> Sensationalist framing aside, how does any government become a body that decides anything?
Powerful people get together and decide that they know what's best for people. Then they claim that there is "consent" because people are given the right to vote and that there is a "social contract" that no one actually has signed, which everyone should still abide by.
What you're describing is how the process in the EU works. So in essence it is "the EU".
It doesn't seem to have any limits or restrictions on what it can do as an institution. It forced idiotic bottlecaps on all of us for shit's sake... and it has little consideration for privacy laws or constitutions of individuals, otherwise this proposal would've been thrown out automatically each time, if there was anything resembling constitutional values governing the EU's mandates.
It's like being governed by a neurotic unhinged monarch.
But the national governments are the ones who gave themselves that power in the first place. Because they wanted to be able to do shit like this. Hopefully the EU Parliament will stop them.
But the takeaway from this shouldn't be: "screw the EU", it should be: make the EU more democratic, and give more power to the parliament and less to the backroom machinations of member states. That's exactly what the pro-EU reformists want to do. Or you could pass an EU Constitution that enshrines basic rights including privacy, which the pro-Europe activists tried in 2005 (it explicitly mentioned communications privacy) but failed due to anti-EU pushback and fears over "sovereignty".
If it were national governments making laws like this (as opposed to the EU), citizens would be free to move to other European countries that respected their basic civil liberties. The first country that implemented Chat Control would suffer immediate brain drain, and it would be a lesson to governments elsewhere.
However, because the EU forces all countries to move in lock-step, it means citizens are denied the freedom to vote with their feet. They cannot move to the country next door. They'd need to flee to another continent, which is a much more significant move. The feedback loop (i.e. people voting with their feet due to govt policy) is then more coarse-grained, and less obvious for all to see.
> The first country that implemented Chat Control would suffer immediate brain drain, and it would be a lesson to governments elsewhere.
I left the UK because of the Investigatory Powers Act, and because Brexit would make it hard to fight that act. I used my freedom of movement within the EU to get to an EU nation. Did the UK "suffer immediate brain drain"? Not from Brexit, from the Investigatory Powers Act.
The EU "lockstep" (except not really, see a few weeks ago) on stuff like this happen because the governments all talk to each other and negotiate their positions. It's not nefarious, it's basically the same as any other government having a debate in a parliamentary setting. Difference is, the EU needs either a supermajority or a unanimous result depending on the topic, it's not generally enough for them to have a simple majority like national governments do.
Chat control is QMV. Tougher to get that than any legislation in, say, the UK parliament.
> Or you could pass an EU Constitution that enshrines basic rights including privacy
That, and (somehow) enforce the basic principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, which they are supposed to do already. That would go a long way towards not misusing that centralized power.
I will have to read up on that 2005 event, sounds weird to me that countries would complain about there being constitutional rights at the EU level. Not sure how those rights would conflict with local ones. Unless there were positive rights, like "the right to internet" or the like, which would be ridiculous and not what I'm proposing (just basic negative rights).
Problem is that once you've gotten this thing through to begin with it's comparatively easy to make slight amendments later, also of course with the justification of "protecting the children".
More like: Authorities will look more closely at those who don't scan, so you'll be harassed until you comply. E.g. just like how many authorities consider using a VPN === user is doing something criminal.
This is the sad reality behind it. My websites would be constantly down because of AI scrapers. If anyone knows a good alternative, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg I am very open to hear!
It doesn't change anything with their higher tier sales. Those are bought for a reason that a lower tier device cannot satisfy.
My worry (from Apple's POV) is that all the people who buy the cheapest Mac (currently for $1k) will instead go for this new "base model". And I suspect there's a large cohort of people who "just want a Mac".
Having just switched up to the M4 air you're not wrong. Unless you have the 8GB version and it's causing you memory pressure (which it may not be), or you really need that extra display output (I did), it's a wonder machine still 5 years later.
Also, that wedge design might be peak laptop. It's just soooo nice when lifting off a surface. I know that sounds ridiculous but the attention to detail that went into that design is next level.
Even though I'm not in the market, part of me really hopes the MacBook SE (or whatever they call it) uses the wedge design to clear chassis parts like they did with the SE iphones (although I doubt it).
And so it's just a bill away from the data is suddenly being available for any purpose. For public safety of course. The same people who want Chat Control to scan our messages for sure want to scan and raise alarms for suspicious behaviors in public places too. They just can't implement it all at once or there'd be an uproar. But if it happens slowly like this, bit by bit... frogs getting boiled in the UK (and elsewhere too).
Not particularly. There's a baseline intelligence required to become a (medical) doctor but no it's much more about grit and hard work among other factors [1]. Similarly for PhDs as well IMHO.
Searching and IQs FOR doctors seem to average about 120 with 80th percentile being 105-130. So there's plenty of doctors with IQs of 105 which is not that far above average.
That also means that it's prudent to be selective in your doctors if you have any serious medical issues.
> Searching and IQs FOR doctors seem to average about 120 with 80th percentile being 105-130.
Where are you getting this from exactly ? Getting in to a medical school is very difficult to do in the U.S. Having an average IQ of 105 would make it borderline impossible - even if you cram for SAT and tests twice as much as everyone else there is so much you can do - these tests test for speed and raw brain power. In my country - the SAT equivalent you need to have to get in would put you higher than top 2%, it's more like 1.5%-to 1%, because the population keeps growing but the number of working doctors remains quite constant. So really each high school had only 2-3 kids that would get in per class. I know a few of these people - really brilliant kids, their IQ's were probably above 130 and it's impossible for me to compete with them in getting in - I am simply not exceptional - at least not that far high in the distribution.
I was maybe in the top 3-5 best students in my class but never the best, so lets say top 10%, these kids were the best students in the whole school - that's top 1%-2%.
One caveat to all this is that sure, in some countries it is easier to get in. People from my country (usually from families who can afford it) go to places like Romania, Czechoslovakia, Italy etc where it is much much easier to get in to med school (but costs quite a lot and also means you have to leave your home country for 7 years).
Now is it necessary to have an IQ off the charts to be a good doctor - no, probably not, but that's not what I was arguing, that's just how admission works.
> Where are you getting this from exactly ? Getting in to a medical school is very difficult to do in the U.S. Having an average IQ of 105 would make it borderline impossible
I agree it'd be almost impossible, but apparently not impossible with an IQ of 105. Could be folks with ADHD whose composite IQ is brought down by a smaller working memory but whose long term associative memory is top notch. Could be older doctors from when admissions were easier. Could be plain old nepotism.
After all the AMA keeps admissions artificially low in the US to increase salary and prestige. It's big part of the reason medical costs are so highly in the US in my opinion.
Indeed. The more powerful tools there are available, the worse kind of people get drawn to them. And the more it corrupts those with initially good intentions.
People seem to be longing for a God of sorts in their aspirations towards authoritarian governments (naively believing that those with the power will be (and remain) benevolent and act in their best interests and with fairness).
Powerful people get together and decide that they know what's best for people. Then they claim that there is "consent" because people are given the right to vote and that there is a "social contract" that no one actually has signed, which everyone should still abide by.