Please tell me this is a THEY HAVE PLAYED US FOR ABSOLUTE FOOLS meme?

[hypostase@bsd.network]

@cstross I'm sorry, but the Millenialists were Right.

The world ended at Midnight 1999-12-31, or 2000-01-01T00:00:00.666Z.

I'd say you have to blame the Empire, but you may very well have already done so.

[bewo001@darmstadt.social]

@cstross didn't Terry Pratchett invent this? "Reverse Phrenology", get a bump here for a more confident personality.

[shane@beige.party]

@cstross

*blinks*

I’m out.

[wordshaper@weatherishappening.network]

@cstross Are you betting *against* people being stupid and self-destructive? I mean, that's a thing you can do but I'm not entirely sure that's a bet I'd ever take.

[markwoll@universeodon.com]

@cstross Seems like classic 4chan "manufactured internet trend" that got traction IRL.
They should all try the "Jake Paul" method of jaw realignment.

[cavyherd@wandering.shop]

@cstross

Sadly, sounds entirely too plausible. A friend's teen niece underwent very expensive* cosmetic surgery to extend her jaw to "look better" bc she had wanted to be an actor from an early age with "a deep & abiding passion." (Wound up ditching that career path & going into law instead.)

DIY seems a not unlikely modern development...?

(Yes: definitely a cursed timeline.)

* & surprisingly to them traumatic; I mean, based on the description, it would •of course• have been traumatic...??

[uilebheist@polyglot.city]

@cstross They mention TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. These guarantee to maximise stupidity.

[stompyrobot@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@cstross last century gave us trepanning with power drills so I'm not sure humanity is all that different

[heretohinder@mastodon.sdf.org]

@cstross this is a thing, the looksmaxxing stuff is very big with some kids in my teenager's class and it comes up in our conversations a lot. It overlaps with a lot of social anxiety and body dysphoria stuff.

[heretohinder@mastodon.sdf.org]

@cstross this is a thing, the looksmaxxing stuff is very big with some kids in my teenager's class and it comes up in our conversations a lot. It overlaps with a lot of social anxiety and body dysphoria stuff.

[polypunk@punkstodon.de]

@cstross
This reality is too unrealistic, I want my money back.

[coolcalmcollected@mastodon.social]

@cstross

here's some context about the world of looksmaxxing (it's all heinous)

https://soundcloud.com/qanonanonymous/the-brutal-framemogging-of

[medeavanamonde@beige.party]

@cstross now i am hearing “Bonesmashing” to the song “Night Clubbing” as sung by Iggy Pop

[robo105@mastodon.social]

@cstross It is a phrase that if you look closely you can see an anagram for morons

[graydon@canada.masto.host]

@cstross The kind of plastic surgery that alters your bone structure isn't cheap.

People do self-destructive things for status, and it works, just because it proves they can survive it.

[davep@infosec.exchange]

@graydon I could certainly give it a bash. Half price.

@cstross

[meltedcheese@c.im]

@cstross Maybe looksmashing is a craving brought on my reading the news. I’ve sure felt like I got hit in the head by a hammer some days.

It’s a workaround until nanotech lets us program our morphology.

[sdbbp@mastodon.social]

@cstross Next up, autotrepanation.

[tknarr@mstdn.social]

@cstross Given what people have done in the past, I'm not gonna dismiss this as a hoax or joke offhand. I'm just going to hope it's a self-correcting trend.

"You know how stupid the average person is? Well, by definition half of 'em are stupider than that."

[trottelreiner@rollenspiel.social]

@cstross I blame brain damage from repeated COVID infections.

Err, no, you're doing facepalming the wrong way...