Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
"Behind our efforts, let there be found our efforts."
User ID: 83
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
8d ago
I talked to a conservative Romanian who called one of the candidates a jumped-up, corrupt demagogue fascist...and then I stopped paying attention because that topic somehow came up mid-play with my daughter. That's about the full extent of my knowledge.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
8d ago
The Course of Empire, cyclical history, decadence, hedonic treadmill, luxury beliefs...
Around here, when you see someone do something that is both stupidly destructive and utterly unnecessary, you cry out "Ich glaub dir gehts zu gut!", i.e., "I think you're doing too well!". Bad ideas invent themselves, but normally they fizzle out before being put into action because of practical constraints. When someone is doing too well for their own good, they lack those exact practical constraints that would nip bad ideas in the bud. Instead, they can go down the most ridiculous rabbit holes and never be called out for it.
There are no atheists in foxholes, women who are busy keeping house don't go around preaching feminism, men who are one paycheck away from actual starvation don't preach anti-work, liberals do a 180° on blank-slatism when it comes to choosing a school for their own kids, and right-wingers do the same when it comes to picking cheap enough contractors to build their houses for them without whom they couldn't afford it.
It's all the same idea. If you're sufficiently well-off, materially and otherwise, you can afford to engage in stupid behavior and take it much too far. And given the near-infinite production of stupidities, someone will find some very stupid and highly infectious meme that never would have survived in a more resource-starved environment, but does just fine and makes the headlines in our age of undeserved prosperity.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Quickest job first. Same as @CertainlyWorse. Just keeping track of everything that needs doing is worse than actually doing it. Provided that you properly subdivided your big tasks into small ones, there are no big tasks in the first place!
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
I guess so.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Right, I don’t expect a ‘congratulations, you haven’t killed anyone this year’ award. What seems much more reasonable to ask for is to stop claiming that the prolife movement is violent- it’s not. The answer to ‘who is bombing abortion clinics?’ is ‘statistically, nobody’.
Statistically Muslims in Western countries are perfectly peaceful.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Oh hey, yet another opportunity to make a "my wife" post. Here I go.
My wife, who naturally is a feminist, is occasionally reasonable, but often keeps snapping back to this position. Subsequently, anything that I do not do, whether it involves parenting, household, paperwork or "mental work" or "emotional labor" or whatever the latest pop-sci terminology is, is a failing on my part. I should be doing everything, so that she is free to pursue her dreams and therapies so that she can become the breadwinner by becoming a well-selling author of books or some other pipe-dream. My working a decently-paying white-collar job while expecting her to pull her weight is me chaining us to a less-than-perfect state in which we cannot fulfill our true potential. As long as she is not given a little paradise to exist in, free of cares, anything is an imposition upon her and I am falling short.
Doesn't matter whether I do all the earning, all the driving, any task that involves leaving the house, part-time parenting on regular days and full-day parenting on weekends (if I fall asleep by mid-Sunday, she graciously takes over by plopping our daughter down in front of the TV). That's par for the course. That's just taken for granted. What kind of man would I be to do any less, or to expect gratitude for this? OTOH, if she can't be assed to set an alarm clock and considers playing video games for a full day adequate compensation for having cooked a meal, then well, she's just aware of her needs and limitations, I cannot possibly demand more of her, don't I know she has anxieties and panic attacks and slept poorly and had a bellyache from eating a full meal and sweets at midnight. By the way, I didn't remember to do the laundry yesterday and went to bed immediately after our daughter fell asleep instead of being available for couple time, so I am the asshole.
Disclaimer: My wife also has her good days sometimes, but those would get in the way of a good wifepost rant. Maybe I should try to quantify this kind of stuff.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
If you steal something from someone and he doesn't notice and he doesn't need it, is it still stealing?
If you kill someone but nobody misses the victim, is it still murder?
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
If by any means possible, yeah, on top of paying for the shipping.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Here in rural Germany, being a volunteer firefighter is very high-status, and provides excellent networking. And that is on top of, well, getting to play firefighter.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Well, FWIW, I don't begrudge Scott his privilege. May he enjoy it thoroughly and for a long time yet. But it is very "good times create weak men", in a way.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Ah, dammit. Alright, third time's the charm:
What do you think?
Same as you: https://www.themotte.org/post/1913/culture-war-roundup-for-the-week/327871?context=8#context
I read it [Scott's post] and my reaction was pretty much the same kind of loss-for-words exasperation I feel when my wife tells me that I cannot possibly have expectations of her, don't I know she has excuses? Why, Scott, you have a stay-at-home wife, two kids, a nanny, several friendly families living in the same block, and then you feel a need to also hire two babysitters on top of all that? Yeah, taking care of kids is exhausting. No shit, Scott - did you think getting kids at age 40 wouldn't be taxing? Two of them at the same time to boot. And still, his complaints in the face of that many resources thrown at the problem smells of...I don't know what to call it without throwing out schoolyard insults like "sissy" or "pussy". Methinks Scott complaineth overmuch. Or maybe I'm just jealous of his "privilege", be that wealth or whatnot, regardless of whether it's earned or otherwise.
Man, I work full-time and then I parent all the rest of the time except for maybe about two hours after getting my daughter to sleep. If Scott's numbers are correct, then I put in more parenting time than his stay-at-home wife. Which isn't to say that I'm the better man; far from it, my life is a mess. But seriously. They're doing something very wrong if the two of them can't hack it without hiring an entire fireteam of helpers.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
That's fair. I guess we need to exercise some caution lest we end up in a Demolition Man dystopia in which the enlightened future society disdains "fluid exchange" in favor of VR.
I didn't meant to imply that you did.
Just saw an opportunity to put the link out there in case anyone missed that text so far.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
What do you think?
Same as you: https://www.themotte.org/post/1913/culture-war-roundup-for-the-week/327871?context=8#context
I read it [Scott's post] and my reaction was pretty much the same kind of loss-for-words exasperation I feel when my wife tells me that I cannot possibly have expectations of her, don't I know she has excuses? Why, Scott, you have a stay-at-home wife, two kids, a nanny, several friendly families living in the same block, and then you feel a need to also hire two babysitters on top of all that? Yeah, taking care of kids is exhausting. No shit, Scott - did you think getting kids at age 40 wouldn't be taxing? Two of them at the same time to boot. And still, his complaints in the face of that many resources thrown at the problem smells of...I don't know what to call it without throwing out schoolyard insults like "sissy" or "pussy". Methinks Scott complaineth overmuch. Or maybe I'm just jealous of his "privilege", be that wealth or whatnot, regardless of whether it's earned or otherwise.
Man, I work full-time and then I parent all the rest of the time except for maybe about two hours after getting my daughter to sleep. If Scott's numbers are correct, then I put in more parenting time than his stay-at-home wife. Which isn't to say that I'm the better man; far from it, my life is a mess. But seriously. They're doing something very wrong if the two of them can't hack it without hiring an entire fireteam of helpers.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
'm reading The Original Preppy Handbook from 1980 right now, and one of the certified summer activities for rich young girls was to hire on as a "mother's helper" for another rich family summering in the Hamptons or the Vineyard. Where did things like that go? Obviously beneficial arrangement for all involved.
FWIW, this was also a common activity for poor girls in rural Germany as late as the 1950s.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
A guy in a wheelchair might say, hey I'm still the top boat insurance salesman in Central New Jersey, and what's the big deal about "running" anyway amirightguys? But if he were offered a surgery that would allow him to walk and he said no I prefer the chair, we'd call that disordered thinking, we'd call it strange. We'd say he has an insane view of human life if he would prefer to be in the chair. And we'd certainly seek to censure, if not censor, him if he started advocating for healthy people to hop into wheelchairs and refuse to or prevent themselves from walking.
Channeling https://www.2arms1head.com/, are we?
I directionally agree, but the wording seems too strong. IMO asexuals aren't exactly a menace to society and we needn't worry overly much about them. OTOH of course they can't expect to have normal relationships with regularly-sexual people.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Have you read the recent ACX post about Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids? I want to have a top level post about it, but haven't thought of anything interesting to say for that. I enjoy Scott's honesty about being an introverted professional writer with twin babies and a wife who's probably something like him, and very much not a Christian twenty-something who's happy about vacuuming. His wife is apparently staying with the kids, but he feels guilty (presumably she's overwhelmed, not happily keeping a clean house and warm meals), and hires a nanny. Even with the nanny and wife at home, they are still overwhelmed.
Yeah. I read it and my reaction was pretty much the same kind of loss-for-words exasperation I feel when my wife tells me that I cannot possibly have expectations of her, don't I know she has excuses? Why, Scott, you have a stay-at-home wife, two kids, a nanny, several friendly families living in the same block, and then you feel a need to also hire two babysitters on top of all that? Yeah, taking care of kids is exhausting. No shit, Scott - did you think getting kids at age 40 wouldn't be taxing? Two of them at the same time to boot. And still, his complaints in the face of that many resources thrown at the problem smells of...I don't know what to call it without throwing out schoolyard insults like "sissy" or "pussy". Methinks Scott complaineth overmuch. Or maybe I'm just jealous of his "privilege", be that wealth or whatnot, regardless of whether it's earned or otherwise.
Man, I work full-time and then I parent all the rest of the time except for maybe about two hours after getting my daughter to sleep. If Scott's numbers are correct, then I put in more parenting time than his stay-at-home wife. Which isn't to say that I'm the better man; far from it, my life is a mess. But seriously. They're doing something very wrong if the two of them can't hack it without hiring an entire fireteam of helpers.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Another fun aspect is - what about the former colonial powers the current countries of which have enjoyed significant immigration from their former colony countries? Have those immigrants now also assumed part of the guilt?
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
That depends a lot on whether your friend was actually more qualified for the promotion.
It's true that the actual act of scanning items and paying for them takes longer, but with one nominal cashier thus overseeing "half a dozen" self-checkout lines (not an unrealistic number) also spreads the customers that would normally wait in line for one cashier over six lines, which should cut waiting times by a lot more than the time lost to slower scanning.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
Okay. Even granting all that, what now? Blame current-day Europeans for the sins of their forefathers? Spend all of eternity re-heating old grievances concerning harm done by dead people to other dead people? Try to conclusively settle that which is impossible to settle, so that the next generation can turn around and call a foul and claim that the settlement was in itself unjust, so our descendants can all have another go at the merry-go-round?
in 2025, Colonial powers have little remorse for their actions.
The colonial powers of yestercentury don't exist anymore. You can go and extract apologies from the current French, Spanish, British or Belgian governments and what the hell are those worth? The people in charge now and the people who live in those countries now aren't the same people who committed whatever crime happened in the colonial era. It's trivially easy for them to apologize; especially in the current environment of "colonialism bad, europeans bad, africans good" in which you can thus put yourself on the right side of history, no matter whether there is any substance to the subject matter of the apology.
And that's completely eliding the question of whether we need to also account for the good the colonial powers may have done if we already weigh up the bad. Let's say there was no good, for argument's sake.
What would you want us Germans to do? Kowtow even further to Israel? Bend over backwards a little more to accept our great German guilt?
Fuck. This is the Friday Fun Thread?
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
9d ago
I call and have it mailed to me.
Southkraut
Vibe of vibes, saith the Preacher, vibe of vibes; all is vibe.
10d ago
But, also, I've been confused about how "agency" is being used lately. Assertiveness? Willingness to take action? It seems kind of new to hear that discussed in terms of agency, but seems to have become a thing lately.
Agency is literally "you just do things", as opposed to standing around like a deer in headlights, waiting for others to solve your problems, or sitting on your ass making excuses.
I wouldn't describe myself as highly agentic, but I have acquired the superpower (thanks Grandpa for being a role model here) of just talking to strangers in order to get things done, when my friends would rather shrink into themselves than talk to someone they have no mandate to establish contact with. Or just calling a restaurant to find out whether it's open, instead of a full commitment to whatever google says. Or walking into an office and loudly (though politely!) asking whether anyone has some particular bit of infornation. All of this seems exceptional around here because people in general seem to have developed an extremely atrophied sense of their own agency. You can in fact just go and talk to people.
Little one brought me a gift from Kindergarten. Kindergarten gifts are always either one or the other: A cold or a flu. So on the one hand, I was pretty much knocked out and asleep for most of the week. But on the other hand, when I wasn't acutely feeling like snot and headache, I was on my own and nobody bothered me, so I managed to crack open Unreal and poke around a little. Chiefly, I tried to see in how far Unreal's double-precision-by-default nature actually allowed me to create a larger game world without needing to rely on illusions and sleigh of hand.
Unreal offers "Landscapes", which are not just heighmaps but come with a bunch of physical and graphical bells and whistles. I made one a few months ago as a backdrop and playground, but it always looked a little ugly, with black lines and patches everywhere. I assumed that this was some z-level issue, or maybe the shaders breaking down because I made the landscape too large. As it turns out, it's the shadows, stupid. The shadows break down at large distances. So, my options are to either not use shadows at all, to enable ray-tracing and multiply the hardware footprint of my project a hundredfold, or to change the shadow settings for my landscape so that shadows look like ass up close but decently alright at a distance. I chose the latter option for now, since the landscape is extremely low-res and you shouldn't be seeing shadows up close a lot anyways.
I put a big sphere in the sky and began to move it up and scale it up. I wanted to see whether I could put a moon into the sky at real scale. I didn't get that far. At a few kilometers in size and distance, it began flickering pretty badly. A little experimentation showed that it's reflections that do this. But I'm not sure how to fix it short of disabling reflections altogether. The latter wouldn't be a deal-breaker here; I don't strictly need those reflections, but it's a little annoying that this breaks down so quickly and already requires special treatment as such modest scales.
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