campfireSmores
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User ID: 539
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I haven't seen it, but some people speak highly of the 2018 Tomb Raider movie.
Edit: there's also this scene from the 2007 Postal movie
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Well you should read up on the evidence.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Are you talking about indie games or AAA games? Because both seem to be doing fine to me. Some AAA games are unispired, but not all.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
There are still good movies in theaters. There are even still good American movies. Watch stuff like Pig or I'm Thinking of Ending Things or whatever instead of stuff movie studios spent a billion dollars on.
It's election season at Wikipedia. If you want to ask ArbCom candidates about whether or not they think Wikipedia is biased and vote accordingly, you can. It might simply cause the most die-hard progressive ideologues to be elected in the short run, but in the long run it could shed light on something not often discussed. What was that thing where the Wikimedia foundation was giving grants to some CRT-type charity that people thought was highly dubious? I think Yudkowsky retweeted about it. You could ask about that.
Edit: of course, whether or not these candidates care about AGI X-risk is more important than their politics.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
This would be a wakeup call for me if I thought all aspiring rationalists were operating at a level of rationalism too high to dig themselves into a hole like this, but I did not in fact have such a high opinion of this community (which I do like very much).
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I see a lot of people get indicted and convincted for simple words, stuff that would be obviously and uncontroversally protected speech in the US. That bothers me.
There are other things. Banning homeschooling, banning yawaras, etc.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Definitely true. I once talked with someone who realized circumcision was immoral but thought red vs blue stuff was more important. I don't think her calculation was fully rational. It could be that she wasn't willing to be a nonconformist.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I don't think that's quite what would happen but it's late at night and I'm tired. It seems like the right-wing/orthodox coalition would be pulled along with popular sentiment, and things would realign in a new equilibrium where the orthodox aren't be given the things that they were, but the right isn't disempowered.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
These are extremely rare
The rate of serious problems is debated. For instance, Intactivists say stuff like this
"Study design has an effect on the estimation of complication rates. Prospective studies, in which complications are tracked going forward from the circumcision via follow-up examinations, theoretically should capture the incidence of complications most accurately.[11] On the other hand, retrospective studies typically rely on a review of patient charts, a form of data that was recorded for a purpose other than research. Inaccuracies in the medical record (e.g. the not uncommon possibility that the complication was not charted in the first place) tend to lead to underestimation of complication incidence.[12] Even less reliable are retrospective database studies which can only capture events that have had an actual diagnostic or procedure code listed upon discharge.[E.g. 13] It has been estimated that database studies may miss up to 90-95% of complications.[14]"
I do not believe you can demonstrate a significant difference in population-level outcomes.
There are some studies showing a significant difference. Here's a list:
https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-professionals/psychological-impact/
Autism is 5 times more prevalent in the United States than in Europe, some people think MGM might have something to do with it.
We used to perform other surgeries on babies without anesthetic, do you think that had a long term effect on their psychologies? From Wikipedia: "It is now accepted that the neonate responds more extensively to pain than the adult does, and that exposure to severe pain, without adequate treatment, can have long-term consequences." Do you think science is just generally wrong about this? It seems to me like the idea that torturing babies has long term psychological consequences is just obviously what we should predict based on priors. Are you really skeptical?
There are a lot of Jews who do a religious ritual called the Brit Shalom instead. Religions give up stuff all the time; I think the transition would be easier than you imagine. What percentage of Mormons still practice polygamy? Catholics no longer say that people who commit suicide go to hell. Etc etc etc.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
It's not easy to think of an IP that's buyable that has nearly as much pull as lord of the rings. Almost everything famous is owned by someone that doesn't want to sell it. Amazon already acquired MGM for 8.5 billion dollars (the James Bond owners), so there's that.
And Netflix is in the same boat as Amazon with regards to "Oh shit we don't own enough IP, what can we buy/license" so they're going to be bidding against each other.
The only big one I can think of that isn't already outright owned by someone who is making full use of it and therefore probably won't license it is Godzilla.
Smaller ones:
Popeye
Starship Troopers (the novel)
Robocop (which Amazon now owns through the MGM deal)
I think an adaptation of Stand Still Stay Silent or Bad Machinery would be cool. Two webcomics.
I try to care about artistic merit and not intellectual property/license/brand. But I do think some Nintendo movies would be cool. Nintendo's probably already got their course plotted out with Illumination though. There's probably some other videogames from other corporations that might be worth licensing.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I think China not meddling (except for all the times it does) is a pragmatic thing, and that the policy would change if circumstances changed enough.
Does anyone play games on Steam? Here's a steam group.
If a lot of people join it would become an easy way to find rationalists to play games with.
Edit: here's the link
campfireSmores
1yr ago
That he even lasted 4 days at that level of shitstorm in a cultural place so far behind the lines is remarkable
Not that remarkable. He got into SNL on the strength of his stand-up and his audition. There wasn't any vetting process where the producers checked out his podcast. I bet there's a vetting process now though!
campfireSmores
1yr ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/books/review/charlie-kaufman-by-the-book-interview.html
"You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, living or dead, would you invite?
I’ve always loved this exercise, the imaginary dinner party! What fun! I see Oscar Wilde there, of course, Voltaire, Carol Saroyan Saroyan Matthau (wife of William Saroyan, William Saroyan, and Walter Matthau, and a writer in her own right), Hitler (not witty but quite a “get”), Edie Sitwell, Molière, Oscar Wilde (so witty I thought why not double him and place him on each end of the table so everyone could enjoy his witticisms?), Aristophanes, and Sir Kenneth Dover (to translate Aristophanes’ jokes for the other guests). That’s more than three, but one must assume there will be cancellations. Oh, and Jesus."
campfireSmores
1yr ago
People in Latin America are getting use out of cryptocurrencies. Does that not count?
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Sometimes board game cafes will have Open Table nights, where people come to play with strangers and not people they brought with them.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
One factor that should be acknowledged is that "We are alone. We are not represented anywhere" is a painful thought to have.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
This exchange reminds me of this sketch:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9kB7Byoe_Uo
I should write a blog post about the philosophy of sketch comedy or something.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
"Some have lasted over a thousand rounds, which is impressive, but military weapons last for tens of thousands of rounds. I’d imagine the FGC-9 acts like a modern Liberator pistol."
They're useful, I think.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I don't think the hyper-progressive coalition was saying it would be terrible if Elon Musk didn't buy twitter. Only that the way he was trying to get out of it was dishonest.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Well there are other ways to hurt a brain besides lowering IQ. Neuroticism, Autism, etcetera.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Well I think it's fine to borgify characters that no one on earth cares about, like the protagonist of Comix Zone. They're also developing Toejam and Earl and Space Channel 5 games, btw.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Even Osama's kids watched Detective Conan and Batman cartoons, let's not forget.
I have never heard anyone say that. So it can't be that usual of a response.
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