Mitt Romney, Robotics, and the Uncanny Valley 501
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Soulskill
from the suddenly-the-primaries-become-clear dept.
from the suddenly-the-primaries-become-clear dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Brian Fung writes in the Atlantic that one of Romney's electoral problems is that he occupies a kind of uncanny valley for politicians, inexplicably turning voters off despite looking like the textbook image of an American president. Just as people who interact with lifelike robots often develop a strange feeling due to something they can't quite name, something about Romney leaves voters unsettled. As with the robotic version of the uncanny valley, the closer Romney gets to becoming real to a voter, the more his likeability declines. 'The effect is almost involuntary, considering the substantial advantages Romney enjoys from appearance alone,' writes Fung. 'But in person, his polished persona gives way to what appears a surprisingly forced and inauthentic character.' Political commentator Dana Milbanks adds that although Romney is confident and competent, in casual moments his weirdness comes through — equal parts 'Leave It to Beaver' corniness and social awkwardness. 'Romney's task now is to work his way out of the uncanny valley toward a more compelling style of humanity,' concludes Fung. 'But every day he lingers in it, the hill grows steeper.'"
So what? (Score:3, Interesting)
As a non-American who lived in the USA for 10 years, I find it amusing that you guys worry so much about your presidential candidates' private lives.
I remember the presidential blowjob incident. The SAME people who thought Clinton was a great president decided he was no good anymore because he screwed an intern.
Now we find out Mitt Romney is a dork when he's off the limelight. So fucking what?? Is he able to get the job done should he get elected?? If you think so, vote for him.
Finally, does your boss worry and judge you based on what you do in private, off the clock?? How about your customers, co-workers, subordinates, etc.??
No, no, and no, right? Then why the fuck do you care about the candidates' private lives.
Disclaimer: like I said, I'm not America, no longer live in the US, don't vote, don't care.
Romney Most Qualified (Score:5, Interesting)
IMO, Romney is, intellectually and experientially, the most qualified candidate for US president that we've seen in the last two centuries. I'm not sure what kind of president he'll end up being, but he is certainly qualified for the role and infinitely more qualified than the current US president.
FWIW, I had the opportunity to work in fairly close proximity to the man back in 1994. Back then I got the distinct impression that he was generally the smartest guy in the room. But what really stands out in my memory was a meeting where various topics of quantitative finance were discussed...in detail. He was very comfortable with partial differential equations.
Neil Stephenson (Score:4, Interesting)
Uncanny? That's not the uncanny part.... (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't like Romney at all, but I'm still profoundly unsettled by this desperate meta-campaign to convince people he can't win. Are news outlets delusional? Are they trying to shape public policy by falsely prophesying some inevitable result? It just plain creeps me out.
Re:You're quoting Dana Milbanks (sic)??? (Score:5, Interesting)
Required reading:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577014262225551278.html [wsj.com]
Re:You're quoting Dana Milbanks (sic)??? (Score:4, Interesting)
Someone was outside my office yesterday making the same gripe about pot laws, so for even more fun I drew another line for him supporting his argument.
Have you ever considered the link between our pot laws and illegal immigration?
Our drug policy is based on interdiction - stopping the supply. Drugs also follow the law of supply and demand. If we reduce the supply and the demand stays constant, the price rises. This has been happening. The net is that drug lords in Mexico and South America are very well funded. In Mexico in particular, the drug lords seem to be better funded than the authorities, so much so that large parts of the country are essentially lawless.
This makes for a bad business climate. No business, no jobs. No jobs, go somewhere else to find them - like the US.
Oh yeah, there's another line to be drawn between our agriculture and energy policies and the same illegal immigration. Think corn.
Re:The US is f*cked, presidentially (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm a registered Republican, and this year when they called for a donation I told them: "I will not be giving money to any party this year." That was the quickest I have ever gotten off the phone with them. I hope many others told them the same thing.
Re:Religion (Score:4, Interesting)
That doesn't sound like a good business model. That it buy low and sell at a loss... Those are for cases that they couldn't turn around.
You are unfamiliar with the corporate raider model of business?
Step 1: Buy original company, generally in a hostile takeover (e.g. "leveraged buyout.").
Step 2: Sell off company assets and transfer all monies to "parent company" (corporate raider), leaving nothing but debt in original company.
Step 3: Leave remaining debt in original company, spin it back off into "independent" status, and let the debt be taken care of by bankruptcy court.
It's abuse of bankruptcy proceedings, really. And Romney made his millions off of this type of scam.
As for the rest, you're just a fucking idiot. I encourage you to take a latino friend to a Tea Party rally to see firsthand the things those racist fucking retards do and say to him. I've seen it firsthand myself, it was the final straw that made me say to hell with the so called "conservative" movement.
Re:You're quoting Dana Milbanks (sic)??? (Score:5, Interesting)
You're saying that pot laws drive illegal immegration purposefully? To what end?
Let's see...
Providing an easily exploitable pool of cheap laborers for construction and agriculture interests?
Providing an excuse for further militarization of law enforcement?
Illegal immigrants might make a good scapegoat to deflect blame for rising unemployment and falling wages away from the rich fuckers who are really responsible?