umlautsuser123's recent activity

  1. Comment on A comfortable life for 8.5 billion people would require only 30% of current global resource and energy use in ~science

    umlautsuser123
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I live in a city with ~500 sq. ft. right now. I do feel like that's a great amount of space for one person, although you have to still be space-conscious. Two people, if you can figure out...

    Yeah, I live in a city with ~500 sq. ft. right now. I do feel like that's a great amount of space for one person, although you have to still be space-conscious. Two people, if you can figure out how to not annoy each other, could also do it really well. After that, it feels like space and hobbies would have issues. Alone, I still religiously avoid buying stuff that's difficult to store, like dutch ovens or kitchen mixers, and I try to wear all my clothes a lot or donate.

    Still, the paper is interesting because it is a fundamentally different world as far as I can read it. Under these limitations, you're probably not going to own stuff you don't use regularly, because 1) countries are supposed to start producing for domestic needs, not 'fast fashion' and likely other luxury goods and 2) space and 3) lack of opportunity-- imagine having a lot of ski gear when you don't live near anyplace to ski, under the travel budget. I think under the space limitations, your house would mainly be for sleep and solitary time, and communal time would be in communal spaces. In this scenario, I suppose we'd have more places where people could simply 'hang out' (no buying a coffee and parking at a cafe), and ideally lack of inequality suddenly makes me share the same exact cultural expectations as my neighbors (rather than everything turning into an example of the tragedy of the commons).

    Without it I’m not ever going to see my family on the opposite coast of the US, and for practical purposes it precludes visiting other countries too which would be a massive loss.

    I really dislike flying, but I still end up having to fly for my family or my partner's. It would probably take 1-2 generations of people not moving far for this to change. But I think if remote work could still be domestic work (e.g. not offshored), we're much closer to this than we were before. I read recently that people used to move to big cities for the "culture" and for counterculture; now much of this is squirreled away online. I think it's not entirely true, but it's more true than it ever was. (I think people LARP city-living. They consume pop culture, try to live out pop culture, turn it into an Instagram reel that gets edited into their distilled idea of pop culture, and then rinse repeat.)

    4 votes

  2. Comment on A comfortable life for 8.5 billion people would require only 30% of current global resource and energy use in ~science

    umlautsuser123
    Link
    I skimmed the study and I like the sentiment a lot. I'm of the opinion we do kind of have too many people... for a Western standard of "great" living. I know people who take planes multiple times...

    I skimmed the study and I like the sentiment a lot. I'm of the opinion we do kind of have too many people... for a Western standard of "great" living. I know people who take planes multiple times a year, always want to get new devices, get a lot of plastic do-hickeys, etc. And my own consumption is a mix of "well, I can make an exception for this" and likely unsustainable goods (e.g. imported goods that are priced cheap because externalities aren't priced in). Recently, I've been brooding over how to get olive oil that meets standards I'm not sure are realistic (actually olive oil, decent treatment of workers, good price for quality / taste but okay to use daily, lower carbon footprint). If it's not clear, I think about consumption.

    Still, I don't know if this is "comfortable" nowadays:

    • 650 sq. ft. is relatively small for 4 person household by American standards, I thought. I live in an apartment in a city and have lived in small studios as well (~250 sq ft.). You don't have much of a kitchen or living room with a studio like that, and naturally I remember being a teenager and finding it so glorious to have my own room. Obviously though, this is not hell on earth, people have done this and less for years and do so today. But, I don't know if this is the 2025 American "comfortable." I'm curious what they'd allocate for a multi-generational household.
      • In the scenario, I assume that we also partner up or live with friends, to maintain the space restriction.
    • Calories are also roughly okay, some people can live on less, some need more. Not everyone wants to live on 2000 calories. I don't even mean overeating, I mean fitness people who are trying to bulk. One of the fitness people I 'follow' eats 2800 at maybe 5'8.
    • Functionally I think 1 phone per person over age 10 and 1 laptop per household can be translated to 1 electronic per person and 1 shareable electronic (like a gaming console). I think this is actually feasible on a personal level, but not practically. I work in software, so I get a work device, at times 2 (work phone). I'd be okay with getting rid of my phone in favor of a dedicated laptop if the rest of society considered that an option. I'd also be okay with it having really low specs if I was convinced I could do most of what I need to on low specs (which means software should refocus on efficiency). I think in this society we'd have more consumer software, if we don't learn to touch more grass instead.
    • Not sure if air travel is included in the vehicle allowance. For some people this is a 'modern necessity' (e.g. you moved from home to get a better job in a major city or country).
    • They also float dietary restrictions (vegetarianism, and then more). It doesn't expand on how extreme this can be; taking it really far means you strictly eat potatoes and carrots and lentils in the winters, no chocolate or cane sugar unless you can grow it in your climate, etc.

    I don't think the title is meant to be understood as "comfortable to Westerners," as they point out all our excess consumption throughout the paper. They also point out that DSL comes under current use, and therefore society should have more for 'luxuries' like increased consumption (x3 DSL) or recreational facilities. They also talk about eliminating patent law in some areas (which I have no particular opinion on). I think the title makes it sound easygoing, but it's actually a fairly 'radical' ask. Regardless, really happy someone did the math, I have thought for a long time that we couldn't functionally bring everyone up to a Western standard of living. And while it seems true, it seems like you can get relatively close, which is a big deal.

    9 votes

  3. Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people?

    ~life Ask
    edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has...

    edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has historically been a safe place to find out things that would be difficult to ask in person even if you know who to ask, and I appreciate the fact-checking, reality-checking, what-have-you that comes with that.

    Things like:

    • What things felt free to do and not free to do? Was that a quality of law or society? (e.g., freedom of speech, gay relationships, zoning, running a business, jaywalking, etc.)
    • Trust or reliability in government
    • Educational quality
    • Relationship to the media
    • What luxuries people tended to have (e.g. modern imported gaming consoles, domestically produced products, number of cars, etc.)

    Posting from America here. As the great power politics seems to have heated up these past 3-10 years, it feels like the environment has become more polarized as well. Eventually I started to ask myself what exactly I was supporting or opposing philosophically, in wanting my country to have the largest influence. The measures I came up with were not things that my own country did well on, and often felt like things I couldn't get the most accurate picture on without Russian or Chinese language acquisition. I happened upon a BBC article about new Chinese graduates I guess going through what millennials did in 2008, and found the general similarity of it interesting.

    67 votes

  5. If you had to start a blog and post even though very few may read it, what would get you blogging weekly?

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    I was thinking about one of the threads here about missing the specific subcultures on Reddit. Maybe we just aren't in the habit of sharing our interests or want to know who else is interested in...

    I was thinking about one of the threads here about missing the specific subcultures on Reddit. Maybe we just aren't in the habit of sharing our interests or want to know who else is interested in the subculture.

    If absolutely forced to, I could probably blog about:

    • Occasional game learnings - either new games or specific mechanics in games
    • things in relation to the city I live in (I still check this on Reddit)
    • Recipes or foods I've tried to make or bought and liked with a bent towards fermentation, coffee, plant-based stuff
    • smart articles I thought were worth recommending to others, or fun facts.
    • software - nothing super technical, but either small projects, language learnings, thoughts around companies. Maybe occasional "software used to make art" stuff I stumbled upon
    • Episode reviews of detective shows, kdramas, and anime
    • Deleting Instagram and trying to export my saved posts without using a script (my advice... code review something online and use that script) and other things in relation to introversion
    19 votes

  6. Did you live in a city then move out? How was it? Did it change your energy towards the day-to-day?

    ~life Ask (survey)
    This is such a vague thing to post, but in the past few years I've been wrestling with my increasing introversion. I'm always tired. I was talking about my feelings towards friendships to a friend...

    This is such a vague thing to post, but in the past few years I've been wrestling with my increasing introversion. I'm always tired. I was talking about my feelings towards friendships to a friend (without an intent to say anything negative) and found myself surprised at how little I mentioned any benefits from companionships. What weighed on me was the time spent, the work spent, the money spent on trying to "keep people happy." (I have a few other closer friends, so it's not the way I feel about everyone). It's a weird position to be in as someone who had once tried hard to make new friends. I find myself struggling with the guilt for how I feel and the desire to just recess, to focus on myself, and to attend to my desire for stability (especially financial stability-- I feel like things have gotten more expensive). I have deeper and more commitments than I used to, which should make me feel so fortunate. However, as a result, they are also in competition for my time / energy.

    I've been feeling really weighted down by this lately, so I'm curious to hear from people who may have gone through something similar. A part of me feels that perhaps if I made my life more stable (a cheaper mortgage instead of renting in a major / global city, a higher paying job, lower-key friendships etc.) then I would feel happier on a day-to-day level.

    edit: clarified some things

    29 votes

  7. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    I really think "Make my Fridge / Car / TV Dumb Again" would unironically be a winning platform. Like the other candidates would eventually scramble to have a position because of your meteoric...

    I really think "Make my Fridge / Car / TV Dumb Again" would unironically be a winning platform. Like the other candidates would eventually scramble to have a position because of your meteoric rise.

    "What do you think about <insert war>?" "War is bad. You know who doesn’t think about war though? My dumb as rocks fridge." overwhelming applause

    22 votes

  8. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    re: air rage, This was 100% the kinds of Freakanomics-esque suggestions I was also hoping to see in thread.

    re: air rage, This was 100% the kinds of Freakanomics-esque suggestions I was also hoping to see in thread.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    Yes to toilet reform!! I would totally vote for "auto-closing toilet seats for every toilet" and "sinks that operate on a 1 minute timer." I expect diseases to decrease sharply.

    Yes to toilet reform!!

    I would totally vote for "auto-closing toilet seats for every toilet" and "sinks that operate on a 1 minute timer." I expect diseases to decrease sharply.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    Is your mom looking for a VP? I weirdly like the military thing. I think it'd help instill some kind of social discipline, would make us more afraid of war / drafts, and (most importantly) I've...

    Is your mom looking for a VP?

    I weirdly like the military thing. I think it'd help instill some kind of social discipline, would make us more afraid of war / drafts, and (most importantly) I've heard it to be a means to socialize people of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I've wondered if we could use summer camps to do the same thing at a younger age.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    There are dozens of us! Someone asked me "If you were king of <our city>, what would you do?" and I said "I'd make a law that leaving dog shit on the street was punishable by smearing it on the...

    There are dozens of us! Someone asked me "If you were king of <our city>, what would you do?" and I said "I'd make a law that leaving dog shit on the street was punishable by smearing it on the owner."

    I kind of think some laws are not meaningfully enforceable (like, fining someone for something is so complex) so I kind of like the idea of petty street justice that encourages citizens to keep each other in line. Kind of like very toned-down caning (although I guess the poop can make you sick).

    5 votes

  12. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    I like this. Somewhat similar, but as a pedestrian in a major city, my pet peeve is cars driving into the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians closer to the road / in harms way to cross the street. I...

    I like this. Somewhat similar, but as a pedestrian in a major city, my pet peeve is cars driving into the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians closer to the road / in harms way to cross the street. I kind of think you should have the right to deface a car that does that tbh. Spraypaint, stickers, keying it, feel free. If everyone kind of agreed "okay, that's karmic" I think we'd see cars stop sooner.

    4 votes

  13. You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it?

    ~society Ask
    Imagine that on the campaign posters, it will say your name and then this policy. For example: Vote for <your username> ... Rain boots for everyone. (No American / Englishman / Indian / etc....

    Imagine that on the campaign posters, it will say your name and then this policy. For example:

    Vote for <your username> ...

    • Rain boots for everyone. (No American / Englishman / Indian / etc. should have soggy socks.)
    • A Speedy DMV. (It should take 10 minutes to renew your license at the DMV.)
    • Rice in every restaurant. (Rice is good with everything. At least some Asian KFCs will serve fried chicken with rice!)

    It should resonate deeply with people, without the expectation that it should solve any of the deeper problems in life.

    80 votes

  16. Comment on Joe Biden's path to US re-election has all but vanished in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    Apparently they have a "petty feud." Everyone in article reads kind of poorly, but NYT comes out looking better after this past month so I'm guessing it's emboldened them. It has also surprised...

    Apparently they have a "petty feud." Everyone in article reads kind of poorly, but NYT comes out looking better after this past month so I'm guessing it's emboldened them.

    Although the president’s communications teams bristle at coverage from dozens of outlets, the frustration, and obsession, with the Times is unique, reflecting the resentment of a president with a working-class sense of himself and his team toward a news organization catering to an elite audience — and a deep desire for its affirmation of their work. On the other side, the newspaper carries its own singular obsession with the president, aggrieved over his refusal to give the paper a sit-down interview that Publisher AG Sulzberger and other top editors believe to be its birthright.
    ...
    “All these Biden people think that the problem is Peter Baker or whatever reporter they’re mad at that day,” one Times journalist said. “It’s A.G. He’s the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn’t done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age.”

    It has also surprised me, as I see them as a mainstream Democrat outlet.

    3 votes

  17. Do you know a lot of weird people to talk about the latest weirdest things you've read?

    ~life Ask (advice)
    Recently, I went to a meetup for a blog I follow. I was expecting and (in part) hoping for it to be really strange. Similarly to this post "Developers Aren't Nerds", I think a part of me held the...

    Recently, I went to a meetup for a blog I follow. I was expecting and (in part) hoping for it to be really strange. Similarly to this post "Developers Aren't Nerds", I think a part of me held the expectation that I really would become an adult who sat around with other people who read something intellectually stimulating and joyfully kind of debated it amongst ourselves. Sort of like being on Tildes or any good forum. And being around these people and the environment was fun-- it was mostly casual, but when it wasn't, I felt challenged and like I was talking about things I cared about. And above all, unlike being online, it still felt human-- there wasn't that weird anxiety of saying something and getting piled on.

    I'm blessed to have a pretty good life, which includes (now) a fairly diverse and broad social life I worked to grow. I believe there is emotional support too (though I have a smaller circle for that). But it feels like we spend more time talking about (their) travel, music festivals, clubbing, whatever. And I know part of the issue is that I don't "get" it (I am an introvert, I like small groups), or I did enough of those experiences and feel sated for the time. But man, would I like to be a little weird and just randomly talk about the random shit my head puts together after reading. (Today, it was global fertility rate projections, sperm counts, IVF. Other times it was blockchain and other architectures I was learning about. Overall, things that are difficult to bring up randomly.)

    Do people have that outlet offline? Where did you find it?

    16 votes

  18. Comment on "Learning to be happier" by Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology in ~life

    umlautsuser123
    Link
    It gets pretty broad from here. I'm choosing to only copy partial excerpts as I think it's better understood read altogether.

    That autumn term of 2018, I decided to try delivering a free lunchtime series of lectures, ‘The Science of Happiness’, based on the Yale course. Even though this pilot was not credit-bearing, more than 500 students gave up their Wednesday lunchtimes to attend. That was unusual as, in my experience, students rarely give up time or expend effort to undertake activities unless they are awarded credit or incentives. There would be 10 lectures, and everyone was requested to fill in self-report questionnaires assessing various mental health dimensions both before and after the course, to determine whether there had been any impact and, if so, how much.
    ...
    We now have five years’ worth of data and have published peer-reviewed scientific papers on evaluation of the course. ... Our most recent analysis over the longer term shows that the positive benefits we generate during the course, and the two months after, are lost within a year, returning to previous baseline scores, unless the students maintain some of the recommended activities.
    ... What is the mechanism underlying positive psychology?

    It gets pretty broad from here. I'm choosing to only copy partial excerpts as I think it's better understood read altogether.

    ... Specifically, we had completed a set of studies demonstrating that, when children are instructed to talk about themselves, they thought about their own possessions differently and became less willing to share with others. Emphasising their self had made these children more selfish. This got me thinking about the role of self-focus in happiness.
    ... Many PPIs such as sharing, acts of kindness, gratitude letters or volunteering are clearly directed towards enriching the lives of others, but how can we explain the benefits of solitary practices where the self seems to be the focus of attention? The explanation lies with the self-representation circuitry in the brain known as the default mode network (DMN).

    2 votes

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

    umlautsuser123
    Link
    https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana I think this has come out recently. I managed to read it before I experienced a paywall but have to reference from memory now....

    https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana I think this has come out recently. I managed to read it before I experienced a paywall but have to reference from memory now.

    IIRC, he basically says Bluesky was meant to be a decentralized protocol that Twitter could use so that they could get out of the business of entertaining censorship requests. If they didn't own the data, they couldn't meaningfully honor such a request. But after Twitter was sold / went through an utter shit show, the person he got to found it worked increasingly independently, to the point of talking to VCs and (iirc) trying to secure funding.

    They also rolled out recent changes that basically allowed for moderation, which was exactly what he didn't want. Although it's true that your data doesn't need to disappear, Dorsey is correct to point out that an app built on Bluesky's protocol will still be able to honor exactly the same requests that he was hoping Twitter would avoid. I have no clue how to really circumvent that, though, even with a blockchain. There's the frontend, the hosting, and the domain ownership that can always be theoretically used to penalize a website, right?

    5 votes