Aerrol's recent activity
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Comment on Where can I learn about the actual science behind Artemis II? in ~space
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Comment on Welcome to a multidimensional economic disaster - the AI boom wasn’t built for the polycrisis (gifted lnk) in ~tech
Aerrol Link ParentYes, with the caveat that this ban only applies to the top end, most modern AI chips. China still relies heavily on Taiwan for all manner of other chipsets.Yes, with the caveat that this ban only applies to the top end, most modern AI chips. China still relies heavily on Taiwan for all manner of other chipsets.
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Comment on Welcome to a multidimensional economic disaster - the AI boom wasn’t built for the polycrisis (gifted lnk) in ~tech
Aerrol Link ParentThey will be impacted but not as heavily since their investments are largely state driven. But lack of chips from Taiwan will still hurt, as will a crash in prices and demand. So maybe they come...They will be impacted but not as heavily since their investments are largely state driven. But lack of chips from Taiwan will still hurt, as will a crash in prices and demand. So maybe they come out ahead but still limping.
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Comment on How the Netherlands bent bureaucracy into something beautiful in ~society
Aerrol LinkThis is a great optimistic article, but I wish it directly had more details on the actual method in it. I don't have time to dig into the linked research paper, but here it is:...This is a great optimistic article, but I wish it directly had more details on the actual method in it. I don't have time to dig into the linked research paper, but here it is:
https://actionresearchplus.com/citizen-centric-powering-through-bureaucracy/If someone ended up looking at it to see if there's useful stuff in there (rather than this just being one really persuasive and determined social scientist), I'd be very grateful to see quotes.
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How the Netherlands bent bureaucracy into something beautiful
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Comment on Water and sanitation in the developing world in ~society
Aerrol Link ParentThe Ek Son Chan quote is both inspiring and depressing. Inspiring because he wrought such remarkable improvements. Depressing because how on earth do we make important but unpopular changes in a...The Ek Son Chan quote is both inspiring and depressing. Inspiring because he wrought such remarkable improvements. Depressing because how on earth do we make important but unpopular changes in a democracy? 😭
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Comment on The kids are all right - Surprising studies show young people are doing better than previous generations in many ways in ~life
Aerrol (edited )LinkGiven that there's seemingly been a huge uptick in posts here and more broadly about how the younger generations are doomed/broken/somehow differently flawed than other generations, I thought this...Given that there's seemingly been a huge uptick in posts here and more broadly about how the younger generations are doomed/broken/somehow differently flawed than other generations, I thought this was really refreshing to read.
Although quality data are sparse, the research that does exist suggests a different narrative—one in which kids are faring better in many ways than those of previous generations. Studies suggest youths are more empathetic and less narcissistic than in the past, as well as more open-minded and inclusive. Drug use is down, youth violence has dropped and teen pregnancies have declined. IQs have gone up, and kids exhibit more self-restraint and patience than they did 50 years ago. “There are a number of trends that are in a positive direction,” says Kristin Moore, a senior scholar at Child Trends, a nonprofit research organization focused on child and family well-being.
In 2011 Sara Konrath, a social psychologist at Indiana University Indianapolis, and her colleagues analyzed changes in empathy—concern for others and the ability to take their perspectives—among nearly 14,000 college students from 1979 to 2009. They found that empathy had sharply declined across the 30-year period. Their paper led to a flurry of articles, including in this magazine, lamenting the loss of empathy among youths.
Then, in 2025, Konrath and her colleagues updated their analysis to look at empathy trends through 2018. They were excited to discover that 2007 was actually the low-water point for empathy—levels dipped to their lowest that year but then shot back up. A decade later empathy in young people was higher than it had been at any other time over the previous 39 years.
This new, more positive discovery didn’t get nearly as much media coverage as the one published in 2011, which Konrath found frustrating. “I have to say that I’ve noticed good news is not as popular as bad news,” she says. Recent science supports her assertion: a 2025 study found that negative and alarming articles about children are more likely to go viral than nuanced and balanced stories.Kids today are highly interested in helping others, too. In work presented at the 2023 conference of the European Research Network on Philanthropy, Konrath and her colleagues surveyed nearly 700 adolescents and found that 73 percent had volunteered or given to charities. “Fixating on that negative story you see in the headlines isn’t really representing the reality of young people,” Konrath says.
Although there’s no question that racism and homophobia remain persistent problems, a 2019 study analyzed more than four million tests of implicit and explicit attitudes administered to people in the U.S. between 2007 and 2016 and found substantial declines in anti-gay and racial bias, especially among young people. A 2024 study found that homophobic beliefs and attitudes have been dropping among adolescent boys in Canada, and in another study, researchers in Turkey found that Generations Y and Z hold more egalitarian views about gender and are more likely to reject violence against women compared with Gen Xers. “I frequently hear from parents how shocked they are by their children’s complete comfort with the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity, and I think there’s a contrast with how we grew up,” says Emily Edlynn, a clinical psychologist in Illinois who has been practicing for 20 years.
One important skill these shifts may be nurturing is emotional literacy. “Over the past 15 years of clinical work with young people and their families, I have definitely noticed that many kids come in with a richer emotional vocabulary than kids I saw earlier in my career,” says Tracy A. Prout, a clinical psychologist based in New York State. “They’re often better able to name feelings, talk about mental health, and recognize concepts like anxiety, overwhelm or burnout.”
But warmer, more empathetic parenting could help explain why kids are becoming more empathetic themselves. In a 2024 study, researchers at the University of Virginia invited 184 13-year-olds and their parents into a laboratory and observed how empathetic the teens’ mothers were when their kids asked for help. Every year after that, until the children were 19, the researchers also observed how empathetic those teens were with their closest friend. They found that the more empathetic the mothers were with their teens, the more empathy those teens showed for their friends throughout adolescence. The study suggests that empathy can be passed down from parents to children through warm everyday interactions.
One problem is that cognitive biases often make us think kids today are faring worse than kids in the past. In a series of experiments published in 2019, Protzko and Jonathan Schooler, a psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that intelligent adults (those who did well on a vocabulary test) think youths today are less smart than kids used to be, and well-read people (based on an author-recognition test) believe kids today enjoy reading less than kids did in the past. Yet data don’t bear out these ideas. These misperceptions, the researchers found, are driven by people’s tendency to notice the limitations of others in areas in which they excel combined with a memory bias that causes them to project their own abilities onto entire past generations. “No reality can match an artificially elevated view of the past,” Protzko explains.
TL;DR: The kids are actually doing great - better than those before them in a shockingly large number of metrics - and you shouldn't worry as much as you probably have been about backsliding culture and online vitriol. It's a problem, we should work on it, but the overall trend is still good and the kids are still alright.
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The kids are all right - Surprising studies show young people are doing better than previous generations in many ways
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aerrol Link ParentI also really am enjoying No Rest for the Wicked! The bit that stands out to me most is that its is coop really well done, which is a massive plus for me over lonely souls games. (edited because I...I also really am enjoying No Rest for the Wicked! The bit that stands out to me most is that its is coop really well done, which is a massive plus for me over lonely souls games.
(edited because I clearly couldn't read your comment fully)
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Comment on Crimson Desert | Official launch trailer in ~games
Aerrol Link ParentFor older stuff, Ed Greenwood has a lot of really fun action fantasy writing, great combat. Little bit nerdy sexist in a way that hasn't aged well though. RA Salvatore's Drizzt stuff has some...For older stuff, Ed Greenwood has a lot of really fun action fantasy writing, great combat. Little bit nerdy sexist in a way that hasn't aged well though.
RA Salvatore's Drizzt stuff has some excellent combat writing and is very popular too.
The Cradle series by Will Wight has lots of fun fighting and explosions.
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Comment on Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core | Official Early Access release date trailer – 20th May 2026 in ~games
Aerrol Link ParentI actually love Deep Rock Galactic and have put a ton of hours into it. However, I'm responding because I had the exact same experience you describe with Mount and Blade. It's supposedly...I actually love Deep Rock Galactic and have put a ton of hours into it. However, I'm responding because I had the exact same experience you describe with Mount and Blade. It's supposedly everything I want in a game: third person action, mods galore, RPG elements, armies. But I just couldn't get over how the controls felt annoying to me. That just happens sometimes so I think your feelings are valid. I also think that given the developers are iterating on their very successful game here, you're probably gonna find this also not up your alley.
It's a weird, very specific form of disappointment when a game that seems made for you on paper just bounces off you.
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Comment on How to not snap at someone who is unintentionally annoying in ~life
Aerrol LinkCan you phrase your needs as a request for personal space rather than any reference to their competence/content of their questions? The more you make it about you and the less about them, the less...Can you phrase your needs as a request for personal space rather than any reference to their competence/content of their questions? The more you make it about you and the less about them, the less defensive it's likely to make them. Something like "Sorry, _______, I'm just really used to getting a lot of quiet time while I go about my chores. Do you mind giving me some more space during the day?".
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Comment on Crimson Desert | Official launch trailer in ~games
Aerrol LinkThe combat and a lot of the systems in black desert and this were/look hella fun, but in BDO at least it was buried in extreme grind and confusing UIs. I wonder if this will be any better.The combat and a lot of the systems in black desert and this were/look hella fun, but in BDO at least it was buried in extreme grind and confusing UIs. I wonder if this will be any better.
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Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
Aerrol Link ParentThis popped back up in my feed so I went hunting to look at that salary quote, because... well, I just frankly do NOT believe it in the slightest. Here's the next paragraph added: I think this...This popped back up in my feed so I went hunting to look at that salary quote, because... well, I just frankly do NOT believe it in the slightest.
Here's the next paragraph added:
Researchers did not find a correlation between salary and morale, Kurtz said.
“One thing we did find a correlation with is whether or not you think your salary is better or worse than the salary of the people you’re close to,” Kurtz said. “People who felt like their salary was better or the same as their family or friends tended to have higher morale.”
I think this says to me it's an issue with sample size and/or question given. I just do not believe teachers are paid enough across the US. I don't even think they're paid enough in Canada! And the gold standard countries for quality of education pretty much uniformly do the same 3 things: 1) get higher trained teachers, almost all with Master's; 2) PAY THEM APPROPRIATELY; 3) reduce class sizes where possible.
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Comment on UK supermarket chain Iceland has abandoned its decade-long trademark battle with Iceland and instead promised a “rapprochement discount” for shoppers in the country in ~finance
Aerrol (edited )Link ParentHuh, fascinating! My frame of reference is international hockey, which shortly after 2020 or so there was a concerted effort across all broadcasts, websites, and reporting, to change from Czech...Huh, fascinating! My frame of reference is international hockey, which shortly after 2020 or so there was a concerted effort across all broadcasts, websites, and reporting, to change from Czech Republic to Czechia. I assumed this trend followed through in other areas given how complete the change was. I haven't seen 'Czech Republic' used in any hockey circle for years at this point.
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Comment on NHL trade deadline Friday, March 6, 2026, at 3pm ET. What are your predictions? in ~sports.hockey
Aerrol LinkWELP. Guess I was wrong, Carlson to Anaheim is insaneWELP. Guess I was wrong, Carlson to Anaheim is insane
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Comment on UK supermarket chain Iceland has abandoned its decade-long trademark battle with Iceland and instead promised a “rapprochement discount” for shoppers in the country in ~finance
Aerrol Link ParentThat's a complicated legal question that I'm not fully sure of the answer, but from what I know: Czech Republic is still out because it's still a official name of Czechia, just not the preferred...That's a complicated legal question that I'm not fully sure of the answer, but from what I know:
- Czech Republic is still out because it's still a official name of Czechia, just not the preferred name anymore.
- A historical name like Yugoslavia would probably be iffy because it's still generally a publicly known place but also who's going to dispute on Yugoslavia's behalf?
I love the angle though lmao.
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Comment on Sony pulls back from PlayStation games on PC in ~games
Aerrol LinkNoooooo I was really looking forward to Ghost of Yotei :(Noooooo I was really looking forward to Ghost of Yotei :(
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Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop
Aerrol Link ParentThank you for the detailed breakdown with links! From my googling before this, I was very confused by the massive amount of supplementary books out there. This steers me much more clearly to what...Thank you for the detailed breakdown with links! From my googling before this, I was very confused by the massive amount of supplementary books out there. This steers me much more clearly to what I actually need.
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Comment on The earthling’s guide to building a Moon base in ~space
Aerrol LinkA fun breakdown of a lot of the different problems that must be solved to get a functional Moon base going. Also fun Apollo anecdotes.A fun breakdown of a lot of the different problems that must be solved to get a functional Moon base going. Also fun Apollo anecdotes.
Good suggestions so far, but here's another: Nasa's Artemis II Reference Guide (138 pages!). NASA does indeed have a lot of this information scattered out there, but it's pretty spread out and not indexed or centralized.
Since you specifically mention Science, here's a list of the experiments onboard: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis-ii-science/