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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2529 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 13, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Gwern-senpai noticed me (again)!

This time, he restacked a Substack post of mine (the one about a regrettable decision to use AI to generate pictures of the children I wish I had), and shared it on his own private subreddit /r/Gwern (it's also private in the sense that you can only join or view it after being whitelisted).

(The previous incident was some kind of link roundup he maintains on his site. It took me some digging to figure out why Substack's analytics claimed that I was getting traffic from gwern.net)

I had to shown up and gush about it, though he immediately congratulated me on my expedition into uncharted AI-psychosis territory. I believe that is mostly a joke, but for the sake of completeness, I told him that it was better described as an AI-mediated acute stress reaction. Look, neither diagnosis is in the DSM, I get to call it whatever I like. I am definitely not crazy, ChatGPT says so itself.

As achievements go, this is the rare kind that is both incredibly niche but also incredibly important (to me). I wish I could frame it on the wall. If I can't do that (my landlord is not accommodating of any holes that weren't there when I moved in), then I will come here to brag instead.

Command strips are the way to go. They don't leave any marks on the wall when you remove them.

Ayy, Congrats.

I saw it on here the other day - https://old.reddit.com/r/MediaSynthesis/comments/1rrhart/do_not_render_your_counterfactuals_selfmadehuman/

It was good one too. Read it way back, and the cosmic horror comes through.

Embarrassingly, I did not heed the advice, and asked ChatGPT to create hypothetical kids for my girlfriend and I.

/r/gwern : you are an approved user on this subreddit.

🥲

And here I am making real children the traditional way, like a chump.

Embarrassingly, I did not heed the advice, and asked ChatGPT to create hypothetical kids for my girlfriend and I.

It's okay. In hindsight, I should have expected that sharing that essay would immediately prompt a few dozen people to try their hand at repeating my mistake. That is the downside of posting on rationalist/contrarian forums, everyone wants to touch the stove to see if it's actually hot. My burns were temporary, and you sound like you've made a full recovery 🙏

Back in the day I hung lots of things in apartments with "no holes" policies. I mean 50+ holes at least. With a putty knife and spackle they never caught me. Their universal choice of flat white walls does them in every time.

You are a braver man than I am. I might be able to get away with it (the walls are white), but I'm honestly not that strongly inclined to decorate. Maybe once I own my own place.

my landlord is not accommodating of any holes that weren't there when I moved in

I believe the standard solution for such problems is a hook with adhesive on the back.

I used a bunch of those at my last apartment. Guess how many holes in the plaster I had to patch...

I considered that. It's also explicitly forbidden in my tenancy agreement, which doesn't allow for the use of adhesives on walls.

Honestly, I would ignore that provision if it was me, because it's unreasonable. I've used a ton of Command products (both the hooks and the velcro strips), and there's never been any damage to the wall from it.

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