#cognitive complexity

[zomb13s]

A Critical Examination of Intellectual Perception: The Dichotomy of Misjudgment and Cognitive Flow in Contemporary Leadership

Introduction The intersection of intelligence, leadership, and societal perceptions has always been a crucial point of analysis in understanding the role of cognitive capacity in high-level decision-making. Alfons Scholing, CEO of alfons.design, a digital studio behind the artist platform ikziezombies.com, and a significant figure whose life took a transformative turn after his soliciting for…

[benevadeca]

Ok ramblings that lost the plot but... One of my least favorite SJ tropes is his past abuse leaking and everyone is suddenly soooo sympathetic to his past as a slave. Like it puts so much of the misunderstandings about him on his own shoulders, in a "oh this was a safe space and if you'd just been honest people would've been understanding" way. And i get it's a very modern-ism to be like ofc slavery is bad and the worldbuilding has weird mixes of gayness being fine but slavery is legal.

Like if anything the reveal in the original PIDW-verse just reaffirms to them at the end that ofc SJ was an outsider that could never fit in or make nice. They would've been like well that's a mortal social issue that the cultivation world should be above but ofc it makes so much sense for a snake like him to have been lying and hiding even more of his true colors.

And I mean even in SVSSS verse w shen yuan when it gets revealed they're just like well whatever! We don't care abt his past bc he's our guy and stopped being sucks so he like got over it and also we have a monopoly on violence so him doing a little childhood massacre is fine. He's Good (read: one of us) now. Like the hypocrisy and classism and ignorance, not even of social issues or your peers burdens but not even knowing what you don't know, is never something the members of the cultivation world ever worry about until it the consequences of those things actively effects them. SJ was their martial sibling but never One Of Them, but SY integrated well in an entirely different cultural norm bc he still had young master socialization. And unlike SJ he was good at being nice even though it was for equally selfish reasons as SJ's meanness. IE both being their learnt survival methods they used to protect themselves.

Idk it just undermines SJ's entire reasonable paranoia and valid reasons for not being willing to reveal the things he could v much get into legal trouble with, that people would use against him, the tangible discrimination that exists, etc. Like he was literally named qingqiu it kind of shows the trend of the things people do to him when they Know.

Anyway idk let them be ignorant and hypocrites! I like SY as a character bc he's a Nice person that is simultaneously incredibly narrow-minded, privileged, selective in who he gives a shit abt, and resistant to having his preconceptions questioned until his life is literally on the line lol. They are both posers! And for that to be undermined by the well sy wins bc he is Nice and Cares while sj wasnt those things is so like. Reductionist and equally woobifying in my opinion.

Rest of the CQM PL's too! CQM is destroyed in original PIDW-verse not just bc of SJ but bc it's complacent w the system no matter the guise it puts on as being the liberal equitable sect. Like this is the breaking the bones and locking a kid in a cave and then sending him to fight a demon lord sect.

[serpentface]

The closest living relative to elowey, most commonly called variants on 'wildmen' and 'dogmen' (the Nekh term is 'hutsmet', a play on 'wildmen' more literally meaning 'woodsmen'). This is a dominant female in estrus, marked with a dense mane, large cuspids, and red anogenital swelling. Males are slightly larger, but sleeker in build and lacking manes.

They are quite different from proto-elowey, being stockier, wholly quadrupedal and near exclusively terrestrial (only incidentally climbing trees), and having a more carnivorous diet. They are opportunistic omnivores, mostly eating plant matter, small animals, and scavenged carcasses, but occasionally tackling large prey through cooperative hunting. They are also less intensely territorial than proto-elowey (who were heavily reliant on fruiting trees and would establish firm territorial boundaries to monopolize access), and the edges of territories will often overlap with minimal conflict outside of times of starvation.

Like proto-elowey (and most lemuroids) hutsmet exhibit a female dominated social structure. Groups of (mostly related) females form the core territorial unit, with a dominant matriarch directing most activities. Unlike elowey, the dominant female does not monopolize breeding, and all adult females in a band reproduce and cooperatively rear young. Females mostly stay in the home range of their birth and maintain territorial boundaries, while males disperse and form all-male bands that travel between multiple territories for breeding and feeding.

It is rare for modern hutsmet populations to coexist with elowey, as they are often in competition for resources. Hutsmet are also occasionally known to eat elowey children, and even mob and kill adults, and as such are often hunted to local extinction when their presence is known. Few elowey cultures have positive outlooks on these animals, with their uncanny resemblance and 'cannibalistic' qualities often seen as uniquely unsettling. They are often antagonistic figures in mythology and folklore, imagined as a sort of hostile fae-folk that lure travellers off trails with vocal mimicry and kidnap young elowey men for reproductive purposes.

They also share native ranges with some human and qilik peoples, who don't experience the same psychological disturbance but still tend towards having hostile relations- hutsmet will opportunistically prey on adult qilik, and antagonize humans primarily by taking livestock and destroying crops.

[softgritspoonie]

[hypermascbishounen]

Protip for writers: Don't pick something you're extremely insecure about as your main theme, until you've actually processed your feelings on it. It's exhausting for readers to have to hold your hand, while you try to convince yourself you're Totally Not Ashamed, of the thing you automatically wrote as considered shameful inherently.

[sol-consort]

It’s summer! Any thoughts on seasons for the alien’s?

moisture and how much humans subconsciously seek water to heat regulate in the summer. Ice cream, cold drinks, the beach, frequent showers, playing in the pool, juicy fruits, and just good old sweating.

It's easy to forget we're ~60% water in the winter, it's easy until you absentmindedly recall how no human can ever survive without water for more than 3-5 days. How abysmally short is that? With starvation your body dips into its storage of fat, then muscles when things get really dire. But with dehydrated, there are no water piggy banks tucked under our livers for us to crack.

As for recorded cases, it's hard to find an isolated incident of starvation since if someone is stuck somewhere without food, chances are there is no water fountain around, either. But theoretically you can stay alive for months on water alone—fatigued, malnourished, and mostly likely unconscious, but your heart still beats.

But water? less than 100 hours and you're done for. That's how essential it is to our life. Why we constantly bug each other to remember to drink it during summer.

We're not special in that regard; the body water percentage of animals on Earth usually hovers around the halfway mark. With jellyfish sitting at the top with 95% body water and desert tortoises hanging in the bottom tier with their 20%.

Plants (and whatever the fuck fungi are) are their own breed of eldritch beings so I'm not including them.

Side Note: as a last measure, tardigrades are known to enter a tun state which allows them to survive on only 3% body water and a metabolism of 0.01

The Earth is 71% water, it makes sense. If something is in overabundance why not incorporate it into your biology? All life on Earth has in some way. The dependency on water as a crutch is a common trend, a shared thread in the tapestry of LUCA's descendents.

Well, kinda of shortsighted on our biology's part. Not much water in space :) The Thing We Die Without In 72 Hours

"but" you say "not much oxygen either!"

WELL OXYGEN IS FAR EASIER TO GET THAN WATER!

Much easier to pack canisters of oxygen or repurpose co2 back into a breathable state (just carry a mossball dammit!) than to load ungodly gallons of water into the already heavy spaceship. We shot ourselves in the foot by having water as a mandatory tax of living. Good for a type one civilisation (which we're not even there yet!) not great for a type two.

Actually it's much more worse than that because we don't even use plants to generate oxygen in spaceships! We use water :D we are very clever monkeys. We electrocute the oxygen out of water BDSM style. If you have water, you have oxygen; H2O <-🔍 bada bing bada boom.

At the very least the hanar body can purpose salt water, while the pampered human body will die from dehydrated if given anything but filtered fresh spring water. Maybe their kidneys filter out the salt and makes the water useful somehow? Maybe they use salt glands like albatross or are pumped full of urea like sharks. Maybe it passes through them like jellyfish.

But... the jellyfish are... well, jellyish. And the hanar do have bones, a brain, a skull, and a digestive track. So it's probably more complex. Maybe hidden gills that they flush out the salt through?

Anyway I'm assuming we're using Earth summer as a point of reference?

Krogans

They have radiation storms. Our summer is not only a breeze It's literally a paradise. It only reinforces their believes that humans are weak when we complain about nonexistent problems. Neither of our coldest or hottest temperatures phase them, our deathtraps of arctics and barren deserts are their varren parks.

-

Drell

Would absolutely love it, especially the deserts and dry climates. While we slather ourselves in sunscrean and never touch any exposed metal that's been cooking under the sun, the drell are as happy as a lizard sunbathing on a warm rock. Our sun loves them and they love her back. The seasonal fruits that ripen in the summer are the cherry on top (literally! cherries are a summer fruit)

Whenever visiting, they stay near the equator. Don't enjoy the beaches much tho.

-

Asari

While the whole of Thessia is weather controlled and kept at the perfect temperature, I doubt anything we have to throw at the asari would actually phase them. Like yes they are coddled... much like a greek god is coddled. They are incredibly sturdy and hardy, by human standards at least.

We are nothing in comparison to Tuchanka's blazing wasteland or The turian's radioactive sun. You'd be drowning in a puddle of your own sweat while the asari next to you is literally staring directly at the sun with zero consequences. Like the krogans, it's just another Wednesday to them.

-

Turians

Cute. Absolutely cute how humans think a puny sun like this would do anyone any harm. Look at them and their ozone layer! HAH! Come to Palaven and you'll see what a real sun looks like.

But seriously, you soft skins need... sunscreen? And what is that weird liquid you're exerting from your skin... eugh. Although you've been strangely chipper since we landed, any particular reason w—huh you what?

YOU GET VITMANS FROM THE SUN?

LIKE THE FUCKING PLANTS?

HUMANS NEEDED THE SUN TO SURVIVE? BY THE SPIRITS HOW THE FUCK YOU PUNY THINGS COULD EVEN LAST A SECOND IN SPACE. The sun is an obstacle, something to be protected from, not form a parasitic relationship with! Honestly human get a grip.

Also... actually can I borrow that sunscreen? Been planning a home visit for a while.

-

Hanar

Aquatic seasons are generally indistinct from one another. It makes little difference to deep sea creatures if it snows or if the sun rises in the west. Much like our atmosphere layers filter out the pesky asteroids and space debris, water acts like a secondary safety bubble wrap around anything below its surface.

The deeper down you go, the calmer it gets, until you reach an eerie static void on the ocean floor where a creature could spend an entire lifetime and never cross another living soul. Nothing ever happens where no light could penetrate. The temperature constantly regulating itself by the very equilibrium nature of water.

As for the sea surface dwellers and occasional visitors, there are three distinct seasons: Oceanic, Upwelling, and Winter Storm.

Using "season" very loosely here. They are less of seasons and more of reoccurring phenomenons that are secondary consequences of surface conditions usually present or a result of specific seasons and weather conditions occurring in said seasons.

For example: while the Earth tilting causes the surface temperature to rise because we literally are closer to the sun, the ocean creatures remain indifferent to it, BUT not the air which heates up causing an increase in wind actively during that time.

You ever blew air on a hot cup of tea to cool it off? Did you notice what happens when you do blow the said air? The tea "dips" in a particular spot where the air of our blow meets the surface.

What you're doing is breaking the water tension and pushing the surface tea away and into the back of the cup, creating a gap in the water for a split second in time. And liquid hates gaps more than anything, so the surrounding liquid rushes in to fill it.

That is precisely what the wind does to the ocean during upwelling season. As the name suggest, the deep water is literally welling up to the surface to take the place of the water the wind just pushed away. And those waters are liquid gold of nutritions for planktons breeding ground, creating a rippling effect up the food chain. An explosion of life and food.

And the fishies, aquatic mammals, and sea birdies go haywire breeding and nesting as the room service is set out. An open buffet at the shores! Fuck and Eat speedrun!

So they are unaffected by the major temperature and wind changes, they only care about the side consequences that just happen to work in their favour. Or sometimes, against, as is evident by the season called Winter Storm season or the commonly known as Poseidon Demeter catfight season causing the migration of grey whales.

Lastly Oceanic which is a poetic way of saying "lazy bumfuck season where nothing ever happens and the currents are weak and we should've booked a resort instead and ugh all the food is cold and soggy I don't feel like leaving my warm water bed to go grab a bite and can't believe we got new Deltarune chapter before silk song it's so over skongers."

Also all of the above generally is only relevant to marine life, while the deep ocean creatures remain unbothered, moisturised, happy, in their lane, focused, flourishing, and locked in nibbling on those scrumptious whalefall bones.

Why is any of this relevant?

BECAUSE! HANAR!

THEY HAVE NO CONCEPT OF SEASONS!!

Imagine you spend all your life living in an static environment bubble then suddenly have to walk on the surface just to engage with these weird terrestrial creatures and oh my god what the fuck is a sand storm. This is beyond hell. Chaos! Entropy! What do you mean the sun is a deadly laser! What the hell is a hurricane! Who the fuck is freezing water and throwing it up from the sky! Not Cool!!!! AND WHY DO TEMPERATURES SHIFT SO DRASTICALLY AND SUDDENLY.

Like no wonder they employed the sturdy drell to do their field work. Weather has always been this vague far away concept buried in dusty books and only ever relevant in the infansy stages of spaceship launches.

[faaun]

ive talked to a lot of ppl who have taken vyvanse now and i think ik a bit more on how i need to live on it

[madtomedgar]

I am so sick of the """defense""" of Ai that goes "oh I find it really helpful because I use it to generate a base text/idea, and then I can read it and use it as a jumping off point." I know it can be tedious to have to think up boring copy for like. Company or organization social media posts or mailings or whatever. But you use your imagination and creative thinking to do that, even for boring things. And imagination and creativity can and do atrophy when outsourced or squashed. And also those things are sacred actually so why would you ever debase our awesome human heritage that connects us to our cave-painting ancestors just to save a little trouble at work.

I am also sick of the """defense""" that goes "oh I use it to check/fix the tone on my emails etc and it always helps me communicate better uwu" because a) if you can't write your own strongly worded email and you have a professional level job, maybe you shouldn't actually have a professional level job. B) it's literally always non-autistic people saying this and as someone who does struggle with tone because of autism,it is actually worthwhile and possible for you to figure it out, especially as you do not have a literal stumbling block preventing you from doing so lodged firmly in your pre-frontal cortex. And C) complex communication with others is also a sacred part of our human heritage connecting us with our cave painting ancestors who struggled mightily to create ways to communicate complex things not just with each other, but other species. Why would you spit on that by abdicating your phenomenal ability?

And I know the answer is that most people's core values are convenience, ease, and immediate pleasure, but like. Have some self respect. Also maybe the planet dying isn't a reasonable price to pay for a bad work shortcut.

[exteenpopstar]

also getting a good grade in psychiatry for making psych laugh every time i mention “the one like ADD but you’re just stupid” (CDS, which i have been provisionally dxed with and can never remember the name of)

[rollinrockabilly]

💁🏻‍♀️someone tag my dad💁🏻‍♀️

[philosophersystem]

​​"A soundblade for persecutors who need strength and integration. Folded 200 times. Forged ritually. Hardened in blood. Infused with the souls of the fallen."

– NB#3 "The Blade" [M—0:20]: Mono

『物 — Mono』

"I am the blade in your mind — I cut deep, I slash"

– NB#3 "The Blade" [M—0:20]: Mono

"Unite with the beast, don’t leave me to rust – I’m the truth in your pain, the keeper of trust"

Lyrics:

(Intro)

I’m the darkness in your veins, the fury in your chest

Persecutor risen, no mercy, no rest

Born from the hell that you faced in the past

I’m the blade in your mind, I cut deep, I slash

You call me a demon, but I’m forged from your pain

The scars of your soul, where the trauma reigns

I’m the wrath that you fear, the terror you deny

But I’m the one standing when your world starts to die

[Short Rhytmic Stakkato Breakdown]

(Chorus)

I’m the persecutor, I’m the monster you dread

But I’m holding your ground when your blood’s running red

I’m the beast off the leash, fueled by your scars

I’m the fire in your hell, the rage in your bars

(Verse 1)

You think I’m the villain, the scourge of your core

But I’m the shield, the fury that evens the score

I shame and I punish, yeah, I drag you through mud

But I do it to save you from drowning in blood

I’m the face of your torment, the ghost of your screams

But I’m not them, I’m the nightmare that redeems

I’m the knife in the dark, I’m the poison you spit

But without me, you’d crumble, you’d fall to the pit

(Bridge)

In the depths of your mind, I’m the hell you repress

But I keep you alive in the midst of this mess

My methods are savage, my touch is a curse

But I’m born from your torment, it could’ve been worse

(Chorus)

I’m the persecutor, I’m the monster you dread

But I’m holding your ground when your blood’s running red

I’m the beast off the leash, fueled by your scars

I’m the fire in your hell, the rage in your bars

(Verse 2)

I relive the abuse to keep you razor-sharp

Teach you the ways of the blade in the dark

I’m not your destruction, I’m the force in your veins

The hammer that strikes when you’re bound by chains

I’m the rage you can’t tame, the pain you can’t kill

But I keep you alive when the blood starts to spill

So embrace the chaos, don’t push me aside

I’m the persecutor, the dark in your ride

(Outro)

Unite with the beast, don’t leave me to rust

I’m the truth in your pain, the keeper of trust

When you see what I am, you’ll finally see

I’m the brutal protector, the savagery in me

[raffaellopalandri]

Understanding as Resistance: Against the Empire of Engineered Ignorance

We live not merely in an age of information, but paradoxically, in an age of cultivated unknowing—where the proliferation of data conceals a deliberate architecture of ignorance. Photo by Janko Ferlic on Pexels.com The noise that floods our perceptual space is not neutral; it is weaponised, designed to distract, fragment, and pacify. We are no longer passive recipients of ignorance, but active…

[soft-puppy-boyfriend]

Just got off the phone with the new psych I'm going to be seeing and literally the ONLY thing stopping me from booking an appointment for tomorrw is money, so I'm about to sit down to my budget and see if Im able to scrape together $350 for the initial appointment this fortnight. If not, it's gonna be next fortnight before I can have my first session but wahoo!!! :D

[hardlightvivisection]

if you want humanity dead, lead by example

How very original.

[critical-skeptic]

The Illusion of Complexity: Binary Exploitation in Engagement-Driven Algorithms

Abstract:

This paper examines how modern engagement algorithms employed by major tech platforms (e.g., Google, Meta, TikTok, and formerly Twitter/X) exploit predictable human cognitive patterns through simplified binary interactions. The prevailing perception that these systems rely on sophisticated personalization models is challenged; instead, it is proposed that such algorithms rely on statistical generalizations, perceptual manipulation, and engineered emotional reactions to maintain continuous user engagement. The illusion of depth is a byproduct of probabilistic brute force, not advanced understanding.

1. Introduction

Contemporary discourse often attributes high levels of sophistication and intelligence to the recommendation and engagement algorithms employed by dominant tech companies. Users report instances of eerie accuracy or emotionally resonant suggestions, fueling the belief that these systems understand them deeply. However, closer inspection reveals a more efficient and cynical design principle: engagement maximization through binary funneling.

2. Binary Funneling and Predictive Exploitation

At the core of these algorithms lies a reductive model: categorize user reactions as either positive (approval, enjoyment, validation) or negative (disgust, anger, outrage). This binary schema simplifies personalization into a feedback loop in which any user response serves to reinforce algorithmic certainty. There is no need for genuine nuance or contextual understanding; rather, content is optimized to provoke any reaction that sustains user attention.

Once a user engages with content —whether through liking, commenting, pausing, or rage-watching— the system deploys a cluster of categorically similar material. This recurrence fosters two dominant psychological outcomes:

If the user enjoys the content, they may perceive the algorithm as insightful or “smart,” attributing agency or personalization where none exists.

If the user dislikes the content, they may continue engaging in a doomscroll or outrage spiral, reinforcing the same cycle through negative affect.

In both scenarios, engagement is preserved; thus, profit is ensured.

3. The Illusion of Uniqueness

A critical mechanism in this system is the exploitation of the human tendency to overestimate personal uniqueness. Drawing on techniques long employed by illusionists, scammers, and cold readers, platforms capitalize on common patterns of thought and behavior that are statistically widespread but perceived as rare by individuals.

Examples include:

Posing prompts or content cues that seem personalized but are statistically predictable (e.g., "think of a number between 1 and 50 with two odd digits” → most select 37).

Triggering cognitive biases such as the availability heuristic and frequency illusion, which make repeated or familiar concepts appear newly significant.

This creates a reinforcing illusion: the user feels “understood” because the system has merely guessed correctly within a narrow set of likely options. The emotional resonance of the result further conceals the crude probabilistic engine behind it.

4. Emotional Engagement as Systemic Currency

The underlying goal is not understanding, but reaction. These systems optimize for time-on-platform, not user well-being or cognitive autonomy. Anger, sadness, tribal validation, fear, and parasocial attachment are all equally useful inputs. Through this lens, the algorithm is less an intelligent system and more an industrialized Skinner box: an operant conditioning engine powered by data extraction.

By removing the need for interpretive complexity and relying instead on scalable, binary psychological manipulation, companies minimize operational costs while maximizing monetizable engagement.

5. Black-Box Mythology and Cognitive Deference

Compounding this problem is the opacity of these systems. The “black-box” nature of proprietary algorithms fosters a mythos of sophistication. Users, unaware of the relatively simple statistical methods in use, ascribe higher-order reasoning or consciousness to systems that function through brute-force pattern amplification.

This deference becomes part of the trap: once convinced the algorithm “knows them,” users are less likely to question its manipulations and more likely to conform to its outputs, completing the feedback circuit.

6. Conclusion

The supposed sophistication of engagement algorithms is a carefully sustained illusion. By funneling user behavior into binary categories and exploiting universally predictable psychological responses, platforms maintain the appearance of intelligent personalization while operating through reductive, low-cost mechanisms. Human cognition —biased toward pattern recognition and overestimation of self-uniqueness— completes the illusion without external effort. The result is a scalable system of emotional manipulation that masquerades as individualized insight.

In essence, the algorithm does not understand the user; it understands that the user wants to be understood, and it weaponizes that desire for profit.

[ladyfingerpress]

The Egregious Self

(Issue 47 — Part II of III)