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

[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...

[ratsnakegames@mastodon.social]

@cstross I'm not sure how to feel about this - with something this desperate, there has to be some degree of body dysmorphia in play...

... or maybe I am overthinking it and "looksmaxxers" really are just stupid.

[retech@defcon.social]

@cstross Frankly I am sad. I already ordered the tennis shoes and 1-piece suit. I also put an online order for a 10mx10m print of 3I/ATLAS with the words: "I am ready. Take me home." And have begun my fasting eating nothing but small pebbles and bone broth boiled with rusty hammers.

Why do people have to keep playing with our emotional ontology?