agent008t

14 ms·

91.
by agent008t 4y ago
> "Economic growth" relies on always increasing consumption That cannot possibly be true. A single person can consume a huge amount of resources - far more than any of us currently does. For example, by setting a building on fi
92.
by agent008t 4y ago
Thank you. Looking at the dissertation, it does seem though like the author was attempting to summarize of Plato and his contemporaries.
93.
by agent008t 4y ago
You mean this quote by Socrates, which was written as Athens was entering a period of (terminal) decline? “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in plac
94.
by agent008t 4y ago
Suppose your wife did get a job. Would the money she earns also go into the same collective pot? Would that not be somewhat demotivating / mess up the incentives for her? Also, it seems in your kind of a scenario it would be difficult
95.
by agent008t 4y ago
This is an interesting question. In my experience, Tripadvisor used to be 'the review' place. It seemed impossible to overtake them, since a review aggregator needs some critical mass of reviews to even get started. However, in th
96.
by agent008t 4y ago
It is amazing how rapidly the quality of the discussion on HN goes down the more political the topic is.
97.
by agent008t 4y ago
> I don’t have to work for a while Surely you would have no need to do anything for money ever anymore? That sounds like an amazing freedom to have. Although, used incorrectly, it could make one feel rather useless too I suppose.
98.
by agent008t 4y ago
It does exist, but it is not at all like what we think it is.
99.
by agent008t 4y ago
A different kind of 'Point & Click', but Her Story was rather enjoyable.
100.
by agent008t 4y ago
But 'living to 130' is an option, not an obligation. You can always leave sooner if you want.
101.
by agent008t 4y ago
Is OMAD also a good idea if you struggle to maintain/gain weight even with 3 meals a day? Is it consistent with making progress in sports, i.e. getting stronger/faster/increasing endurance? Is it consistent with outdoor activ
102.
by agent008t 4y ago
Also Policenauts and Snatcher. Amazing games by Kojima.
103.
by agent008t 4y ago
The Ford Focus cars from back then seem amazingly robust and reliable.
104.
by agent008t 4y ago
Ironically, happiness and success often don't go together. Someone who is happy has no need of working towards success (defined conventionally, as getting close to the top of the wealth/career/peer ranking). It is often unhap
105.
by agent008t 4y ago
Or that in the current era we have elevated appearance way above where it should be, instead of judging people by what they say and do. Radio, television, and finally internet and smartphones made things progressively worse in this regard.
106.
by agent008t 4y ago
No such thing as 'wasting' life. It doesn't really matter what you do - the core moment-to-moment existence if the same for everyone, what differs is just what you sense moment-to-moment (touch, smell etc., but more important
107.
by agent008t 4y ago
But do you want to be spending so much time on your phone? To me, buying an expensive phone is somewhat like buying an expensive tobacco pipe. It will just encourage you to use it more. When in fact, most of the 'use' is worse t
108.
by agent008t 4y ago
Exactly. Where are the users? What are the demographics? What places are seeing inflows/outflows of users? IRC, newsgroups, Discord, blogs, HN? Is it true that small message boards are as popular today as in 2005, it's just that t
109.
by agent008t 4y ago
Thanks, that's actually rather inspiring.
110.
by agent008t 4y ago
The time of a changing world order is usually a time of war. I am not sure why you think it would lead to a more peaceful world. Furthermore, I am not sure a world dominated by China would be more free and peaceful than a US-dominated world
111.
by agent008t 4y ago
The two scenarios are not comparable. For example, they would result in very different social environments, different access to education, employment etc.
112.
by agent008t 4y ago
100 years or more is the key here. Post-WW2, things were very good in the US, and getting better in Europe. Now the future does not look so optimistic for the US or Europe. But sure, it could be far worse.
113.
by agent008t 4y ago
Yet it used to be possible to buy a house and support a family with children on a single income, and now you would struggle to do it on two incomes. That does not sound like a big success for the economy to me. Perhaps a reason to be optimi
114.
by agent008t 4y ago
The collapse of the Roman Empire lasted for a few hundred years. Imagine living during those times. It is not inconceivable that we are living through that right now.
115.
by agent008t 4y ago
It will make things worse for a lot more people though, just like the likes of 'dating apps' and pornography did. I wouldn't be optimistic about that; the only hope is that we develop a culture to regard it as we now regard s
116.
by agent008t 4y ago
I don't hang out with a lot of teenagers, but what I see of them paints a sorry picture. Rampant mental health issues, many infants I see glued to junk on iPads that would make children's TV of the 90s the height of intellectualis
117.
by agent008t 4y ago
That has been my tactic too. Basically, think the XXs were great? Well, you have all the technology to emulate that in your own life - just need to find a few people that would be on board with you. E.g. think that social media is making li
118.
by agent008t 4y ago
True, but one could also easily find someone with an optimistic take. Tons of utopian science fiction from the 60s, say. Not so much today. That's why I made this thread.
119.
by agent008t 4y ago
If you were an optimistic science fiction writer, any ways in which this may change ordinary lives for the better?
120.
by agent008t 4y ago
14/18. Yes, a lot of the world has improved a lot from a very low base. That does not infuse me with optimism, though, particularly for Europe and the US.

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