There is a very good reason for the super rich to support the rule of law: it secures their own wealth and power. Even if they may want to be aristocrats in a highly stratified society like, for example, 19th century Britain rather than a modern democratic welfare state, they don’t stand to benefit from the transition to a modern autocracy. 19th century Britain was very much a nation of laws where the government would protect the lives and property of the super rich whereas modern autocrats quickly co-opt them into personal lenders whose well-being is entirely at the mercy of the autocrat.

Thus, while some super rich individuals currently support populist autocracy either due to idiosyncratic personal beliefs or short-term political expediency, transitioning to it is not in the best interest of the super rich as a class. Rule of law isn’t the same thing as democracy but I don’t see a global movement towards rule of law without democracy - the two are in the present day apparently inextricable.

(China seemed like it could become a powerful example of rule of law without democracy, but Xi’s consolidation of power seems to have returned it to the standard autocratic track.)

That lie was definitely inappropriate, but it would still have been inappropriate if it was told by a human. I think it’s useful to distinguish between bad things that happen to be done by an AI and things that are bad specifically because they are done by an AI. How would you feel about an AI that didn’t lie or deceive but also didn’t announce itself as an AI?

ChangeMyView seems like the sort of topic where AI posts can actually be appropriate. If the goal is to hear arguments for an opposing point of view, the AI is contributing more than a human would if in fact the AI can generate more convincing arguments.

Is there a reason to think that there have been any casualties?

No kid wants a toy Aquaman.

I used to worry about what women would think when they saw my home, but it turned out that none of them ever see it at all so I might as well be true to myself and collect all the My Little Ponies.

The computer that controlled all the doors refused to open any of them, including the door to the room in which it was physically located.

It wasn’t quite HAL 9000 because doors could still be opened from the inside, but control over the computer was regained only with the help of a locksmith.

Do pampered modern dogs even know that meat comes from animals? My guess is that my dog didn’t. He wanted to chase animals very much, I never let him catch one, but I suspect that he wouldn’t know what to if he did. On the other hand, when I let him chase me he would try to trip me by grabbing my pants at my ankles, which might be a wolf behavior.

(My ferrets didn’t even know that meat was food, because they refused to eat anything expect their pellets. They wouldn’t touch something like wet cat food even if they were hungry. I read somewhere that ferrets don’t eat anything that their mother didn’t teach them to eat when they were young.)

My dog had nightmares sometimes, or at least I think he did. He would twitch and do his sad/pain squealing noise. I woke him up whenever I noticed him doing that, and he always woke up calm and happy. I don’t think he remembered his dreams at all.

In practice, no one will be hurt by this change, except for the pain caused by a defeat in the culture war. If I were you, I would consider risking my career over real harm done to individuals, but not over abstract harm done to an idea, even an idea I supported.

You’re still capable of feeling joy on the inside?

My dog’s favorite game was to have me grab his tail. He would immediately spin around and grab my wrist, and then he would bite harder and harder until I let go. As soon as I let go of his tail, he would let go of my wrist. I don’t bruise easily so I was fine, but other people who tried it got bruises.

I have no idea what he got out of that game. People thought I was being mean to him, but if I held my hand out then he would walk backwards to put his tail in my hand.

Dog owners’ tolerance for being attacked by dogs: LOW

Cat owners’ tolerance for being attacked by cats: HIGH

“Aww isn’t that cute, he suddenly hurt me!”

When I got my dog at the shelter, they told me two things about him:

• He liked to eat garbage.

• He liked being held like a baby.

He was a good size for it too, about 30 lbs. Big enough for a real hug, but not too heavy to lift comfortably. He would press his neck against mine when I held him - I think that was his way of reciprocating. The funny thing is that he was jealous about my hugs. If I hugged another person, he would whine, stand on his hind legs, and try to push that person away from me with his front legs.

You do realize that accepting a plea deal to avoid the death penalty is only possible if prosecutors seek the death penalty?

I think that the variety of leftists here, ranging all the way from people who don’t hate voting for Democrats to literal Stalinists, is one of the peculiarities of Lemmy that I find interesting. With that said, actually engaging with any of the ones more like the latter than the former is, as you’ve experienced, unrewarding.

I’m not a bee, you’re not a bee, so it sounds like a them problem.

(On the internet, nobody knows you’re a bee.)

I think that is the most based I have ever seen a machine be. Soon AI will be more based than any human.

You’re doing exactly what he is asking you not to.

I’m spiteful enough that I would have returned my new laptop (despite needing it for a trip in a couple of days) if I hadn’t been able to bypass the account requirement by disabling the wifi.

What still pissed me off is that it would restart itself after downloading updates if it was left idle, and there was no straightforward option to turn that off. (I think I managed to break that “feature” but who knows how long that will work.) Turning my computer off is never acceptable unless I initiate it. It’s about as obviously wrong as walking into my house uninvited or borrowing my stuff without asking me.