lukifer

66 ms·

601.
by lukifer 7y ago
One thing I've wondered about is the assumption that every possible universe exists independently, with an infinity of entire universes splitting at every fork ( n states per picosecond per particle, compounding!); it seems to me that
602.
by lukifer 7y ago
Not all government expenditure is waste: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entrepreneurial_State But it's also not hard to imagine equivalent scenarios of corporate welfare / graft. At some point, how differe
603.
by lukifer 7y ago
If pitched properly (as a relatively conservative, "small government" alternative to the Green New Deal), I think a Carbon Dividend could be very popular, not least because it would be net-cash-positive for most working folks. It
604.
by lukifer 7y ago
The bubble goes both directions. I've been working in tech from Colorado for a decade, and only started getting involved in SF this year; the culture shock is surreal (not least because it's normal to those on the other side), and
605.
by lukifer 7y ago
Only a small subset of deceptive speech; it’s perfectly legal to lie about who you voted for, or that you like someone’s haircut. Plausible deniability (my browser is Chrome, I swear) is potentially a means for individual autonomy and count
606.
by lukifer 7y ago
> The truck... had to take scheduled breaks but drove mostly autonomously. There were zero “disengagements,” or times the self-driving system had to be suspended because of a problem These seems to imply short bursts of voluntarily shutt
607.
by lukifer 7y ago
$2300? Yikes. Curious if the quoted 100k-unit estimate was for the so-called "Creator Edition" (clearly targeted at devs and early adopters), or if it was supposed to include a more mass-market unit that hasn't shipped.
608.
by lukifer 7y ago
Omit needless words?
609.
by lukifer 7y ago
Many currently receiving benefits might gladly give them up in exchange for $1k/mo, cash in hand, with no risk of losing benefits due to higher income or filling out a form incorrectly. But even if not, I think there's a case that
610.
by lukifer 7y ago
No dispute. And yet, I don't see any other instances of the a near-45-degree angle spike over the last 20k years (with the obvious caveat that our data on the past is imperfect). Like I said, not a smoking gun; just a clue that it&#x27
611.
by lukifer 7y ago
I don't think there's any disputing the overall trendline, which far predates the Industrial Revolution. Yet that doesn't mean that human activity isn't also meaningfully impactful. Though it's hardly scientific, fr
612.
by lukifer 7y ago
I found the same documentary instructive. I think there's an insight there into human tribal instincts, demonstrating that our epistemologies can't help be be socially mediated. It was flabbergasting how deeply intelligent some of
613.
by lukifer 7y ago
> First, Thomas Paine made the point that it was better to live under a dictator than a complex system that hurt you. Interesting; can you point to the quote/source on that? (I'm also reminded of the Jobs quote: "Conspirac
614.
by lukifer 7y ago
In the case you describe, that's mostly correct; however, you would end up paying on a $2mil valuation if you built a $1mil home on the property. Under a Land Value Tax, you'd only pay taxes on the property ("ground rent&quot
615.
by lukifer 7y ago
Maybe they changed the default? I turned it off long ago: https://www.addictivetips.com/web/disable-swipe-to-go-back-i...
616.
by lukifer 7y ago
The fact that Chrome maps left/right touchpad swipe gestures to Back/Forward basically makes proper horizontal scrolling unviable. :(
617.
by lukifer 7y ago
> It's time to re-think the idea of housing as an "investment." Shameless policy plug: part of the reason that property tends to be a good investment is that a significant portion of its value derives not from improvements
618.
by lukifer 7y ago
It's basic supply and demand: if hiring remote, you're drawing from a larger talent pool, and therefore increasing supply. In theory, this works the other direction (remote workers have access to more employers), but the reality i
619.
by lukifer 7y ago
Scott Alexander wrote a great piece about counter-signaling; for instance, when expensive clothes become too accessible to the middle class, the wealthy can swerve by wearing cheap clothes as a counter-signal: https://www.lesswro
620.
by lukifer 7y ago
Yes. I've become convinced that Pigovian taxes [0] (connected to a basic dividend) are the answer to climate change, and to ecological externalities in general. (In addition to greasing the wheels of political viability, a dividend ens
621.
by lukifer 7y ago
> buy your girl that Gucci bag if she wants it Veblen goods [0] arguably create a real problem for the concept of markets being efficient. Essentially, the market signals feed on themselves, converting to hard-to-fake status signals, exp
622.
by lukifer 7y ago
I've wanted to take complete ownership of my email for a while now, but it seems risky, given the need for 100% uptime, and the anti-spam/deliverability ecosystem of the major providers and senders (to say nothing of security conc
623.
by lukifer 7y ago
The problem is, it's not obvious a priori which ideas are crackpot and which ideas are hidden gems. (The infamous comparison being Newton's passion for theology and alchemy in addition to calculus and physics; it's not obvi
624.
by lukifer 7y ago
The obvious historical corollary being IBM's role in the Holocaust: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
625.
by lukifer 7y ago
People remember what Snow Leopard became , not what it was at launch. It's also contrasted in memory with the bold, controversial, iOS-influenced reimagining of Lion, leaving behind an inevitable nostalgia for the stable simplicity of
626.
by lukifer 7y ago
'"Is", "is", "is" — the idiocy of the word haunts me. If it were abolished, human thought might begin to make sense. I don't know what anything "is"; I only know how it seems to me at this m
627.
by lukifer 7y ago
It's a legitimate concern; but the majority of carbon-producing activity is on the production side, and can be taxed from the producer, or even as a "carbon TCO" VAT on the consumption side. While tax dodges are a risk (parti
628.
by lukifer 7y ago
A classic essay on this phenomenon: "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
629.
by lukifer 7y ago
Yes, I suppose that is a risk; as with our (allegedly) progressive-taxation system, a carbon tax could invite loopholes and creative accounting, both in public and private sectors. It would take a significant groundswell of grassroots polit
630.
by lukifer 7y ago
I've had this happen three times now, all with products I would be very unlikely to buy. After confirming that I was not charged for any of the three instances, I took the path of least resistance and donated the items (none of which w

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