Virtual Insanity

You may have seen a posting passed around social media in the past couple of days: someone says that if we just divide the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot among the 300 million or so Americans, everyone would get a million dollars. Of course, they are mistaken in a way that's hard to comprehend. I can accept that many people are not good calculating with large numbers. But putting the math aside, they apparently think that after we've amassed a big pile of money by having many Americans pitch in a few dollars at a time, you can then divide that pile among all Americans and get millions a piece.

The first time I saw it, it was just a screen capture of a Facebook status making this case. But then I saw the idea expressed again, this time as a nice, neat graphic, complete with a Twitter handle, presumably of the creator. That made me a little suspicious: someone went through the trouble of putting together a graphic of an obviously-ridiculous idea? I realize some people have unexpected combinations of skills and ways to apply intelligence, but I still can't believe that this idea passed through the hands of someone with computer graphic design skills without its failings being revealed. And the prominent Twitter handle? You'd go out of your way to take credit for this?

I sensed fakery, so I went looking for the Twitter user's page. It turned out to be a musician using this as an odd sort of viral marketing scheme. They either came up with the idea independently, or copied it from the original post, made it into a nice graphic, and added the Twitter handler. That was a bit of a relief - I had guessed it was an attempt to publicly shame someone by signing their name to something so stupid it would go viral. Nevertheless, the posting has attracted a large number of people attempting to correct the calculations, using varying levels of politeness. Indeed, several were using older viral memes, such as the Batman-slapping-Robin graphic, to make fun of it.

I think this is some sort of stupidity Inception. You have a clever person pretending to be stupid. Smart people correct him, but they aren't as smart as they think they are, because they can't recognize the difference between real and fake stupidity. They're even using old memes to make fun of something that has become a new meme. And after explaining all this, I feel stupider.

Keep It (Patient) Zero

Mostly over been impressed by Larry Wilmore's new show The Nightly Show. He wisely didn't try to reproduce The Colbert Report at all, instead producing a distinctive show.

But I was really disappointed with thee recent episode on vaccination. Wilmore himself did the expected ridicule of the anti-vaccine movement. But then the roundtable discussion was essentially won by the token anti-vaxxer.

What was particularly depressing was that the show's panel discussion was a microcosm of the issue's spread through society, illustrating why it's progressing.

• The scientist is adamant in her defence of vaccines, but doesn't have the skills to get that argument heard or give it emotional impact.
• You have an aggressive promoter of vaccines, but her vitriol melts away when facing an opponent who - for all her dangerous ideas - is just a human being.
• Then you have a person whose cynicism - some of it justified, some stoked by the media - makes him fertile ground for act charlatan stoking mistrust of authorities.

What's really disappointing is that The Nightly Show is in danger of becoming the intellectually vapid confrontation show that The Daily Show and its offspring have always fought against. Surely the highlight of Jon Stewart's career was his guerilla dismantling of CNN's original Crossfire. His point - and it's a vitally important one - is that too much of televised "news" is the presenting views from each extreme, without presenting the facts that would allow the audience to figure out the truth. But that's essentially what Wilmore et al just did.

Hold That Tiger (Still For A Second)

Tiger selfies have been declared illegal in the state of New York. See, there's supposedly a trend for men to take pictures of themselves with dangerous animals as an eye-catching profile picture on dating sites.  I don't know; I don't browse men's dating site profiles, so I can't confirm the existence of this trend.  I can only hear about it, and say, yep, that sounds like humanity.  But it's no longer legal in New York.

I don't think the law was a good move. Sure, I like to protect vulnerable animal populations as much as anyone. But a tiger is hardly threatened by a dudebro with a phone. It makes sense to protect animals when they can't protect themselves, such as against poachers or pollution. But when animals can protect themselves, the law doesn't need to get involved.

But what's particularly great about tiger selfies is the circumstances. Like many others, I've often cynically wished that people doing stupid things would just remove themselves from the gene pool. But the problem with that idea is that many people risking their own lives have already reproduced.  Thus their offspring will ensure that stupidity survives for another generation. But tiger selfies are being used to get an impressive picture for dating sites. That works out perfectly! People are risking their lives in the attempt to procreate. Now we just need to encourage the women to have risky dating photos too. What animal would be stereotypically feminine but still dangerous? Perhaps cuddle up, teddy bear style, with an actual bear?

Things The Teenage Me Wouldn't Have Believed About The Future, #12

Lots of people refuse to get their kids vaccinated, largely on the advice of a former Playmate of the Year.

I See Great Pain In Your Future

So I just saw this story about a plastic surgeon in Japan who will alter the lines in your palm so that your fortune will be more desirable. (Warning: the link is predictably gross.)  But wait, there's more: the lines are made by burning them in.  Rather than go on a big rant, I'll just invite you to meditate on all the layers of stupidity that are present in this story.  Keep in mind that it could all turn out to be a hoax, so you can add cruel Internet hoaxes and the fact that we can no longer tell satire from reality as two more layers.

But just so you don't go away with no faith in humanity, here's a link about how an old Walmart in McAllen, Texas was turned into America's largest one-floor library.