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Körner, The Pleasures of Counting (1996) > † Social Darwinism applies the Darwinian doctrine of the survival of the fittest to human society. Rich social Darwi

Körner, The Pleasures of Counting (1996) > † Social Darwinism applies the Darwinian doctrine of the survival of the fittest to human society. Rich social Darwinists take wealth as the best indication of fitness to survive, academic social Darwinists take intellectual achievements as the best indication and so on. They are often haunted by the fear that the unfit do not understand this and may outbreed the fit. (aside: sheep shearing robots? you wouldn't be kiwi by any chance?)

defrost 3y ago
Kiwi? They're not the only only country with sheep, cliff edges and Wellington boots you know . . . See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM James T, Peter K, Robyn O. et al design and proto build early 1980s, second and mid gen versions mid 80s to early 1990s. Funding suspended as computer vision was being added. Tangentially, (years later, next university across in same city): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39902710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39902710 > the Darwinian doctrine of the survival of the fittest That was Spencer; regrettably both Darwin and Wallace jumped on that proto Nazi dog whistle band wagon.
- 082349872349872 3y ago
  Sorry for the inadvertent slur, mate! Funding suspended after the geneticists bred cattle (Australian Miniline) with small enough hind legs?
  - defrost 3y ago
    Suspended after the wool board decided they had enough in hand as a reserve in case labour shortages increased and wages climbed. They also funded a chemical|feed additive based shearing scheme that altered the wool at the follicle as it grew so that a few days later the wool would peel|comb off effortessly .. that kind of sorta almost worked ( IIRC ). General robotics got a boost (most of the software was researched and written at the time - very few robotic libraries then), shearing got a wider better performing shear and a system for automated handling and delivery of sheep to shearer (human or robot). James T (Engineering lead) wrote a book on it and went off to find landmines in Cambodia .. arguably a more rewarding use of skills (??). > Sorry for the inadvertent slur, mate! Yeah, right, robots and shearing is super blokey shit, ain't it just: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/eun-jung-holden https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/eun-jung-h... https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/robyn-owens https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/robyn-owen... https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=l8Mn4-UAAAAJ https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=l8Mn4-UAAAAJ I could go on, this was the same university that had https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/cheryl-praeger https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/cheryl-pra... teaching Permutations to Greg Egan.
    - 082349872349872 3y ago
      Oops! Sorry. Maybe I'd best stop apologising before my (thankfully barnyard-acid-resistant) footwear gets covered in it? It was somewhere west, that country in a land of import yew, That they formed an institution called the Sa-andgroper U. They were long and wiry natives of the rugged beach abode, And the robot never welded that the Boorloos couldn't code; > ...a system for automated handling and delivery... After watching the first bit of that video, I had been about to ask about the load/unload story. Why was the sheep upside down? (I'd think letting it nummle on something during the process might relax it more than being flipped, but I have no clue about small animals) [having grown up where land and especially labour is expensive, my wife is a fan of "McLeod's Daughters", especially: "I was wondering if you could point me to the ladies?" "Sorry, we don't have any of them around here"]
      - defrost 3y ago
        While there's no shortage of women in rural Australia, elegant ladies can be a hard find. > Why was the sheep upside down? That's not specific to robots, human shearers on teams generally start by pulling sheep from the race, dragging them over to the station on their bums|backs and begin with belly blows (long runs of the shear) to free the thinner belly fleece, and then rock the sheep from one side to the other to work the fleece free from flank to spine .. and then there's (ideally) a single wool blanket fleece off in one piece.
        082349872349872 3y ago
        > pulling sheep from the race That (and the intellect?) explains why any given sheep might be willing to be contract shorn a second time!

defrost 3y ago

Kiwi? They're not the only only country with sheep, cliff edges and Wellington boots you know . . . See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAh2zv7TMM James T, Peter K, Robyn O. et al design and proto build early 1980s, second and mid gen versions mid 80s to early 1990s. Funding suspended as computer vision was being added. Tangentially, (years later, next university across in same city): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39902710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39902710 > the Darwinian doctrine of the survival of the fittest That was Spencer; regrettably both Darwin and Wallace jumped on that proto Nazi dog whistle band wagon.

082349872349872 3y ago
Sorry for the inadvertent slur, mate! Funding suspended after the geneticists bred cattle (Australian Miniline) with small enough hind legs?
- defrost 3y ago
  Suspended after the wool board decided they had enough in hand as a reserve in case labour shortages increased and wages climbed. They also funded a chemical|feed additive based shearing scheme that altered the wool at the follicle as it grew so that a few days later the wool would peel|comb off effortessly .. that kind of sorta almost worked ( IIRC ). General robotics got a boost (most of the software was researched and written at the time - very few robotic libraries then), shearing got a wider better performing shear and a system for automated handling and delivery of sheep to shearer (human or robot). James T (Engineering lead) wrote a book on it and went off to find landmines in Cambodia .. arguably a more rewarding use of skills (??). > Sorry for the inadvertent slur, mate! Yeah, right, robots and shearing is super blokey shit, ain't it just: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/eun-jung-holden https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/eun-jung-h... https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/robyn-owens https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/robyn-owen... https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=l8Mn4-UAAAAJ https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=l8Mn4-UAAAAJ I could go on, this was the same university that had https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/cheryl-praeger https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/cheryl-pra... teaching Permutations to Greg Egan.
  - 082349872349872 3y ago
    Oops! Sorry. Maybe I'd best stop apologising before my (thankfully barnyard-acid-resistant) footwear gets covered in it? It was somewhere west, that country in a land of import yew, That they formed an institution called the Sa-andgroper U. They were long and wiry natives of the rugged beach abode, And the robot never welded that the Boorloos couldn't code; > ...a system for automated handling and delivery... After watching the first bit of that video, I had been about to ask about the load/unload story. Why was the sheep upside down? (I'd think letting it nummle on something during the process might relax it more than being flipped, but I have no clue about small animals) [having grown up where land and especially labour is expensive, my wife is a fan of "McLeod's Daughters", especially: "I was wondering if you could point me to the ladies?" "Sorry, we don't have any of them around here"]
    - defrost 3y ago
      While there's no shortage of women in rural Australia, elegant ladies can be a hard find. > Why was the sheep upside down? That's not specific to robots, human shearers on teams generally start by pulling sheep from the race, dragging them over to the station on their bums|backs and begin with belly blows (long runs of the shear) to free the thinner belly fleece, and then rock the sheep from one side to the other to work the fleece free from flank to spine .. and then there's (ideally) a single wool blanket fleece off in one piece.
      - 082349872349872 3y ago
        > pulling sheep from the race That (and the intellect?) explains why any given sheep might be willing to be contract shorn a second time!