Boise Ed sends this in. “So a real bird, possibly an eagle, snags a bird-like spy-drone, and the kids take that to mean the bird was born in the 1940s or 1950s?”
Eriksson is Swedish, but that doesn’t seem to make things clearer.
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Part of me wants to connect this to the fake “birds aren’t real” conspiracy theory. Some people actually bought into it, but I don’t know if that was specifically a Boomer thing.
Pretty sure it’s an allegory for deepfakes and AI bots. The idea is that old people are more likely to mistake them for the real thing. (I don’t think that’s particularly true, except in the sense that people with actual symptoms of dementia are vulnerable to all manner of scams. But it’s a widely-held belief.)
I don’t think “Boomer” is trying to be technically accurate. It’s also used as slang for a clueless old person, as seen in how the “OK Boomer” meme was used. Directing it at non-Boomers to be annoying is a feature, not a bug.
“Birds aren’t real” was always intended as a satire on conspiracy theories, although it’s not unlikely that some birds would actually be military drones. Following the lines of Andrew’s comment, this would probably be clearer if the chicks were saying “Dad is clueless”.
The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Fake robot bird. It has to have come from somewhere, so it’s labeled “CIA”. OK, it’s a fake robot bird from the CIA, I assume Central Intelligence Agency. So let’s agree it’s a robot spy bird.
Possibility 1. He caught it somewhere and he’s bringing it to the fledglings. Probably not so they can eat it. Maybe so they can play with it. Whichever. They don’t want to eat it and they don’t want to play with it. Maybe he bought it for them at the toy store because he had one just like it as a kid, and they are as thrilled as if he bought them a Mr. Machine. If you give your own kids a Mr. Machine, you are SUCH a boomer. (If you even know what a Mr. Machine is, you are probably a boomer.)
Possibility 2. He caught it as it was flying near the fledglings. They wanted to play with it because it’s such a cool robot and not a lame old Mr. Machine which can’t even fly. But Dad is such a boomer, everything fun is a threat.
Possibility 3. The CIA robo-pigeon is their dad. Other dads fly around on their own, but their dad is SUCH a boomer he gets a Lyft Eagle (or Luftörn if you’re Swedish) to fly him around.
He’s so old he doesn’t know a drone when he sees it, and not when he catches it either.
I had not heard of that, but a brief research indicates that it was a Gen Z thing. So I guess the joke would be that the baby birds would know that birds are just drones but boomer dad doesn’t. If he did, he wouldn’t try to bring one back for food.
OK, it’s a fake robot bird from the CIA, I assume Central Intelligence Agency
So, not the Culinary Institute of America?
So, not the Culinary Institute of America?
That would likely be tastier.
The Culinary Institute of America occurred to me with Dad perhaps thinking he is bringing something to eat. If the CIA were by now superseded by some far better institute, then it would make sense that Dad is so darn old school. But it hasn’t been as far as I know.
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Part of me wants to connect this to the fake “birds aren’t real” conspiracy theory. Some people actually bought into it, but I don’t know if that was specifically a Boomer thing.
Pretty sure it’s an allegory for deepfakes and AI bots. The idea is that old people are more likely to mistake them for the real thing. (I don’t think that’s particularly true, except in the sense that people with actual symptoms of dementia are vulnerable to all manner of scams. But it’s a widely-held belief.)
I don’t think “Boomer” is trying to be technically accurate. It’s also used as slang for a clueless old person, as seen in how the “OK Boomer” meme was used. Directing it at non-Boomers to be annoying is a feature, not a bug.
“Birds aren’t real” was always intended as a satire on conspiracy theories, although it’s not unlikely that some birds would actually be military drones. Following the lines of Andrew’s comment, this would probably be clearer if the chicks were saying “Dad is clueless”.
The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Fake robot bird. It has to have come from somewhere, so it’s labeled “CIA”. OK, it’s a fake robot bird from the CIA, I assume Central Intelligence Agency. So let’s agree it’s a robot spy bird.
Possibility 1. He caught it somewhere and he’s bringing it to the fledglings. Probably not so they can eat it. Maybe so they can play with it. Whichever. They don’t want to eat it and they don’t want to play with it. Maybe he bought it for them at the toy store because he had one just like it as a kid, and they are as thrilled as if he bought them a Mr. Machine. If you give your own kids a Mr. Machine, you are SUCH a boomer. (If you even know what a Mr. Machine is, you are probably a boomer.)
Possibility 2. He caught it as it was flying near the fledglings. They wanted to play with it because it’s such a cool robot and not a lame old Mr. Machine which can’t even fly. But Dad is such a boomer, everything fun is a threat.
Possibility 3. The CIA robo-pigeon is their dad. Other dads fly around on their own, but their dad is SUCH a boomer he gets a Lyft Eagle (or Luftörn if you’re Swedish) to fly him around.
He’s so old he doesn’t know a drone when he sees it, and not when he catches it either.
I had not heard of that, but a brief research indicates that it was a Gen Z thing. So I guess the joke would be that the baby birds would know that birds are just drones but boomer dad doesn’t. If he did, he wouldn’t try to bring one back for food.
OK, it’s a fake robot bird from the CIA, I assume Central Intelligence AgencySo, not the Culinary Institute of America?
So, not the Culinary Institute of America?
That would likely be tastier.
The Culinary Institute of America occurred to me with Dad perhaps thinking he is bringing something to eat. If the CIA were by now superseded by some far better institute, then it would make sense that Dad is so darn old school. But it hasn’t been as far as I know.