Thanks for this dense description of DARPA behavior-influencing. Maybe people in other countries are different, but Americans are truly brainwashed. Their responses on all issues are reflexive and seemingly "programed"--thanks to schooling, media propaganda, cultural collectivism, and so forth. The programed attitudes of the vast majority used to astonish me, but they've programed astonishment out of my mindset. Herding Americans around is so easy, about as easy as eating birthday cake and ice cream. The herders enjoy their sport.
80% of everything today is bullshit. 20% of the remainder is bs too.
Great article as always. I think we are either watching the collapse of western civiliazation and neo-fuedalism being installed. The more that I look at the digital cages we are being locked in the more I fear for my kids. Not sure what the solution is? Except producing more of my own food on our small homestead her in Idaho. Wish I could convince my wife to move to Central or South America. My concern about moving is in a real emergency how would the natives treat a foreigners.
And people pile into Palantir and fund their own demise. Watching defense stocks like Rheinmetals explode the last year shows you where we are. Greed will end the human race as we know it. People are sick and have no morals. Case in point i was speaking to my business banker last week. Lovely lady from India. As i do, i probed her about her attitude to gold and did she have any as she tried to sign me up to a
Merrill account. She was proud of her 8% return… We spoke about religion and she informed me that she was very religious and prayed daily before work. Her particular religion was much more strict than Hindu. No meat, eggs, fish, cheese and alcohol strictly forbidden. She mentioned her husband was also a businessman, and also had all his money in Merrill managed accounts. I said wow, what does your husband do? She responded, he owns a liquor store, as so many Indians do! So here another case of humanity of hypocrisy. Although alcohol was strictly forbidden because it poisons the body and mind, nit only did they seek to profit from it, it is a key business that this religious group focuses on running. Look how many liquor stores in the west are now operated by Indians. (This is not meant to be disparaging against indians, its just an observation) People only have morals when money doesn’t depend on it. Literally they will kill themselves to get it. Just like the people bidding up Pfizer stocks while complaining about jabs. People are not more than baboons with wallets.
First off, as an SF fan from way back, how cool is it to see "Red Wedding" and "Narnia" crop up in the current iteration of "operation" names? Taking the winz where I find 'em.
Second, yes, of course "we" are still the enemy. I've mentioned this in a few of my recent essays, such as "Enemy of the state" which is partly a film review and partly a look at the state of surveillance self-defence.
Now, scare quotes means that I have a nuance or two to throw at "we" right? Yes, of course. We are the people who aren't part of the deep state, which is pretty much everyone except the spy guys from the OSS, their children and subsequent descendants, the people signed up for the freemason secret society to bring America back into the British empire that Cecil Rhodes yapped about back in AD 1877, the other spy agencies that inter-cooperate, the "five eyes" four of which are British or Commonwealth countries, and so forth. If it's G7 or G20 it might be them, especially if it is also NATO, EU, and anglophonic. We are also the free marketeers, the libertarians, the people who want to be left alone, the ones who identify effective strategies to reduce our tax contributions legally, and the kind of people for whom the tax of inflation is such a terrible burden that we actually bother to buy gold, silver, bitcoin, and other alternative currencies.
I've been a part of that set for all of my adult life and part of my teen years, pretty much since I was old enough to get letters to the editor published in newspapers. The good news is that there are some things people can do to safeguard their online presence, keep images of their children off apps and platforms, protect their communications privacy and data security, and deter some of the madness that the likes of Peter Thiel have in mind for us. It isn't easy, but there are a great many people working in the field of defence against surveillance, including most of the people who ever made a genuine contribution to computer network technologies software and hardware.
For my own part, I've been teaching communications, professionally, since 1980. Always happy to help.
You wanna know something REALLY scary? Peter Thiel is building a massive partially underground doomsday bunker in Uruguay, in a gated community called Fasano Las Piedras. It's rather close to Punta del Este. Now, we can easily access info on his bunker in New Zealand. But, there has been radio silence about this place. I wonder why?
AI will never be perfectly wise or objective, but its ability to profile adversaries and predict escalation patterns could be one of the few tools that keeps human impulses from tipping into disaster. The key is pairing it with truly decentralized systems — because without that, the same tech meant to prevent war can just as easily become the ultimate tool of control. The fight is about power, not just innovation.
Excellent analysis and reporting on the actual kinetic war uses (the new form of war) but I'm not sure what you're saying about the use of theory of mind platform during the COVID-19 crisis. Maybe because of these new tools the government did better at shaping opinion and response than it would have done during earlier pandemic health scares. I'm not convinced it did. In a true emergency with gov authorities understanding the danger and knowing what the best population response would be I suppose having theory of mind tools for surgically effective crowd control (as in actual war) would be desirable. Problem is there are not likely to be preconditions justifying such preference. When the authorities are mistaken or incompetent, as I think is the general condition, you don't want them having such control, and I understand you're saying they had too much during the "pandemic" and that caused more harm than if they didn't have those population analysis and control tools. There was no true consensus within the healthcare community of experts and no well orchestrated public response. The public was fragmented and harmed by the effort at centralized control. I don't think the problem/danger is with the tools Palantir's technology provided per se, but rather with the humans trying to operate the levers of control.
If this software is so good then why are their decisions so bad? The attack on Iran went horribly south for Israel and the SMO is a master class on Western tactical idiocy.
Is the system just operating on bad information? Are they feeding it the same garbage propaganda they foist on the public daily??
It worked pretty well during covid. It worked well for Lebanon. It’s worked with Russia so far. And the Iran situation that could have exploded into an open forever war was concluded in 12 days. I’m not saying the system is so good. I’m just pointing out the system exists and they’re using it and much of what we can see is explained by it’s use.
No, I get and totally agree with your point, I’m just making the added point that it’s even more dangerous since it’s either not functioning correctly, inherently flawed, or overwhelmed with bad information.
It’s looking like a means of systematic confirmation bias for delusional control freaks. A truly objective system with good information would advise there’s no winning move ala “WarGames”.
Then again perhaps it is telling them the facts and they’re just ignoring what they don’t want to hear, like Trump dissing Gabbard on Iran.
It’s certainly not wise or even objective - no war games answers are coming from this system.
But it has guided aggressive actions without them turning into uncontrollable warfare. That suggests its adversary profiling feature is fairly effective already.
Perhaps, but given the parties involved the only true surprise so far has been that everyone in the 12 day war agreed covertly on an exchange of largely performative strikes to save face and call it a day.
If the system guided THAT then my hat’s off. But again, they should’ve known up front that Israel would come up the loser in the whole affair.
I’d argue it hasn’t worked at all with Russia — spiderweb was clever but ultimately ineffectual (with damage nowhere near what was claimed) and would have been dangerously escalatory had it been.
It may have helped stop the Israel-Iran conflict but if it was truly smart it wouldn’t have allowed it to start. It’s like taking on the Houthis… nothing gained, much lost.
I see US/Israel/UK/EU arrogance making threats they have no means of backing up. Why isn’t this brilliant system telling them their mouths are writing checks their asses will never be able to carry?
Seems like the system itself is programmed with the same myth of Western military superiority that pervades the political class.
I don't think I'm making my point well. Let me try again - I'm simply explaining the operational systems below the surface. I'm not saying they're awesome. But, they certainly are dangerous and will only become more dangerous over time. Importantly - the fundamentally alter the methods of warfare.
Also, in terms of what "Worked" or didn't - that assumes we know the specific goals. Sure we know "to win" is a goal. But winning is a long and complex process with countless mission objectives along the way.
Thanks for this dense description of DARPA behavior-influencing. Maybe people in other countries are different, but Americans are truly brainwashed. Their responses on all issues are reflexive and seemingly "programed"--thanks to schooling, media propaganda, cultural collectivism, and so forth. The programed attitudes of the vast majority used to astonish me, but they've programed astonishment out of my mindset. Herding Americans around is so easy, about as easy as eating birthday cake and ice cream. The herders enjoy their sport.
80% of everything today is bullshit. 20% of the remainder is bs too.
Great article as always. I think we are either watching the collapse of western civiliazation and neo-fuedalism being installed. The more that I look at the digital cages we are being locked in the more I fear for my kids. Not sure what the solution is? Except producing more of my own food on our small homestead her in Idaho. Wish I could convince my wife to move to Central or South America. My concern about moving is in a real emergency how would the natives treat a foreigners.
My guess, not very well!
And people pile into Palantir and fund their own demise. Watching defense stocks like Rheinmetals explode the last year shows you where we are. Greed will end the human race as we know it. People are sick and have no morals. Case in point i was speaking to my business banker last week. Lovely lady from India. As i do, i probed her about her attitude to gold and did she have any as she tried to sign me up to a
Merrill account. She was proud of her 8% return… We spoke about religion and she informed me that she was very religious and prayed daily before work. Her particular religion was much more strict than Hindu. No meat, eggs, fish, cheese and alcohol strictly forbidden. She mentioned her husband was also a businessman, and also had all his money in Merrill managed accounts. I said wow, what does your husband do? She responded, he owns a liquor store, as so many Indians do! So here another case of humanity of hypocrisy. Although alcohol was strictly forbidden because it poisons the body and mind, nit only did they seek to profit from it, it is a key business that this religious group focuses on running. Look how many liquor stores in the west are now operated by Indians. (This is not meant to be disparaging against indians, its just an observation) People only have morals when money doesn’t depend on it. Literally they will kill themselves to get it. Just like the people bidding up Pfizer stocks while complaining about jabs. People are not more than baboons with wallets.
"People are not more than baboons with wallets."
Excellent observation!
"Are we still the adversary?"
Really?
Do you have to ask?
We're the marks. lol
First off, as an SF fan from way back, how cool is it to see "Red Wedding" and "Narnia" crop up in the current iteration of "operation" names? Taking the winz where I find 'em.
Second, yes, of course "we" are still the enemy. I've mentioned this in a few of my recent essays, such as "Enemy of the state" which is partly a film review and partly a look at the state of surveillance self-defence.
Now, scare quotes means that I have a nuance or two to throw at "we" right? Yes, of course. We are the people who aren't part of the deep state, which is pretty much everyone except the spy guys from the OSS, their children and subsequent descendants, the people signed up for the freemason secret society to bring America back into the British empire that Cecil Rhodes yapped about back in AD 1877, the other spy agencies that inter-cooperate, the "five eyes" four of which are British or Commonwealth countries, and so forth. If it's G7 or G20 it might be them, especially if it is also NATO, EU, and anglophonic. We are also the free marketeers, the libertarians, the people who want to be left alone, the ones who identify effective strategies to reduce our tax contributions legally, and the kind of people for whom the tax of inflation is such a terrible burden that we actually bother to buy gold, silver, bitcoin, and other alternative currencies.
I've been a part of that set for all of my adult life and part of my teen years, pretty much since I was old enough to get letters to the editor published in newspapers. The good news is that there are some things people can do to safeguard their online presence, keep images of their children off apps and platforms, protect their communications privacy and data security, and deter some of the madness that the likes of Peter Thiel have in mind for us. It isn't easy, but there are a great many people working in the field of defence against surveillance, including most of the people who ever made a genuine contribution to computer network technologies software and hardware.
For my own part, I've been teaching communications, professionally, since 1980. Always happy to help.
Wow. This is fantastic. Great analysis as always.
On a similar subject a great book to read, The Rape Of The Mind.
Agree. @Michael Yon recommended it to me last year .
Palantir starting to sound a lot like Cyberdyne Systems...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtbYUo_zK1w&list=WL&index=30
Excellent article and provides a lens to view current events. Truly frightening.
You wanna know something REALLY scary? Peter Thiel is building a massive partially underground doomsday bunker in Uruguay, in a gated community called Fasano Las Piedras. It's rather close to Punta del Este. Now, we can easily access info on his bunker in New Zealand. But, there has been radio silence about this place. I wonder why?
This can all be laid at the feet of the Joos. Believe that.
https://archive.org/details/who-really-starts-all-the-wars/mode/1up?view=theater
noware ... same place all the software/hardware has been taking humanimal from the beginning.
Jump from 'the red wedding' to the last scene of the last episode ... then back to the first scenes in the first episodes ... slather, mince, repeat.
GOT is an imaginative paean to lack of imagination (among other def-con defects).
So what is Rumble about?
Mid 2024 all of its major talking heads starting talking about a christian god.
Surely that was not coincidental.
AI will never be perfectly wise or objective, but its ability to profile adversaries and predict escalation patterns could be one of the few tools that keeps human impulses from tipping into disaster. The key is pairing it with truly decentralized systems — because without that, the same tech meant to prevent war can just as easily become the ultimate tool of control. The fight is about power, not just innovation.
Terrific, but never been schooled in "split infinitives" have you?
Just a retired English teacher's comment. Don't give up the day job that you do extremely well.
Bless!
Excellent analysis and reporting on the actual kinetic war uses (the new form of war) but I'm not sure what you're saying about the use of theory of mind platform during the COVID-19 crisis. Maybe because of these new tools the government did better at shaping opinion and response than it would have done during earlier pandemic health scares. I'm not convinced it did. In a true emergency with gov authorities understanding the danger and knowing what the best population response would be I suppose having theory of mind tools for surgically effective crowd control (as in actual war) would be desirable. Problem is there are not likely to be preconditions justifying such preference. When the authorities are mistaken or incompetent, as I think is the general condition, you don't want them having such control, and I understand you're saying they had too much during the "pandemic" and that caused more harm than if they didn't have those population analysis and control tools. There was no true consensus within the healthcare community of experts and no well orchestrated public response. The public was fragmented and harmed by the effort at centralized control. I don't think the problem/danger is with the tools Palantir's technology provided per se, but rather with the humans trying to operate the levers of control.
If this software is so good then why are their decisions so bad? The attack on Iran went horribly south for Israel and the SMO is a master class on Western tactical idiocy.
Is the system just operating on bad information? Are they feeding it the same garbage propaganda they foist on the public daily??
It worked pretty well during covid. It worked well for Lebanon. It’s worked with Russia so far. And the Iran situation that could have exploded into an open forever war was concluded in 12 days. I’m not saying the system is so good. I’m just pointing out the system exists and they’re using it and much of what we can see is explained by it’s use.
No, I get and totally agree with your point, I’m just making the added point that it’s even more dangerous since it’s either not functioning correctly, inherently flawed, or overwhelmed with bad information.
It’s looking like a means of systematic confirmation bias for delusional control freaks. A truly objective system with good information would advise there’s no winning move ala “WarGames”.
Then again perhaps it is telling them the facts and they’re just ignoring what they don’t want to hear, like Trump dissing Gabbard on Iran.
It’s certainly not wise or even objective - no war games answers are coming from this system.
But it has guided aggressive actions without them turning into uncontrollable warfare. That suggests its adversary profiling feature is fairly effective already.
Perhaps, but given the parties involved the only true surprise so far has been that everyone in the 12 day war agreed covertly on an exchange of largely performative strikes to save face and call it a day.
If the system guided THAT then my hat’s off. But again, they should’ve known up front that Israel would come up the loser in the whole affair.
BTW amazing how time flies — 4 years and a week or so ago we were all chatting at that rooftop bar in Rapid City. 😎
Freedom Fest?
That’s actually crazy to think it’s been that long. wow.
I’d argue it hasn’t worked at all with Russia — spiderweb was clever but ultimately ineffectual (with damage nowhere near what was claimed) and would have been dangerously escalatory had it been.
It may have helped stop the Israel-Iran conflict but if it was truly smart it wouldn’t have allowed it to start. It’s like taking on the Houthis… nothing gained, much lost.
I see US/Israel/UK/EU arrogance making threats they have no means of backing up. Why isn’t this brilliant system telling them their mouths are writing checks their asses will never be able to carry?
Seems like the system itself is programmed with the same myth of Western military superiority that pervades the political class.
I don't think I'm making my point well. Let me try again - I'm simply explaining the operational systems below the surface. I'm not saying they're awesome. But, they certainly are dangerous and will only become more dangerous over time. Importantly - the fundamentally alter the methods of warfare.
Also, in terms of what "Worked" or didn't - that assumes we know the specific goals. Sure we know "to win" is a goal. But winning is a long and complex process with countless mission objectives along the way.