I started with an idea on Viewing Humanity as the Sims in an old computer game and then I go off subject

Why do groups of people do what they do and believe what they believe?

When I was in college I did a paper on the 100th Monkey. The study is now discredited but the idea was based on a study of monkeys on uninhabited islands. Supposedly when a certain number of monkeys on one island (one hundred) all started doing one behavior, then other monkeys on other isolated islands also started doing the behavior.

It was an idea of collective consciousness. Modern research does not support this concept but I wonder if it has merit. Especially after watching the progression of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The Monkey Theory presumed there was no communication or observation, so the only way for the behavior to have been transferred was through shared consciousness.

I remember many years ago when I first played Sim City on my Machintosh SE. I stayed up half the night watching my city grow and trying to manipulate the Sims to move into my neighborhoods. The sound of Godzilla emerging from the ocean to wipe out my City still haunts my sleep. If you were to say, "Skywatch 1 Reporting Heavy Traffic," I would immediately recognize a kindred spirit.

Why did the Sims move in and why did the Sims move out? Obviously an algorithm in the game which I could never see.

I just read a post online talking about Oregon politics. Us conservatives go off on crazy liberals and vote by mail. Every lost election is a result of Vote By Mail fraud. I have been saying this as a joke for years but didn't realize Republicans actually believe this.

We as people believe things to be true based on something other than facts. In fact the very term, "The Cold Hard Facts of Life," (Check out Travis Chandlers version of this song) is biased to the perception of the person describing what they believe to be the cold hard facts of life.

The truth as I see it. (See what I did there)

We curate our intake of information to support what we need to rationalize our lives. We adopt deeply held beliefs for instinctive reasons that we don't understand.

What I find amazing is the manipulation of public perception. A major part of the public is convinced that ICE is arresting and deporting every brown skinned person they see. 

Many people in my peer group believe ICE is only targeting criminals.

I have gotten in trouble for calling BS on this. Cops are cops and Feds are just cops with no accountability so they go after the low hanging fruit. They don't want to get shot going after gangsters, plus the gangsters probably have bought off someone higher up or the gang is a CIA front so gangsters are pretty safe. (Most Hispanics I know tend to agree with me)

So, being lazy, I asked CoPilot. "What are the statistics for number of innocents detained by ICE vs actual criminals."  Note: I understand the phrasing of my question affects the answer of an AI source.

CoPilot gave me this statistic, "Current most authoritative data shows roughly three quarters of people detained by ICE have no criminal convections at all."

So I asked, "How often does ICE detain U.S. Citizens. CoPilot responded with a lot of incomplete statistics but I did manage to get this quote, "ICE's own systems have repeatedly misidentified citizens as, "removable aliens," leading to wrongful arrests and detentions."

The opposition says that only criminals are deported. Lars Larson gets to 100 percent illegal as he says every illegal is a criminal because they violated the law to get here. His usual lazy logic...

Well, that didn't go as expected...

I wanted to believe ICE was not as incompetent as I feared. I suppose now is the point where I question my sources and fall back on ideology. Plus, I have to go to work.

In conclusion...

1. Trump and Co. is screwing up the next election the same way he manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory six years ago. I was a little worried when I saw the Crazy MTG lady depart. The administration was tasked with deporting illegals. They failed to keep discipline and the usual Jackbooted Feds are doing what they always do. Going after the easy pickings.

2. I really dislike the Democrat establishment more than ever. Their cynical maneuver of open borders flooded us with illegals and switched our illegal immigration problem from individuals sneaking in at night, to cartels and major money in human smuggling and all the graft, corruption, drugs, and violence that comes with it.

3. Probably the only plan that the government is capable of carrying out with any success would be a lockdown of the border and general amnesty of people already here. However, it didn't work before due to an utter refusal by both parties to come up with a coherent immigration policy.

4. We are screwed...

On another topic

Why do the Cat and Dog always take my chair????

Animals do NOT belong in the house.