Nancy Lebovitz

Nancy Lebovitz

  • Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
    Unfortunately, you didn't give a source for those quotes, though just looking at the style, they don't look modern. https://www.stephenhicks.org/2015/12/08/martin-luther-on-the-jews/ This does seem sound. Modern Lutherans (in the US, and maybe in Germany) seem harmless enough these days, which goes...
  • Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
    I remember a panel some years ago about Jewish themes in science fiction and a couple of examples were Mutant by Kuttner and Slan by van Vogt. ESP wasn't at all thought of as a fascist theme, people who persecuted...
  • Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
    I'm weirded out by an artificial intelligence called Grok from Elon Musk. Grokking is the thing the sort of AIs we've got can't do....
  • Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
    There's a wide anti-authoritarian streak (probably not quite what you mean by socialist) in classic sf, and I wonder how it got lost. I just reread The Stars My Destination and I'd say that's tear-the-roof-off anarchism. Heinlein's Red Planet has...
  • Commented on Do my Laundry
    This is late, but I'm most interested in the fate of the human race. If the combination of increasing human population (slowing down, but probably not enough) and increasing computation (not slowing down a bit unless malign forces are affecting...
  • Commented on The gathering crisis
    It may be a little early, but if Scotland joins the EU and is better governed and a better place to live than England, have you thought about what you want for your border/immigration policies? As I recall, folks here...
  • Commented on Crimes against Transhumanity
    I'm coming in late, but I wonder whether there would be something in play which would be something like countries as well as something like companies. Countries would have a complicated push-pull between allowing some independence of minds and wanting...
  • Commented on The impotence of the long-distance trillionaire
    I'm catching up on the thread, so I may be missing something. I very much appreciate Heteromeles point about billionaires possibly being good for something, but there's another angle, which is that sufficient power to prevent billionaires is a lot...
  • Commented on The impotence of the long-distance trillionaire
    I've heard that low-tech communities sometimes deal with bad leaders by just... moving away. The ex-leader wakes up one morning and everyone else is gone. I don't know whether this is better or worse than killing the ex-leader. It presumably...
  • Commented on Roe v Wade v Sanity
    https://twitter.com/afrodesiaq/status/1521314216682082305 "my father was a prominent anti abortion activist. clarence thomas was a close family friend growing up. i literally cannot tell you how many times i EXPLICITLY heard from these people, EXPLICITLY, smug glee over the idea of women...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    Part of the reason for the mistaken belief that Napoleon was short is that French and English inches aren't the same length. I believe this is evidence that God is trolling us. I don't have evidence handy, but I believe...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    I'm surprised that complex numbers are a problem in computer languages. Isn't algebra a mechanical process at that level?...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    Moz, do you plans include a monitoring system so that you can keep track if anything starts to go wrong in your Jeep and you can hurry back, or possibly have some features so that you can fix things remotely?...
  • Commented on Roe v Wade v Sanity
    https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2020/214-the-great-abortion-switcheroo Half an hour on the weird history of abortion politics in the US. The part which was most surprising to me is the Protestant vs. Catholic (to some extent immigrant) issues which used to be in play....
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    In re claiming that Hitler was Jewish: So if you commit atrocities, you end up saying absurdities....
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    I've assumed that Russians hauling Ukrainian wheat and farm equipment away is with the intent of killing Ukrainians by starvation. I'd rather be wrong. What are arguments one way or the other?...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    Acclimation matters, but for me it has serious limits. I live in Philadelphia without air conditioning. If it's humid, my upper limit for comfort is 85F. With stoicism, I can kid myself that 90F isn't that bad, but I feel...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    "I'm OK with sleeping when the temp is 90F/32C or a bit higher. With a fan I can normally deal with higher. And when it gets colder I just dress differently. My wife will not let this happen so we're...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    I took an Alexander Technique class in college. It's a method of improving coordination by a release that lets the head move up and that propagates through the whole body. It improves kinesthesia. The teacher didn't grade on performance because...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    I believe the best short description of the American character is "I felt I had to do something". Note the lack of thinking. It isn't about violence necessarily, though feeling one has to do something can lead to violence. As...
  • Commented on Holding pattern 2022 ...
    I like to think there will be a major religion about the Marvel Avengers and a small competing religion about the real Avengers-- Emma Peel and John Steed....
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    There's also the war on poverty....
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    So far as I know, there hasn't been anything from Alexander Dugin since the war started. I'd like to think he's embarrassed and trying to figure out what to say. Or possibly what to say if he wants to save...
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    First I was thinking that grey-eyed (gray-eyed? blue-eyed?) Athena should be having tremendous fun with this war, but then it occurred to me that she might prefer a war where both sides are clever....
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    https://buffalosystemsusa.com/ It turns out that buffalo systems sells in the US, and they have women's sizes. They also have a very thorough FAQ. Oh, here's their international link-- but it doesn't include the US. https://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/buffalo-stockists/international-stockists/ I have no idea whether...
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    Thanks for the link, I think. The commonness of extreme sexual child abuse isn't a surprise, thought it's rough to read about it. I'm surprised that the security for bitcoin is that bad, though it's possible that it's much more...
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7OeeGcMFMc&ab_channel=CoolWorlds If you already know about the Fermi Paradox, you can skip to 7:17 --17:30 for the interview with Jason Wright. If I never hear the Fermi Paradox explained again, it will be too soon.* Anyway, Wright ran computer simulations...
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    What do you make of Bret Devereaux's claim that chemical and biological warfare are pretty much not used because pound for pound, explosives are more effective? It's still possible that Putin would use them on the basis that no one...
  • Commented on Behind the Ukraine war
    About those mines: What are the Russians thinking? Does leaving minefields mean they don't expect to retake that territory? Is it possible to recognize the manufacturer for the mines by looking at the pictures? 176: "I'm also assuming the as...
  • Commented on Yokai Land Q&A
    Quote from "The Advent on Channel Twelve" And it came to pass than on the Friday after the two-week buildup, in the closing quarter-hour of the Poopy Panda Pals, there was a special film combining live and animated action as...
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