finite_depth

12 ms·

31.
by finite_depth 3y ago
> Honestly, I find that in many cases I would trust an anonymous random Joe more than a company because they can be more mission driven and limited in their ambition than a growth driven tech company. If it is a random Joe and not, say
32.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Almost any "rationalist" blog - many of which, including Scott Alexander's, are now on substack - serves as an example.
33.
by finite_depth 3y ago
"There is no problem being LGBTQ here" Yeah, famously no hostile laws against queer people in Texas. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/25/texas-transgender-ki...
34.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Wood ash isn't carbon. It's mostly remnant minerals like sodium, potassium, and calcium after the carbon has burned away (hence "potash" = "pot ash" as potassium's namesake). The proper comparison here wou
35.
by finite_depth 3y ago
If you're looking at the "closest approach" distribution, that's not just for impacts, and the numbers are probability masses for the closest approach occurring on that day as opposed to some other day (not the probabili
36.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Well, no, because some have impacted Earth before. But if we limit ourselves to large bodies, yes. The current record holder is 99942 Apophis, which briefly had an estimated probability of 2.7% of an impact in 2029 (which has since been eli
37.
by finite_depth 3y ago
No kidding. It's a shame so many of that "old guard" are married to some...pretty outdated ideas of what being trans is, but they still had to fight a lot of shit we don't.
38.
by finite_depth 3y ago
That's part of it, and it's certainly why so many of them have persistent chips on their shoulder about shit that happened in middle school (looking at you, Scott Aaronson). The other part is that trying to construct all truth fro
39.
by finite_depth 3y ago
And so does the scientific community. Don't confuse "we need to express the current best consensus when speaking to a public that is not sufficiently well-versed in the subject for fine nuance" with "we're not willi
40.
by finite_depth 3y ago
This is the real underlying problem. Discussion is a commons. It relies on trust and symmetric cooperation. When those things are betrayed, the commons breaks down.
41.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Most vaccines do not wholly prevent the disease they vaccinate against. A few - like the rabies vaccine - do, mostly because they're slow-moving diseases that the body has plenty of time to mount a defense against, but many do not. In
42.
by finite_depth 3y ago
That was, what, like one month at the very start? Masks were a fixture in my household by April or May, as I recall. Again, "beating the experts one time" does not mean that betting against them is a good bet. For every person tha
43.
by finite_depth 3y ago
I really don't see how anyone can look at how covid proceeded and come to the conclusion that we need less trust in experts. "Thinking for yourself" was an excellent way to die of covid and to produce much longer, much high
44.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Depends on if you consider "crazy" to include rampant narcissism fueled by the usual ridiculous elitism and we're-smart-so-everything-will-work failure mode of "rationalist" culture.
45.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Multiplication/division include addition as a special case, at least if you allow adding 1: a+b = a + a(b/a) = a(1 + (b/a))
46.
by finite_depth 3y ago
I am an exception, yes. But I think the reason I'm an exception - the fact that I've experienced, very directly, very personally, and very nearly fatally - the insane hell that is American poverty - is important. People aren&#x2
47.
by finite_depth 3y ago
This sort of "suffering is a virtue" thinking is, unfortunately, VERY deeply rooted in American (and more broadly, Anglo-Protestant) culture. It's good old fashioned Calvinism wrapped in capitalism.
48.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Of the states that Bernie won, only seven were solidly Democratic-voting (Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Maine, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Democrats Abroad). Five more are dem-leaning swing states, or were at the time (Colorado, Minnesota, Wis
49.
by finite_depth 3y ago
I am a very dedicated Sanders supporter, and to say he "was nearly President" in 2016 is just not true. Yes, by the end of the primary he'd gained a lot of steam, but that was the end of the primary. Sanders was in a pretty
50.
by finite_depth 3y ago
I'm well off and I work considerably less hard than many people making close to minimum wage. I'm treated better, trusted more, respected more, and have much more flexibility in my work. Will and work ethic are weakly necessary fo
51.
by finite_depth 3y ago
Although at this point that might be more class/intelligence signalling than any principled belief in social welfare. You don't have to support the poor to realize that it's a bad idea to support a mad death cult full of peop
52.
by finite_depth 3y ago
I'm well into my 30s, in the top few percent for income in the US, and live in California (one of the highest tax states), and I happily pay them. I'm alive today because of their benefits, and I'd be the worst kind of hypocr