updawg's recent activity

  1. Comment on Carbon dioxide pipelines and underground injection can cut greenhouse gas, but community opposition is fierce in ~enviro

    updawg
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    No, this is not how we should stop climate change. We should stop it by cutting carbon emissions in the first place. Anything else is just a Band-Aid. Unfortunately, being realistic, we need to...

    No, this is not how we should stop climate change. We should stop it by cutting carbon emissions in the first place. Anything else is just a Band-Aid. Unfortunately, being realistic, we need to use a lot of Band-Aids. But that in no way means that we are on their side because they absolutely are not on ours.

    Edit: not

    15 votes

  2. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
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    I can't believe you said that I was not reading your comment properly when most of your comment was about how pointless it is to measure VO2max even though I have never said that you should get...

    I can't believe you said that I was not reading your comment properly when most of your comment was about how pointless it is to measure VO2max even though I have never said that you should get your VO2 max measured and, indeed, have implied otherwise. So I guess you're right that the discussion is over.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
    Link Parent
    I feel like you aren't really responding to what I'm actually saying and that you are making up situations that don't really exist. Someone who exercises vigorously but still has a low VO2max...

    I feel like you aren't really responding to what I'm actually saying and that you are making up situations that don't really exist. Someone who exercises vigorously but still has a low VO2max either has something wrong with their body that prevents physiological adaptations or they are obese. Similarly, you aren't going to be good at the 5K if you don't have a decent VO2max. So of course there isn't going to be science that says these people are in trouble because these people largely don't exist.

    Also the section that you quoted absolutely is science and I never said whether increasing your VO2max through weight loss or through exercise is better--I just said that the easiest way to increase your VO2max is to lose weight and obviously being at a healthy weight is associated with longer lifespans.

    It really feels like you're jumping through a lot of Hoops to disprove that VO2max is a good indicator of longevity. You literally cannot maintain intense exercise without a decent vo2max, so the intensity of the exercise maintained must logically be a valid proxy for VO2max. That doesn't mean that there aren't people with a high VO2max who have a bad "intensity score," but it does mean that there are no people with a bad VO2max who have a high "intensity score"--that would be physically impossible. Plus, no idea why you keep bringing up elites. They have nothing to do with this. Neither does going and actually taking a VO2max test. You can have a high VO2max without ever taking a test.

    The fact of the matter is that VO2max is a practical synthesis of two fundamental factors that play a role in your longevity. Having a good VO2max correlate with greater longevity regardless of if an individual gets their VO2max tested or trains specifically for their VO2max.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on Chinese police officers will soon be on patrol in Hungary in ~news

    updawg
    Link Parent
    Yes, but they're usually kept relatively secret and they masquerade as something else. This the first time I'm aware of that it's been an official agreement and where they're actually doing law...

    Yes, but they're usually kept relatively secret and they masquerade as something else. This the first time I'm aware of that it's been an official agreement and where they're actually doing law enforcement and not just applying pressure to--or even kidnapping--dissidents.

    18 votes

  5. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
    Link Parent
    Your first sentence doesn't seem to fully fit with the rest of what you said. VO2max can still be the best metric without there being a need to actually measure it consistently. You're also...

    Your first sentence doesn't seem to fully fit with the rest of what you said. VO2max can still be the best metric without there being a need to actually measure it consistently. You're also ignoring one of the main things that VO2max actually measures: your weight. The easiest way to increase your VO2 max is not to work out; it's to lose weight. In that way, VO2max is largely just a synthesis of the two biggest components that go into your health: your weight and your fitness. That is why VO2max is so great. It's like in baseball with your batting average and your walks. It's great to have a high batting average and it's great to have a lot of walks, but when you combine them into on-base percentage, you get an actually useful statistic that can actually be used to predict your ability to produce runs.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on This YouTuber has been uploading Half-Life 3 ‘updates’ every day for over six years in ~games

    updawg
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    I have never played Half-Life games, but I absolutely love that this guy frames his videos as if he is doing them for the Dharma Initiative from Lost. He's not dedicated; he is just stuck in a...

    I have never played Half-Life games, but I absolutely love that this guy frames his videos as if he is doing them for the Dharma Initiative from Lost. He's not dedicated; he is just stuck in a bunker and it is his only job.

    5 votes

  7. Comment on Is Emacs or VIM worth learning in today's day and age? in ~comp

    updawg
    Link Parent
    I have actually only used it on Chrome.

    I have actually only used it on Chrome.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Chinese police officers will soon be on patrol in Hungary in ~news

    updawg
    Link Parent
    I'm curious how the EU courts will respond when somebody gets arrested in Hungary by a Chinese police officer.

    I'm curious how the EU courts will respond when somebody gets arrested in Hungary by a Chinese police officer.

    18 votes

  9. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
    Link Parent
    That doesn't really seem to provide much of a counterpoint though. The first argument is that it's not the only thing that matters for elites. Of course, but it's the most important factor that...

    That doesn't really seem to provide much of a counterpoint though. The first argument is that it's not the only thing that matters for elites. Of course, but it's the most important factor that got them there; it's the thing that they couldn't have ever been elite without. Saying that VO2max isn't the only thing doesn't mean that it's not the most important thing.

    The second argument is that those tests that were used to correlate VO2max with longevity were not actually measuring VO2max. That also seems like a strange, nitpicky argument to make because the test measures something that correlates very highly with VO2max and something that cannot be achieved without your specific VO2max. It seems silly to think that longevity correlates more with your neuromuscular ability to make yourself go a certain speed than the most important underlying characteristic that gets you to the point where you can maintain that speed.

    It feels contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    That's because the Air Force did it in the stupidest possible way with elite athletes failing the test, and people literally smoking a cigarette before taking the test as a way to make it more...

    That's because the Air Force did it in the stupidest possible way with elite athletes failing the test, and people literally smoking a cigarette before taking the test as a way to make it more likely that they would pass.
    Edit: typos

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I had "predictor" originally, but then changed it to factor in success" for that reason. It might not quite win your 5K for you, but it will get you to the level where you are competitive....

    Yeah, I had "predictor" originally, but then changed it to factor in success" for that reason. It might not quite win your 5K for you, but it will get you to the level where you are competitive. Basically, if you have two identical people who run let's say...five days a week, one of whom trains their lactate threshold once a week while the other trains their VO2max, the one who did the VO2max sessions will likely win (ignoring the fact that Lactate Threshold and VO2max training sessions often overlap).

  12. Comment on Is Emacs or VIM worth learning in today's day and age? in ~comp

    updawg
    Link Parent
    I mostly just found Vimium annoying, and then even after I removed it I still sometimes see cursors in my browser when I click somewhere.

    I mostly just found Vimium annoying, and then even after I removed it I still sometimes see cursors in my browser when I click somewhere.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Why VO2 max is the greatest predictor of lifespan | Dan's journey back to health and fitness (Pt. 2) in ~health

    updawg
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    For any of you running 5Ks, VO2max is also the greatest factor in success in 5Ks ;)

    For any of you running 5Ks, VO2max is also the greatest factor in success in 5Ks ;)

    4 votes

  15. Comment on Undocumented workers played a larger and more dangerous role in delivering the Olympic Games than the Emmanuel Macron administration acknowledges (gifted link) in ~sports

    updawg
    Link Parent
    cc @mycketforvirrad By the way, I'm not sure this really belongs in sports. It relates to sports, but it's not really about sports.

    cc @mycketforvirrad
    By the way, I'm not sure this really belongs in sports. It relates to sports, but it's not really about sports.

  16. Comment on Jack Dorsey quits Bluesky board and urges users to stay on Elon Musk's X in ~tech

    updawg
    Link Parent
    The app doesn't have that and the problem is that I can't sign in to the web version without knowing the email address (and my saved credentials don't work, nor does the saved email address for...

    The app doesn't have that and the problem is that I can't sign in to the web version without knowing the email address (and my saved credentials don't work, nor does the saved email address for the "forgot password" button.

    Not like it matters because the extent of my activity is retweeting one time, but it's the principle that matters.

  17. Comment on The emotional support animal racket in ~life.pets

    updawg
    Link Parent
    I gotta say I don't think you're going to get much support on that position.

    I gotta say I don't think you're going to get much support on that position.

    17 votes

  19. Comment on Warner Bros. to release new ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ in 2026, Peter Jackson to produce and Andy Serkis to direct in ~movies

  20. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of May 6 in ~news