Iv

27 ms·

541.
by Iv 7y ago
I'll restate something that's often misunderstood about democracy. The use of elections is not to find the "best" leader (for any definition of "best" that you have) but to prevent civil unrest. It offers an al
542.
by Iv 7y ago
In 1923. That was entirely reasonable at the time for a country like USSR to fund two persons to find out if that "telepathic revelation" on which many mediums seemed to agree had any grounds. 1923. Realize how much fewer we knew
543.
by Iv 7y ago
"So what's stopping this?" In US? Climate denialism. In EU. Not much, this is after all something reasearch in Switzerland that has already done other CO2 extraction research, despite scorn and cynicism by misguided ecologist
544.
by Iv 7y ago
7 years living in Japan. Both in city and countryside. Never seen anyone being discriminated on a "caste" system. I won't say it does not exist, but it is certainly not on the scale of things in India. However I heard of two
545.
by Iv 7y ago
Well Japan used to execute any foreigner washing up on its shores, and to consider US its mortal enemy, so there is some proof it can change. Actually Japan society can move incredibly fast, but it does so in hiccups, when its delay is beco
546.
by Iv 7y ago
I mention racism as only one item on the list. 1 out of 30 children born in Japan today are of mixed ancestry, so it is not as microscopic as you may think. I just have anecdotal evidence. The two kids I know here who regularly skipped scho
547.
by Iv 7y ago
The mixed Japanese-African girl I know was forced to straighten her hair because her natural hair is "extravagant".
548.
by Iv 7y ago
I'm OP. It is a minority. And Japan is very racist towards them. Turns out there are 3 kids in that situation in my family. We already witnessed three classes having racist bullying and both teachers and school direction refusing to do
549.
by Iv 7y ago
That's the interesting thing. As a white man, I thought "Oh, they are actually kind to foreigners!" and then I helped raise a black kid in Japan. I remember a guy who helped us install in the village when we moved to the coun
550.
by Iv 7y ago
In the two cases I know, because they are black Japanese (one parent Japanese, one African) and that it just breaks the mind of both students and teachers that you can be Japanese without being 100% ethnic Japanese.
551.
by Iv 7y ago
This is actually a common mindset in countries where a generation remembers famine-level poverty. I once discussed with some friends from various backgrounds on the merits of doing higher education or going in for your passion after high-sc
552.
by Iv 7y ago
"As the numbers keep rising, people are asking if it's a reflection of the school system, rather than a problem with the pupils themselves." Got some first hand experience here. Hard to not be a bit sarcastic. Geeze, I don&#x
553.
by Iv 7y ago
Here is what a clean and safe energy source looks like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam_failure#List_of_major_dam_... Here is what nuclear energy wants to replace: https://endcoal.org/health/
554.
by Iv 7y ago
I keep moving one side or the other on this issue. I think there is a philosophical difference in the way companies and employees are seen in France vs US. I often feel (from discussions here, but American friends told me the views are more
555.
by Iv 7y ago
I don't think that's the definition of a monopoly that is problematic here, more the definition of a market, which is a more abstract group, composed of competitors and that companies are supposed to be able to enter somehow easil
556.
by Iv 7y ago
"Bill would be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger" -- Steve Jobs
557.
by Iv 7y ago
I think most French would be happy to switch to a system where it is easy to fire, as long as the social net was good. Thing is, these two things (strengthening the safety net and making the labor laws more flexible) are defended by differe
558.
by Iv 7y ago
The one that amazes me the most is that I am not aware of any predictions that AI would be developed by tech giant but be mostly open sourced and published. It seems so counter-intuitive.
559.
by Iv 7y ago
Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard Zuckerberg: Just ask. Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one
560.
by Iv 7y ago
You guys are probably much better at this whole politics thing than we are and I envy the Scandinavian egalitarianism in several ways. It is not wrong to say we are hierarchical, but a more nuanced way of saying it is that we will respect h
561.
by Iv 7y ago
Well no, they use boats, not plane. ;-) But mostly yes. It is interesting to read a bit on submarine cables that our infrastructure depends that much on. It is for instance interesting to know that their landing points are considered strate
562.
by Iv 7y ago
What risks are we talking about? Frivolous lawsuits by random loons? I am not certain that this risk goes down by being unfriendly to interviewees.
563.
by Iv 7y ago
But you are not your business. There are more things to life than making profits, like helping fellow humans. If the risk is very low and the cost basically null, doing nice things is a positive externality.
564.
by Iv 7y ago
A fascinating read!
565.
by Iv 7y ago
The paradox is that, because of that the longer a civilization survives, the less visible it would be in the geological record.
566.
by Iv 7y ago
That article is full of interesting factoids. My favorite: > What might distinguish naturally occurring biomarkers from synthetics might be the chirality of the molecules. Most total synthesis pathways do not discriminate between D- and
567.
by Iv 7y ago
Anchors cutting internet cables happen all the time. It is a weekly occurrence. If you want a visual image: imagine a plane laying down a cable over a forest. It is an heavy cable designed to crash a bit inside the canopy, but it is likely
568.
by Iv 7y ago
Ok, my bad, I was not aware that legitimate could actually be synonymous with legal. In my native language, legitimate globally means that it is the general consensus in society, something that ideally the law tries to capture but it is act
569.
by Iv 7y ago
It is a very sad democracy when you confuse legitimacy and legality. Slavery, apartheid, death camps were legal. Let me sing you the song of my people. Once upon a time, a french government surrendered to the German invader and changed form
570.
by Iv 7y ago
> It's about various groups (on both right and left) wanting to tell people what they are and are not allowed to do with their bodies. Exactly. That's what makes me bitter about these questions. Legalization of prositution is a

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