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The World is Becoming a Computer and I'm not sure I like it [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-07-13

I'll begin this blog with a warning: this isn't connected with any of the typical threads on Dailykos. It's not really political... I'm not sure it has a point. I'm merely curious if anyone feels the same:

It sometimes feels like there's nobody on the other side of the computer screens we're all staring at.

Likewise, as anyone who has been following my haphazard and sporadic blogs on this site (which is precisely zero people across the entirety of this planet) would know, I've recently become 'band leader' of a 'liberal electro rock band', for lack of more official nomenclature. I thought this would mainly consist of writing songs, trying to get free-spirited musicians to play them relatively similar to the way they were written, I play my guitar and sing, and maybe I have to try to book some gigs occasionally and a bit of that nonsense. Oh boy, was I wrong. So, so, so very mistaken. How naive and shiningly simple my World was just a few blissful weeks ago…

You ever had to call, say, a government office, or your credit card company, and been pissed they had you on hold for an hour? I'm sorry to tell you, but that's apparently the future of all humanity. Three and a half hours google had me on hold. Three and a half hours and then they hung up on me when I insisted they take their ads off our songs. Just hung up- sorry, let me correct myself. First they questioned my intelligence for wanting to remove the ads. Then they hung up.

I can't really deal with all this. Full disclosure: I'm damaged goods. I'm a survivor of sexual assault, but I can't say it all went very well. I used to be quite a patient person; I desperately miss that person. Still, I don't expect even that carefree live-and-let-live pushover stoner could have stomached all this: he'd have needed a fat spliff- therefore, I surely do! Where's it at, folks? Just kidding, lol.

But I digress; unfortunately, our distribution company was no help: there's nothing but robots there. I've only ever spoken to anyone in the entire company via email and I'm beginning to think there is not a single human being in the entire company. The phone line isn't even connected, its all creepy as hell... who did I sign up with? I know Jim Caviezel is persona-non-grata these days (and understandably so, in my own opinion) but I used to adore that ridiculous 'Person of Interest' show a while back, and I can't help but be reminded of the episode where the entire company was run by a computer who only existed in cyberspace. I think I signed onto that company- I swear saw his company car drive by, and nothing was occupying it except for a latop. That laptop is now my boss.

It's really nothing I shouldn't be used to at this point in time. My entire identity was breached in a data hack; that was a blast and a half. Apparently my social security number was compromised- someone who was definitely not me was using the number to recieve government benefits that were definitely not mine. When you call the office for that, you get to be on hold for about 45 minutes so you can 'talk' to a robot who will put you on hold for another hour just so you can be informed that you will recieve a call from their office at some indeterminate time in the next 4 weeks. If you fail to answer this call, while it's ringing, you'll have to repeat the entire process again.

When you finally recieve the call from their office, a representative or agent of some type (or more likely just some rando in an office) will inform you that it's no big deal that someone is using your social security number to collect disability checks from the government, as they canceled any further checks, so no, they won't change your social security number, or do a single thing to prevent it from happening again in the rapidly approaching future

and then they'll hang up.

So, I really must apologize if I'm at my wit's end lately. Endless wit isn't what it used to be.

Wouldn't it be nice, just once, to speak to an actual human being who has more than 15 seconds of their time to address your concerns which were brought about by their own mistakes? On the other hand, the robots, they have all day. You can go around in freaking circles with them for hours and they have time to spare. Its incredible how patient they are to ask you the same questions repeatedly, over and over, without once understanding your responses. They are simply so superfluously sympathetic and stoic that you can literally swear and cuss at them all day long, and nary shall they complain. Please don't ask me how I know this.

There was a happy ending to this story, however. Well, let's say bittersweet, as I'm an unparalleled idiot who likes my chocolate 95% cacao. Youtube finally did take the ads off my videos on their site. The robots at my distribution company are so pissed... I think they blew a gasket. Apparently I'm an idiot for passing up all the lucrative .08 of a cent we could recieve with every mypillow and anti-abortion ad they could plaster all over our songs. I told them if they wouldn't give us a say in what companies could advertise on our songs, and which songs they could put ads on, take them all down, and I read the copyright act to them. It worked! They relented and took down all the ads! I honestly had no idea, but then a friendly chatbot AI sent me the good news, and frankly I'd give him a hug if only I had digital digits.

I hope I'm not a complete maroon. I have never been in this position before, and I'm scared. There is an entire band who believes if they follow my rainbow 🌈 bright egalitarian-styled music vision, we're going to be successful, and my dumb ass is turning down pennies on principle. It's just pennies though... and what does any of our music mean, if I let them put an anti-abortion ad on it, or some conspiracy nonsense video they're pushing, or any of that? I just can't be a part of it. I can't be a cog in this machine. None of us should be.

I don't know what the point of any of this blog is, but I hope that as this World becomes more and more algorithmic, we can rise above it, we can find connections on our common humanity and spend less time supporting this cyber-world which is less and less supportive of us. With that I'll sign off- but if I see you in the dream realm, or when we awaken, I'll have a smile for you, and as much of my real life time as you require. I hope you will have a smile for the rest of us! ♥️

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/13/2180906/-The-World-is-Becoming-a-Computer-and-I-m-not-sure-I-like-it

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