Socbots and the Three Poisons
Ah, American politics. Reminds me of the “three poisons” in Buddhism: anger, greed, and delusion. That about sums it up, doesn’t it?
Why so much anger in politics? Why do we want and expect so much? How are we fooling ourselves?
Yes, politics are important: lives and livelihoods are at stake. The very threads of the social fabric that prevent genocide are at stake.
Yet, anger, greed, and delusion are so prevalent and so simple, even the “social bots” of foreign governments can find it and exploit it. Face it: if a “socbot” can do it, it doesn’t take any thought.
And socbots are mimicking our political discussions, be they from the right or left. From SJWs (“social justice warriors”) to Alt-right, when it comes to politics, nobody’s a “normie.”
In Buddhist teaching, avoiding the three poisons of anger, greed, and delusion leads to wisdom. And wisdom is wise enough to understand just why anger, greed, and delusion are to be avoided.
What’s the internet acronym for #wisdom? There isn’t one.
Could the socbots mimic wisdom? Let’s give it a try . . .
