Banthum

32 ms·

241.
by Banthum 10y ago
Because it means de-emphasizing individuals by merging them into a group with one unified set of values. This necessarily means erasing the voices of people who hold minority positions in that group. It has every potential to be another pla
242.
by Banthum 10y ago
When I wrote "work" I didn't mean in the limited sense of "employment". Every example you gave is a form of work in the general sense of effortful goal-directed activity.
243.
by Banthum 10y ago
It's interesting that your counterexample - doing art - is indeed a form of work. Because it is. Doing good art is painfully hard work, in fact. There's nothing in principle that stops a machine from creating art. Even, better art
244.
by Banthum 10y ago
It's an artifact of the article-by-article payment/consumption model. It used to be that people would have to buy a whole issue or subscription to a publication. So you'd choose based on the overall reputation of the publica
245.
by Banthum 10y ago
Probably happened when proto-people developed complex grunting noises. Or maybe before - with grasping digits? Hard to tell.
246.
by Banthum 10y ago
True that. 1880-1950 (70 years) took us from train-and-telegraph to jet-and-atom bomb. Horse and carriage was the top-tier tech for personal transportation in 1880, and they were just starting to understand that diseases are often caused by
247.
by Banthum 10y ago
Factual beliefs should be a foundation for moral convictions, not the other way around.
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by Banthum 10y ago
That results indicates that if you take children and go from "abused or neglected as infants, then shunted from one foster home or institution to the next" to a stable adopted family home, you can increase IQ scores. Which is pret
249.
by Banthum 10y ago
We kind of do merge with our technology, though. People are fuzzy-bounded; we're part of our environment and it's part of us, especially in the mental domain. In the physical domain glasses, notebooks (offloaded brain memory), tel
250.
by Banthum 10y ago
"I don't think you should have the same rights as me because your sexuality/gender/class/religion is different" Quite the opposite. Typically safe space warriors are demanding that people have different right
251.
by Banthum 10y ago
Regarding 9), if you're reading this you should have as many children as possible. Your high-IQ genes will be passed on to them; only the intelligent of the next generation will have the foresight and technical ability to develop real
252.
by Banthum 10y ago
I don't disagree with your main point but I think it's worth saying - Pen-and-paper is a computing hardware platform! And it ruled for much longer than 50 years. And to no small success - they worked out quantum mechanics and a lo
253.
by Banthum 10y ago
Well, anything is people poison if you take enough. Forced consumption of sufficient water can kill someone. Toxicity isn't really yes/no, it's always a matter of dosage.
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by Banthum 10y ago
My understanding is that they're all some combination of more dangerous to humans, less effective, and more expensive. You actually end up spraying more pesticide, or denying the chemical to poor people who want to dust it inside their
255.
by Banthum 10y ago
The thing is, if you're the kind of person who always pays their rent on time despite being poor, you won't be poor for long. So the population of poor people ends up being self-selected for the personal qualities that lead someon
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by Banthum 10y ago
No, nationality is property rights. Voting with your feet was not significant before passports as the masses were too poor to move (which is why nobody had passport systems to begin with).
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by Banthum 10y ago
Thank you very much for adding some useful experience here. Obviously there are poor who really don't want to be. And there are some who really do just refuse to do the basic things one needs to do to not be poor. Too many people act l
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by Banthum 10y ago
Well, you're not doing much for the discussion. But the strategy of defining disagreement as evil, and then stating that the other person is so morally below you as to be not worth communicating with, is a great way to ensure you'
259.
by Banthum 10y ago
Doesn't work, though. An iPhone is not an "occasional indulgence". Fancy chocolates, or a meal at a mid-tier restaurant are an "occasional indulgence". An iPhone is a massive class-signaling purchase that requires e
260.
by Banthum 10y ago
Interesting. Why? What changed in the last 15 years to make this so?
261.
by Banthum 10y ago
You're not doing much to add information to the situation. If you wanted to actually, you know, make a point or offer some info that'd be useful though.
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by Banthum 10y ago
The things you're stating would explain a small number of iPhones among a given group of poor people. The observation is that the things are damn near universal and often quite new. It isn't just a failure of intelligence, but c
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by Banthum 10y ago
You think the idea that people are generally responsible for their own outcomes is "exceedingly short-sighted, arrogant, or just plain uneducated"?
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by Banthum 10y ago
iPhones are luxury smartphones. There are other smartphones that fulfill the same purposes (that you outlined above) which are much cheaper. If someone in poverty buys an iPhone instead of a budget alternative, it's an indicator that t
265.
by Banthum 10y ago
>when the president in power has insinuated the assassination of his opponents, encouraged his supporters to engage in violence, been spinning outlandish lies about the former president wiretapping him, etc, well I call that fascism ¯\_(
266.
by Banthum 10y ago
Is there info on how many times a Falcon 9 stage can be used before it's simply worn out?