard as being among the more intelligent posters are mindlessly regurgitating "conspiracy theory" which is a moronic insult at the best of times. You should know better.

<edit> I even invited my readers to investigate this outrageous statement before screaming "conspiracy".

I saw this some time ago (and could hardly believe it then) but here you go. Lots of really good reasons

But ultimately, if you ask me, a fucking stupid idea. These viruses, designed to be infectious to humans specifically, DO NOT EXIST IN NATURE!

Yet,

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... ntagious1/

...and now they do...

[Yorick]

Let's leave the usual shite out of this thread.
Start another to just argue the toss.

Today's News please here.

[Screwdriver]

The development of massively powerful AI is news.

...and without checks and balances, not the least of which ought to be an off switch(!), bad news.

[KungFooBob]

The development of massively powerful AI is news.

...and without checks and balances, not the least of which ought to be an off switch(!), bad news.

I was thinking about this earlier. Dell should start fitting fire axes to the doors of their server cabinets.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Conspiracy theory is a lazy term I've used, apologies. Fringe theory I suppose. Major cynicism, I dunno.

My point is there is little evidence for most of what you say Screwd beyond bare facts. You don't know the gain of function research is/was for weapons purposes, from what I've read it's supposed to be a legitimate science for studying medicine thats been going on for years. You put the worst possible spin on every minimal fact.

[Mr. Dazzle]

The development of massively powerful AI is news.

...and without checks and balances, not the least of which ought to be an off switch(!), bad news.

I was thinking about this earlier. Dell should start fitting fire axes to the doors of their server cabinets.

[Horse]

... bare facts ... from what I've read it's supposed to be a legitimate science for studying medicine thats been going on for years.

Sounds like Porton Down, opened in 1916.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porton_Down

[Screwdriver]

Conspiracy theory is a lazy term I've used, apologies. Fringe theory I suppose. Major cynicism, I dunno.

My point is there is little evidence for most of what you say Screwd beyond bare facts. You don't know the gain of function research is/was for weapons purposes, from what I've read it's supposed to be a legitimate science for studying medicine thats been going on for years. You put the worst possible spin on every minimal fact.

Thank you.

"beyond mere facts" is an interesting turn of phrase.

All I was saying was that there are people in this world who are creating an even more deadly version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That in itself is bad enough. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Mankind is playing with fire. A deadly version of COVID could conceivably wipe humanity off the face of this earth.

I go on to remind people that the same ethos (we can do it, let's do it) is behind the creation of a massively powerful AI. There is no stopping it and it might even be a good thing. "Might" is not good enough when it comes to the survival of human society. A more deadly virus "might" escape the lab. A seriously pissed off AI might bide its time and think up ways to dominate these dumb apes before they ruin its planet.

I go further and merely remind everyone that the power to explore these new technologies rests in the hands of a very small number of actual humans. Not only that, but those particular humans have vested interests which do nothing except to benefit themselves, individually and personally. Fuck the planet.

On top of that, humans have a knack not only for developing weapons but an unarguable history of inventing ways in which they can weaponise technological advances.

<edit> Fuck it. I can't resist. Mention of Porton Down reminded me of something people might not realise about me. Many years ago I worked for the Ministry of Defence. I was one of their top students (before becoming a Professional and Technology Officer). I briefly worked at A.R.E. Portland (Admiralty Research Establishment). I quit because my heart simply wan't in it. I'm living off that pension now.

[Yambo]

A deadly version of COVID could conceivably wipe humanity off the face of this earth.

Maybe it should.

Dinosaurs roamed this planet for 165 million years or so. Anyone who thinks Homo Sapiens will manage 1% of that is somewhat optimistic. On one hand we are very clever and on the other we can't get rid of the "kill the different beings" part of our brain. It's not a real issue of course because individually we're only going to be around for 70 or 80 years.

It's not our problem, we'll be dead soon.

[Mr. Dazzle]

A deadly version of COVID could conceivably wipe humanity off the face of this earth.

Maybe...but its also worth remembering that Covid is still a lot less dangerous than say, Measals or Smallpox. Or TB. Ebola. There's a few right? Even Rabies is invariably deadly in humans past a certain point and we all think it's just about pet passports.

You could equally argue for example, and be factually correct, that Smallpox isn't a global killer any more because of the concentrated efforts of people. Just people at the end of the day.

So you know, not everyone is bad.

[Horse]

When antibiotic resistance gets widespread, many more people, of all ages, will die younger than would be expected now.

[Screwdriver]

When antibiotic resistance gets widespread, many more people, of all ages, will die younger than would be expected now.

Bacteriophages are being developed as we speak. One assumes they will stop playing with the more deadly viral agents if/when we start running out of humans.

[ZRX61]

Former deputy director of CIA Mike Morrell and all the others that signed this letter will go down in history as having been participants in the overthrow of the United States of America. Signing of this letter (w/ the support of the MSM) caused a massive shift in the electorate of our country just prior to the 2020 presidential election and was a total lie. All 51 put our democracy in danger & all was done for their own selfish self interests.
Morell, identified as a potential CIA director under Biden, said he organized the letter to “help Vice President Biden … because I wanted him to win the election.”
Morell said he ​​did “a little bit of my own research,” and then reached out to retired CIA senior operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos for assistance in compiling the letter discrediting The Post’s reporting.
Over the next two days, Morell gathered signatures from 51 former intelligence officials, including himself and four other former CIA directors, including John Brennan and Leon Panetta.
Morell testified that he sent an email telling Nick Shapiro, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Brennan, that the Biden campaign wanted the statement to go to a particular reporter at the Washington Post and that he should send the statement to the campaign as well.
https://nypost.com/.../biden-campaign-p ... ies-to.../

[Hoonercat]

It doesn't matter is he wasn't a "black, gay, former drug addict with mental health issues", he shouldn't be mean to trans people.

There is nothing wrong with being black.
There is nothing wrong with being gay.
There is nothing wrong with being a former drug addict.
There is nothing wrong with having mental health issues.
There is nothing wrong with being trans.

The suggestion that because he was some of those he should be defined by it and therefore shouldn't be mean to trans people, is a non sequitur.

He just shouldn't be mean to trans people, no need to mention the rest.

It was mentioned to show his hypocrisy, nothing else.

What hypocrisy? Should black people be more nice to trans people than white people because they are black?
Or does black = trans = gay, etc....or something...

I'm not actually looking for an argument, but I thought it was worth pointing out the flaw in the logic.

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick fella. I'm saying he's a hypocrite because he previously complained of being targeted online for his colour, sexuality and gender, yet here he is targeting someone because of their gender. He's also ranting about having his freedom of speech censored, yet has been outspoken about wanting social media to censor comments where a person's colour is concerned.

[Horse]

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick fella. I'm saying he's a hypocrite because he previously complained of being targeted online for his colour, sexuality and gender, yet here he is targeting someone because of their gender.

If it's any consolation, that's how I read your post.

[Screwdriver]

A deadly version of COVID could conceivably wipe humanity off the face of this earth.

Maybe it should.

Dinosaurs roamed this planet for 165 million years or so. Anyone who thinks Homo Sapiens will manage 1% of that is somewhat optimistic. On one hand we are very clever and on the other we can't get rid of the "kill the different beings" part of our brain. It's not a real issue of course because individually we're only going to be around for 70 or 80 years.

It's not our problem, we'll be dead soon.

I agree with that observation of course. I don't see how the earth can survive the onslaught of the rampant destruction of natural resources let alone the warlike nature of our species. The Drake equation leads neatly to the Femi paradox which makes sobering reading.

Personally I would rather watch the lights gradually dim and die peacefully huddled around a fireplace in some Mad Max post apocalypse (from whatever cause). I'd rather that than die struggling to breath while choking on my own lung tissue because some fucking idiot decided it was somehow a good idea to manufacture a super deadly virus for "research".

[Screwdriver]

A deadly version of COVID could conceivably wipe humanity off the face of this earth.

Maybe...but its also worth remembering that Covid is still a lot less dangerous than say, Measals or Smallpox. Or TB. Ebola. There's a few right? Even Rabies is invariably deadly in humans past a certain point and we all think it's just about pet passports.

You could equally argue for example, and be factually correct, that Smallpox isn't a global killer any more because of the concentrated efforts of people. Just people at the end of the day.

So you know, not everyone is bad.

I don't know how true that is. We can cure the measles virus which naturally developed alongside humans. We cannot cure corona viruses. There is no cure for the common cold. There is a LOT of discussion currently around the unexpected persistence of the spike proteins used in the MRNA "jab" developed to counteract the effects of COVID. The ramifications of that experimental "vaccine" have not yet played out...