jbay

7 ms·

1.
by jbay 6y ago
That could be part of it. But I think survivor bias generally gets much more credit as an explanation than it deserves, and I strongly doubt that older generations of tools would have been designed like modern tools even if, say, simulation
2.
by jbay 6y ago
How many R&D engineering hours do you think the extra 1m of piping equals in cost? I'm actually surprised they didn't go and put a column there, too, just in case.
3.
by jbay 6y ago
A rock the size of a human head (or, say, a container of seawater) has just as many electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, and other particles going about their business and doing their little dance, following the same equations of motion a
4.
by jbay 6y ago
Not sure it's a fair analogy. Even while they were being deceitful, the Soviet Union seems to have at least invested a serious effort into tackling the problem head-on.
5.
by jbay 6y ago
That sounds good. =) By the way, and not to put too fine a point on it, is there a reason why you don't call them Republic-of-Chinese friends?
6.
by jbay 6y ago
Yes, but that also comes with the notion that a wealthy family can become poor by moving to a higher-cost area, or a poor family can become wealthy by moving to a lower-cost area; ie, someone can sell a small house in the Bay area and buy a
7.
by jbay 6y ago
There's so many times that an ostensibly international website has rejected me because I don't have a US-formatted numerical zip code. Even when they have a country field.
8.
by jbay 6y ago
I don't have any dislike for the fact that the ROC is an independent country, whether my government diplomatically recognizes them as such or not. I'm just pointing out that, if a Taiwanese family invites you to dinner, they'
9.
by jbay 6y ago
Do you tell your friends about your summer trip to the Republic of Korea? Or were you visiting the Kingdom of Belgium that year? Do those friends invite you to visit their hometowns in the French Republic, or the Federal Republic of Germany
10.
by jbay 6y ago
Every one of the many Taiwanese people I know refer to it as Taiwan, too. It's very rare to hear anyone refer to it as the ROC, unless in the context of specifically making a distinction from the PRC, or in a formal document.
11.
by jbay 6y ago
Even for Latin, apparently Ecclesiastical (Church) Latin, which is more familiar to most people today, differs in pronunciation from Classical Latin. For example, Ecclesiastical Latin uses a soft 'c', where the ancient Romans woul
12.
by jbay 6y ago
Practically, the fastest and easiest way would be to turn a good cylinder and measure the diameter at several points (or roll on a surface plane) to make sure it's not tapered, because the face will sit square to the sides even if the
13.
by jbay 6y ago
It wasn't nearly so easy. Dan hand-scraped in several surfaces on the lathe; for example the headstock, to get the axis parallel to the ways, and so on.
14.
by jbay 6y ago
Fast-forward to 2016 to see how much the technology has changed: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/09/meet-bob-pmls-...
15.
by jbay 6y ago
The grandparent's label of "central planning" seems to encompass almost any possible policy that deviates from a completely free market. I don't think any mainstream economics, other than caricatures, supports the idea t
16.
by jbay 6y ago
You sound very certain about this. Where does that certainty come from?
17.
by jbay 6y ago
Wait, who was proposing or even talking about central planning in this thread? I think you're the first. I was going to propose we allocate resources by sacrificing goats to the thirteen forgotten gods of the underworld, and then inter
18.
by jbay 6y ago
> The higher price discourages hoarders or others with lower needs. Others with lower means, you meant?
19.
by jbay 6y ago
Demand at the old price from people who bought them to resell at the new price?
20.
by jbay 6y ago
Why do the design in the US? Chinese engineers are doing great designs themselves, and for less than American salaries... And they can visit right there on the factory floor, talking to the manufacturers directly about how to make their des
21.
by jbay 8y ago
I'm not sure why this concept is such a challenge for me to convey. I'm probably not doing a very good job of it. The investors aren't particularly concerned about small positive externalities such as the increase in surround
22.
by jbay 8y ago
In my real estate venture, the dividends are paid exclusively to the investors who are my shareholders. So there are no free riders; the people who don't invest don't get the same benefits as those who do. For ventures like this,
23.
by jbay 8y ago
Was my explanation inadequate? We're not the people in category (2) who are concerned about free riders; we're all the people in category (3) who would be free riders. But we also want our water treatment plant. And we are willi
24.
by jbay 8y ago
> "The only time taxes are required is when people will not freely give money for a project. That is literally the only reason taxes exist. Nothing is stopping people from donating to the government." This really sounds true, b
25.
by jbay 8y ago
Actually, the US only thought that there wasn't MAD. As mentioned in the documentary "The Fog of War", only decades later did the US discover that there were already nuclear missiles with warheads in Cuba when they began
26.
by jbay 8y ago
Japan is bigger than Tokyo! Anywhere outside of Tokyo, even in beautiful livable world-class cities, the prices for Japanese homes are quite reasonable. For example, this is in a very central and convenient part of Kyoto: https:/&#x2F
27.
by jbay 11y ago
This was an excellent summary explanation; thank you.