jrowen

16 ms·

211.
by jrowen 1y ago
I was watching a clip from the The Lost World (1925) [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chwzrwHnCtk ] the other day. I was struck by the silly (to my ears) orchestral fanfare scoring such a dramatic scene, and the fact that al
212.
by jrowen 1y ago
Framing it as landlords and serfs is such a tell of the culture of the community. What about curators? What are they looking for? Anything-goes anarchy? This idea that any kind of centralized direction or authority is evil just leads to a c
213.
by jrowen 1y ago
Upon some further reading, particularly this[1] page, I'm going to revise this stance and say that the evidence and consensus is pretty substantial. I do still think "it's different" but even starting from the late Pleis
214.
by jrowen 1y ago
99% of the population dies of famine and crime (killed for their food). This is just irrational. What precedent or basis is there for this? There have been any number of disastrous crop seasons from ancient Egypt to the US Atlantic. Why d
215.
by jrowen 1y ago
It's more about the definition of collapse. By your definition civilization collapsed during World War 2. Generally a large structure that has collapsed is hopelessly, irreparably broken - capable of performing near 0% of its function.
216.
by jrowen 1y ago
I do appreciate this. There is, we can't afford it: Hurricane-proof greenhouses for all crops everywhere. We can definitely afford it. We can cut out the livestock trophic level for a huge reduction in need. We're eating a lot o
217.
by jrowen 1y ago
This is an interesting analysis, but it does feel a bit apples-to-oranges. It is good to seek perspective on the impact we are having, but in terms of "are we in an extinction event" it feels woefully premature to me, perhaps even
218.
by jrowen 1y ago
I might ask you to tweak your model as well..."collapse of civilization" is such an extreme, dramatic, far-reaching term, people are always going to latch onto that. It's sensationalism. I would describe what you're talk
219.
by jrowen 1y ago
I mean, I was asking you to supply the "what happens then" part. That's my point, most doom prophecies seem to take the form of: 1. Scary event 2. ??? 3. Collapse I think it does just kind of come down to an innate optimism v
220.
by jrowen 1y ago
Based on the prediction that some significant percentage of life will be extinct decades from now? I don't see how anything that has happened yet in our timeline compares in any way to a massive asteroid impact.
221.
by jrowen 1y ago
Ok I'm really missing your point then. Can you restate it in a way that contradicts something I'm saying?
222.
by jrowen 1y ago
Yes, and some dinosaurs are still alive today. We call them birds. The environment of the earth was still radically altered in an instant, and our ancestors were the winners.
223.
by jrowen 1y ago
I mean, I do actually find solace in the fact that extinction events in general can create new conditions for new forms of life, and that one in particular paved the way for mammals. But, my comment was only responding to the assertion that
224.
by jrowen 1y ago
Check out the Cretaceous-Paleogene. Pretty important one.
225.
by jrowen 1y ago
It's not clear to me how any of these lead to civilizational collapse. That's equally unhinged doom fetishization. There is an incredible amount of resiliency baked into our society, and resourcefulness baked into our biology. Pic
226.
by jrowen 1y ago
Socrates expressed strong reservations about books and writing, primarily because he believed they weaken memory and true understanding, leading to a false sense of knowledge and a reliance on external "marks" rather than internal
227.
by jrowen 1y ago
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying. That usage of bureaucratic seems strange. I think your counsel is more true than ever. Moving forward, search is the meta-skill. The information is readily available, you can do anything i
228.
by jrowen 1y ago
To this point, it is actually wild how we each see a different projection of the chamber depending on which articles and threads we dive into. As much as I feel like I "know" HN, I do marvel at the entire subsections of the discou
229.
by jrowen 1y ago
Thank you for the detailed explanation. In that case it makes sense because it was actually writing or recordkeeping done by a human hand that failed to communicate some pertinent bits of information (though in a more abstract sense than be
230.
by jrowen 1y ago
Is it just me or is [il]legible the word of the month somewhere? I suddenly keep seeing this word pop up in contexts I would not normally associate it with.
231.
by jrowen 1y ago
It’s more than strong indications. What any individual life form perceives is a unique subset or projection of reality. To the extent that “one true reality” exists, we are each viewing part of it through a different window.
232.
by jrowen 1y ago
But with Reddit, it's the only forum left (for any number of broad and narrow topics) What are some examples? In my experience there are numerous other communities of various types for any given interest. Reddit is just kind of a co
233.
by jrowen 1y ago
Every publishing platform in existence is owned by someone with a God-like authority. What alternative is there? Can you give an example of a "real" forum?
234.
by jrowen 1y ago
Why stop at shadowbanned users? A uniquely crafted custom world for every user!
235.
by jrowen 1y ago
Amazing take! Would you say that you could comfortably afford it but are opposed to the costs on principle? What does your average home cooked meal look like? In my experience most people with the means rather enjoy eating out, but you soun
236.
by jrowen 1y ago
There's a difference in terms of their motives and methods and the surrounding context, but, ultimately it's just actions and consequences and a messy collective decision-making process. The collective ruling body has thus far dec
237.
by jrowen 1y ago
Yes? The law is not some absolute arbiter of morality and it does change across time and jurisdictions. It's really only an expression of consequences that may be enforced by a body of power. In many situations an individual does not f
238.
by jrowen 1y ago
Then how do we know that Freud was "wrong" or "inaccurate" or "just made up" or "a fraud"? It's definitely a lot more murky and there are massive gaps in our understanding between biology and neu
239.
by jrowen 1y ago
I think it's because it did kind of used to mean that. It described people that couldn't mask, couldn't totally function in society, couldn't have the kind of job depicted in the Autism Simulator. It's been expanded
240.
by jrowen 1y ago
I don't think it's any less science, inasmuch as science seeks to explain the natural world. It's just at a higher level of complexity and a different point in the learning curve than more externally observable levels of scie

More ›