donw

83 ms·

691.
by donw 6y ago
... we have to go duper? (I’ll see myself out...)
692.
by donw 6y ago
No, only the current President received less of the popular vote. The government is more than just the President. Congressbeings are elected via direct election in their districts. The Electoral College is working as designed. It was never
693.
by donw 6y ago
I'm in a weird place on this one. On the one hand, I agree with you. Some of this -- no idea how much without crunching numbers -- is totally self-inflicted. People living well beyond their means, not saving, and then ending up totally
694.
by donw 6y ago
> This is an oversimplification, but: early 20th century rise of communism was a violent backlash against the presiding monarchies and oligarchies who suppressed all attempts at gradual reform. It seems to me that we are in a death spira
695.
by donw 6y ago
I'm actually curious as to how much of that was the overall inefficiency of the Soviet system, and how much was simply due to the lack of industrialization that the Russians had to overcome. Something a lot of (North) Americans take fo
696.
by donw 6y ago
To be fair: communists didn't have refrigerators[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_U...
697.
by donw 6y ago
Fair enough. Kind of a data geek, hence the ask.
698.
by donw 6y ago
I have a question, just because I don't know if there is data on this. I've seen a bunch of studies on things like "stereotypically-african-american-name" vs "stereotypically-white-name", which are good evidenc
699.
Milgram Experiment(en.wikipedia.org)
2 points by donw 6y ago|1 comments
700.
by donw 6y ago
I believe this is how elections were held in Athens, with eligible citizens being selected for office via first a vote, to limit the number of candidates to a hundred or so, and then a random draw.
701.
by donw 6y ago
My university education was... varied. I have two bachelors' degrees, one in Mathematics, and one in Japanese. Those two programs were night-and-day in terms of rigor. The mandatory "general education" classes were an absolut
702.
by donw 6y ago
No worries, we’ve all asked questions that can be resolved by a search at some point. :)
703.
by donw 6y ago
HN's moderation team has earned that trust.
704.
by donw 6y ago
What do you think the police should have done differently in this particular situation (it's an interesting thought exercise)? Also, if you haven't done it, there's a really sobering mental exercise that you might want to try
705.
by donw 6y ago
> If their duty is to protect and serve It isn't: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia > We don't need to fix crime, We do, by making less things crimes. "Resisting arrest&q
706.
by donw 6y ago
Candidly, because Team Red and Team Blue are too busy screaming at each other and throwing plates across the room to care about actually fixing problems.
707.
by donw 6y ago
It's also important to mention the Black Codes[1], which were, effectively, a reimplementation of slavery that just didn't use the word "slave". Many of these laws existed before the Civil War, and were simply "upda
708.
by donw 6y ago
> What counts as "injured" or "killed"? If shots are fired and the resulting human stampede kills 4 people, does that count as 4 mass shooting deaths? Obviously the shooter is at fault, but these details affect the in
709.
by donw 6y ago
Oh, I would disagree with that. It is amazingly easy to lie with statistical "facts", through careful sampling, use of technical language, and overly broad or narrow definitions: https://medium.com/@hollymathnerd
710.
by donw 6y ago
> I once got a strike on social media for posting an article about a German doctor that recommended whiskey to cure covid19. You mean I've been taking all this medication for nothing ?
711.
by donw 6y ago
It seems that part of the solution here is to require meatspace authentication. Here's a thought experiment: Imagine you are a global platform which needs to deal with inappropriate behavior (posting of copyrighted materials, etc.) Fla
712.
by donw 6y ago
I think this is perhaps an example, on a grand scale, on why you (generally) can't use technology to solve cultural problems. Before the Battle of Trebia, Hannibal wanted to set up an ambush for the Romans. He gathered 200 of his best
713.
by donw 6y ago
> TBH American cars are still crazy inefficient from my (European) perspective :) Well, we can't all have Volkswagen do our emissions testing. :) Why would you say "crazy inefficient"? I don't think that, say, a VW 1.
714.
by donw 6y ago
> If you were hoping for code, software tools, or commands to type from your keyboard I understand your disappointment. I have a background in physical and network security from my days at a legal services firm, so nope. :) There really
715.
by donw 6y ago
That's a great example!
716.
by donw 6y ago
> Health insurance is a great example - a single payer system has much more bargaining power than everyone trying to negotiate for medical care at a moment when they'll die without it. Also not sure that's the best example. Sin
717.
by donw 6y ago
> Almost all countries have legislation that mandates fuel usage of [sic] passanger cars has to be at most X liters per 100 km. Or at least there's an incentive system with taxes and other bills. I'm not sure that's a grea
718.
by donw 6y ago
Addendum: I'm seeing a common theme in the responses. When there's a coordination problem, but the equilibria state is unsustainable (such as overfishing) or lower-value (imagine competing electric grids with different voltages an
719.
by donw 6y ago
That's a good example -- and another "coordination problem" at that, which is one of the types of problems where appropriate government action may be the most efficient solution.
720.
by donw 6y ago
I suppose that would make sense if the government was solving a coordination problem? E.g., no manufacturer will install Oliver's Optimizer, which promises a lifetime 10% savings in energy use, because it would force them to shut down

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