Connor’s had reasons to decidedly dislike people before - and he's taken them. Realising he didn't like some humans and did like others is one of several ways his system destabilised before it even totally deviated from his assigned programming.
So as Hank rips into this young man, Connor finds it hard not to feel just a little bit pleased about it.
"If you need me to speak more literally so that you can follow my argument, I can." And he finds it hard not to enjoy talking down to someone like this. Just a little. "The public have an opinion and you might not think that's worth paying attention to, but it is. If you give people reason to think you're the bad guys - the villains - and the media here are allowed to create that narrative around you, which they will be because it suits the Head's purposes, that public dislike will intensify.
"Lies will be spread about you, which will go totally unchallenged, even in private, because you're terrorists. You blew up that park, you nearly killed the mayor. Of course you're committing other atrocities. This is a police state and the media is an echo chamber, you can't afford to let that get too loud before you get your message out. If it does, people won't sympathise with your cause, they won't join you and they won't help you or even keep quiet when you need them to. Because even if they agree with the cause, people like you aren't worth risking everything for.
"Then people start to realise what kind of groups are involved with the terrorism. Some of the more recent batches of newcomers, the ones that still live in the dormitory. Can the city even trust the newcomers anymore? Maybe they should all be vetted before being set free in the city. Maybe all the people who arrived after a certain time should be rounded up. For public protection.
"I'll repeat this in case you missed it. I've seen a lot of this happen."
He didn't mean to talk this much. But it's the last thing he plans on saying about it. And he has no intention of joining anybody too short-sighted to pay attention to optics.
"If you're only dismissing us so you can keep believing you're smarter than we are, go ahead. You're smarter than me. But if you actually think taking public opinion seriously is black and white thinking, then I don't accept you as a leader of anything, smarter or not."
no subject
So as Hank rips into this young man, Connor finds it hard not to feel just a little bit pleased about it.
"If you need me to speak more literally so that you can follow my argument, I can." And he finds it hard not to enjoy talking down to someone like this. Just a little. "The public have an opinion and you might not think that's worth paying attention to, but it is. If you give people reason to think you're the bad guys - the villains - and the media here are allowed to create that narrative around you, which they will be because it suits the Head's purposes, that public dislike will intensify.
"Lies will be spread about you, which will go totally unchallenged, even in private, because you're terrorists. You blew up that park, you nearly killed the mayor. Of course you're committing other atrocities. This is a police state and the media is an echo chamber, you can't afford to let that get too loud before you get your message out. If it does, people won't sympathise with your cause, they won't join you and they won't help you or even keep quiet when you need them to. Because even if they agree with the cause, people like you aren't worth risking everything for.
"Then people start to realise what kind of groups are involved with the terrorism. Some of the more recent batches of newcomers, the ones that still live in the dormitory. Can the city even trust the newcomers anymore? Maybe they should all be vetted before being set free in the city. Maybe all the people who arrived after a certain time should be rounded up. For public protection.
"I'll repeat this in case you missed it. I've seen a lot of this happen."
He didn't mean to talk this much. But it's the last thing he plans on saying about it. And he has no intention of joining anybody too short-sighted to pay attention to optics.
"If you're only dismissing us so you can keep believing you're smarter than we are, go ahead. You're smarter than me. But if you actually think taking public opinion seriously is black and white thinking, then I don't accept you as a leader of anything, smarter or not."