James_K

17 ms·

271.
by James_K 2y ago
> Social media is very stimulating, after all. It just happens to be in a numbing Numbing is the opposite of stimulating. > leaving more tangible value in it The word value here is ill-defined. I can only think of "entertainment
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by James_K 2y ago
Well if you think brain stimulation is the benefit of reading, then you must surely think playing video games is much better for you than reading books since it is no doubt much more stimulating for the brain. Call me crazy, but I think the
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by James_K 2y ago
I must admit that I find it honestly laughable and pathetic that people are not able to identify the benefits of reading. Reading makes you smarter in large part from the information contained within the book that you learn by reading it, n
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by James_K 2y ago
I think you are fooled by the general societal perception that reading makes you smart. This originates from a time when books were expensive and most people couldn't read without paying for private school which made reading the exclus
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by James_K 2y ago
So 60% of Britons have read a book in the last 12 months? That's a pretty good number.
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by James_K 2y ago
> and it is that system that would experience consciousness This is not a common view, I'll just say that much. What happens if the man stops moving the rocks? Does the universe die? And if he starts again later? Is the universe con
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by James_K 2y ago
AIs have self-concept, but I don't think you'd describe them as conscious. Likewise many animals do not recognise themselves in mirrors but still seem to experience the world. > If you consider consciousness an emergent propert
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by James_K 2y ago
It seems clear to us that the film is playing, but that's the magic isn't it? There is nothing in physics to suggest that the universe is anything other than a film on a shelf, yet we experience it playing. We are the characters i
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by James_K 2y ago
Why? We know that there are things which can experience but not be conscious, for instance simple robots. Do you think it would be impossible to have a universe full of people with no souls, who simply react to inputs like a robot? I think
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by James_K 2y ago
Consider a universe purely dictated by the mathematical laws of physics. It would be indistinguishable from our own to an observer, but such a universe would effectively be a fixed 4D structure, a statue incapable of experience. You have ex
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by James_K 2y ago
> The interviewer is barely treading water in the ocean of Penrose's thought. He mistakes his spasmodic thrashing for swimming. The comments below this video are utterly insane. Roger Penrose seems to have a fanatical cult attached
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by James_K 2y ago
Consciousness is not a result, it cannot be computed. It is a process, and we don't know how it interacts with computation. There are only two things I can really say about consciousness, and both are speculation: I think it isn't
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by James_K 2y ago
Assets which purport to preserve wealth (outside of a bank account) usually end up as some kind of pyramid scheme. This is particularly unfortunate in the case of housing as the victims have no choice but to buy in, and take out increasingl
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by James_K 2y ago
Because the things you're referring to didn't happen. That's why you say they "must have happened" instead of "actually did happen". I can think of some examples of similar treatment, for example the Briti
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by James_K 2y ago
> They built their city on a marsh because an eagle landed on a cactus I take it you also think the founder of Rome was the son of the god Mars and killed his brother after being suckled by a wolf? > There is no evidence of this whats
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by James_K 2y ago
> I suspect are some pretty large inefficiencies implied by requiring continual re-bid/repurchase of existing real property You are incorrect to suspect that. The price must still be discovered in the Geogist system through market m
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by James_K 2y ago
Nope. The government could own all land and have the same system for withdrawing leases as is currently employed for eminent domain. You might say the government could change that system, but it can also change eminent domain. This is not a
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by James_K 2y ago
> Jared Diamond I don't know who that is and have never read any of his work. > Tenochtitlan > Even so, North America had plenty of candidates for domestication that would have made serviceable pack animals Weirdly enough, Ten
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by James_K 2y ago
Humans and horses probably did that thing where you're looking for someone and you go to where they are then they go to where you are and you both miss eachother.
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by James_K 2y ago
> Ownership is theft You are trying so desperately to put those words in my mouth, but I will not say them as I don't know what they mean. > taxes are double secret ownership I'm not making an ideological point here, simply
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by James_K 2y ago
The Llama is not a very good pack animal, you would know this if you ever looked at one. Pack animals are not necessary for any specialisation, but the are for the degree that brings technological advancement. If you want advanced society,
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by James_K 2y ago
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/native-americans-s...
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by James_K 2y ago
Well as nice as the sentimental definition you gave is, the legal definition of home ownership revolves around a set of rights granted to you by the government over a plot of land. I could feel safe and secure with my family a t Pizza Hut,
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by James_K 2y ago
> dynamic value based taxes I hate having to explain this to people, but a tax based on the value of something is called rent. Georgism is a system where the government owns all land and leases it out, but then the call the rent a "
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by James_K 2y ago
I think it is better than the current situation but worse than the optimal situation, that is government ownership. What's more, ignoring commercial land ignores that many commercial enterprises would benefit from the proposed solution
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by James_K 2y ago
Would you say this of the Jews during WW2, or do you have the understanding that it's a little less than tactful do describe the victims of genocide as "suckers"?
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by James_K 2y ago
What is owning a home? It is having the power to legally demand other people leave it. Hence owning a home requires the ability to rent out a home, and to to rent out many homes and drive up the price. Likewise we have much land, but it has
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by James_K 2y ago
You need pack animals for civilisations. Transport is the backbone of industry and is required for the high degree of specialisation in trades that produces technological advancement.
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by James_K 2y ago
You can think of many examples of war and conquest, but what happened in America is more than just war. Genocide is more than just war. Framing the atrocities upon which the US was founded as merely "historically normal" is a deep
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by James_K 2y ago
> Spanish settlers likely first brought horses back to the Americas in 1519 No they don't.

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