sanderjd

27 ms·

511.
by sanderjd 1y ago
This episode has demonstrated that diplomacy is not a credible option. So with that off the table, the only two options now are 1. A series of "1 and done" engagements every few years or months, as the regime tries to race toward
512.
by sanderjd 1y ago
I think it's reasonable to use "unauthorized" to include international law and treaties. It is true that the US (and maybe every country?) also does "unauthorized" things, by that definition. But I still think it is
513.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Agreed. (I did waffle upon re-reading my comment and thinking it could have been more civil. But then decided that this person is also being very thin skinned. So I think you're right that we're both right.)
514.
by sanderjd 1y ago
That sounds an awful lot like a victimhood complex. "Are you being condescending" is a subjective judgement that other people will make up their own minds about. You can't control what people think about things you say and do
515.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Your bar for "civil" is too low. Being defensive and thin skinned doesn't make your perspective more compelling.
516.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Again, this is exactly what we're talking about. You expressed a belief about "rationalists" and the history of people changing their minds about things, I suggested maybe you should reexamine that belief, and you said nope a
517.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Found the person who doesn't have this skill issue! :) Very well put. I never quite realized the connection between this creepy feeling and the Bleak House criticism of far-flung philanthropy, until this comment.
518.
by sanderjd 1y ago
It's truly fascinating how this thread is full of demonstrations of the exact phenomenon being discussed! Accused of being unable to reexamine your base principles, you respond: > rationalists, who are possibly the only meaningful s
519.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Or maybe you are demonstrating the exact failure to demonstrate introspective humility that people are talking about?
520.
by sanderjd 1y ago
... philosophy is if anything older than what we call mathematics.
521.
by sanderjd 1y ago
> "damned if you do, damned if you don't" This is right, but doesn't actually cover all the options. It's damned if you [write confidently about something and] do or don't [hedge with a probability or "
522.
by sanderjd 1y ago
> Please be civil. lol, what? That was a civil comment. This seems like an excellent example of the point being made. Replying to a perfectly reasonable but critical comment with "please be civil" is super condescending. So is
523.
by sanderjd 1y ago
> Why is that not equally condescending or lecturing? It just isn't! An inability to accurately identify what comes off as condescending is kind of the point...
524.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to discuss in the comments on this article, and I don't know which other "takedowns" you're referring to, but this person's comments on it have not been in bad faith at all. (
525.
by sanderjd 1y ago
For what it's worth, your comments in this thread have been very good descriptions of things I became frustrated with after once being quite interested / enthralled with this community / movement! (I feel like you're pro
526.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Yeah I think you're getting at what my skepticism stems from: The article with the 55% certain epistemic status and the article with the 95% certain epistemic status are both written with equal persuasive oomph. In most writing, people
527.
by sanderjd 1y ago
I read rationalist writing for a very long time, and eventually concluded that this part of it was, not universally but predominantly, performative. After you read enough articles from someone, it is clear what they have conviction in, even
528.
by sanderjd 1y ago
lol, I love that you identified the exact correct academic term for this phenomenon.
529.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Yeah, for a bunch of supposedly super-rational people, they have always seemed to have a pretty irrational belief in their own ability to overcome the human tendency toward irrationality!
530.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Yeah. I think you and I have the same opinions about this :) I like SQL more when working with tabular data (especially for analytical use cases), but that has (thus far) dominated the kinds of work I've done.
531.
by sanderjd 1y ago
How did that work? Did you have to sign up to a subscription at a gym and use a personal trainer there?
532.
by sanderjd 1y ago
I've been doing this for over fifteen years. I haven't ever worked with anyone who is good at the job in general but can't figure out SQL.
533.
by sanderjd 1y ago
I think SQL is better than datalog. I suspect this is one of those opinions that may be somewhat outside consensus on a forum like HN, but is strongly within the consensus more broadly.
534.
by sanderjd 1y ago
> But software developers often struggle to use sql Is this true? It doesn't seem true to me.
535.
by sanderjd 1y ago
This is possible. But when I read something like this, I just wonder: Why would this be more efficient than doing this with the same component we already call "libraries" - that is, a normal library or component created with some
536.
by sanderjd 1y ago
This is well put and something I have tried to express to people. Long before LLMs came onto the scene, I was telling people (like friends and family trying to understand what I do at work) that the actual coding part of the job is the leas
537.
by sanderjd 1y ago
As much as I'm finding LLMs incredibly useful, this "world where computer languages disappear" doesn't resonate with me at all. I have yet to see any workflows where the computer language is no longer a critical piece of
538.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Yeah I would agree with "it's not the majority of the work". This is what's making these discussions feel so contentious I think. People say "these are very useful tools!" and people push back on that. But then
539.
by sanderjd 1y ago
Yeah. But I've been reorienting my sense of the proportion of the work that is tedious.
540.
by sanderjd 1y ago
It is though, because it can do a pretty good job of every template. I remember what I revelation it was a million years ago or so when rails came along with its "scaffold". That was a huge productivity boost. But it just did one

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