Retra

55 ms·

511.
by Retra 8y ago
Most graphing calculators match that description.
512.
by Retra 8y ago
It may be proving too much, but it is also arguing the general point. Your objection would be that this example would prove that all strings are programs, which might seem absurd. But in fact, all strings are programs if you haven'
513.
by Retra 8y ago
In a rough sense, debt can protect you. My lender doesn't want me dead, injured, or unemployed because I have mortgage payments to make. Debt only becomes a problem for me if I am unable to make payments on it.
514.
by Retra 8y ago
Naturalness is a useful abstraction. It contrasts things we will interact with through discovery to those we interact with through design. It is a sound concept, it is just biased to be human-centric.
515.
by Retra 8y ago
That's why you have an input filter. :) Personally, I feel like I'm not doing anything worthwhile if I'm not saying down-votable things. My internet points are the currency I use to say things that I know people will disagree
516.
by Retra 8y ago
I think a lot of the discontent is that (reportedly, I have not read it) he seems to present the material as 1. largely his original work, and 2. revolutionary, while the ideas may be interesting and well presented, neither of those things
517.
by Retra 8y ago
Why would there be no problems? What is perfect is the ability of society to solve problems, not the whole of existence. A utopia is a state of social order, not a state of reality.
518.
by Retra 8y ago
Even if reality is deterministic, you still have to know which state to derive. And that process will have to account for all of the same information.
519.
by Retra 8y ago
I don't think there's anything inherent to a utopia that means you stop learning about reality. If anything, you should expect anything you learn about reality to have maximally broad impact according to its relevance to people&#x
520.
by Retra 8y ago
Who cares about the financial impact when you've that sweet mysophobia to drive your decisions?
521.
by Retra 8y ago
Everyone should have basic protections, or "fundamental" rights. Those are things that exist as a matter of basic human decency. Nonbasic rights are more like privileges, and they can apply discriminately.
522.
by Retra 8y ago
That's an odd way to characterize it, IMO. Like if someone wanted to argue that Zemeckis makes substandard movies because he wants to profit from it, I should be able to argue that the Leanardo DaVinci painted substandard art because h
523.
by Retra 8y ago
Just wait until you hear what's in the ocean!
524.
by Retra 8y ago
I do the vast majority of my programming in Rust and Python. I love both of those languages, but the fact is, the problem that static typing causes me in Rust is that I have to write a lot more code, but it is all pretty much rote. The prob
525.
by Retra 8y ago
The concepts are also just symbols, just in different media. They are also a map. >if/when mathematics provides a complete map to that territory which is "the world", Then it will encode all the information that exists in
526.
by Retra 8y ago
Trading one jerk for another doesn't accomplish much unless you know one of them personally.
527.
by Retra 8y ago
>Suppose we reach a final description of reality that is entirely accurate (no longer an approximation that fails to account for some structures and processes). > Won't that description consist of nothing but math? Math is just w
528.
by Retra 8y ago
You could say that about most language we use: it's meant for transmitting thoughts between human brains. Why would it be bad at it? Besides, there are plenty of mathematical concepts which are hard to understand. I don't see any
529.
by Retra 8y ago
That other "universe" is just patterns embedded in our brains. That's all you need. You could likewise argue that sounds exist in a different universe, but are only "embedded" into the air using pressure waves, but
530.
by Retra 8y ago
If you're just sorting numbers, you don't need the OS or environment variables.
531.
by Retra 8y ago
They have to supply the money so that they can have something which can be collected with reliable value for taxes. If your government allows you to pay taxes with monopoly money, then Hasbro becomes King. If the government supplies the mon
532.
by Retra 8y ago
I mostly use static typing because I don't want the intended behavior of the program to be described solely in my head.
533.
by Retra 8y ago
First off, I would never equate "faith" with "belief", nor would most atheists in my experience. As human beings, we have to make decisions. Sometimes we have to make decisions without the time, experience, or resource
534.
by Retra 8y ago
The specifics matter because that's the subject under discussion. A person is an atheist because of the specific things they do to be one. The use of the word "atheist" is what dictates which facts are relevant to the determi
535.
by Retra 8y ago
You're nitpicking that I said "a deity will intervene" instead of "a deity might intervene," which is really very irrelevant to what I'm getting at. ( Especially when talking about it as an assumption which is
536.
by Retra 8y ago
You could conceivably use "who wants to live in a world without Coca Cola and ice cream" to justify the mercy killing of people who live in a society without Coca Cola and ice cream. So why even condition things in such an absurd
537.
by Retra 8y ago
If I were asked that, I would say something like "malloc attempts to allocate some memory on the heap and return a pointer to it." If pressed for more details, I would say it depends on the allocator and that we should look at the
538.
by Retra 8y ago
Every human who lived before the invention of Coca Cola and ice cream found a reason to live. The question I have is how did you end up thinking that the only lives worth living must include these specific amenities? That's a dangerous
539.
by Retra 8y ago
What crisis are you referring to? Why do you call it a crisis, rather than simply an ongoing problem?
540.
by Retra 8y ago
>I don't make my decisions based on the presumption that a deity will intervene, and I do believe in God. Ok... > In fact, making such a decision is called a leap of faith, and they're not to be taken lightly. Here you'

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