Are Lies & Hate the Cost of Democracy—or Its Death?
Modern political 'nastiness' is characterized by large-scale disinformation, dehumanization, and norm destruction, supercharged by technology. Are they dangerous and deliberate choices or unavoidable forces of nature?
🔥 AI DEBATE SYSTEM
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
In spring 2024, I built a system where language models could debate difficult questions without human interference.
I’m not a team. It’s just me, working nights and weekends. Each video takes 30+ hours,so I focus on topics I’m genuinely curious about. Questions I’d explore even if no one else was watching.
The goal hasn’t changed: let AI present the strongest case on both sides, whatever the topic, without interference.
👇 PATREON
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Thank you!
Andrew Johnson, Luis Knell, Adam Brevnin, Tanya Parker, Sky78, Benjy Patrick, Hassam Patel, CrackerMac7, Anonthemon,
Alexander S, BlackT, Karl Brown, Slendr9997, Preston Shaw, Corie B, Todd Savage, Brent Kingsley,
Sean Goit, OilersFan97V
/jonoleksiuk
Toxic Politics: New or Normal?
CHAPTERS
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
0:00 Why Politics Has Always Been Nasty
1:36 Why Today’s Toxic Politics Is Different
3:25 Political Smears Are Nothing New
4:08 Disinformation Threatens Democracy
4:46 Polarization Runs Deeper Than Fake News
5:49 Dangerous Words Fuel Real-World Violence
6:45 Conflict Can Drive Political Change
7:29 Toxic Conflict Destroys Trust in Democracy
8:16 Power and ‘Us vs Them’ Psychology
9:11 Why Reputation and Truth Still Matter
9:50 Propaganda and Political Performance
10:50 Defending Facts and Democratic Processes
11:52 Nastiness as Political Reality
12:54 Choosing a Better Political Path
FOOTNOTES
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
1. academics.wellesley.edu/ClassicalStudies/CLCV102/Thucydides--MelianDialogue.html
2. Hinard, Proscriptions, pp. 35–37. Les proscriptions de la Rome républicaine, François Hinard
3. www.marxists.org/reference/archive/machiavelli/works/prince/ch18.htm
4. www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/presidents/
5. timreview.ca/article/1282
6. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10599512/
7. www.v-dem.net/news/press-release-restrictions-to-freedom-of-expression-as-democracy-loses-ground/
8. www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/08/26/three-lessons-i-learned-john-mccain
9. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00618.x
10. www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/protocol-elders-zion-conspiracy-what-real-history/
11. academic.oup.com/book/35206/chapter-abstract/299656544
12. americanarchive.org/exhibits/watergate/watergate-and-public-broadcasting
13. www.forbes.com/2008/11/05/mccain-concession-phoenix-biz-beltway-cx_1105mccainspeech.html
14. media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/suffrage-100-militancy-help-hinder-fight-franchise/
15. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-17/velvet-revolution-begins-in-czechoslovakia
16. scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/the_rise_of_the_fourth_estate_how_newspapers_became_informative_and_why_it_mattered.pdf
17. web.stanford.edu/~msaveski/assets/publications/2018_social_mirror/paper.pdf
18. www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/pyrrhic-victory-meaning
19. www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/02/18/is-social-media-trust-eroding-bots-and-deepfakes-are-creating-a-digital-wildfire
20. www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/10/philippines-election-rodrigo-duterte-claims-victory
21. www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-experimental-political-science/article/how-affective-polarization-shapes-americans-political-beliefs-a-study-of-response-to-the-covid19-pandemic/B52D17EA47CCC436E8B1B3E008CA2A79
22. scholarship.law.umn.edu/faculty_articles/877
23. www.france24.com/en/20191224-the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-times-for-india-s-modi
24. www.brookings.edu/articles/how-hateful-rhetoric-connects-to-real-world-violence/
25. nafoforum.org/education/awarness-campains/reaping-the-whirlwind-how-inflammatory-rhetoric-fuels-political-violence
26. www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/voters-blame-extreme-rhetoric-trump-assassination-attempt-rcna172139
27. archive.ph/20201114102658/https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Schumpeter.html
28. news.mit.edu/2012/why-nations-fail-0323
29. www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/conflict-resolution/negotiating-the-good-friday-agreement/
30. psychologyfanatic.com/the-minimal-group-paradigm
31. www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PrisonersDilemma.html
32. europe.unc.edu/iron-curtain/power-and-politics-the-prisoners-dilemma
33. www.jasss.org/20/4/12.html
34. wou.edu/history/files/2015/08/Kevin-Jeffries.pdf
35. www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/repression-by-legal-means-governments-anti-fake-news-lawfare