omfalos
Nonexistent good post history.
User ID: 222
omfalos
1yr ago
I wouldn't say an invasion is likely, but China has an ace up their sleeve which they can use to win a war against Taiwan, and the ability to win affects the probability of invasion. If Taiwanese shore defenses, the US Navy, and the US Air Force are strong enough to defeat China's initial invasion force in a conventional amphibious assault, China can launch a second wave and give it an improved chance of success by DETONATING SUPER EMPS IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE OVER TAIWAN TO FRY THE ELECTRONICS OF ENEMY FORCES.
omfalos
2yr ago
Ban anonymous browsing of the internet. Publicly broadcast all internet users' media consumption habits.
omfalos
7mo ago
I humbly request that fellow users on The Motte refrain from using the word cringe.
omfalos
2yr ago
Do you have a dark yellow shirt or a red-orange shirt with a color ambiguous whether or not it is orange? If I were you I would wear a dark yellow shirt and tell people (truthfully) that it is the closest thing to orange I have in my wardrobe.
omfalos
8mo ago
The best evidence for Tim Walz being gay or harassing kids is his familiarity with the word "cosplay".
omfalos
1yr ago
The Arab League needs to follow Sri Lanka's example for the sake of peace. 🕊️
omfalos
2yr ago
https://samkriss.substack.com/p/all-the-nerds-are-dead
For the last decade, mass culture has been nerd culture, and a nerd is someone who likes things that aren’t good. This is not to say that everyone who likes things that aren’t good is a nerd. Fast food is bad food: cheap, tasteless, unhealthy, and unsatisfying. But if you grew up eating frozen burgers as an occasional treat, and you still find it nice to sometimes stumble drunk into a McDonald’s late at night and wolf down a Big Mac—because it reminds you of something, because it’s the sign for a certain vanished pleasure—then you are not necessarily a nerd. But imagine a person who collects the boxes from every McDonald’s order he’s ever made, who’s yapping with excitement about the new McDonald’s partially hydrogenated soybean-canola oil blend, who can’t wait for them to release the McBento in Japan so he can watch video reviews all day, and who acts incredibly smug every time McDonald’s posts its quarterly earnings and they’re growing faster than Burger King’s. You know exactly what this person looks like. A total failure of an adult human being. Fat clammy hands; eyes popping in innocent wonder at every new disc of machine-extruded beef derivatives. An unbearable, ungodly enthusiasm. Does he actually like eating the stuff? Maybe not. It hardly matters. His enjoyment is perverse, abstracted far beyond any ordinary pleasure. It signifies nothing. This person is a nerd.
I found this essay on hipster culture and nerd culture to be interesting and enjoyable to read. I'm linking it because it seems relevant to some of the topics discussed here. It raises questions about what effect AI will have on art and cultural production.
omfalos
6mo ago
let businesses set their hours to be whatever is most useful.
Left to decide on their own, no businesses will adjust their hours to start earlier in summer and later in winter. I support the status quo, because I prefer to begin my day at sunrise year-round.
omfalos
1yr ago
Gee, how could anybody dislike that particular short story? People are so sensitive these days!
omfalos
1yr ago
If Trump was hit by a meteor tomorrow, would that be antidemocratic
I'm voting for the meteor.
omfalos
1yr ago
Human beings have an instinct that makes them lash out violently against oppression, real or perceived. If it were possible to eliminate this instinct through genetic engineering, would it be worthwhile to do so? Would the Palestinians be better off if they were engineered to feel less emotional in response to discrimination and ethnic cleansing?
omfalos
2yr ago
Maybe I'm tone-deaf, or maybe we just have different taste. I enjoyed the essay because of the author's colorful prose, and I thought it raised interesting questions about art and culture. I didn't think the purpose of the essay was to attack any specific group of people, despite the fact that it is written in the style of an attack. I'm sort of a Quokka in that I perceive these sorts of essays charitably as being directed against abstract ideals rather than being targeted against specific people.
omfalos
2yr ago
How about this for a mascot?
https://www.deviantart.com/klaatu81/art/Cartoon-Chess-Pieces-596793102
omfalos
11mo ago
If crime is ultimately a mental disorder, can it be treated by medicating criminals with antipsychotics?
omfalos
1yr ago
What are the odds for Rassemblement National to win a majority in the National Assembly?
omfalos
1yr ago
It looks like Russia is developing a giant pincer movement that will envelop Niu-York.
omfalos
1yr ago
I tried rephrasing my question for ChatGPT, and it gave me a pretty close answer:
"What is the name of the logical fallacy where you believe other people think the same way you do?"
ChatGPT: "The logical fallacy you're referring to is called the 'false consensus effect.' This occurs when someone believes that their opinions, beliefs, or preferences are more common or widely shared than they actually are. It involves an overestimation of the extent to which others agree with one's own views."
omfalos
1yr ago
I made a post on here about a year ago proposing a sort of elaborate version of how state legislatures could appoint national representatives.
https://www.themotte.org/post/167/smallscale-question-sunday-for-november-6/27482?context=8#context
omfalos
1yr ago
If you really have an idea nobody else has thought of, you should hop to it before somebody else beats you to the punch! Good luck!!!
omfalos
1yr ago
100,000,000 Africans will immigrate to the United States. I'm calling it now.
The term right wing refers to the seating arrangement within a legislature. Creating a corporation whose board members are appointed by the right half of a legislature is the quintessential example of right wing patronage. This is a pedantic point to make, but I couldn't resist. I know what you really mean.
omfalos
1yr ago
I think this racist is better than the last, but the next racist will be the really good one. That will be our lucky racist. He will grant us three wishes.
omfalos
1yr ago
Try searching for "Misleading Liberal Democrat Bar Graphs" and you'll find a bunch of examples. It's become an internet meme.
The different races in LOTR roughly correspond to different European nationalities. Hobbits are British. Elves are either Finnish or they represent Christian clergymen. Dwarves are Jewish. Men of Rohan are German. Men of Gondor are Italian. Orcs are Hunnic, Hungarian or Turkic.
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