NaraVara's recent activity
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Comment on Actual underrated films of the 2020s so far in ~movies
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Comment on Make everything okay in ~life
NaraVara LinkThis is unironically how a lot of people seem to think therapy works.This is unironically how a lot of people seem to think therapy works.
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Comment on We are witnessing the self-immolation of a superpower in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentI’m not talking about owning things, I’m talking about how the entire technology industry has evolved into a gambit to blitz scale to gain dominant market power and then leverage logistical...I’m not talking about owning things, I’m talking about how the entire technology industry has evolved into a gambit to blitz scale to gain dominant market power and then leverage logistical advantages to act as gatekeeper and leech all the surplus out of every other leg of the entire value chain. It’s been absolutely noxious for society and the economy.
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Comment on We are witnessing the self-immolation of a superpower in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentIt’s not about migrating the money, it’s about diminishing their political influence and market power. THAT is what conditions the entire ecosystem.It’s not about migrating the money, it’s about diminishing their political influence and market power. THAT is what conditions the entire ecosystem.
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Comment on We are witnessing the self-immolation of a superpower in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentWealth taxes are less about funding anything useful than they are about redistribution of economic gains. The impossibility of having a functioning democracy when a handful of rich people can...Wealth taxes are less about funding anything useful than they are about redistribution of economic gains. The impossibility of having a functioning democracy when a handful of rich people can single-handedly move markets based on rash decisions made during a ketamine bender should be readily apparent to everyone now. It’s not really a “golden goose” if all the returns are just concentrating into the hands of a few gatekeepers. I don’t think the concept of having an app-based taxi dispatch service magically goes away because you taxed away the outsized returns from setting up a monopoly over it.
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Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
NaraVara Link ParentBioWare’s writing has its own issues that I think we kind of gloss over because they’re worked into a game mechanic. Like the very black and white morality and the way every story has to have a...BioWare’s writing has its own issues that I think we kind of gloss over because they’re worked into a game mechanic. Like the very black and white morality and the way every story has to have a galactic scope where the metaphysical nature of reality needs to change to resolve the main conflict.
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Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
NaraVara Link ParentI was trying to explain why old heads hated the prequels to younger people the other day and it was kind of a struggle because from their mental model the prequels and Clone Wars and all that...I was trying to explain why old heads hated the prequels to younger people the other day and it was kind of a struggle because from their mental model the prequels and Clone Wars and all that other errata was always part of the Star Wars universe.
I had to explain that before all that, when all you had was the original trilogy, all of that stuff was just unknown backstory that made the core story more rich. We didn’t really know what “The Clone Wars” were or what the Jedi order was like. The prequels collapsed the whole possibility space into this specific stuff you know now, and it was everywhere less interesting or fun than whatever was going on in peoples’ heads. And that’s before getting into weaknesses in the filmmaking itself.
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Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
NaraVara Link ParentWhat if we made a Star Trek that had nothing to do with trekking across the stars?What if we made a Star Trek that had nothing to do with trekking across the stars?
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Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
NaraVara Link ParentFiloni is a lore geek, and I think being overly fixated on lore makes for bad stories. Star Wars is supposed to be a VAST galaxy. There’s room in the worldbuilding for incredible numbers of tales...Filoni is a lore geek, and I think being overly fixated on lore makes for bad stories.
Star Wars is supposed to be a VAST galaxy. There’s room in the worldbuilding for incredible numbers of tales that have nothing to do with each other, but for some reason every single fucking thing has to tie back to Darth Vader and his family drama. Why?
I’ve grown to deeply dislike lore, canon, and continuity in general as areas of focus for genre fiction. They’ve kind of ruined things by making everything seem like it’s just about answering questions nobody had and making references to stuff I’ve seen before.
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Comment on Why we are excited about confessions in ~tech
NaraVara LinkHonestly based on the headline I definitely thought this was a new monetization scheme where ChatGPT sells you indulgences to absolve you of your sins.Honestly based on the headline I definitely thought this was a new monetization scheme where ChatGPT sells you indulgences to absolve you of your sins.
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Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv
NaraVara (edited )Link ParentI think the nuke might also end up being a Chekov’s gun later. Because we see Manousos was studying up on EM radiation, radio transmission, frequency modulation, etc. Nuclear bombs emit an EM...I think the nuke might also end up being a Chekov’s gun later. Because we see Manousos was studying up on EM radiation, radio transmission, frequency modulation, etc.
Nuclear bombs emit an EM pulse when they’re set off that fries electronics and floods the entire radio spectrum. We know the hivemind works by linking everyone’s brains by transmitting along a specific radio frequency. It’s not crazy to imagine they can find a spot they can set it off to shut down the hivemind by overloading the radio band at the point of origin.
And the opening title card definitely implies there is a point of origin. The transmission originates from the P. All the other dots are harmonizing to it, it’s not as flat and non-hierarchical as you’d expect based on how the hivemind presents itself to the immune.
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Comment on ‘Sell America’ returns to Wall Street after Donald Trump ups the ante against Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve in ~society
NaraVara LinkMy model of Trump’s behavior has shifted lately and I now think he actually just hates America and Americans for spurning him in 2020. This administration’s behavior goes beyond being merely...My model of Trump’s behavior has shifted lately and I now think he actually just hates America and Americans for spurning him in 2020. This administration’s behavior goes beyond being merely authoritarian and kleptocratic. They seem to actively revel in immiseration of the populace and in profaning all the symbols of American civic life and culture. They are looting the nation sure, but it seems to go beyond merely being selfish and greedy and corrupt. They actually want to destroy us.
Jerome Powell’s term is almost over anyway, he could have just waited it out and gotten his own guy in. But they don’t want to do the smash-and-grab in secret. They want to actually destroy all faith in the US Government and its role as a guarantor of global peace and stability, both geopolitically and economically.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara Link ParentI can’t even really describe the level of discomfort I feel when it says things like that. Even when a human says it I feel like I’m being brown-nosed and become reflexively hostile to the person...I can’t even really describe the level of discomfort I feel when it says things like that. Even when a human says it I feel like I’m being brown-nosed and become reflexively hostile to the person because it makes me feel like they’re appealing to my emotional state rather than my logic-brain. But when a statistical machine is doing it then it’s inherently something darker. It’s a design choice made explicitly to manipulate me.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara Link ParentSome people just really crave affirmation so this machine that affirms by default just seems to trip a psychological land-mine for them. Thankfully I was raised by an Indian mother, so the...Some people just really crave affirmation so this machine that affirms by default just seems to trip a psychological land-mine for them.
Thankfully I was raised by an Indian mother, so the experience of being affirmed is sufficiently foreign to me that it makes me recoil with the fear that I might be interacting with The Beldam. I believe this has partially inoculated me against the AI cognitohazard.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara Link ParentThere is a dark art to this in institutional settings for those willing to master the art of manipulation. You simply learn the editor’s idiosyncrasies and add trivial and easily corrected errors...You get notes on sections you never wanted feedback on, while the parts you thought most deserved scrutiny are ignored.
There is a dark art to this in institutional settings for those willing to master the art of manipulation. You simply learn the editor’s idiosyncrasies and add trivial and easily corrected errors in and around a section where you don’t want them to think too hard about the content or its implications (politically). You’ll get edits on commas or word choice that you can happily edit.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara Link ParentThat’s the opposite of the thrust of the video actually. It’s pretty explicit that even hastily scribbled off dreck—or even a reaction gif—is better writing than anything the chatbot spits out.That’s the opposite of the thrust of the video actually. It’s pretty explicit that even hastily scribbled off dreck—or even a reaction gif—is better writing than anything the chatbot spits out.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara Link ParentOh I actually really liked the format. So much so, in fact, that I might adopt it the next time I have to do a work presentation instead of relying on PowerPoint.Oh I actually really liked the format. So much so, in fact, that I might adopt it the next time I have to do a work presentation instead of relying on PowerPoint.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
NaraVara LinkYes, it’s a 40 minute video essay but hear him out! It’s very good!Yes, it’s a 40 minute video essay but hear him out! It’s very good!
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You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!)
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Comment on What's the coolest thrift store find you've ever scored? in ~talk
NaraVara LinkI got a second edition printing of the Silmarillion for about $70 once.I got a second edition printing of the Silmarillion for about $70 once.
I’ll put The Green Knight on the list. Few movies I’ve seen over the past 10 years have left me with so many tantalizing questions, so much evocative imagery. As a story it’s sort of a bridge between the wildly different worldviews and ways of thinking of the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds all at once.