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Nihil Concierge

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joined 2022 September 05 19:44:52 UTC
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Nihil Concierge

				
				
				

				

					1 follower  

					follows 6 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 19:44:52 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 691


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
							
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
"There is no problem in the world so complex it could not be solved quickly and easily if everyone would simply do what I say," as Gore Vidal once put it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					




'freedom of speech' was a much less-held value anwyhere in something like the 18th or 19th centuries






Even in the 18th century, there was somewhere with people who held the freedom to speak among the most important values they could list.


Top of the list, in fact. Number one of 10.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Some thoughts on the trajectory of Elon Musk
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For those of you who aren't familiar with Arnold Kling's system, his book The Three Languages of Politics


can be downloaded free of charge: https://www.cato.org/three-languages-of-politics


I found it incredibly useful—and am thrilled to see it wedged into a Flatland metaphor, which is the greatest honor a thesis can attain!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 21, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I personally find it more likely that we actually have been born into a Grabby civilization, and are being fooled into thinking we’re alone. This is highly speculative though.




I also think we have been born into--well, I basically agree with you word-for-word right up until the very end, where "highly speculative" doesn't describe my views as well as "infringing on the copyright protecting a 2015 Wachowski film."


I mean, if there's  a better answer to the Fermi Paradox than "they aren't visiting Earth because our population too small for grinding us all up into a filmy paste and selling it as skin-and-tentacle rejuvenation creams wouldn't break even--by about 20%," I haven't heard it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				[META] Something Shiny and Two Things Boring
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I would like to suggest we replace the blocking functionality with an "auto-collapse all comments by this user. " Or even just a solid how-to and template for setting that up in the "custom CSS" setting tab.


I mean, I don't think any of you see my name and wish you had a "+" button that could be clicked—perhaps with an audible sigh—before my comments were displayed...


But let's get to know each other.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				[META] Something Shiny and Two Things Boring
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Exactly. I feel like blocking people on this site runs counter to the spirit of engagement—heck, I'd probably make more use of a anti-ignore feature that lets someone who replied to me know: "I read your response, I don't have enough to say about it for a Motte-quality comment, but I do actively appreciate your time and am giving you the last word..."


Is there some emoji (maybe only available to and visible to users who've commented on a thread) that could mean, "I have read everything up to here, and you make some good points, but I am now politely excusing myself to take a phone call."


[So that's the anti-ignore feature, but then there's the ignore feature, which is like taking a fake phone call—but 100% guaranteed not to ring at the exact wrong moment so everyone notices like at that dinner party I made incredibly awkward last summer. And it's easy to code, because they're the same button.]


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 26, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Really? I was sure they were supposed to be a suburban Jewish family—but that might be because every time he hears the books mentioned, my dad exclaims, "They don't go to synagogue either!"


But there may not be textual evidence for his reading.  I've mostly been able to avoid mentioning books since childhood


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 26, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What diseases are you talking about?


HIV, obviously, was deadly as fuck—from about 1975  to 2015. AIDS was unknown before the Thatcher years , and the HIV-1 zoonosis was almost certainly during the Taft administration. That particular deadly disease simply did not exist when successful societies we're failing to fail.


I can't think of any that did, but am here to be informed


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 26, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Probably, but maybe it's a Jewish Christmas.


Do the books depicts a traditional Thanksgiving meal shared with Momma Bears family, then the traditional menorah lighting at least three states away from Papa Bear's nearest relative, and also show a Christmas Day where the bears unwrap the presents that are obviously books first spend hours of reading in silence, briefly thanking each other, then reading while they eat enchiladas?


If I could have my mom back for one holiday, it would probably be Christmas.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Let’s Interview Fascism with Paul Gottfried, pt. 7 – A Vanished Revolutionary Right and Addendum – Fascism and Modernization
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Im just starting this series of posts. I found part two very useful: it helped me map what ideas Hannah Arent is famous for, and move them from "my unconscious biases"  to "someone else's very convincing and extremely useful framework."


I'm very happy to find this with all seven sections finished, ready to be cued up for my next couple morning commutes. It was clearly more than just a couple hours work to do this, and I really appreciate the effort!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 26, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well, biologists group pachyderm species into the broad categories of "African elephant" and "Asian elephant." Given that, Babar being white seems just silly


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 19, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My favorite part of the UC site you linked to is this: "As a reminder, candidates do not need to belong to a particular group or demographic, or to hold particular viewpoints, to be successful in this [getting a diversity score]."


I went through the first couple the sections of the evaluation and scoring rules, and a college administrator employed in a U.C. DEI office qualified for the highest possible score in both.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Given how important it appears to be for Ukrainian efforts, I suspect that its true utility will be in the military domain...




I haven't seen anything mentioning Starlink anywhere in coverage of the Ukraine conflict!  I mean, there was that wave of stories covering the donation, most of which predicted it would bring vital help to Ukraine's military, but those were coverage of an American company being generous--and likely at the behest of the same company's talented and experienced P.R. team--and not technically coverage of Ukraine.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Human writ large are very bad at thinking.




Indeed!


At the risk of putting words in your mouth, I think your post up-thread about needing lawyers/doctors/bartenders to verify the output of near-future AI's medical/legal/self-medical work points to a general statement: AGI with human level intelligence cannot independently function in domains where the intelligence of an average human is insufficient.


OTOH, advancing from FORTRAN to AI-with-average-human-intellect seems like a much bigger challenge than upgrading the AI to AI-with-Grace-Hopper-intellect.  It seems like the prediction to make--to anyone--is: "When will AI be able to do 90% of your work, with you giving prompts and catching errors? 0-100 years, difficult to predict without knowing future AI development and may vary widely based on your specific job.


When will AI be so much better at your job Congress passes a law requiring you to post "WARNING: UNSUPERVISED HUMAN" signage whenever you are doing the job? The following Tuesday."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
When I saw read that comment, I asked myself 'is that the nickname of a public figure I don't recognize?' and not 'is that the screen-name of a Mottean I don't see on this thread?'


I think Amdan's point was that the comment is "bringing up" more than "pushing back", but what I want to add is that even with the mod message, the comment still totally reads as "a mild an entirely appropriate joke about 2Cimafara, which is the name of a Podcase or maybe one of the people who was British Prime Minister last year."


You might not consider that effective as mockery. I consider this something I need to post now so I can see it next time I'm scrolling through my comment history thinking, 'wasn't there a podcast I wanted to check out?' I have a clear reminder to stop.


I absolutely understand if someone wants to mock me for that, but I'll waste 30 minutes next time Blocked and Reported drops looking otherwise.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


A human brain is built to operate on long lists of sight and sound recordings rather than long lists of text, but it still builds logical inferences etc. based on data.




I credit the Innocence Project with convincing me that the human brain is built on inaccurate sight and sound recordings, the Sequences with convincing me that the human brain builds with irrational logical fallacies, and credit Kurt Vonnegut with the quote "the only time it's acceptable to use incomplete data is before the heat death of the Universe.  Also the only option."


He never said that, it's okay. He's in heaven now.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 27, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I'm inclined to favor Bukele, on the basis that iron fist policing methods should work.




Iron fist policing works very well, for a very limited and specific definition of work. They stop the organized criminal activity in an instant—and an instant is also how long you have before the tactics go from 100% effective to 99%.


If you're waiting for an election, crime might not be back noticeably until after the vote. If you have an actual plan to address underline issues, implementation is so much easier right after a crackdown that the best name for these tactics isn't iron fist or crackdown; it's "step one." It's basically got to be step one of absolutely any plan, good or bad, or that plan won't work.


But since it can't accomplish anything on its own, the only thing that guarantees iron fist policing won't work is expecting it to.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 27, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't understand why you'd use a monetary fee—just add a line to the registration form "we know plans change, and keep the pick-up window open 24 hours a day—and no matter how late the hour, we guarantee a fast pick up with no questions of a child similar to the one you dropped off."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 27, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah, the government loans incentivized enrolling as many students as possible. And 100 other ways.


This was very successful at keeping 18-24 olds out of the workforce, and thus far had had no negative consequences on the LFRP.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 20, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I was once five books into a series of police procedural mysteries with a sci-fi setting when the librarian checking out number six informed me I was reading Nora Roberts.


I quickly switched to self-checkout kiosks, which respect my desire to read male authors like Robert Galbraith or C.J. Cherryh.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 20, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How would one demonstrate which way the arrow of causation points here? I'm not close enough to publishing to tell pull from push.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 20, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't know about Europe — or sports — but I can say that movie theaters in Thailand under King Bhumibol played some sort of regal anthem, and no other country I've been a cinema-goer was remotely similar.  Not America, Japan, Singapore—even Russia didn't make me sit through anything about Putin before making me try and understand "Superbad" dubbed into a language I don't speak without subtitles.


(Michael Cera is utterly incomprehensible, but Jonah Hill comes through loud and clear. I later saw the movie in English, a similar experience.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 20, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Git outta town.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One thing I'm not proud of is that I've used crystal meth on and off for over a decade now, and unless you have, too, I think you may be inaccurate in your assessment of who will and will not sell you drugs.


Finding drugs actually got quite a bit more difficult for me after the first time an 'obvious dealer' sold me an $80 bag of aquarium pebbles—an embarrassing mistake on my part I'm only willing to admit because I already know you vape.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 3, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Man has only two choices in government, autocracy or oligarchy.




Or a representative form, for those of us fortunate enough to have one, for as long as we can keep it.


And the Citizens of Rome kept theirs for just short of five centuries—and the Emperors were about a hundred years away from matching the stability of democracy when one of them broke the empire clean in half.