# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 355
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7086 "2023-10-10T14:31:22Z")
Since they never come back alive, nor can they phone home, what they learn is immaterial. Also kinda hard to learn much about the outside world from the hold of a Chinese fishing factory ship. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7087 "2023-10-10T15:59:27Z")
Because of increasing populations, there are reportedly more slaves now than at most times in human history. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7088 "2023-10-10T21:06:05Z")
[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8GRHMeWYAAI7ax?format=jpg&name=medium) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8GRHMeWYAAI7ax?format=jpg&name=medium) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7089 "2023-10-10T21:07:29Z")
Has he sent his standard reply (šŸ’©) yet? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7090 "2023-10-10T21:19:54Z")
At press time, he appears to be busy (checks notes) stanning the Ayatollah. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8Gsr7rWgAAwfjP?format=jpg&name=large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8Gsr7rWgAAwfjP?format=jpg&name=large) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7091 "2023-10-10T21:23:22Z")
Ya gotta admit that if there is one person who can make Elmo look good by comparison, itā€™s probably the Ayatollah. So cozying up to the Supreme Leader only makes sense for Elmoā€™s pathetic need for approval. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7092 "2023-10-10T22:34:12Z")
Is it technically possible for the EU countries to block the Twitter website? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7093 "2023-10-10T22:46:24Z")
Only if they directly control the ISPs, as in China (I assume). Otherwise they just lean on the ISPs to do it for them. In this context, ā€œbanning Twitterā€ is probably some combination of fining them into oblivion and voiding its ability to do business in the EU. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7094 "2023-10-10T22:56:28Z")
DSA enforcement can only be extended to ā€œmember statesā€, the USA is not part of it. So Iā€™m not sure how much influence they can have on Twitter. I suppose that ISPs in the EU might potentially block Twitter by court order if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7095 "2023-10-10T23:30:35Z")
Is it likely the EU would only allow 24 hours for a response? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7096 "2023-10-10T23:37:39Z")
Elmo appears to be attempting to sealion the EU. > ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7097 "2023-10-10T23:58:03Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > s it likely the EU would only allow 24 hours for a response? Iā€™m not sure. Considering the gigantic stack of violations the platform has accrued over Muskā€™s tenure, I personally would ā€œskip to the endā€ with the fucker. Especially after the back-talk @Smapti linked. Just some reminders - first about the new EU laws From December 2022. > **[EUā€™s new rules could clash with Muskā€™s tweaks to Twitter](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/eus-new-rules-could-clash-with-musks-tweaks-to-twitter)** > > Officials warn the social media company will have to comply with some of the worldā€™s toughest laws targeting toxic content. In November of 2022, he was warned directly: [https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/tech/twitter-eu-compliance-warning/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/tech/twitter-eu-compliance-warning/index.html) Then, when Musk removed himself from the prior, voluntary standards, we have this in May of this Year: > **[Twitter cannot hide from EU rules after exit from code, EU's Breton says](https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-cannot-hide-eu-rules-after-exit-code-eus-breton-says-2023-05-26/)** > > Twitter cannot run away from its obligations even after quitting a voluntary EU code of practice to tackle disinformation, EU industry chief Thierry Breton warned the company late on Friday. So basically, all Musk sees is the requirements for Transparency, which he quite literally says he transparently doesnā€™t give a shit about what people post as long as they donā€™t personally piss him off. All those other requirements? No concern of his. But according to the last article - > Companies face fines of as much as 6% of their global turnover for violations. So yeah, just hit him with some bill based on his new CFOā€™s claimed numbers x the number of violations, and demand payment in 2 weeks. Just because. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7098 "2023-10-11T01:27:40Z")
In addition to the misinformation, Iā€™m getting highly annoyed by people trolling for engagement by adding the following to their posts : Like šŸ©µ if youā€™re for Israel šŸ‡®šŸ‡± Retweet šŸ” if youā€™re for Palestine šŸ‡µšŸ‡ø Comment if you want peace ā˜® Iā€™ve been seeing this on my feed all day. Twitter sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7099 "2023-10-11T07:26:57Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > then the informal thrall-like slavery backed only by threats of violence that Iā€™m sure has existed since humans existed also counts. No. Humans (tool-using Homo spp.) have existed as hunter-gatherers for c. 96 % of their existence. In these circumstances, there is little to no use for thrall-like or any other type of slaves. As a very basic rule, each active H-G group can only provide for themselves and a little more, for a small number of offspring and the infirm. Further, low population density is a necessity due to the wild resources being thinly spread over the land, which means extra people arenā€™t really accomodated into the economic system. After the adoption of agriculture, the situation changed dramatically. Extra hands tilling the land, watering the plants, feeding the animals, collecting the crops etc. etc. became highly desirable. A relatively small tract of land could provide plenty of surplus food, but only if there were enough people to work it. High population density became a possibility, turned into an advantage. For the first time in history, there was also personal wealth concentrated into the hands of a few. Enter slavery. Many, if not most agricultural societies had thrall-like slavery. But even going by the earliest such societies, they in total consist of a tiny fraction of our human existence. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7100 "2023-10-11T08:29:24Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > n these circumstances, there is little to no use for thrall-like or any other type of slaves. As a very basic rule, each active H-G group can only provide for themselves and a little more, for a small number of offspring and the infirm. This may be true for nomadic H-Gs but was not always the case for sedentary H-Gs like the PNW First Nations. It would not surprise me if the same was common in other sedentary H-Gs like the Jomon and European Mesolithic. And (pre-)historically, _those_ H-Gs were the norm, not the marginally-confined nomadic ones. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7101 "2023-10-11T08:50:09Z")
Semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers are mostly a late development, in many cases younger than the adoption of agriculture elsewhere. Again, for the vast majority of human existence, mobile hunting and gathering was the norm. We are not discussing the situation within the past 1000 years, or even 10 000 years. Even sedentary, ā€œaffluentā€ hunter-gatherer societies such as the Pacific Northwest peoples, or the Jomon, or H-Gā€™s of the Bay of Thailand, didnā€™t have the population densities and the level of surplus / distributable wealth of agriculturalists. They had plenty of food and plenty of people, but only relatively so. European Mesolithic is a huge blob of space and time, but for a big part of it, from the postglacial on up, Mesolithic Europeans were mobile hunter-gatherers, as well. And as the mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum wound down, many peoples reverted back to a more mobile subsistence, while most adopted agriculture to cope. Yes, before agriculture came about and displaced the hunter-gatherers from the choicest lands, those choisest lands were the domain of hunter-gatherers. Imagine the richest river valleys etc. But even those places are only capable of massive surplus of calories when agriculture, especially intensive agriculture, is adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7102 "2023-10-11T09:12:45Z")
From Warhammer 40k to Mesolithic anthropology. This thread has everything! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7103 "2023-10-11T09:26:24Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > From Warhammer 40k to Mesolithic anthropology. AIUI, the Imperiumā€™s dogma is that the Emperor was born during the Neolithic Era and was guiding humanity behind the scenes from the dawn of history, so those two things are probably more closely interconnected than youā€™d suspect. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7104 "2023-10-11T09:32:32Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers are mostly a late development, in many cases younger than the adoption of agriculture elsewhere. Maybe in the PNW (although they didnā€™t have regular contact with the prehistoric agriculturalists to the south AFAIK), but definitely not the case for Jōmon, or the Epipaleolithic Near East. > [@Toxylon](#): > > We are not discussing the situation within the past 1000 years or so. Iā€™m definitely not - thatā€™s why I mentioned the Jōmon and Mesolithic Europe (Iā€™m thinking specifically of such sedentary Mesolithic examples as the ErtebĆølle and Iron Gates cultures. There are more than those.), but also we can include the Natufian and Anatolian pre-agriculture cultures. And while only the PNW H-Gs persisted into historic times, similarly sedentary H-Gs were not restricted to that region of North America alone, before agriculture. Look at Poverty Point, for example. > [@Toxylon](#): > > Even sedentary, ā€œaffluentā€ hunter-gatherer societies such as the Pacific Northwest people[ā€¦] didnā€™t have the population densities and the level of surplus / distributable wealth of agriculturalists. But they did have higher densities than equivalent nomadic groups, which is what counts. Numerically, I think that density will lead to there being more sedentary H-Gs historically even if there are more nomadic groups. And they had enough population and resource surpluses for occupational specialization, social hierarchies _and slavery_ to develop, as the PNW cultures show. Iā€™ll just also note that you havenā€™t disputed that the PNW indigenes did, indeed, practice slavery, and so my original point stands. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/7105 "2023-10-11T09:35:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Iā€™ll just also note that you havenā€™t disputed that the PNW indigenes did, indeed, practice slavery, and so my original point stands. Can I just break in to say that, as a PNW resident, this is news to me? Iā€™d be interested in learning more if you know of an introductory read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=354) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=356)