campfireSmores
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User ID: 539
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
I'd rather protect people by preventing them from investing than preventing people by silencing them. dath ilan (yudkowsky's fictional alternate earth) has a licensing scheme where you need to pass a test before you can invest.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
Even Osama's kids watched Detective Conan and Batman cartoons, let's not forget.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I don't think the initial story is small potatoes. The initial story is the VP of the US trading money for influence.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
As long as an employee doesn't go beyond the allotted number of sick days, is it that big a deal to the employer what they use them for? Is it worse for the employer than calling in sick when not actually sick, something Americans have done since who-knows-when?
I don't think I've ever called in sick just because I wanted a day off, but it seems to be not such a shameful thing in our culture. Is this worse (for the employer) than that?
I'm in the Wellness thread though. I'm fine with debating it in the culture war thread. If anyone disagrees with me they can just ignore this post, or make your own post in the culture war thread. I'm not trying to start a debate in the wellness thread! That's not why I made this post
campfireSmores
1yr ago
https://psmag.com/news/kings-garbage-76228
The article's sub-headline: "In 1993 the Anti-Defamation League was accused of espionage, illegal surveillance, theft, and the treasonous sale of classified information to a foreign government. I was one of their victims."
The crimes of the ADL go beyond simply spreading child knife-rape.
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
I have a response to this, but we shouldn't be having culture war talk in the wellness thread.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
The less players in the AI game the less impossible it is that humanity will survive.
campfireSmores
1yr ago
I have never heard anyone say that. So it can't be that usual of a response.
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
I think there are reasons not to make a lotr show at all. Politics, IP rights issues, Game of Thrones ending poorly, lotr being an inherently difficult property to work with because of its focus on the ineffable and deep lore, etc.
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
I just included the list because I felt frustrated with myself for not being able to summon it earlier. There should be a guide for how to talk about stuff like this in the Wellness thread.
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
My thoughts exactly.
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
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.
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