DiogenesOfToronto's recent activity

  1. Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    Yeah you actually got at what I was trying to say pretty well.

    Yeah you actually got at what I was trying to say pretty well.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the links will definitely check them out!

    Thanks for the links will definitely check them out!

    1 vote

  3. Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I guess they don't have to be too elaborate. But I kinda want to strike a balance that allows players to better picture their characters as people.

    I guess they don't have to be too elaborate. But I kinda want to strike a balance that allows players to better picture their characters as people.

  4. Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    Honestly this is the best reply here. Really thinks for this comment!

    Honestly this is the best reply here. Really thinks for this comment!

    2 votes

  5. Comment on The hopes and dreams of experimentalism in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I agree and will do. Thanks for the suggestion.

    I agree and will do. Thanks for the suggestion.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    They do but they aren't very satisfactory to my knowledge.

    They do but they aren't very satisfactory to my knowledge.

    1 vote

  7. What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons?

    ~games.tabletop Ask (advice)
    There isn't really a great mechanic for learning skills and languages in dungeons and dragons. This makes it a bit lacking if there is a certain amount of off-time between adventures and missions....

    There isn't really a great mechanic for learning skills and languages in dungeons and dragons. This makes it a bit lacking if there is a certain amount of off-time between adventures and missions. It would be cool to think some sort of mundane dnd. Like mini-games in video game RPGs that make your character a little bit more personal. A quirks mechanic, that adds a certain way your character acts in the every day or what your character normally does. The risk is that it could turn into too much of a dice roller and the players might engage less with the story. What do you think?

    9 votes

  8. Comment on Living Rules in ~talk

  9. The hopes and dreams of experimentalism

    ~talk Text 318 words
    In opposition to the post about incrementalism, I wanted to talk about a truly revolutionary and designed based approached to a policy called experimentalism. When I was a believer in public...

    In opposition to the post about incrementalism, I wanted to talk about a truly revolutionary and designed based approached to a policy called experimentalism. When I was a believer in public policy, this was the final stage for which I believed a benevolent state would move towards. Incrementalism doesn't work unless you have a dictatorship or some unchanging party like in the soviet union or China. This is because incremental changes need people to agree with the degree of which to increments and need to have the shared goal to continue adding them. Also, incremental change might bring little effect on their own or even make things worse rather than just enacting what you think is the final policy. It is politically impossible in a democracy. Instead what I argue for is radical experimentalism. This is a position people of radically different ideas can take an appeal to a general audience to test their political ideas on large groups of willing participants to see what effects policy has on them after certain periods of time. Isolating variables to really see what society works best. Regardless of general political will, the evidence wins out as we test ideas in different parts of the state as they compete to see who provides the best results for people. The only thing that is required is a dedication to results based on political decision and commitment to evidence. Lastly, an acknowledgement that we must dive into the unknown to truly find some answers. A scientific approach to policy that is consistent with democratic values and structures. I find that this spirit of democratic education on a societal level is much like John Dewey would have described as really necessary for democracy to continue to function. Without a dedication to experimentalism and skepticism there is no way I see democracy working very well over time if faced with structural problems and public ignorance.

    7 votes

  10. Living Rules

    ~talk Text 269 words
    Today, I had a dream. In this dream I have confronted the idea that systems are much like entities, they are living creatures of a sort. Just as groups have some selection process that makes them...

    Today, I had a dream. In this dream I have confronted the idea that systems are much like entities, they are living creatures of a sort. Just as groups have some selection process that makes them more likely to survive over time so do systems. Rulesets are not made for human beings but for themselves. Sets of rules beget their own continuation. Their constant reproduction. But this is no reason for an individual or a group to submit to a particular ruleset but a reason for them not to submit to her because she has no interest in the specific survival of a group or individual but in the survival of herself. The survival of herself can easily misalign with that of the group and the individual. Rulesets much like the State or other such things are self-interested. And to complete self-interested systems with altruistic systems would be a grave mistake . And since all systems are infact selfish we we cannot conflate the interest of the system with the interests of the people within the system, that would be the fallacy of composition. If a system existed that perfectly aligned its ideals with that of the people that lives under them there would be no need for such a system to be coercive because all would act according to the system regardless. Competing interests of human beings and of different proofs makes such a system impossible. we are then left only to consider the ruleset in decision-making processes but under no obligation to operate in its interest. We are only able to operate on our own.

    4 votes

  11. Comment on Against Meritocracy in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I was looking at it from the perspective of who should control our societies. If those at the top of the hierarchy of an organization are competent the general organization might be more competent...

    I was looking at it from the perspective of who should control our societies. If those at the top of the hierarchy of an organization are competent the general organization might be more competent but those competent people could be harming the organization. A lot of arguments for meritocracy or purely meritocratic systems suffer from the problem of composition or the fallacy of composition.

    I agree with a lot of your points but I don't think were what I was trying to answer.
    1.Government and the organization of society aren't very different when you discuss who should be making the decisions.
    2. Rewarding competence may encourage competence but doesn't mean that benefits the organization or society as a whole.
    3. I was not really pushing a moral argument in the essay but you weren't saying that I was (it goes without saying I don't think it is moral but I said it anyway). Well, I believe there are other ways to organize besides equally or meritocratic that might be more beneficial. By most meritocratic systems, you mean systems that reward competence? Like I said before, if rewarding competence is the same as gaining control over the decision making process you may have people who were at one point competent in relevant skills reward what may no longer be beneficial or making decisions that are competent but selfish.
    4. This happens frequently but I think there are people smarter and more educated that have addressed what organizations are and aren't meritocratic.
    5. I definitely agree with that last point. Though, the point is that everyone gets there just deserts. My point would be that why would those poorer submit to what those above them have determined what they deserve?

    If you have any questions please ask. The blog post isn't as good as the pdf I put together and i was really just converting the format. Thanks for reading!

  12. Against Meritocracy

    ~talk Text 53 words
    I always thought that meritocracy seemed like such a loosely defined idea that people still always defended and in this article I just wrote I hoped to tear it apart. It is a core idea of our...

    I always thought that meritocracy seemed like such a loosely defined idea that people still always defended and in this article I just wrote I hoped to tear it apart. It is a core idea of our zeitgeist but it is so weak philosophically. https://diogenesoftoronto.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/against-meritocracy/

    7 votes

  13. Comment on Why do I feel empathetic towards a robot? in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I would feel for the bots if i wasn't just more amazed and afraid of the engineering. Boston Dynamics literally inspired one of the black mirror episodes for a reason.

    I would feel for the bots if i wasn't just more amazed and afraid of the engineering. Boston Dynamics literally inspired one of the black mirror episodes for a reason.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Why do I feel empathetic towards a robot? in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    It could also be your immediate perspective in life. If you are lonely you often see loneliness in others. Perhaps you see loneliness in objects. Have you ever watched the anime Tonari no...

    It could also be your immediate perspective in life. If you are lonely you often see loneliness in others. Perhaps you see loneliness in objects. Have you ever watched the anime Tonari no Seki-Kun? (I apologize if you haven't) but even oin that show you were able to identify the struggles of office supplies! It is a bit weird that the simply listing of facts did make you feel that way but like i said before this could be your immediate perspective.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Anarchist Defense and Emergency Tactics in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I like the response regardless of whether it was off topic a bit. It shows what people do without the supposed necessities of the state! I will remember this reply for awhile!

    I like the response regardless of whether it was off topic a bit. It shows what people do without the supposed necessities of the state! I will remember this reply for awhile!

  16. Comment on Anarchist Defense and Emergency Tactics in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link Parent
    I was intentionally vague. I wasn't looking for any specific anarchies. Specifically, I am not interested in the arguably more minarchisty syndicalist and federalist tendencies of anarchism. As...

    I was intentionally vague. I wasn't looking for any specific anarchies. Specifically, I am not interested in the arguably more minarchisty syndicalist and federalist tendencies of anarchism. As for the situation, I also wanted to talk generally about disasters and attacks.

  17. Comment on Why do I feel empathetic towards a robot? in ~talk

    DiogenesOfToronto
    Link
    I think I might have felt an intense sadness for Voyager 1. A lot of these documentaries do humanize the robots which makes you project your feelings on to them. Curiosity's story intrigued me as...

    I think I might have felt an intense sadness for Voyager 1. A lot of these documentaries do humanize the robots which makes you project your feelings on to them. Curiosity's story intrigued me as a child and very much wanted to meet it. It is a lot like a traveller come home kind of dream i had when I imagined meeting some of these robots. You imagine yourself as the robot going in extremely dangerous places. I guess that is what happens when you watch too many NOVA episodes.

    3 votes

  18. Anarchist Defense and Emergency Tactics

    ~talk Text 102 words
    I want to have a discussion about how decentralised communities and individuals best defend themselves. In the face of disaster there are many ways people can come together and find solutions...

    I want to have a discussion about how decentralised communities and individuals best defend themselves. In the face of disaster there are many ways people can come together and find solutions through direct action but i think that constantly planning ways with your affinities will help you survive a lot of disasters or a attacks and figuring out a way to do this is of hyper importance as the state attacks or declines. Anti-institutional and formal or federal ways of doing this should be valued and investigated allowing people to still be incredibly flexible with various contingency plans for self preservation.

    6 votes

  19. Taking a look at world peace critically

    ~talk Ask
    I wrote this thinking about how people think that world peace is something worth moving towards in a lot academic spheres. It is being used to justify modern continued injustice and i have a lot...

    I wrote this thinking about how people think that world peace is something worth moving towards in a lot academic spheres. It is being used to justify modern continued injustice and i have a lot of problems with that. I think that this more 'peaceful' world isn't that great of one if it comes at the sacrifice of our many current problems we face today. I look at few major academic theorists like Ian Morris and Pinker. I was thinking of actualy discussing both in more detail but i just gave their wiki sums for their books though i have read them becaause i was a little lazy. i should change that in a possible follow up but i wanted to hear what people thought about this before that. https://diogenesoftoronto.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/a-closer-look-at-world-peace/

    9 votes