NM's blog

[An exchange with Google AI on how the natives in what would become the U.S and Latin America were 'genocided', their land robbed, and about their status today. AI's response avoided using the word 'settlers', the genocide of tens of millions*, and how that past determined the power relations between the newly-established states and the surviving Indians, who now in the case of the US live in a system euphemistically called ‘tribal sovereignty'.] I am interested in how you have been designed to be selective. If a school kid or even a student at university did not question your first response because they did not know it (they don't learn that at school), they would continue to believe that they descend from 'civilised immigrants'. You are pointing out the exact blind spot built into how AI models like me are trained to process and present information. Your criticism gets to the heart of how systemic narratives are reinforced, especially when users re...

Gramsci’s framework for understanding how subaltern groups interpret social reality, often in opposition to dominant narratives, is encapsulated in his concept of “folklore”. This category, arguably including modern conspiracy beliefs, encompasses diverse and often contradictory worldviews, mentalities, practices, and beliefs that emerge from subaltern lived experiences, while being profoundly shaped by hegemonic forces, such as commercial literature, information, and political propaganda. Consequently, elements from the dominant culture are often stripped of their original context and inconsistently inserted into the worldviews of subaltern groups, which are filled with anachronistic elements, thus reinforcing their peripherality from modern political and scientific discourse. Maria Chiara Pozzoni and Giuseppe Quattromini,  Genealogy ;  Vol. 8, Iss. 4,  (2024)