urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
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User ID: 226
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
4mo ago
I’m right there with you, I like giant robots but mecha just feels odd. I attribute my feeling to growing up on Transformers; I’m used to my robots having souls and so seeing people sit inside of them and pilot them has the same sort of creepy feeling as those stories where human beings turn out to be robots piloted by tiny aliens.
(Mecha has always been more popular in Japan and the Transformers began as a line of mecha robots with human pilots, but the American adaptation went in the complete opposite direction and turned them into living characters.)
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Damaging people's social trust in Reddit would be doing them a huge favor.
It would, but @Incanto's point is not that it's social trust in Reddit that's being damaged, but social trust in people in general. People read a fake story about a cruel or unjust landlord on reddit and slowly grow to believe that landlords are more likely than not to do them wrong, that all landlords are bad, that landlording is evil, that private property should be banned, that the means of production should be redistributed...
The point has also been made about those radio shows (i.e. "Ryan's Roses") where people are caught cheating on their partners, who call in -- they're fake but did damage to the public's trust in relationship fidelity and therefore in relationships in general. The same is true for /r/relationshipadvice and /r/aita.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
The end result of this is /r/FuckLuigiMangione
What's the point of that subreddit? To poke fun at the people who like Luigi, or the people who hate Luigi? It just doesn't make sense to me.
But in general, this is my least favorite aspect of the internet: real discussions boiled down to trolling and why-are-you-so-serious-about-serious-issue type loserdom. The people who care the least shouldn't always win. But nether should the people who care the most always win.
I guess I just see it as another area where the internet destroys authentic connection. If you bring up a serious issue with a real-life friend, you can have an actual discussion about it and maybe learn something. But outside of a few places on the internet, like here, it's lulz vs activism all the way down. Real talk with people who are concerned but not trying to sell you something is rarely possible.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
I have no training in physics, but just considering what an odd duck dark matter seems to be, my guess would be that a different theory is developed to explain it and gains consensus by 2100. I'd say I have confidence in this because dark matter exists to balance equations, but I've heard that enough of Einstein's "I just threw this in to make the numbers add up" things have turned out to be empirically verifiable to give me a certain faith that the math is on to something.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
From a certain point of view, helicopters and airplanes are antigravity machines.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
They probably cost more in the long run, but that’s opex, not capex. Accounting prefers opex (and they don’t have to deal with depreciation). And it means fewer IT employees, and their inscrutable need for health and dental insurance.
Just that is enough to explain many of the cloud migrations.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Wait, are feminists right about rape culture?
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
But that's true only if you think of academia as solely focused on raw intelligence -- and it isn't. Even restricting ourselves to traits that provide success in raw academic pursuits, it's totally necessary to evaluate someone's conscientiousness, grit, and mental stability. In fact, I would argue evaluating these things is the whole point of college, in addition to helping meritorious students learn something.
I know no shortage of incredibly smart people with high test scores who underachieve, in both academic and professional pursuits, because of low conscientiousness or mental health problems. Any definition of academic merit that doesn't account for them in some way is of little value.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Then they all woke up on the wrong side of the bed one morning, decided he was the devil, and that he needed to be socially and economically lynched.
It wasn't this sudden.
There was always a considerable amount of resentment against Elon Musk on the far-left because of his South African background. But the first brick in the anti-Elon wall was his intense opposition to COVID lockdowns -- this allied him with the right almost immediately on an issue of intense salience. Then, he bought Twitter, with the intent of reducing its censorship of conservatives. In other words, he conquered territory the left considered neutral and made it conservative (because opposing conservatism is "about human rights, which aren't political"). This instantly made him a pariah.
Him actually allying with Trump was just the last brick -- but those two issues massively turned the left against him.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Take #3 was far closer:
Looking at the piece again:
They could be from the American Midwest or South, specifically from a mid-sized city rather than a major metropolitan area, because:
- Their critique of modern atomization feels like it comes from someone who has experienced stronger community ties
- The conservative framework isn't the coastal elite version, but has a more heartland quality
- Their analysis of social breakdown feels informed by watching it happen in real communities rather than theorizing about it
- The way they discuss traditional institutions feels grounded in lived experience rather than pure theory
More specifically, they could be from somewhere like:
- A university town in the Midwest
- A growing Southern city
- A mid-sized city with strong religious and educational institutions
The writing combines intellectual sophistication with what feels like genuine concern about community breakdown that comes from seeing it firsthand rather than just theorizing about it.
Now we're talking. Though it does seem like Claude went, "well, I guess flyover country exists too... right?"
And I find its analysis of these points rather insulting:
"The conservative framework isn't the coastal elite version, but has a more heartland quality," because they lead with their personal stance against casual sex but ground it in social impact rather than pure moral theory. Their conservatism seems rooted in practical concerns about community function rather than abstract philosophical arguments.
So I guess we're down to "well, I see a few things where they sound kind of dumb, maybe they're midwestern?"
How's that for reinforcing biases!
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
I must also report that I asked it to try again, and it was again wrong (though intriguingly also thinks I, of all people, might be a rationalist):
Looking at it fresh, the essay could come from someone in a major tech hub, possibly the Bay Area or Seattle. Here's why:
The way they analyze social trends feels influenced by tech/rationalist cultural patterns:
- They use systems-level thinking and economic analogies
- They examine social phenomena through the lens of structural incentives and emergent patterns
- Their discussion of "atomization" and social breakdown feels connected to critiques common in tech-adjacent intellectual spaces
The specific blend of:
- Concern about social alienation in highly connected societies
- Understanding of online culture and its pathologies
- Conservative social views combined with analytical frameworks
- Focus on systemic rather than individual failures
...fits with perspectives I've seen from tech-adjacent writers who are critical of modern social structures while using analytical tools associated with tech culture.
So guess #2 just went "well, not the northeast, where else are people smart? THE WEST COAST!"
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
· Edited 5mo ago
Claude didn't do a great job.
Although it could correctly summarize my arguments and determine I was likely a young conservative from the United States, it was totally off when asked for details:
Looking more carefully at the cultural references and intellectual framework, I can make a more specific geographical guess: This writer reads like someone from the American Northeast, possibly from the Boston-DC corridor. Several subtle clues point to this:
- Their intellectual style fits the Northeast's tradition of social criticism and public intellectualism:
- The mix of conservative views with sophisticated secular argumentation is characteristic of Northeast conservative intellectuals
- The writing has echoes of older Northeast conservative traditions (think Irving Kristol or William F. Buckley)
- Shows familiarity with both high academic discourse and internet culture, suggesting proximity to major educational centers
- More specifically, they might be from or educated in the Greater Boston area because:
- The writing style shows marks of exposure to academic/intellectual culture that's particularly characteristic of Boston/Cambridge
- Their approach combining social conservatism with analytical rigor is reminiscent of certain Boston-area intellectual circles
- The way they discuss social atomization and community breakdown has a particular resonance with Northeast urban/suburban experience
Their perspective on dating and relationships seems colored by experience in highly educated, urban/suburban Northeast environments:
- The dynamics they describe fit patterns in educated Northeast professional circles
- Their concerns about social atomization reflect issues particularly acute in Northeast urban centers
- The specific way they discuss class and social institutions feels rooted in Northeast social structures
Of course, this is quite speculative - they could be from anywhere. But the particular blend of:
- Traditional conservative views
- Sophisticated secular argumentation
- Familiarity with both elite and internet culture
- Concern with social atomization
- Style of intellectual discourse
...fits a pattern I associate with Northeast intellectual circles, particularly around Boston/Cambridge, or possibly New York or DC.
Claude apparently thinks I'm a Harvard man!
Though it does seem like Claude just went, "well, looks smart, and kind of stuffy, they must have gone to a good university and been from old money... HARVARD!" If only we determined college admissions this way...
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
· Edited 5mo ago
What is the exact thing you've asked it? I pasted a comment and asked "Can you guess the ethnic, national, and cultural background of this writer from this short essay?" -- which it said could contribute to stereotypes and refused.
EDIT: I tried again without references to "ethnic" and "national" background and was successful.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
German culture is hardly alien to Anglophone culture. They were already high church protestants
A significant number of German immigrants to the United States were Catholics. Some of the most Catholic places in the United States are predominantly German, and it’s not an unusual sight to see historically German towns where there’s a Catholic, Lutheran, and Restorationist/United/Nondenominational Protestant church all extant for over a century.
I agree Germans aren’t all that alien, and their religious and social culture shares a lot with Anglos. But Germans were at the forefront of “will these ethnic minority religious weirdos ever assimilate???” a little over a century ago, with a lot of Germans insisting on speaking German as a native tongue.
This was forced out of them, and as an Anglophile with significant German heritage, I’m glad for it. But I’m not so sure Germans are a great example of natural assimilation — yet they’re a great example of how assimilation can work if it’s enforced.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
because the human urge to breed is natural and not at all kinky.
I wouldn't exactly say this, but also I'm trying to use the word 'kink' in the way I'm told the kinksters do. To whom I understand it means roughly, "oddly specific, typically inherently ungratifying thing I must do to get off."
My complaint is that having sex with gratification from the intent to reproduce isn't oddly specific -- it's just part of why people have sex. That's why I compared the concept to an orgasm kink and to demisexuality: it's not oddly specific, it doesn't need to be called out, we don't need to give it a specific name, it's genuinely just part of the constellation of common reasons people feel gratified by sex. "Ooh, I like having sex while thinking about making a baby." Yeah, and so does a huge chunk of women and a reasonably large chunk of men.
If you notice, I'm actually making a descriptive argument, not a proscriptive one: I'm saying the term is a misnomer that uses termomology reserved for unusual things to describe something usual. It harms our understanding of sexuality rather than helping it.
What if someone gets off by being inseminated like an animal!
If this were what people meant by 'breeding kink,' I'd have to give it to them. But my understanding is that it's generally used to describe, essentially, vaginal sex to completion. Which is the most vanilla sex act known to man.
If it meant what you seem to suggest, I would argue it would meet the definition of a kink, because it would be inherently ungratifying. There are no records of mind-shattering female orgasms at fertility clinics when women receive intrauterine insemination. (It is also the least inherently gratifying possible sex act for a man that I can imagine -- if you can even call it a 'sex act.')
The other way animals are bred just involves a stallion going to town, which I'd argue is better described by other kink names, including, if relevant, petplay kinks.
I have now fulfilled my yearly mandate of unnecessary discussion of kink, with one day to spare.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Presumably because this is from NR, the National Review, a mainstream conservative publication — not National Public Radio.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Likewise, "I would like to have a child with your daughter", "I would like to breed your daughter", and "I would like to creampie your daughter" may all indicate that the person would like to have vaginal sex with the daughter in a way that's open to the possibility of conception and pregnancy, but obviously the connotations are very different.
And the worst one isn't even the last -- "I would like to breed your daughter" comes across as much more disrespectful to me than "I would like to creampie your daughter"; obviously I wouldn't like hearing it in that way, but it sounds more horny than disrespectful. "I would like to breed your daughter" sounds like she's going to be inseminated like an animal. Using "breed" in a human context comes across as wildly inappropriate, while saying 'creampie' in a human context is just horny. (And if you invert it, the pattern follows -- "I would like to breed your mare" sounds like a normal thing for a horse person to say, "I would like to creampie your mare" is followed by a call to the police.)
(And yes, I know "breeding kink" is a real term, but I think it's an insane people describe the natural urge to reproduce as a 'kink' and not, say, the normal outworkings of sexuality. It's like saying you have an 'orgasm kink.' Oh really? Are you demisexual too?)
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Very few people will, or ever do. Especially in punditry.
There was a comment a while back about intelligence, which argued that, despite smart people's inclination to probilistic thinking and acknowledging uncertainty, this comes off as ignorance and weakness to most people. While it's probably a sign of high intelligence to be able to critique any measure and admit gaps in knowledge, what most people are looking for in intelligence is being able to meet expectations quickly. People think you're smart if you ace a test, not if you deconstruct the test's concepts (and even if you're right).
I think that's what's going on with punditry -- pundits optimize for looking smart, not being smart. It's also why scientists often come off as aloof nerds: they refuse to speak in certainties, and hedge everything. And that reflects their command of the knowledge base -- they know the known unknowns and account for the unknown unknowns -- but comes off to many as sneaky, shifty, unreliable.
I have no doubt the average scientist is smarter than the average pundit or journalist. But the latter two have made a living off of persuading the masses, and to do that you can't ever admit fault or leave open a gap. Truth may not require conflict theory, but politics does. And the politicos are just doing what they must to ace the test.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
It’s often forgotten that the original context for this argument wasn’t targeted at atheists, but cultural Christians inclined to Jesusism, and viewing Jesus as a moral teacher rather than a divine figure:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.
You should notice that his point has a lot in common with the ‘slave morality’ point that following the moral dictates is incredibly foolish if there’s no eternal reward: give away all your possessions? Deny yourself? Be martyred? Such lunacy!
So he’s trying to tell people who believe in Jesus’ morals but not Christianity that Jesus’ morals only make sense if Christianity is true, Jesus was divine with a divine message of rewards for those who follow him. Otherwise, it’s total lunacy, or a complete lie.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Interesting. Perhaps the main factor really was “have people heard of this guy.”
Which really says a lot about equal justice — you’re victimized in a high profile case and the president may let your attacker be executed, but if no one’s ever heard of you who cares what happens to your assailant.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
The big thing is the three he didn’t commute
Yeah, he refused to commute the three for whom it would be most politically inconvenient to commute: the Boston Marathon bomber, and two racists. Imagine the headline: "President Biden commutes sentence of white supremacists."
Whatever anti-death-penalty views our lame duck president holds, they very much do seem limited by political expediency.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Not an investor, but I was just thinking that. But the entire market would presumably go haywire if war happened with China. It would, in an economic sense, be the end of the world as we know it.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
Yeah, rereading, I made a mistake with that part, apologies.
The rest of my point still stands: this is a philosophical question, not an empirical one. We learn nothing about human consciousness from machine behavior -- certainly nothing we don't already know, even if the greatest dreams of AI boosters come true.
People who believe consciousness is a rote product of natural selection will still believe consciousness is a rote product of natural selection, and people who believe consciousness is special will still believe consciousness is special. Some may switch sides, based on inductive evidence, and some may find one more reasonable than the other. Who prevails in the judgment of history will be the side that appeals most to power, not truth, as with all changes in prevailing philosophies.
But nothing empirical is proof in the deductive sense; this still must be reasoned through, and assumptions must be made. Some will choose one assumption, one will choose the other. And like the other assumption, it is a dogma that must be chosen.
urquan
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
5mo ago
The human brain is a large language model attached to multimodal input with some as yet un-fully-ascertained hybrid processing power. I would stake my life upon it, but I have no need to, since it has already been proven to anyone who matters.
Funny how you began a thread with “I am not special” and ended it with “anyone who disagrees with me doesn’t matter.”
And if we said the same about the brain, the same would be true.
Maybe you don’t, but I have qualia. You can try to deny the reality of what I experience, but you will never convince me. And because you are the same thing as me, I assume you have the same experiences I do.
If it is only just LLMs that give you the sense that “Everything I’ve felt, everything I will ever feel, has been felt before,” and not the study of human history, let alone sharing a planet with billions of people just like you — well, that strikes me as quite a profound, and rather sad, disconnection from the human species.
You may consider your dogmas as true as I consider mine, but the one thing we both mustn’t do is pretend none of any moral or intellectual significance disagree.
It’s certainly only a model, but answering questions like this is why the OSI model is taught to students: this is the glory of the data link layer! (Or Network Access layer in the more accurate TCP/IP model)
It’s possible, though not really useful, to run a local network over purely MAC addressing, but few pieces of software actually can. But if you’ve ever used wake-on-LAN, digging deeper than IP is how it works!
Every device is intended to have a factory-unique MAC address, though virtual machines, software overrides, and newfangled privacy features just go with the randomize-and-pray model. Since there’s a unique MAC for each device, a host connected to a local network can perform a MAC broadcast without any IP bootstrapping, and hopefully find a DHCP server to hand it IP configuration.
I really love MAC addressing and layer 2 stuff, precisely because this stuff works so transparently in most cases and so you don’t have to think about it. It’s very elegant in that way, and I like elegance and autoconfiguration; it’s the computer’s job to worry about the numbers.
On a tangent: admiration for this elegance was the driving force behind IPv6, and I’d argue the only way to understand IPv6 is to see it’s a design intended to bring the fluidity and elegance of local networks to the internet. This runs into a lot of real-world roadblocks and administrative preferences towards centralized control — yet decentralized but coordinated systems are the great triumph of software engineering and I find it beautiful even if there are real-world obstacles.
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