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Dáithí's avatar

For the most part, this is a fantastic episode. Loads of great discussion about how technology is warping our minds, societies, and future. The swarm, as John Robb describes, is real and dangerous.

I do have a criticism though. The choice of describing Putin as grounded in reality is an increasingly bizarre one. His history of gambling against western incompetence and lack of will arguably paid off in the past. But he is more than happy to distort reality for his own ends, and his own perceptions are distorted at best, given his pre-war speech.

Putin uses the swarm, when he can.

"Russia is reconstructing reality and rewriting history to legitimize itself and undermine others."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0227-8

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-115SPRT28110/html/CPRT-115SPRT28110.htm

https://theconversation.com/vladimir-putins-lying-game-100513

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/putins-officials-too-afraid-to-tell-him-truth-of-war-against-ukraine-us-101648685425110.html

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Darryl Cooper's avatar

I think he just means reality in the sense of dealing in traditional terms of hard power, rather than imagining that reality can be created by the power of words and symbols alone.

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Dáithí's avatar

That makes more sense.

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Jonas Stenmark's avatar

I thinki agree with this one. Although I've if the most unexpected + bizarre statements, upon listening again to it, nothing really was said or claimed. It was just an opinion not explained further.

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Aaron George's avatar

Fwiw that was also how I took James's comment. Putin seems to use the swarm, but also seems to use real guns to flex.

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