Erwin

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• Commented on Go away, Muse, you're drunk (again)
  Hacking. Either through introduction of demons or similar molecules. Major magics might need to be done in a clean room / sanctified space. Also, highly exponential spells unless there is a limitation on acquisition of heat energy. Cities end up...
• Commented on An AI app walks into a writers room
  One thing I noticed was that, if you search for English children's books with significant female and/or Chinese representation, there's a real dearth. Almost certainly lots worse for smaller minorities. Well, that's true up and down the age chain... And,...
• Commented on An AI app walks into a writers room
  Current applications? Children's books - particularly in combination with AI art. It appears that at least some people are doing brisk business. Assignment modeling Sometimes students have no idea how to structure a formulaic writing assignments. ChatGPT does provide lousy,...
• Commented on WTF
  Heh. Any guesses for eventual outcome? First guess is that this will go on for a while. Second guess is that eventual Speaker will not be a Democrat. Most likely is that someone other than McCarthy, but a near clone...
• Commented on WTF
  For efficiency, it becomes a value judgement. Bear in mind that remembering the thoughts of a hazy minded high schooler is hard. Even that kid had enough common sense to walk away after lurking a while on libertarian forums. Also,...
• Commented on WTF
  Dunno. I had a flirtation with libertarianism in my youth. That said, it was mostly based on the notion that reducing government power would tend to improve efficiency. (Often comes of visiting the 'unsuitable teachers facility' as a high school...
• Commented on Strong and Stable!
  Dunno. I suspect that Marshall plans for rural issues are mostly a bad idea.* The towns are dying for quite a few reasons, mostly related to efficiency. Propping them up only prolongs suffering. Decreasing their half life is likely a...
• Commented on Strong and Stable!
  Now. It is probably pure anger on my side, but I am inclined towards less government intervention for rural voters. Cut subsidies for farms, stop forcing the provision of roads, plumbing, and electricity at a discount, scrutinize disability quite carefully,...
• Commented on Strong and Stable!
  Now. Suspect Musk fails. But...he does have a finger on the main value proposition for Twitter. It isn't advertising to people (most people don't spend much time there) and it isn't selling people's information (Facebook, Amazon, and Google have more)....
• Commented on The gathering crisis
  While all of this is problematic, I've come to the conclusion that democracy generally won't solve problems. It kind of meanders until a crisis state is reached. (Crisis -> breakdown of civic order on levels that appear unlikely to be...
• Commented on Abolish the monarchy!
  Well. I'd be careful. I have met decent Christians. But...would characterize Christianity, on the whole, as evil, at least at the present time. @Greg Angry, after being fed bollocks... With great respect, you care too much to fit into my...
• Commented on Abolish the monarchy!
  Atheists are, broadly, as monolithic as Christians. For Christians, I classify into NewAge, Moderate, and evangelical. Basically, good, okay, and bad company. NewAge - ignores more harmful Christian teachings. Moderate - still harmful, but not obnoxious about it. Evangelical -...
• Commented on Omicron
  When we invaded Iraq, I was aware that the pretext was nonsense, but hoped we were cynically crippling OPEC. Turns out, well, I was too optimistic when I hoped that someone evil and competent was in charge... Looking at the...
• Commented on Fossil fuels are dead (and here's why)
  One consideration. The UK appears to be a bit of an edge case. While I agree that nuclear has some desirable properties in terms of grid size reduction, most of the world's population belongs to nations with enough surface area...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Well, latest Lancet is claiming doubled hospitalization rates, so, assuming outcomes are similar, quite a few more deaths incoming....
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Agree on the authoritarianism, skeptical on the batshittery. I'd guess that most of that is simply motivated reasoning, little different than agreeing that your friend's ex was awful. I doubt they can win entirely. There are states comprising large fractions...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Suspect American politics becomes interesting once the Republican party implodes. Political stability seems to thrive on a continuous gradient, where policy shifts to pick up the median voter. Problem is that there's a 'social conservative' (racist) voting bloc. One of...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Agreed. Albeit, I'd make a distinction between Republicans and Republican politicians. I've seen plenty of Republicans turn away from the national party. They clearly have many reasonable choices. Frankly, there's room in the CA Democratic party for plenty of typically...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  I'd be careful about 'othering' the South. My perspective is that the only fundamental difference between California and the South is that of political feasiblity. Well within my lifetime, we elected Reagan and Wilson. We, whether CA or NY, have...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  So, when my parents moved to California, the house they bought had a fairly standard clause prohibiting sales to mixed race couples. And, I've been told that the Yellow Scare in CA was responsible for the creation of the INS....
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Perhaps less sample size than time. There's a probably rational bias towards skepticism towards studies that fit a narrative and/or whose conclusions benefit some interest group. (Honestly, a fairly distinguished statistician recommended such a bias when reading studies...) On their...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Maybe. For hospital loading in the Delta wave, it seems to be capping out at similar levels of ICU usage to the winter peak. Seems, mind you. So, I wouldn't expect significantly higher death rates. And I really dislike Republicans,...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Dunno. The last 2 to vax I know - (August 21) - were probably 50% - wait on larger sample group, 20% generic distrust of government (immigrants, so not an American thing), and 30% working from home and suspecting they...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Although, in an optimistic mood, might anti-vaxxers be seen as simple conservatives? As in, resistant to change and preferring an inferior older solution (doing nothing) versus trying a new vaccine? I've seen relatives making similar sounding arguments about tablet-style cell...
• Commented on On inappropriate reactions to COVID19
  Overly optimistic. Assuming a sterilizing immunity of roughly 50% and an R0 exceeding 8, in a fully vaccinated population, COVID-19 will be an endemic virus, perhaps indefinitely. Vaccination hopefully reduces the incidence of permanent mental disability. Some people will opt...
• Commented on Starship bloopers
  With kidlings, I can prove that I sleep on NP-Complete mattresses. The South American Bitcoin thing does illustrate a use-case for digital currency....
• Commented on Starship bloopers
  I liked Starship Troopers (at a much younger age). And, probably unpopular, liked the movie -> it felt like a natural 'movie' extension of the novel. (Fascist military government made quite a bit more obvious, to the point of parody.)...
• Commented on Because I am bored ...
  I wonder - why not? The dollar standard is effectively a tax on the world. While beneficial to the US, it doesn't seem likely that other nations are glad to pay that tax. Other currencies are less trustworthy than the...
• Commented on Because I am bored ...
  Beyond that, in some fraction of teachings of some churches, you'll find relatively productive advice on, eg, mindfulness. For in-group people, religion often has net positive value - well beyond any of the actually religious teachings. @322 Damian Albeit, China...
• Commented on Because I am bored ...
  How does proof of stake work? There are assertions that proof of stake based coins trivialize the power consumption issue. I didn't see an obvious flaw. Seems easier than satellites. For digital currencies, I don't hate them intrinsically. They do...