3 ms·

I didn't read a lot of these. And I'm a naturally skeptical person, so forgive the following observation. In every story I read, you seem to offer sage advice

by erdevs 10y ago

I didn't read a lot of these. And I'm a naturally skeptical person, so forgive the following observation. In every story I read, you seem to offer sage advice which people are almost immediately receptive and responsive to, even in dire or exigent situations. In my experience, people are rarely so responsive when flooded emotionally. In other stories, you're saving the day by calling cops when needed, etc. It seems like you're painting the picture of yourself as a sort of heroic sage. That's alright, I suppose, but it smells funny to my (admittedly skeptical) nose. I'm glad you checked with mods before posting and if this is cool with them, then it's cool with me. But this smacks of self-promotion to me. Also... Mitt Romney as a freedom fighter from the future who can help us stop Amazon's Skynet? Okay. Maybe I skimmed too quickly by this point, or I missed the metaphor, but this seems a little whack.

taxicabjesus 10y ago
> It seems like you're painting the picture of yourself as a sort of heroic sage. That's alright, I suppose, but it smells funny to my (admittedly skeptical) nose. Having an online persona called "TaxiCabJesus" led me to make an extra effort. Some of the company's other taxi drivers have gone the extra mile to do nice things for their passengers too. But it doesn't pay the bills. Or it gets complaints filed against you, when people take it the wrong way. There are around 44 diaries, written over the course of about 4 years. So that's less than 1 a month. For most of my tenure, I drove 4 12-hour shifts a week. There was nothing special about most of my fares. > In every story I read, you seem to offer sage advice which people are almost immediately receptive and responsive to The early diaries were a little different in tone to the later ones. Very few passengers were receptive... they'd think something I said was "interesting", then they carried on as before, as I expected - free advice is usually worth what's charged. Every once-in-a-while I'd get someone who appreciated my efforts - these passengers made it all worthwhile. I haven't written about most of them. > Also... Mitt Romney as a freedom fighter from the future who can help us stop Amazon's Skynet? Okay. Maybe I skimmed too quickly by this point, or I missed the metaphor, but this seems a little whack. This was mostly written as a tongue-in-cheek exercise to apply the 'skynet' metaphor to Amazon, and to the political system we find ourselves subjected to. Corporations and the political establishment make more sense if you figure they're run by autonomous war machines. (EDIT: I enjoyed writing 'Humanity's Second-Best Hope' more than anything else I've ever written.) > But this smacks of self-promotion to me. 'Who Are Your Lifelines' is a public-service announcement that I hope helps people think about who they'd call if they needed to get bailed out. People who are stuck in jail are helpless to do anything to defend themselves. 'Electronic Taxi Dispatch v1.0' points out that the 50-bazillion dollar "ridesharing" company is only selling a reinvented wheel. Right now this is just about pointing out the fallacies of the status quo / 'conventional thinking'. At the start of my little journey, all I knew was that some things weren't quite right in my understanding of the world. Because I spent three and a half years in a taxi, dealing with all sorts of people, I think I've figured a few things out. This is my effort to share my experiences. It's on Hacker News now because another user here said they'd appreciated what I'd written on Kuro5hin. Thanks for your comment.
- erdevs 10y ago
  Thanks for your kindly and thoughtful reply. I'm glad you learned through your experiences and it's nice of you to want to share what you can. Regarding "Skynet" and automation at Amazon, I think this is fertile ground for metaphor and for science fiction parable. Some great works of imagination have been created in this vein already. So, I'm onboard with that, personally. I get lost at calling Obama an AI of some kind or Romney a time traveler, but I understand you were joking in a way. I just didn't get the joke, but that's probably on me. 4 years of interacting with several humans a day in one-time or small groups in a fairly closed, intimate environments will almost certainly lead to interesting stories. And to many, many opportunities to demonstrate compassion and care. So, I believe that, certainly. I am skeptical about the stories you described of holding people's heads in just such a way so as to relieve pressure and bring emotional balance in the same way that I am skeptical about ads that proclaim a simple pill can grow the size of a man's genitals or that "one weird trick" causes dramatic and rapid weight loss. But, as I said, that skepticism is part of my questioning and curious nature, so it's nothing personal or specific and I hope it didn't come across as such. (By the way... I may well have missed it, but do you have a more detailed description of this technique and some knowledge or theories on the pathways by which it works? If this works, it should be taught and popularized!) Thanks again for your reply and I wish you well. It's great that you take a compassionate point of view and apparently try to help people whenever possible. I wouldn't want my questions here to take anything away from that general principle.
  - taxicabjesus 10y ago
    One of the recurring themes for the diaries was how one fare leads into the next... If not for this person going there, I wouldn't have met that person, who I learned something interesting from, or who needed more than just a ride. > (By the way... I may well have missed it, but do you have a more detailed description of this technique and some knowledge or theories on the pathways by which it works? If this works, it should be taught and popularized!) The self-appointed gatekeepers to conventional medicine are hostile to the theories about why it works. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22122417 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22122417

by erdevs 10y ago

taxicabjesus 10y ago

> It seems like you're painting the picture of yourself as a sort of heroic sage. That's alright, I suppose, but it smells funny to my (admittedly skeptical) nose. Having an online persona called "TaxiCabJesus" led me to make an extra effort. Some of the company's other taxi drivers have gone the extra mile to do nice things for their passengers too. But it doesn't pay the bills. Or it gets complaints filed against you, when people take it the wrong way. There are around 44 diaries, written over the course of about 4 years. So that's less than 1 a month. For most of my tenure, I drove 4 12-hour shifts a week. There was nothing special about most of my fares. > In every story I read, you seem to offer sage advice which people are almost immediately receptive and responsive to The early diaries were a little different in tone to the later ones. Very few passengers were receptive... they'd think something I said was "interesting", then they carried on as before, as I expected - free advice is usually worth what's charged. Every once-in-a-while I'd get someone who appreciated my efforts - these passengers made it all worthwhile. I haven't written about most of them. > Also... Mitt Romney as a freedom fighter from the future who can help us stop Amazon's Skynet? Okay. Maybe I skimmed too quickly by this point, or I missed the metaphor, but this seems a little whack. This was mostly written as a tongue-in-cheek exercise to apply the 'skynet' metaphor to Amazon, and to the political system we find ourselves subjected to. Corporations and the political establishment make more sense if you figure they're run by autonomous war machines. (EDIT: I enjoyed writing 'Humanity's Second-Best Hope' more than anything else I've ever written.) > But this smacks of self-promotion to me. 'Who Are Your Lifelines' is a public-service announcement that I hope helps people think about who they'd call if they needed to get bailed out. People who are stuck in jail are helpless to do anything to defend themselves. 'Electronic Taxi Dispatch v1.0' points out that the 50-bazillion dollar "ridesharing" company is only selling a reinvented wheel. Right now this is just about pointing out the fallacies of the status quo / 'conventional thinking'. At the start of my little journey, all I knew was that some things weren't quite right in my understanding of the world. Because I spent three and a half years in a taxi, dealing with all sorts of people, I think I've figured a few things out. This is my effort to share my experiences. It's on Hacker News now because another user here said they'd appreciated what I'd written on Kuro5hin. Thanks for your comment.

erdevs 10y ago
Thanks for your kindly and thoughtful reply. I'm glad you learned through your experiences and it's nice of you to want to share what you can. Regarding "Skynet" and automation at Amazon, I think this is fertile ground for metaphor and for science fiction parable. Some great works of imagination have been created in this vein already. So, I'm onboard with that, personally. I get lost at calling Obama an AI of some kind or Romney a time traveler, but I understand you were joking in a way. I just didn't get the joke, but that's probably on me. 4 years of interacting with several humans a day in one-time or small groups in a fairly closed, intimate environments will almost certainly lead to interesting stories. And to many, many opportunities to demonstrate compassion and care. So, I believe that, certainly. I am skeptical about the stories you described of holding people's heads in just such a way so as to relieve pressure and bring emotional balance in the same way that I am skeptical about ads that proclaim a simple pill can grow the size of a man's genitals or that "one weird trick" causes dramatic and rapid weight loss. But, as I said, that skepticism is part of my questioning and curious nature, so it's nothing personal or specific and I hope it didn't come across as such. (By the way... I may well have missed it, but do you have a more detailed description of this technique and some knowledge or theories on the pathways by which it works? If this works, it should be taught and popularized!) Thanks again for your reply and I wish you well. It's great that you take a compassionate point of view and apparently try to help people whenever possible. I wouldn't want my questions here to take anything away from that general principle.
- taxicabjesus 10y ago
  One of the recurring themes for the diaries was how one fare leads into the next... If not for this person going there, I wouldn't have met that person, who I learned something interesting from, or who needed more than just a ride. > (By the way... I may well have missed it, but do you have a more detailed description of this technique and some knowledge or theories on the pathways by which it works? If this works, it should be taught and popularized!) The self-appointed gatekeepers to conventional medicine are hostile to the theories about why it works. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22122417 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22122417