You Can't Legislate Stupidity Away... But Can You Automate It Away?
from the someone's-trying dept
For years, we've pointed out that, as much as politicians try, you simply cannot legislate stupidity away. However, could you automate it away? Apparently that's what some programmers are working on, trying to come up with a spam filter-like system to automatically detect and quarantine "stupid" comments in forums and blog comments. As someone who spends way too much time reading the comments around here, there is some appeal in the concept of such a thing. But, the reality is that it's unlikely to work. Stupidity will no doubt route around any such filters pretty quickly. Besides, it sounds like it would really only catch the blindingly obvious stupid comments anyway, rather than the more frustrating and more common variety: which are comments from people who read what they want something to say, rather than what it actually says. What we really need is not a stupidity filter, but a comment troll filter -- or perhaps just a great big lesson in reading comprehension.
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Filed Under: stupidity
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Auto-stupid
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Stupid comment post filter test in 3...2..1...
Especially the guys who wear masks!
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Re: Stupid comment post filter test in 3...2..1...
First post! (in the reply to the second post...)
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Wrong.
I actually like all the comments, even the dumb ones. Without the dumb ones, I probably wouldn't visit here at all.
I laughed for an hour straight about this recent one-
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071108/134959.shtml#c60
Your audience comes for comments, Mike. Quit worrying so much. After all, does art mimic life or life mimic art, and don't you provide the canvas to paint upon?
If you take the canvas away, because you don't like the previous art, how can you regain trust of the artist?
Doesn't happen.
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Misunderstood
Of course. It's obviously the readers who are at fault and who need lessons in reading more clearly. Even though good communication is a two-way street, in this case it can't possibly be anything else. No sir-ree Bob.
(grin)
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He-He-He
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Triggers
+
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Remember
Can't remember where I first heard that; seems to fit here, though.
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Re:
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Re:
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Smarter than humans?
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Totally ranting here...
Being part Finn and my Mom and Dad went to school with the guy who is now the equivalent of economic policy for Finland. (Think Ben Bernanke) It's always fun when you know and appreciate your past.
Anyways, in the book "IQ and the Wealth Of Nations", several folks at U of Helsinki have found correlations between IQs and longitude location of people. Weird mashup, huh?
I was always curious why people in "Great places to visit" like Orlando were always so dumb... They have the highest cost of insurance (read: aim for pedestrians), lower income in comparison to the US, cheap housing, and the economy is typically service/tourism oriented. It's also interesting when you consider that the further north you go, the higher the income (especially Alaska!)... One exception exists- California.
This baffled me. Why wouldn't a great place to live like Orlando attract smarter people..? Do they just become dumb because of the weather? Is it upbringing?
So anyways, I'm totally ranting here, but maybe this is what I decide to write my MBA thesis on. I also expect to prove a theory that people in Denver are the best mix because the further north you go, the more they think and have attendancy to over analyze, and over engineer. Consider Germany. Denver is a good mix, and John Hickenlooper has done well in leading the efforts. I just wish he would put a picture up on his Wikipedia entry.
So... anyways, if we decide to legislate stupidity, maybe we need to include geolocation of posts.
Ref:
http://monsters.wtks.com/main.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_the_Mons ters_In_The_Morning
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Never will work
No comments on this post please unless they are funny.
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It Worked
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EOR
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Um,
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Should we expect intelligence?
The intelligent are bored to tears and the average aren't challenged enough to reach a fraction of their potential.
We are left with a society that is largely dominated by the uneducated.
Yet, we seem surprised when the vast majority of blog content is drivel.
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My Hovercraft
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Stupid
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Ah the wonders of the stupid
"A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand."
It all comes down, in my opinion, to the stupid persons in-ability to admit they are stupid. Thus they try (in their own minds) not to appear stupid, and thus make the situation worse.
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Re: Ah the wonders of the stupid
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Re: Ah the wonders of the stupid
Thats when the lawyers step in and say "Your a Victim"! We need reform. We need you to protect!
Then we get things like No Child Left Behind.
It all starts with that "victim" mentality.
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I guess this should (strike)eliminate(strike) highlight trolls and stupid people?
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trolls?
However, when the written word is the medium, it's the writer's responsiblity to be clear, thorough and unambiguous.
Even then, disagreement can be honest and not just to raise hell.
If you put your thoughts out for public comment, a thin skin is not an asset.
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Re: trolls?
Heh. It was a joke... I've said quite clearly in the past that the whole reason I spend so much time responding to the comments is it shows me I haven't done a very good job getting my point across. So, yes, I do take the blame. And in this case, it was my fault for assuming that the sarcasm would get through... when, clearly, it did not.
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Darwinism
We only give the death sentance to smart folk, too bad for the police informant he kidnapped and killed.
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Stupid People
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Stupid is opinion
Take for instance, "Windoze sux", or "linux sux". I would concider either of those statements to add zero value to a converstaion, howerver the fanboys on either camp would rate their position higher, Also, since there are more fanboys out there with opionions (and time to express it) than normals with oposing positions a straight vote won't work.
An automated system might see this post and see 133t speak and kill it automatically.
I want to see how people like me rate a posting. I don't care what the opinion of "stupid" people is. I know that some concider me "stupid" because I don't agree with them.
BTW, I discount any post that includes gramatical or spelling corrections.
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Re: Stupid is opinion
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Stupid People
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o/
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Re: o/
That's not how averages work. That would be a median. Stupid.
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Another dumb idea
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Re: Another dumb idea
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Eww, kewel
If you don't have stupids, how will they know you're smart?
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Long Commentary. Definitely Disregard.
Personally, I find Galvatron to be one of the best posters online. He's over at Boy Genius Report, Howard Forums and CellPhoneSignal.
Anyways, at first I was skeptical, but I read something from a left-brained point of view that really summed it up for me:
And out of the ashes GALVATRON RISES!!!
Galvatron: A robot sent from the future to warn us about evils! His goal is to save our future from the apocalyptic products that will one day turn against mankind. His typing controls have been damaged on his travel to our present…thus he has trouble with communicating and spelling…
PEOPLE heed the wisdom of GALVATRON he is only trying to save us!
I laughed for a second and realized that people, who are incredibly creative, generally have difficulty meeting the "Strong A's" point of view and lack the ability to meet them half way.
So I decided to put myself through a particular exercise of comprehension, trying to make sense of the world I live in.
In the end of my excursive, I realized that Steve Jobs is one of the greatest leaders since the Pharos, possibly even better than Jack Welsh. He has this unique ability to create an environment which nurtures the right-brained creative folks, and meet the needs of the left-brained folks. He's a winner.
When you consider his successes at Next Step, and Pixar along with Apple, you come to realize that Jobs isn't a CEO. It's a translator, and incredibly gifted and that regard. He remains positive in everything, and is able to share things that people from all walks of life, and most importantly they get the message. Someday, I'd love to report to him.
I have also learned that there are very few people out there that can play that "translator" role.
What an incredible revelation.
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Re: Long Commentary. Definitely Disregard.
The preceding commentary's assumption that people are either left-brained or right-brained just reminded me of this phenomenon. It isn't an either/or situation. People can also be gifted or deficient on both sides.
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Re: Re: Long Commentary. Definitely Disregard.
The preceding commentary's assumption that people are either left-brained or right-brained just reminded me of this phenomenon. It isn't an either/or situation. People can also be gifted or deficient on both sides.
I agree. it's weird when we can't find win situations for everyone.
The best situations are those where there are no winners, and no specific losers.
Unfortunately, most people think one-dimensionally as you said. Take NBC or Viacom.
You can't have our content... They bang.
No one wants to budge. We own the content... We own the content... We own the content... they continually bang.
Unfortunately at that point it's progressed to the lawyers
and they say they are owed $250,000 for each infringed piece of art, which is what the law says.
No one wants to budge, and no one wants to license.
And the original goal of Patents and Copyright from Thomas Jefferson's time becomes thrown out the window.
No one gets it.
It baffles me.
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Re: Long Commentary. Definitely Disregard.
Go fig.
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Problems
Secondly, "It's a translator" should be replaced with "He's a translator."
I'm sure there are more, but blame Microsoft Word for all the issues.
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Stupidity filter is easy
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Am I too smart for you to get my sarcasm? Don't make me break the Wharton references out next....
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Hey I am looking for a mentor. Anyone willing to step up?
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my only comment...
Nuff said.
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Re: my only comment...
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So what you're really saying is...
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Sarcasam is lost on Americans.
deciding that a person who doesn't agree with
you is stupid. When they could be mis-informed.
Each person considering a range of factors will
assign different weighting to each of them in
reaching a decision. Weighting based on personal
experience, education, indoctrination and hat-size.
It's very difficult, sometimes, to understand why a
person reaches a certain decision. Sometimes it's
impossible. But to jump to the conclusion that
they're stupid is intellectually lazy...
Although they could be crazy.
PS. To all you vets out there, thanks.
Thinking of you on this Veterans Day.
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Stupid?
There are more views then just two. This is true, it's nothing new. But there is such thing as right and wrong. Rule of weak or rule of strong. It is bad to kill some one and take their cash. That's kinda being an ass. And if right and wrong can be, then why not smarts and stupidity? It is stupid to say that the earth is flat. Imagine that. 2+2 is four, and a person lies if they say it's less or more.
We live in a society of meritocracy. can't you see? We can't tell someone that they are wrong. No mater how hard we try to tell them that they do not belong. People attach their names to science, we can't cut them free. Let science be!
No longer is it about right or wrong. String theory's stalled, and gone on too long. Instead it's about being PC. It doesn't make much sense to me. When someone's dump best point out their error. Other wise superstition rules us in a grip of terror. From ID to hydrogenity.
So there really are morons out there. Their brains I swear are made of hair. With no reason or rhyme, why let them take time? Those fools who mock science beware.
Mental note to self: Don't post when insane. It turns out rather lame.
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Missing the Point
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#47: On the Other Hand...
On the one hand...
On the other hand...
But in the Gripping Hand...
You see...the third hand, is the hand that synthesizes the experience of the other 2 hands. How Kantian. The Dialectic...Oooh! OK, stop staring at the television, Jimmy. You'll ruin your eyes.
Yeah, I think the problem with the "2 sides to every story" probably stems from the bilateral symmetry of most human beings. Then again, we're generally more comfortable with on/off light/dark, and 0/1. We don't deal well with shades of gray, which the majority of life is.
Note: I am aware that I should not end my sentence with "is", but like the former President, I fail to understand the meaning of "is".
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Re: #47: On the Other Hand...
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Heh
Mind, body, soul. Three parts. Emotion, Logic, and Spirituality
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Erm
I suck at my own trialectics.
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artificial stupidity
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