jmcqk6

7 ms·

61.
by jmcqk6 2y ago
Does it really? I find I have a pretty common process, where I will hear something and it doesn't make sense to me, and then I pause for a moment to think, and I realize the speaker is using some word or phrase differently than I was
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
There is no platonic definition for words that make it wrong to use them in a different way. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. If someone uses a term like "open source" in a way that is clearly different from how you
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
On the other hand, it's likely that you have the potential to be really good at something that is totally outside your awareness right now, and having a broad education can be beneficial to expanding your exposure to such possibility.
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
I think there is another force at play here - the assumption that there is a platonic ideal good education system that works at every scale of population. Attempting to scale something that large forces people into boxes that fit inside the
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
This is possibly one way to solve it, but I think there is a simpler way, following causal chains and the laws of thermodynamics. We clearly have systems that can absorb energy for later use - creating a natural "pause" in the cau
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
Why does it bother you?
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
> I think what you are missing is that in all transactions in the current financial system there is an additional source of counterparty risk in the bank itself. This is not a risk I have really worried about. I much much larger problem
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
> Crypto is a way to store and exchange things over the internet without counterparty risk. I feel like I must be missing something, because there's still massive amounts of counterparty risk. If you're engaging with a bad act
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
Yes, you are exactly right, that is my awkward wording for exactly the point you're trying to make. I should have added, "besides life" to the end of my sentence. The fact that there is not a more thermodynamically favorable
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
I'm a huge fan of Nick Lane, and I'm not an expert, so I may have misunderstood. I have not read "Power, Sex, Suicide" but have read "The vital question", "transformer," and most importantly in this
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
Yeah, that's an exciting discovery. I was excited by this, because I believe it demonstrates a dissipative pathway that could have contributed to abiogenesis. Energy gradients are a driver of emergent complexity.
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
I'm pretty sure it is literally true that the oxygen in the atmosphere is there only because living things keep putting it there. You're right that without life, it would be sequestered in oxides pretty quickly. That's the
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
This is very true. Both giving and receiving attention to another human being is really important for the development of emotionally healthy connections. It is the foundation of authentic connection. This is why we've seen an epidem
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
I'm not sure, but I think homicide might be worse than an incorrect pedant.
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by jmcqk6 2y ago
My understanding is that the "flaw" was that it allows itself to be modified via the amendment process. Given his connection to self-referential problems, this makes sense.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
Node has something like this built in: https://nodejs.org/api/async_context.html#class-asynclocalst...
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
I wonder if you're taking a particularly narrow definition of what faith is. I don't think it's possible to operate without faith, regardless of belief in god. You are not going to get out and check every bridge you drive ac
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure there is no universe where that is true.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
In this case "natural" might be better described as "sustainable". Of course it was natural, we are all part of nature. The issue is the sustainability of these ecosystems and the impact on life around it. The indigeno
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
How would you describe a rock sitting on the top of a mountain? It is not moving relative to the matter around it, but it certainly contains quite a bit of energy, in a variety of different forms. I am trying to recognize that even in that
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
It's a complex topic. I think it really got kicked off with "What is Life?" and we've been able to build more details on it since then. There are many parts of the story that we know in incredible details. Chaos theor
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
My current intuition goes something like this: Energy MUST flow. No matter how energy is captured and stored, there is a pressure for it to continue moving. The movement of energy means that matter is always moving, and new configurations
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
Wow, that's a great way of describing this! Definitely noted for future use.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
Check out the work of Ilya Prigogine - he won a Nobel prize in the 70's for his work on self-organizing complexity. There is a selection force in the universe for increasing complexity, being driven by the dissipation of energy. When
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
> I'm not saying you should spank your kids. I'm only questioning whether it actually causes any problem If you're actually interested in an answer here, it's pretty easy to find people for whom it did cause problems.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
corporal punishment is child abuse. It does not mean children can do whatever they like. You might find it difficult to find alternatives, but better alternatives than violence exists. Save your children the costs of therapy as adults, and
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
It doesn't have to do with money. The cheapest fucking thing in the world is sunlight. it is completely about barbarian, punitive, punishment. it doesn't work, but it makes many of us feel good, so we continue doing it.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
It's been demonstrated in the laboratory and is supported by mountains of evidence. You really do not know what you're talking about. If you do not understand something, it is better to respond with curiosity than dismissal. I&#
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
Every single one of his books is amazing and mind blowing. His latest "Transformers" on the krebb cycle is a must read if you're interested in the origins of life.
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by jmcqk6 3y ago
No, it's a listing of demonstrated contributions. Saying someone is right because they are a police officer is an appeal to authority. Saying someone is relevant because they have worked and made contributions to a field over the cours

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