Yes, I think this "savior" narrative was why this particular one was interesting. There are a spate of articles talking about how our modern tech isolates us more than it connects us, or how outrage clickbait gives a dopamine rush and such, or how the incels and the alt-right bois are disaffected and radicalized through their isolation. In such a cultural context, it seems reasonable that messages like this (including newage BS like "the law of attraction") might hit a vulnerable spot similar to what Nick mentions.
The mechanisms/exploits Marcus mentions in PDF files parsed by Acrobat Reader, macro-laden Office or obfuscated JavaScript, including the tracking pixels mentioned by Eric and Steve are much less interesting to me ... maybe because I understand those tools. I definitely do NOT understand the position someone would have to be in to click something thinking there's any kind of hopeful, life-changing, message or secret at the other end of the link. It's that psychological "exploit" that's most interesting to me. It's just like the Nigerian scam, only instead of targeting lazy, greedy, get-rich-quick suckers, they target lazy, lonely, get-relationships-easy suckers. My intuition hints at some loss of empathy, some kind of objectification of others ... e.g. that one might see all the pretty people on instagram always having fun, never slumped in fits of depression, and thinking how cool the lives of those objectified non-people must be. I caught a snippet of a conversation on NPR where the person suggested that empathizing enough with animals so that *eating* them might feel a bit like cannibalism may *foster* empathy with other humans, over and above that with animals. ... like empathy is a muscle that atrophies if not exercised. My guess is that the person who might click on the Archangel Michael links is just such an isolated Gollum, who feels like their life is hopeless and the world is cruel ... always hunting for that get-happy-quick Precious that must be out there somewhere, if only they could find it. On 8/17/19 9:30 AM, Pietro Terna wrote: > What is very interesting for me is that the "Archangel Michael's Message > For You" > text reproduces a quite archaic format used in Italy, but I guess not only, > for > handwritten messages diffused by old mail. > E.g. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catena_di_sant%27Antonio > > The format always quotes one or more relatives or fiends by name etc. > having received > benefits and requires prayers etc. > > Very interesting this form of modern survival. -- ☣ uǝlƃ ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
