danielloxton.bsky.social
Author, illustrator, and researcher of misinformation and fringe claims. Former Editor (2002–2021) of Junior Skeptic, and author of Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be and other science books for kids and adults. https://www.danielloxton.com
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I have a short explainer here on the rhetorical tricks used by conspiracy theorists--including "do your own research": jennifermercieca.substack.com/p/the-conspi...
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I do remember scary movie commercials in general being an issue for me (and my younger brothers) as kids—we used to leap to turn down the volume for those trailers
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(The existence and treatment of dysphoria is one genuine qualitative moral difference, but my understanding is that not every trans person experiences dysphoria or requires medical intervention)
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It depends what you want to shoot—in general, expensive newer cameras are legitimately much more capable for birds, sports, and video—but you can absolutely learn photography, take beautiful pictures, and produce magazine cover quality images on bodies you can buy used today for $100-200 Canadian
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Consider buying used! Digital interchangeable lens cameras have been ample for most beginner’s needs for 15 years or more (for stills photography at least) and new cameras devalue quickly. Spend a bit more on lenses—maybe a faster 50mm, and an everyday zoom? (I happily used a kit 18-140mm for years)
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There are million things that make people look different in photos than in person; one is just binocular vision…
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Totally. My thought here is just that people might be well advised to probe for flaws if they’re relying on “AI” for analysis (or facts!). I’m certain there’s real pain happening out there (broken families, bad medical advice, career derailment) from people led astray by fancy magic-8 balls
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A striking inadvertent test of a chatbot can be read here, as it becomes clear that smooth, articulate essay reviews are generated completely at random without any reference at all to the material the “AI” was asked to review
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I’d have to think more about how to do that (or better, defer to more knowledgeable people) but a classic version for astrology is giving a large test group identical “horoscopes” (regardless of each subject’s sign) and asking each subject how well it applies to them personally
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I’m just spitballing, honestly—I’m not a chatbot user—but riffing on reports of people asking chatbots for manuscript reviews or relationship advice, or chatbot output leading people into delusional religious epiphanies, etc. Responses may sound good, yet fall apart when stress tested
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Remember Trump marveling at the newfound success of anti-trans messaging in 2023? “I talk about cutting taxes, people go like that, I talk about transgender everybody goes crazy. Five years ago you didn't know what the hell it was.”
Republicans basically picked that messaging out of a hat!
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This is why I periodically argue it’s possible for people with outstanding questions about trans issues to set those aside for now (do those even affect you anyway?) and focus full attention on resisting manipulative, cynical propaganda from far right Christian think tanks and political operatives
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That’s very much how it went!
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Similarly, some “anti-woke” types become livid over rarely-encountered phrases such as “pregnant person,” without noticing that (even without trans folk etc) the set of pregnant people includes some *girls* who are not—biologically, legally, developmentally—“adult human females” by most definitions
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We could use some “reporters are not telepathic” discipline, too: stop putting in headlines that “Trump thinks” such and such, or that [whatever] is the administration’s “goal” or “aim”or “intention,” and just say “said,” “alleged,” or “claims”