Tootfinder

Uncontrolled power will turn even saints into savages. And we can all
be counted on to live down to our lowest impulses.
-- Parmen, "Plato's Stepchildren", stardate 5784.3

Another banger by J. B. Crawford in his "Computers Are Bad" series, this time going through computer history from PLATO to Lotus Notes. PLATO is probably the most influential computer system almost nobody knows about (unlike, say, Mother of All Demos).
https://computer.rip/2026-03-14-lotusn

LotusNotes

We talk endlessly about what AI can and cannot do. We talk very little about the assumptions built into the question itself. This dialogue follows a philosopher and an AI practitioner.
https://ocrampal.com/from-plato-to-gradient-descent-the-frame-we-forgot-w…

From Plato to Gradient Descent: The Frame We Forgot We Chose
Practitioner: I’ll be honest—I find the "philosophy of AI" a bit indulgent. We aren’t guessing anymore. We’re building systems that work. GPT, AlphaFold, Sora... these aren't accidents. We’ve clearly cracked the code on how intelligence functions. Philosopher: I don’t doubt the results. But results

Lawyer: Do you have an understanding as you sit here today of what Plato’s Cave means?
Me (a genius, actually): Yeah.
Lawyer: So what's your understanding of what it means?
M(AGA): It is exactly what was written in “Plato’s Cave”
…

millennial: iykyk
plato: NOT SO FAST
#philosophy #joke

https://brief.platow.de/banken/faule-kredite-erschweren-abwicklung-der-triodos-bank-in-deutschland/

Plato Understood Why Masking Would Turn ICE Agents Into Devils (Paul Rosenzweig/The UnPopulist)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/plato-understood-why-masking-would
http://www.memeorandum.com/260208/p53#a260208p53

millennial: iykyk
plato: NOT SO FAST

well, gillian welch & david rawlings doing the dead at the capitol was as stunning as expected & then some. as beautiful as i've ever heard any of those songs, stripped down to stark platonic dream arrangements. quiet & cathartic & powerful to be in a room getting knocked sideways together.

Harris relaunch of 'Kamala HQ' as Gen Z content hub stokes speculation on what's next (Barnini Chakraborty/Washington Examiner)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/4447694/harris-relaunch-platoforms-gen-z-content-hub/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260205/p128#a260205p128