I opened a thread just yesterday and the top comment was “I recommend you read this article if you want to know what Noam Chomsky is really like”. It was upvoted. I like to learn things, and don’t really listen to a lot of Chomsky. So I started reading.

It was the most uneducated, biased, ragebait crap I’d ever seen posted to the fediverse. I started mentally building my reply about how “people are saying” is the worst kind of fallacy, and providing a quote from someone else with a different opinion doesn’t count as opposing evidence. I actually got a little upset, disillusioned even, wondering how anyone could fall for this idiotic “argument”. I didn’t agree or disagree with any point, but it was just so poorly made.

I went to reply, thinking I should provide some warning, then I noticed I was in an ml community. I’m mobile, so it sometimes doesn’t show the community until I’ve clicked (I know I can change that in the settings). I considered posting anyway, but it felt so fruitless. It feels like they’re either sheep or assets. I moved on. I feel better getting to let it out here instead.