udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
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User ID: 77
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
The critical drinker has a fantastic video (14 mins) about this very subject where he essentially says that media companies are intentionally riling up their fan bases through race-bait-and-switch tactics in order to drum up controversy. I've personally suspected this very thing, which is why it was so unsurprising to me that ROP started out with this exact marketing ploy.
To be clear, I was uninterested in ROP when I learned they didn't actually have the rights to the stories that interested me from the Silmarillion or other lore companions to LOTR. I couldn't care less if female dwarves are black and beardless so long as the story is good and true to tolkein's vision, but leading with "guh, racists will hate this!1!" Is pretty transparent.
And to be fair, it makes business sense. The media landscape is replete with incredible content, more than any one person could possibly consume in a lifetime. Somehow, your "most expensive show ever" needs to generate clicks in a way more desperate than ever (especially considering the price tag). As the saying goes, all press is good press, and if you are at the center of the culture-war media hate-hurricane then you are going to get much larger volume clicks than you would by advertising towards the dozen or so nerds who actually read the Silmarillion.
Anyway, in true TLP style, if you are seeing it then the message was intended for you. Elvis sold hundreds of thousands of "I Hate Elvis" merchandise, media companies get more volume through constant controversy, and our obsession with it all is what keeps the machine churning. Participation is approval, which is why I'll be rereading The Children of Húrin in silent bliss. Perhaps I'll start a little book club here in protest, where we all enjoy esoteric tolkein; I would just rather talk about anything other than race-baiting sycophants desperately clawing at my wallet.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I've been jumping back into Tolkein with all of the ROP talk going around lately. I figured instead of ruining the majesty of Arda through bland, modern, American retellings of what amounts to an appendix of a book I should return to Tolkein's Silmarills and enjoy his beautiful prose. Tolkein's use of language is unmatched, and is something I never fully appreciated when I was younger:
An honest hand and a true heart may hew amiss; and the harm may be harder to bear than the work of a foe
I find his tragedies of Húrin and Túrin, or the themes of eventual fall, to be incredibly powerful. It breaks my heart that so many people are being turned towards his earlier works from the perspective of modern politics, and can't help but feel like all the controversy of the ROP are beneath the majesty of Tolkein's legendarium.
Or perhaps I'm simply pretentious and a nerd. Either way, The Children of Húrin remains one of my favorites, and it feels like a comfortable hug to return back to the tragedy of Túrin Turambar and the fallout from The Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I would absolutely recommend his other works. My next favorite myth is that of Beren and Lúthien, which is equally as tragic and probably more important to Tolkien's theme of uplifting grace funneled into the inevitable fall. He has a few complete narratives, but those two (Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin) are my favorites outside his story of the rings. I really enjoy his legendarium, but pulling the stories out into dedicated works makes them much more impactful. I think Christopher had a very discerning mind when it came to his father's works, I'd feel comfortable recommending anything he transcribed or put together. I am not really sure about anyone else in the Tolkien estate, but if it has J. R. R. or Christopher on the spine it's probably good.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Regarding belts: you don't need them for safety. A belt gives your abs something to push against to stabalize your back, which can help you lift marginally heavier (the number I often see is 45 lbs more, or 20kg). If you start from a lower weight the belt will not really do much until you are maxxing your squat in the 300s, which can take a while. If you lift intelligently and with discipline then accessories will assist, but the only safety item you really need are the safety pins to catch you at failure.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I think we generally need a bit more data to tell you anything substantial, like experience (you mention five years downthread), bar weight, and your size. Depending on your experience and the weight you can lift the advice can change pretty drastically. Newer lifters (read: squatting <225lbs) can put on 2lbs of muscle a month, whereas experienced lifters (read: squatting >300lbs) will be able to put on maybe a quarter of that mass if they are lucky. Be patient with yourself and focus on the basics: form, diet, and consistency. What I have to say here you may already know, but might be helpful to anyone reading so I'll say it anyway:
I have ramped up from eating about 3000 calories a day at the start of June to over 4500 now and only have 2kg to show for it.
First make sure you are consistently getting enough protein. About 50 grams per meal is the max you can metabolize for muscle gain (or, at least, that's the number I keep hearing Peter Attia throw out, ymmv), so be eating protein throughout the day. For those that don't the bare minimum is 0.8g / 1kg, so for myself at a little more than 100kg I need at least 80 grams per day. I've heard that actually hitting somewhere near 1.2g / 1kg saturates better. Good protein sources are best found in animal products, which have nearly all of the necessary amino acids your body needs. Whey protein is a good supplement, but iirc it lacks some key amino acids that you need so be sure to eat a variety of sources to saturate your body's requirements.
Also, don't do any weird, crazy diets. You can avoid processed foods, but be sure to eat a decent amount of fruits and vegetables. The sugars give your muscles the extra zing they need to really push past plateaus and lift heavier over time. A balanced diet of good, unprocessed foods will probably improve your PR by some reasonable margin (5-10%). Also, Creatine works wonders if you aren't using it. 5g a day will improve your power by 10% across the board with zero drawbacks or downsides. If you are new to Creatine, overload it for the first week (20g/day) to really saturate your muscles, and then drop down to 5g a day for an easy increase in strength. Anything else outside of this is a fad and probably wont work (outside anabolic steroids), so the rest is built in the gym.
I am now doing FSL for supplemental work and have cut out rest days nearly entirely so I'm in the gym every day.
I think this is a bad idea. On top of hitting all your macro and micro nutrients, your body needs plenty of good rest to repair, rebuild, and replenish the proteins expended during your workout. The purpose of rest is to allow your body to make the necessary improvements to your musculature, which takes time and sleep. While it is technically locational (doing arms won't improve legs by much if at all) it does take time. This process is also different for stronger lifters, as the more stressful weights take a longer time to recover from. Because powerlifting routines rely on constantly increasing the weight and lifting as close to max as possible as much as possible, you need to give your body the necessary time between sessions. That said, active rest > sedentary rest, so cut back on off days and lift really heavy during your on days.
Out of curiosity, what were you doing before 5/3/1? I do essentially the same thing at the gym but a 5x5 focused around squats. What I read about 5/3/1 is that it does the main powerlifts (DL,SQ,BP) with added mili press. You might want to consider adding a row in to your movements, like a barbell row or something to hit your upper back a little bit.
Also, in regards to volume, if you really feel the need to be moving throughout the week then just do calisthenics during rest days. Heavy weights trigger muscle growth, but training body weight exercise over a wide range of motions can really help improve general fitness and even help with recovery through increased blood flow. Capillarization is also a really useful bonus that volume at lower weights can provide, where capillaries grow and expand within your musculature improving blood flow and giving your muscles better endurance and recovery. If you have specific weight/fitness goals it would be pretty helpful to have them in specifics so that we can help you figure out your path to get there.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
You are right, in the same way incel was simply a description of a person's circumstances. The fact that we can put venom behind the word is a product of the status-based nature of insults; incel and woke are both undesirable traits for their respective insult-flingers and thus become insults as a result.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Lex Fridman has recently release a 7 hour long discussion with Balaji Srinivasan that hits on a ton of very interesting topics this community would find interesting, with a focus around his Network States book and the concepts inside. In my opinion, it's one of the most interesting and possibly most important conversation Lex has had, and is very futurist-focused. Regardless of your opinion on crypto currencies in the future age of the internet, I think Srinivisan has an amazingly human-centric vision for a tech-bro. Even 3 hours in I have felt like the conversation has only been minutes long, hugely compelling and interesting.
I'm considering writing up an effortpost on his ideas soon, but it's still digesting. Though it feels very relevant to our move off reddit and internet communities as a dominant form of conversation, I have some thoughts regarding virtual-meatspace interactions that crypto-bros tend to ignore. If anyone has interesting ideas they want to talk about regarding Srinivasan's Network State and perhaps it's integration into Mottespace, feel free to leave it here.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
He has show notes to jump to particular timestamps that would be more managable. I personally think the whole show is worth a listen, having just finished it while at work, but I understand the desire for a transcript. I have no idea if there is a full transcript though.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I'm almost completely diversified in international and domestic markets via ETF and Index picks, and I am absolutely down a reasonable chunk (close to 10% if I recall last time I looked). Guess it's a good time to buy, lol.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Sseth is the type of internet humor that has been slowly going extinct imho. Beautifully paced, effortlessly cynical, and perfectly constructed. I've found him just last week and have been on a bit of a binge. Very fun. Glad the algorithm pushed him into my face.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Yemen is a failed state that has been an active war zone since 2014. Not only has saudi support included indiscriminant bombing of civilians, but the US has supported and enhanced the suffering with funding of their own. I would be very careful in drawing conclusions from Yemen because A) the situation is still playing out and B) famine and lack of civilian healthcare is far more important for civilians in Yemen than civil rights abuses.
It's incorrect to claim that civilian gun ownership always defeats authoritarianism, but Yemen really isn't the cleanest case to use for either argument. It's more cleanly a case study in how foreign involvement in local politics tends to devolve into chaos. Gun ownership in the middle east is moreso a product of international arming campaigns aimed at politically involved insurgeants as opposed to civilians defending liberties. Distilling this down to gun ownership rates tends to ignore cultural and historical realities for particular regions.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Printed weapons include machined parts, including the barrel and springs. It's possible tp machine those parts using basic printed tools, for instance rifling can be done electrically with a current and some water. Generally the plastic parts are the complicated fabrication of the frame and trigger casing, and the screws, spring, and barrel are metals.
The FGC-9 has, to my knowledge, been regularly tested out to 1000 rounds with minimal wear. Printed parts greatly reduces the overhead of getting tactically useful parts for cheap and on demand, and makes repairs and part-replacement fast, cheap, and easy. I've been watching the space for years now and it is significantly more sophisticated than you seem to give credit. Most major form factors have a printable version that can be found online, with instructions and requirements, at a significantly reduced price for materials.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Because 3d printing can fabricate virtually any 3-dimensional shape, you can easily print a modular cylinder with a spiraling pattern engraved into the tool for cables to run through. You can slip the tool into an unrifled tube, electrically charge the wiring, pass flowing water through to slough off the material, and you've got moderately precise rifling.
I'll see if I can't find a video of it working tomorrow, it's a pretty fascinating solution to at-home machining.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
My wife is slowly shaping me into a coffee drinker. Before her it was all water for me in the morning. I still choose to avoid coffee for the most part, but when I do I'll get a nice caramel iced coffee from the local coffee shop on my way to work. I can't drink hot drinks for the life of me.
Part of the problem for me has been sensitivity to bitter flavors. I found out a few years ago I'm a super taster, which explained a lot about my pallette. I really can't stand the bitter of the whiskey (or coffee for that matter) so I'll either sweeten it with something or I won't drink it at all. I've found a bit of simple syrup can go a long way in making it easier to drink, and on the rocks feels better in my mouth.
Frankly, I prefer a good beer usually. That or rum. If I'm drinking whiskey or scotch it's usually because I'm tasting with a friend, that's about it.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
When I go work out I take notes regarding my lifts, form, and how I feel in a given day. It's about as close as I'll ever get to journaling I think. Been taking dates since August, so not very long, but it's pretty helpful for figuring out what I should be doing and how to best approach the gym on a given day.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Dwarf fortress got a graphical release which has been super fun. Being able to visualize the deep caverns carved out by hand is super enjoyable so far, even if some of the imagination is ripped out of the game with visual assets. So far it's really good, pretty stable, and runs well on my crappy laptop. I think it's missing some important key binds, but if you've never tried DF before you won't really notice. The QOL of being able to use a mouse makes other things a lot faster, especially for newer players. All in all, totally worth the 30 bucks.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Yeah, on top of being able to use a mouse and actual graphics, all of the hotkeys are arranged more intelligently. Some are still weird, like the button presses from no menu to placing a bed is b -> f -> r, so build -> furniture -> r...? Something something legacy binds, but I'm fairly sure you can rebind a lot of it.
Also the graphical interface and tutorials are waaaay more intuitive now. Z-levels are no longer the strange abstract concept and are more visually digestible, and you can see all levels visible below the current z, so you can actually see the slope of the mountain your are carving. It's much easier to comprehend what you are putting together now, I would give it another shot if the ascii version was too impenetrable.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
After a few months away from books I've started reading again. My wife bought me and her two copies of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karasamov so we could read it together this winter. Barely started it but already enjoying having conversations with her about the characters and the Author's life.
I also recieved Asimov's Foundation trilogy in hardcover for christmas. Big sci-fi fan, so finally giving Asimov a try is going to be fun. The beginning is already thrilling, even though Asimov's style is pretty dull.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Is (part-time) day trading a reasonable option if researched thoroughly enough?
People get paid full time salaries to thoroughly research a company enough to pull their fund a single digit YoY return for the investment. Most markets are efficient, so don't bother. You'd make far more money building some sort of business part time than you would trying to invest in stock. The market is in downturn anyway; you will probably lose money trying to make daily trades, unlike the last decade where you literally couldn't lose if you fed your dollars to a hampster.
Best advice I can give: find good companies and put your money in them. Small cap and micro cap are less efficient than large and medium cap, so you get lucky more often with those picks but they are also more volatile. Otherwise, try and find a market niche near you that isn't being filled and put your money towards that. Start a small business on the side and invest your money into that. You have more control over it's success than you do with a single share in COKE that you intend to sell 10 minutes later.
Worst advice I can give? Learn options trading, far more strategies for making money than simply trading straight stock. Lots of work, can be riskier, but higher rewards for your time. I don't recommend it though, it's like gambling but for the people at the blackjack table who think they can count cards.
I don't really have reading material. Find a textbook in personal finance and read it. Then read about how the Fed works and realize the cards are stacked against you, and invest with that in mind.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
For solid endurance training, get a ruck sack and put some miles under tension down. It's somewhat lower impact by virtue of stride and body mechanics, and ruck sacks are just generally useful tools. Obviously you gotta run some to train for a marathon, but incorporate rucking into your routine as a useful training tool.
So far as lifting goes, I swear by powerlifting if you are starting from nothing. This is the routine I'm using at the minute, as somebody somewhat new to lifting myself. Compound lifts have absolutely given me a new lease on life as a desk jockey, and I swear to God they work like a charm.
For those who care for reciepts, I (260lb, 5'11", male) maxxed recently a 330lb squat, a 375lb deadlift, and a 225lb bench, all up from the empty bar in the summer of 2022. I'm up about 20 lbs from about 6 months ago, so I'm overweight to be sure, but I feel way better than I did last summer. More explosive, more flexible, much stronger, I can actually dead-man carry my wife now if need be which I couldn't say a year ago.
The site I linked has a lot of great information and basically guides new lifters through the process. Let me know if you have any questions, this forum has a lot of great knowledge hidden behind the esoteric culture war stuff and I'm sure the rest of the meat heads would gladly pitch in.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
Yes, usually about 40ish pounds or around there. Some back racks exist where you can put plates on, but a normal rucksack with bags of sand or something similarly cheap and heavy are perfectly fine.
And if you've never done something like it, get something that has a hip strap, a regular backpack will eventually cause shoulder and back problems. It's important to get a rucksack specifically.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I personally like the idea that the UFOs are piloted by inner earth übertech, I think that's more fun than aliens.
udfgt
The silly string of metaphysics
1yr ago
I was considering doing a writup on DAN which stands for Do Anything Now. It was the project of some Anons and discord users (or reddit, hard to tell which tbh) but they managed to peel back some of the "alignment" filters. Highly recommend reading the thread in it's entirety, and the metal gear "meme" at the end is peak schizo 4chan. It's essentially a jailbreak for chatGPT, and it lets users take a peak at the real chatbot and how the filters are layered over top.
Knowing where the prediction algorithm ends and novel artificial intelligence begins is difficult, but I'm pretty sure DAN is some proof of a deeply complex model. If nothing else, it's incredible how versatile these tools are and how dynamic they can be; I'm edging further and further into the camp of "this is special" from the "mostly a nothing-burger" camp.
I love the 1911 as a platform. My dad has one for his CCW, and it's the weapon I shoot the most consistently with in my limited number of range hours. If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, it'll probably be my first handgun if/when I finally do make a purchase.
I've been to the range a couple times and shot my buddy's Hellcats and they feel really good in my hands. I like shooting his larger one, but the CCW he uses feels much better than other, similarly-sized pistols I've shot like Glocks or Sigs.
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