leot

14 ms·

121.
by leot 9y ago
The hypothesis is that it's maximizing the value of BTC, not the number.
122.
by leot 9y ago
Hey Erik :) -- I recall you telling me to think of bitcoin itself as a kind of startup. Clarification: I should have said "optimizing for value of BTC". Not protocol, the emergent system that has as its goal the maximization of th
123.
by leot 9y ago
Most memes lack the ability to self-modify while preserving the thing they're optimizing for.
124.
by leot 9y ago
Not sure. One problem is that there isn't another super-AI to compare it against.
125.
by leot 9y ago
And yet
126.
by leot 9y ago
Economic paradoxes are a real thing.
127.
by leot 9y ago
Hypothesis: bitcoin is well-modeled as an emergent superintelligence optimizing for btc instead of paperclips. If so, we've got a problem.
128.
by leot 9y ago
Want to join a team with founded by neuroscience PhDs that has already had considerable success developing technology for intelligently interacting with dogs (and many other animals)? Send email to leo@clever.pet :)
129.
by leot 9y ago
easier scientifically != easier politically
130.
by leot 9y ago
I don't have stats to back this up, but my ridesharing experiences are almost always better than taxi experiences, and if the taxi experience has improved recently it's because of competition with ride sharing. By all means enforc
131.
by leot 9y ago
When was the last time you rated a local cab? If no one uses the system it might as well not exist.
132.
by leot 9y ago
Game theory makes it clear why anonymous cabs paid in cash will almost always provide worse service than a rating sensitive system. The notion that people will be kind and nice because of social norms or "plain decency" or somethi
133.
by leot 9y ago
When MtGox's trade delay hit 30 mins+ (April 2013), and the price was crashing, I hopped on to IRC. I went to mtgox's channel and advocated in the strongest terms that they halt trading, like any sane exchange would do (the trade
134.
by leot 9y ago
Per the other comments here, the applicability of Gresham's law as the author describes is questionable. However, the author's broader point appears to be that the economic impact of a deflationary currency is largely unknown, and
135.
by leot 9y ago
That we pit nature against nurture has within it the implicit assumption that what "nature" gives nurture can't change. DNA is mechanistic in how it operates. Its power comes from our ignorance of the way it affects us. When
136.
by leot 9y ago
Why not just broadcast the signature and metadata right away?
137.
by leot 9y ago
Yes, definitely on the forex thing. But with cryptocurrency-level liquidity there is no reason for any normal consumer to hold funds in any particular crypto currency (or any at all), since they can exchange them cheaply and quickly on dema
138.
by leot 9y ago
Taxes, central bank, military, and existence of cash all preserve value of fiat. And, further, fiat currencies aren't perfectly liquid with respect to each other.
139.
by leot 9y ago
Assume near-perfect liquidity among x-coins. Assume, also, that software makes starting a new kind of coin as easy as starting a small business. This implies that the crypto-currency market cap will be divided among far more than "21M
140.
by leot 9y ago
> up to a max of 600W. Not nearly enough for sustained flight of something this size. Which size? Why? Human powered airplanes exist. Max sustained human output is around 400W. Are RTGs significantly heavier than humans?
141.
by leot 9y ago
Globalization of wealth is a result of treaties between sovereign nations. But if so much wealth is hidden and not tied to each nation's fate, those with the most power and influence lose the connection to their compatriots. This has l
142.
by leot 9y ago
> If we didn't have critics we'd still have kings with divine right. This seems like an exaggeration, but it's really just to say that we need people to look at things critically. That's an extreme straw man that trad
143.
by leot 9y ago
Counter-proposal?
144.
by leot 10y ago
Even with forward osmosis?
145.
by leot 10y ago
So, that's institutional?
146.
by leot 10y ago
All of those look to be accidental. Can you show a bias in technical errors that's partisan in nature? When Fox cut it was deliberate.
147.
by leot 10y ago
FOX News literally circulates a memo, every day, that guides its treatment of political subjects. That they have a primary goal of pushing an agenda is made manifest by FOX's abrupt termination of coverage of a meeting between Presiden
148.
by leot 10y ago
Interesting. Thanks!
149.
by leot 10y ago
I've been wondering what happened to this story, which was doing better than most but didn't appear anywhere on first 15 hn pages. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12557020 https://twitter.com/
150.
by leot 10y ago
One thing I've been curious about for a while: would it be possible to survive free fall into water if equipped with a sufficiently long spike-shaped "base"? The sharp part of the spike, which would probably have to be 100+ f

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