technobabble's comments

I used to do work with chitosan, synthetic nacre, and keratin-based biomaterials. While they will have their direct uses we will need a cultural shift if they are to substantially replace petroleum-based materials.

If anyone had the time I highly recommend the podcast “The Last Days of August”by Jon Ronson. It chronicles the suicide of a pornstar in conjunction with the rise of mindgeek.

In some ways cyclists are slow enough compared to how fast a car can accelerate. Even a moped or motorcycle can use speed assert its presence and maintain safe stopping distance between other cars.

Especially in a urban area where everyone is stuck trying to get to home/work/etc, most cars appear to be looking for opportunities. Opportunities to get ahead, to squeeze through a left turn lane before oncoming traffic, to find an empty bike lane to drop off an uber eats order. With that opportunity, get ahead” mindset, cyclists do not register. Until, of course, something happens.

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow has imo solarpunk elements, but isn’t entirely that.

As someone who used to work in a lab and was in the “biohacker” scene, yes.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm commenting on this thread so I can save it for future reference.

quote: He wrote that, overall, the parents seemed perfectionistic and preoccupied with abstractions, rather than showing a genuine interest in people.

I find this sentence interesting in comparison to the phrase "dumb people talk about people, average people talk about things, smart people talk about ideas" that I've seen in various forms on the internet.

Hot take: People are over-optimizing for grand impact, while neglecting the more profound impact on the local level. Most people will not be senators, but I think many people, with some work, can run for office as an alderman, mayor, or county representative.

Thank you for posting this article, which led me down to the Breakingsmart post titled "Against Waldenponding"

https://breakingsmart.substack.com/p/against-waldenponding

I highly recommend reading both.

First off, just because the HN community lays on criticism doesn't meant that the people making the criticism don't think the technology is a good idea. If I spend the energy to criticize $technology, it means that I care about it to an extent. There's a baseline level of interest. If I didn't care about $technology, then I wouldn't spend the energy to break down into concrete, detailed criticism.

Also, the author quotes Peter Thiel, claiming that the current cynicism towards self-driving technology is a type of "indefinite optimism" that hampers people's ability to plan the future. This is juxtaposed with the 1950's-1960's America, where Thiel claims "definite optimism" reigned. That type of indefinite optimism, at least in 1960's America, did not account for minorities, people of color, people of disabilities, etc. There was no future plan for them. Indefinite optimism, though it may appear lethargic and slow, at least is able to investigate the multitudes of edge-case scenarios that any $technology will face.

Frontline did a very informative documentary about this circa 2009.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/gunned-down/

edit:grammar

Have you ever heard of the term "christian atheist". Your post reminded me about a video by the Youtuber Innuendo Studios titled "I hate Mondays".

(The following is my opinion taken from anecdotes about myself and reading about other philosophical works. I am not an expert on this subject).

The idea of "having a soul" is a core belief that is needed to hold up ideas of morals and debt. It's an idea perpetuated because people want to be flattered and people in positions of power can use it to influence the masses. As an example, think about when a person refuses to vote "for the lesser of two evils" in the US presidential election. From a utilitarian perspective, voting for the lesser does have benefit: it mitigates damage. But to the voter, it doesn't feel that way. "Having a soul" Does provide social value. Not voting for the lesser of two evils preserves ones integrity.

Granted I'm not saying people should transition to Realpolitik.

Yes! I clicked on this article explicitly to post about Li Ziqi. Talking with a chef friend, her kitchen technique and skills are really good.

On a different note, this article reminds me of the book Walkaway. Unfortunately, we aren't at a place where hardware (meat space). Has the same instantaneous iteration, and recycling of elements as software.

One of the things I've struggled with implementing these life skills is dealing with the cost of failure/trying new things. Both as a monetary cost (switching degrees, studying "non-essential" humanities topics like philosophy), and the cost that we are mortal, and there's only so much time to explore, develop taste, etc.

Can someone please offer me a counterpoint, or counter-perspective?

Damn; I finally joined Simple last year. Has anybody had experience with Varo Bank? That's the closest alternative I could find. What else do you all recommend? I've looked at Varo, Vio, HmBradley, and Discover.

Hey nmlnn. Thanks for posting this. I'm a shy past 24, and I came to the same conclusion. Nothing matters, we're all small and insignificant-pale-blue-dot-and-all-that. I also lose interest once the shininess and allure wears off. This mindset can be freeing; nothing matters so do what makes you happy. The closest answer I've got is to work a basic job at Costco/Trader Joe's/etc. and chill through life, while focusing on simple pleasures like drinks with friends, etc.

For a good read, I recommend The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I use a DPT-RP1 13”. I use it everyday, however the pen has an adequate writing experience and the build quality isn’t great. I’ve used the ReMarkable before and it has a much better build quality and a better writing experience.

Foe just an electronic whiteboard there are Boogieboards.

If you hate your job, which has negative affects on your health, are you really free just because you get to choose what clothes you wear or what you have for lunch?

All clothes I’ve bought from Uniqlo have the rfid logo on the tag.

Spreadsheet for me. Not pictured: pile of returns, especially for clothing.