Who are those trolls in the comments sections?
Are they even real people?
Have you noticed? When you read an article or a post on a somewhat controversial subject, people weigh in with their opinions. I often find fascinating perspectives in the comments sections, including new information not present in the original article or post.
But someone, or a small group, has appointed itself as the thought police. These individuals do not merely write their own opinion. Rather, they leave dozens of comments and reactions, responding with lightning speed to crush any dissent, usually armed with extensive rhetoric and an endless supply of links from “reliable” sources. If you try to refute them, the reply comes very rapidly with ever more links. Mockery is a requirement; thoughtfulness is not.
Who has the time, energy, and knowledge to engage in such activities? It is hard to believe that humans are capable of this. Yet I have seen the same phenomenon on anonymous blogs and on LinkedIn (where people are, in theory, identified by their “real” names).
I cannot avoid the suspicion that many of these entities are AI-powered chatbots, designed to drain the time and energy of conservatives. I certainly do not object to a sincere discussion amidst conditions of good will. I am happy to learn something new and change my mind, if I am so persuaded.
But once I pick up the scent of a fanatic troll, whether AI-powered or human, I also have no regrets about blocking it. Life is too short to engage in arguments that are falling on deaf ears - or inhuman ears, as the case may be.
I would like to know your opinion. Have you ever suspected that you are being toyed with by an AI-powered chatbot in the comments sections?
I have occasionally been trolled. It seems to me that artificial trolls use better spelling and grammar than the real life lowlifes. For the most part, I ignore them (esp. the ignorant human ones) as it is not a good use of my time to reply. I have noticed a rather large increase in anti-Semitic, anti Israel trolling. They make outlandish statements and misquote the Bible, the Talmud, etc. Sometimes I will respond, but not directly to the idiot.
Trolls on 5th Avenue
There’s no doubt that 5th generation warfare is one of the arrows in the quiver of the deluded/deranged Democrats. Their whole raison d’etre is to justify their deviation from reality. Ideally, reality is your friend, and you go through the jungle (life) brachiating from one crisis (test of survival) to the next, with a knowing smile on your face, content that you are succeeding in learning from your errors. Further, you respect your neighbours, engage that cute member of the opposite sex, procreate and enjoy Life Everlasting in our heaven on earth. Not so the mentally ill.
There (insanity), reality is a scolding parent, a hateful nanny; YOU know, and they don’t, and if only your magic was not thwarted by a stern God you could smite your enemies and manifest your destiny. With enough deviance, you can literally watch a different movie on your internal projection screen (consciousness) from the rest of the benighted “useless eaters”. Plus, you can engage in delusion and even hallucination to make others wrong so that you can be right. There is no person more “right” than a dangerous schizophrenic.
Thus, it has always been, and in the past such deviation from what works was eventually taken care of by the Law of the Jungle. Unfortunately, feminine notions of civil conduct forbids capital or even corporal punishment. Since the “stick” is bad (a defect of the patriarchy), the “carrot” of animal motivation must be good: and modernity is all about drowning in a sea of carrots. With such a severe deviation from God’s plan, we set off in the wrong direction and repentance is just a quaint notion from a bygone era.
That, to my mind, is a thumbnail sketch of our evil current reality. Add the automaton of Artificial Intelligence to mendacious political power, and good men doing the Lord’s work start to question their reward. The message from our ancestors is that virtue is it’s own reward. Therefore reap what you sow, and ignore the tempests of adversity, except insofar as they hone your craft and build your character; you will be a more contented agent of good. In other words, do what works; don’t do what doesn’t work.