I have a friend that is a "Bernie Bro." Basically, everyone sucks; right, left, etc.

He constantly sends me hate-porn videos; much of it obvious fakes; AI or not (It's been going on far longer than AI tools).

People get hooked on anger. It's -literally- an addiction, and they behave like addicts; seeking out the best "hate dealers," selling the "best" anger-inducing content, and savagely attacking anyone that questions the stuff.

I learned to just ignore most of what he sends me. I've asked him not to send it, and he's ignored it (like an addict).

I have friends that are into the far-right and far-left cesspits, too. It's pretty sobering.

What was it that Bill Burroughs said about heroin?

> "Junk is the ideal product... the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy."

You could replace "junk" with "hate," and it would apply.

long term recovering addict here and yeah i’ve been trying to work on the “anger” stuff in this last year. you’re right. in the moment it feels good. and it’s very easy to replicate that dopamine hit though getting righteous about stuff — just go on HN and find something about AI (that’s for me anyway - “they’re wrong, must fix the wrong!”).

i guess we are kinda hardwired as humans to react to perceived danger/threats. warm and fuzzy nice feelings seem harder to cultivate and take a lot of persistent effort. so it’s much easier to fall into this anger/hatewatching cycle than the other more compassionate/reasonable/warm and fuzzy side.

dunno, most of this comment is probably pop psych bs, but it feels right for my experience so i dunno.

fwiw, i hope your friends finds their way to something a little more peaceful one day.