Grayscail's recent activity
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Comment on Ann Arbor's sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future alongside the old one in ~enviro
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Ann Arbor's sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future alongside the old one
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Comment on If you could go into hibernation and wake up in the future, would you? in ~talk
Grayscail Link ParentOk thats a good point, I probably would be able to survive ok if I went to the future. But I wouldnt really want to live the rest of my life as a gimmick. I think right now at this point in...Ok thats a good point, I probably would be able to survive ok if I went to the future. But I wouldnt really want to live the rest of my life as a gimmick.
I think right now at this point in history I have the capacity to make a meaningful contribution to the world, and in the distant future Id just feel like a relic.
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Comment on If you could go into hibernation and wake up in the future, would you? in ~talk
Grayscail LinkI probably wouldnt. Think about some 16th century guy who learned a bunch of useful skills about basket weaving and candle making and stuff, and then suddenly gets transported to today. Hed have...I probably wouldnt.
Think about some 16th century guy who learned a bunch of useful skills about basket weaving and candle making and stuff, and then suddenly gets transported to today. Hed have to find a way to integrate into society and survive despite having no idea how anything works and having all his skills and knowledge be completely irrelevant.
Thatd be me in any time other than right now.
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Comment on Why is it so hard engage people about indirect effects? in ~talk
Grayscail LinkI think broadly speaking its because most people arent interested in unsolicited opinions about how they are not doing a good enough job of things, regardless of what specifically you want them to...- Exemplary
I think broadly speaking its because most people arent interested in unsolicited opinions about how they are not doing a good enough job of things, regardless of what specifically you want them to change about it.
The notion of having a "discussion" about something typically involves a back and forth exchange of ideas to reach a common understanding. But in the case where someone feels strongly enough about their disapproval that they have chosen to try and intercede, you dont really expect that they are going to accept any answer you give them. Whatever explanation you give, whats probably going to happen is they are going to dispute some aspect of what you said and try to argue with you about it so they can convince you to change your mind. Which you might not be interested in.
So even if you do engage with them openly and honestly and explain all your reasons for why you think what you do, its not likely to end with them saying "oh ok I guess thats fair go ahead and keep doing what your doing". Even if they did, you dont really need anyones approval to make your decisions. Theres no real reward or upside to choosing to engage unless you are just naturally interested in the discussion.
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Comment on The real problem with toilet paper: Where it comes from in ~enviro
Grayscail LinkSo how much toilet paper would you all say you in a given wipe and a given poop? I mean, I dont have an exact number in mind, but Im never using a single square of toilet paper at a time, even...So how much toilet paper would you all say you in a given wipe and a given poop? I mean, I dont have an exact number in mind, but Im never using a single square of toilet paper at a time, even with 2ply. Is there a standard amount or protocol or are we all out here winging it?
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Comment on Stoicism’s appeal to the rich and powerful in ~humanities.history
Grayscail (edited )LinkThe beginning of this article is very interesting and has a lot of good information. When it got to the part about analyzing the title and the appeal of stoicism to the rich and powerful, I felt...The beginning of this article is very interesting and has a lot of good information. When it got to the part about analyzing the title and the appeal of stoicism to the rich and powerful, I felt that the analysis was a bit narrowly focused?
I don't disagree with the general idea. I agree that Mark Zuckerberg was probably never interested in any philosophy that would have him give up all his money and power. It just seems like the piece zeroes in on that specific angle and only considers it in those terms.
But I feel like there are a lot of other ways to think about the reasons this one specific philosophy is appealing to some tech CEO guy. Reasons I would have been interested to hear more about from someone knowledgable in philosophy. I can spitball a few ideas right now.
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Marcus Aeruleus is a well known fairly well regarded Roman Emperor, so if you are aspiring to be a great leader and were looking to learn from historical leaders, it would make sense to take his personally endorsed philosophy.
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Stoicism in the more colloquial sense describes people who are not easily swayed or impacted emotionally by external events, so if you are a rich guy with people constantly trying to get something from you or influence you, the idea of embodying stoicism sounds like it would be useful.
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Stoicism is a fairly concrete philosophy that doesnt requite embracing any mystical or religious elements, which would appeal to the kind of rationalist self image that a silicon valley tech bro might hold of himself.
I think all of those above options are reasonable explanations that are worthy of consideration. They're basically the same reasons that any person might become interested in stoicism, because rich people are at the end of the day just people.
It just feels a little lacking to me, like its sort of glossed over the main reason anyone engages with self improvement.
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Comment on It is as if you were on your phone in ~tech
Grayscail Link ParentYou want to click the "Play Online" text below thatYou want to click the "Play Online" text below that
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Comment on Is US President Donald Trump planning to invade other countries? in ~society
Grayscail LinkI think Trump idolizes Putin to an extent, and wants to emulate him. He wants his own piece of land that he just unilaterally decides is America's now, and which will always be associated with him...I think Trump idolizes Putin to an extent, and wants to emulate him. He wants his own piece of land that he just unilaterally decides is America's now, and which will always be associated with him for the rest of the nations history.
I dont know if he'll actually pull the trigger on it, or if this is just him trying to emulate Putin superficially so that people will think of the two in the same way.
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Comment on Michelle Obama launches podcast with her brother Craig Robinson in ~life
Grayscail LinkThat was not the Craig Robinson I was thinking of.That was not the Craig Robinson I was thinking of.
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Comment on Piglets will be left to starve in a controversial art exhibit in Denmark – Marco Evaristti aims to raise awareness of the suffering caused by modern pig production in ~arts
Grayscail Link Parent3 does matter, because 3 is in reference to one person, and 10000000 per year is in reference to the whole world. Any bad thing can be made to look insignificant when you put it in reference to a...3 does matter, because 3 is in reference to one person, and 10000000 per year is in reference to the whole world.
Any bad thing can be made to look insignificant when you put it in reference to a worldwide accounting. Any singular murder or rape or whatever can be said to not be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Thats a very easy way to tell yourself that any bad thing you feel like doing is not really a big deal. But then why not also extend that courtesy to everyone else in the world?
If you think about it, theres like 10000000000 people in the world, so 1000000 pigs dying spread over 10000000000 people is only like 1/10000 of a pig killed a day, on average. So in that case its kind of like the artist is doing something 30000X worse than the average person.
These are just number games that dont really mean anything.
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Comment on Piglets will be left to starve in a controversial art exhibit in Denmark – Marco Evaristti aims to raise awareness of the suffering caused by modern pig production in ~arts
Grayscail (edited )LinkFeels very incongruous to demonstrate how much you care about the suffering of animals by intentionally subjecting animals to one of the worst ways to die. Seems like a case of special pleading...Feels very incongruous to demonstrate how much you care about the suffering of animals by intentionally subjecting animals to one of the worst ways to die. Seems like a case of special pleading where they should not be judged on the same level as the people and systems they are trying to criticize brcause they are doing it to make a statement.
Personally I would think it should be the other way around where causing intentional suffering for the sake of making an artistic statement should be considered more morally reprehensible than causing suffering to meet a demand that exists in agriculture. The former seems more egotistical and self serving even though I realize both things are being done out of self interest.
I guess its just more reasonable to me how someone might decide that killing animals for the purpose of providing food is understandable while killing animals as a rhetorical prop is too far, but its more difficult to reconcile the reverse position. I wouldnt expect someone who is supposedly so empathetic to animals to be willing to stomach that kind of a stunt.
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Comment on Shrek 5 cast announcement in ~movies
Grayscail Link ParentThats fair, but there is humor integrated into the announcement and its not a stretch to believe that there would be a similar tone/style used in the video that will be in the movie itself, so you...Thats fair, but there is humor integrated into the announcement and its not a stretch to believe that there would be a similar tone/style used in the video that will be in the movie itself, so you can possibly get some low confidence estimate of if you will like the movie from how you responded to the joke in the trailer.
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security quietly eliminates ban on surveillance based on sexual orientation and gender identity in ~society
Grayscail Link ParentIm applying for an OCI so I can dip out if I really need to, but thats not an option for everyone.Im applying for an OCI so I can dip out if I really need to, but thats not an option for everyone.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump cuts short talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Oval Office blow up in ~society
Grayscail Link ParentIts weird how homogeneous the comments on that video are. I dont often see a comment section so consistently repeating the same take. "Wow, such transparency, this is what America needs to see,...Its weird how homogeneous the comments on that video are. I dont often see a comment section so consistently repeating the same take. "Wow, such transparency, this is what America needs to see, the transparency is really refreshing, these conversations usually take place behind closed doors but the transparency here is incredible, Forbes is doing Gods work vis-a-vis transparency."
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Comment on An extended look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A! in ~games
Grayscail LinkI fell off of Pokemon after Sun/Moon, but I really enjoyed Legends:Arceus. It recaptured the magic for me that I felt playing the first few games as a kid. Im looking forward to seeing what they...I fell off of Pokemon after Sun/Moon, but I really enjoyed Legends:Arceus. It recaptured the magic for me that I felt playing the first few games as a kid. Im looking forward to seeing what they do with this new game and how they advance the mechanics they introduced in the last Legends game.
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Comment on An extended look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A! in ~games
Grayscail Link ParentIts probably unlikely that this will carry forward into the main series, as Legends:Arceus used this same battle system but they went back to the more traditional format in Scarlet/Violet.Its probably unlikely that this will carry forward into the main series, as Legends:Arceus used this same battle system but they went back to the more traditional format in Scarlet/Violet.
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Comment on Against addressing root causes in ~society
Grayscail LinkI think the focus on root-causes comes from people trying to reduce complexity and boil down the question of "what needs to be done" to a singular answer. People look at the question in terms of...I think the focus on root-causes comes from people trying to reduce complexity and boil down the question of "what needs to be done" to a singular answer. People look at the question in terms of there being a set of competing ideas that steal resources from one another. So in their mind, the optimal way to proceed is to try and logically deduce the one best option and consolidate all resources and efforts around that one best option for maximum efficiency.
Theres two main reasons I would disagree with this sentiment. The first is that peoples efforts and passions are not fungible commodities. If someone is working for Project Vesta because they are passionate about chemistry and want to address climate change, and then you manage to convince them that carbon capture is a waste of time, they arent necessarily just going to default to doing whatever alternative you suggest. Just because you manage to take resources away from carbon capture they are not guaranteed to go toward electing progressive representatives or whatever you would rather be focusing on. Maybe once they decide that the contribution they were interested in making is off the table, they just lose interest altogether.
The other reason is that eventually you probably still are going to need to deal with the immediate symptoms at some point. If you did succeed at addressing whatever the root cause you have identified, someone will still need to do the work of changing the derivative causes of the problem that more directly cause the thing you are trying to fix. So its not really wasted effort to have people working on those derivative issues sooner rather than later. Even if you do upend capitalism or whatever it is, theres already lots of carbon in the atmosphere and there are certain unavoidable emissions that will continue to exist, so carbon capture might still be useful.
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Comment on Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy expected to retire this year in ~movies
Grayscail Link ParentI think JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson was like the worst combo they could have inadvertently chosen. Abrams has that mystery box thing where he loves to set up vague uncertainties to maybe pay off...I think JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson was like the worst combo they could have inadvertently chosen.
Abrams has that mystery box thing where he loves to set up vague uncertainties to maybe pay off later, and Johnson likes subverting expectations. It feels almost inevitable that he would end up undermining all the half baked ideas that were introduced in the first movie.
Which could have been fine if they had stuck with Johnson and had him do something with that deconstructed premise. But to then give up again and switch back to Abrams and have him finish the story after having already swept the legs out from under him is nuts.
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Comment on Musings on our current system in ~society
Grayscail LinkI think people of the future will have their own problems that they believe to be the worst that civilization has ever faced, and so they will look back on our current era fondly as the tail end...I think people of the future will have their own problems that they believe to be the worst that civilization has ever faced, and so they will look back on our current era fondly as the tail end of a golden age right before things started really getting bad.
I think this is a cool idea, I'm interested to see how this parallel grid is intended to intermesh with the conventional grid. Building parallel systems feels like a good strategy to let people try out novel ideas without needing to completely revamp existing systems or get full nationwide consensus on a new concept.