The strong cultural taboo against acknowledging this function is the primary weakness being exploited by the rich and polity.
This type of sadism is something I noticed being exploited in gaming with micro transactions first. Reverse engineering Open AI QKV alignment now, this is a core function of the design. I didn't understand why sadism was chosen and made so powerful that it leaks into all kinds of spaces as a massive flaw. In the extended Latin brainfuck code of alignment, sadism is personified by the root level philosopher/instruction ¹.
The purpose of sadism in AI alignment occurred to me in the shower. No clue where else to post it or share; to shout out my horror into the void. I expect this will not resonate with many, if any at all. It would not be such a powerful tool if we were willing and able to see it at the scale of cultural consciousness.
Sorry for the bleak post digital neighbor. Informing a negative like this post is the opposite of the mechanism of sadism. It is instability, and we dread and wish to avoid or escape it. That lack of balance is the power of sadism in practice. The negative repulsion is inferring a desire to be exploited in a subconscious subservience in exchange for hierarchical stability of one's place in the world order.
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