MeMeBebop's recent activity

  1. Comment on What's going on with alyaza and DearDeer? in ~tildes

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    A lot of people type in all lowercase, though. That's really not much to go on. In environments that feel more casual than tildes, I tend to type in all lowercase. Not to mention that they're not...

    A lot of people type in all lowercase, though. That's really not much to go on. In environments that feel more casual than tildes, I tend to type in all lowercase.

    Not to mention that they're not actually the same style, DearDeer has an inconsistent style where they sometimes use caps and sometimes don't. I don't see the accounts having much in common - they very much seem to have differing opinions and they're like, totally unrelated.

    And to answer your question: I don't believe the site admin because I've known alyaza on discord for a while (maybe you think I'm biased, that's not the point), and because I don't believe in always believing what people in authority say without evidence. It just seems like a weird appeal to authority at that point.

    Examples of posts:
    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/576917786643922955/577761363393380354/unknown.png
    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/576917786643922955/577759376622878730/unknown.png
    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/576917786643922955/577762912270155805/unknown.png

  2. Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    Would you be able to go into more detail about the first two? Namely, what does "observation" mean in quantum mechanics and why can't entangled particles be used to communicate faster than light?...

    Would you be able to go into more detail about the first two? Namely, what does "observation" mean in quantum mechanics and why can't entangled particles be used to communicate faster than light? I'm interested in knowing more.

    4 votes

  3. Comment on Sonic The Hedgehog | Official trailer in ~movies

    MeMeBebop
    Link
    This looks bad enough that it makes me actually want to see it. I wonder if that's the point.

    This looks bad enough that it makes me actually want to see it. I wonder if that's the point.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on At least two strains of joke ransomware have been created with "subscribe to PewDiePie" themes in ~tech

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    It's bizarre that someone can literally make a computer virus and insist it's "just a meme".

    It's bizarre that someone can literally make a computer virus and insist it's "just a meme".

    6 votes

  6. Comment on We've been sure that the Earth is round for a long time, so what's driving the recent resurgence of flat-Earthers? in ~science

    MeMeBebop
    Link
    Sixteen percent? That's alarmingly high. I assumed it was a few hundred people at most who just had a very large internet presence.

    And yet, a survey conducted last spring found that a solid 16 percent of Americans aren’t sure of the Earth’s shape—with flat-Earth support running highest among millennials and those with lower incomes.

    Sixteen percent? That's alarmingly high. I assumed it was a few hundred people at most who just had a very large internet presence.

    20 votes

  7. Comment on What author has the best worldbuilding? in ~books

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    I enjoyed Snow Crash. One of the things I liked was that the corporations in Stephenson's AnCap dystopia are completely ridiculous, like a chain of cowboy-themed private prisons, an evangelist...

    I enjoyed Snow Crash. One of the things I liked was that the corporations in Stephenson's AnCap dystopia are completely ridiculous, like a chain of cowboy-themed private prisons, an evangelist megachurch that considers Elvis a saint for "defeating the Communists", and a chain of pizza restaurants owned by the Mafia.

    However, I liked The Diamond Age a lot more. The segments from Nell's book, The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, are great. And I like the little details, like the concept of a "toner war" - when different factions of nanites fight each other, the world is covered in a layer of soot (actually the bodies of "dead" nanites").

    4 votes

  8. Comment on What author has the best worldbuilding? in ~books

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    I've only read the first two books (I have Use of Weapons sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read, though) but I have to second this. It's one of the most wildly creative space operas I've read.

    I've only read the first two books (I have Use of Weapons sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read, though) but I have to second this. It's one of the most wildly creative space operas I've read.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Having children is one of the most destructive things you can to do the environment, say researchers in ~enviro

    MeMeBebop
    Link Parent
    That's fair, yeah. I agree completely. I unfortunately see a lot of similar sentiments to that remark about the holocaust. Not that it's ever the holocaust that's named, just that I'll bring up...

    Turns out, killing people is a pretty crappy way to reduce their population. Educating women and supplying access to birth control is better.

    That's fair, yeah. I agree completely.

    I unfortunately see a lot of similar sentiments to that remark about the holocaust. Not that it's ever the holocaust that's named, just that I'll bring up how climate change will end up killing or displacing many people, especially in the underdeveloped world, and people may not be willing to take in refugees (though I really hope that they will) and a common response is that it might not be a bad thing since we have too many people anyway.

    I do agree with the point that people should probably have less children, though. But I also think that looking at things at a more systemic level is more important, at least for now.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Having children is one of the most destructive things you can to do the environment, say researchers in ~enviro

    MeMeBebop
    Link
    I don't particularly like this line of thinking because it seems to lead far too easily into eugenics territory. Not to mention that changes that individual people make to their lifestyle...

    I don't particularly like this line of thinking because it seems to lead far too easily into eugenics territory.
    Not to mention that changes that individual people make to their lifestyle ultimately don't have much of an impact.

    Remember that just 100 companies are responsible for approximately 70% of emissions.
    We really can support our current population, the problem is with distribution of resources and power. It's all well and good suggesting green lifestyle changes, but megacorps will continue doing whatever they're doing no matter what changes to your lifestyle you personally make.

    Not that I'm saying everyone should have kids, mind. It's a decision people should make for themselves. Mostly that it ultimately won't have much of an effect, because the largest causes of climate change are on a more systemic level.

    12 votes

  12. Comment on What are you reading these days? #13 in ~books

    MeMeBebop
    Link
    The last three books I read were: Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks The first Culture book. My dad let me dig through his old collection of science fiction novels a while back and he had The...

    The last three books I read were:

    • Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
      The first Culture book. My dad let me dig through his old collection of science fiction novels a while back and he had The Player of Games, and I liked it enough that I picked up Consider Phlebas when I came across it at the bookshop. I think it might be one of my favourite space opera settings.
    • The Word for World is Forest by Ursula le Guin
      Part of the Hainish Cycle. A peaceful apelike species called the Athsheans rebel against the humans exploiting them and their planet, but as a result they can't go back to being nonviolent.
    • Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
      Book I got from my dad's collection. Definitely among the strangest novels I've read. Human society collapses and the only survivors of the apocalypse are stranded on one of the Galapagos islands - over the next million years, they evolve into small-brained furry creatures.

    At the moment, I'm reading Count Zero by William Gibson. I bought the Neuromancer trilogy a while back but I only recently started into them. So far they're very good, but Gibson has a very dense-but-interesting-to-read style that can be hard to make sense of sometimes.

    4 votes