I read a book called Good Intentions Aren't Good Enough that basically went over all this.
It helped, I think. It's been years since I read it.
Quora is Yahoo Answers, except the majority of posters there have contracted terminal LinkedIn brain and the site has the SEO of Pinterest.
I don't think your theory about it being a CIA op is too far off - Jorban Peterman first got famous on Quora, and the power users' politics range from libertarian hustle grindet to fascist.
But, the site would be no different whether it was ran by libertarian tech bros or the US state department.
This might be known already, but I bet that Microsoft decided to switch Edge to Chromium instead of forking Gecko/Firefox because Google either bribed them or threatened to lower Microsoft sites' ranks in search results.
Otherwise why would MS use a web browser controlled by one of their very few competitors?
Edit: maybe they were enthralled by the promise of using Proton/Chromium based "desktop applications" (which just contain an entire Chromium browser in their install directory) to cheaply create apps that people are forced to use in their jobs, like Teams. Which is still awful even after they made it a full UWP desktop app. Like Skype already was.
The Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift problem, except it's on your steering wheel and you will get pulled over by a cop or rear-ended when it stops working.
If I had a billion dollars I would simply never drive myself, and I would not ride in a Tesla. It's the same car that techbros drive and has a subpar safety record.
A lot of celebrities used to drive Priuses as the eco-friendly choice back when it was new, and I didn't read anything about them dying in crashes. But Priuses don't have the acceleration of a drag racer or quality control problems.
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