NaraVara's recent activity
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Comment on I had an idea for a Crusader Kings, but about rich families in Victoria-Modern Era. What could go wrong? in ~games
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Comment on Does anyone have a digg invite code I can get ? in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentI was in a discord community of people who switched to Lemmy/Hexbear after they did the API thing. I definitely saw them progressively get more and more unhinged as they spent time on those pages....I was in a discord community of people who switched to Lemmy/Hexbear after they did the API thing. I definitely saw them progressively get more and more unhinged as they spent time on those pages. It’s just a deranged filter bubble of stuff that just works themselves up into being angry and contemptuous of others all the time.
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Comment on 7/11 closing down 444 locations in ~finance
NaraVara LinkI feel like a lot of 7/11’s packaged food and drink offerings are behind the times for big chunks of the US market. I’ll believe what they currently have is the right product mix for gas stations...I feel like a lot of 7/11’s packaged food and drink offerings are behind the times for big chunks of the US market. I’ll believe what they currently have is the right product mix for gas stations and strip malls.
But the mental picture of what a convenience store ought to be hasn’t really changed in decades even as culture and food preferences have. I think for locations meant to serve more affluent or urban/yuppie markets they should summon the US people back to Japan and have them take notes. These are largely not people who are going to buy a hot dog that’s been rolling under a heat lamp for 3 hours. They need lighter, healthier snacks and meals on offer.Even Wawa has a better following and healthier food options. So they wouldn’t even need to go to Japan necessarily. I just want a sandwich that isn’t 1,000 calories. Or, like, an onigiri. But the ones around me don’t even have gas stations sushi, something even dodgy gas stations have now.
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Comment on Derek Thompson article: "the anti-abundance critique on US housing is dead wrong" in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentYeah it’s fine as a set of policy principles, but the Abundance folks frame it as the one simple trick that will save the Democrat brand and I find that framing on policy agendas extremely...Yeah it’s fine as a set of policy principles, but the Abundance folks frame it as the one simple trick that will save the Democrat brand and I find that framing on policy agendas extremely tiresome. It’s tiresome when socialists do it and it’s tiresome when centrists do it. There isn’t one basket of policies to apply in every constituency across every level of government by every candidate that will guarantee a permanent Dem landslide. The policy doesn’t matter, soaking people’s brains in your agenda is what builds movements and nobody seems to have a serious plan for that.
People like Ezra Klein like to center wonky policy discussions because they’re policy wonks and it’s what they, personally, enjoy thinking and talking about. But it’s not the actual thing that wins power and centering it as the focus of the strategy is a mistake.
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Comment on Meta’s flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentThe problem is an adult talking to a child in romantic/sensual ways is extremely inappropriate even if you’re not getting explicit about it. We’re more okay with it (still not okay) when two kids...The problem is an adult talking to a child in romantic/sensual ways is extremely inappropriate even if you’re not getting explicit about it. We’re more okay with it (still not okay) when two kids do it with each other because they’re both equally naive and it’s less likely that one is going to take things in twisted directions (though the possibility is still there hence why it’s still not okay).
The chatbot is not a person, so our instinctive disgust of picturing it as an adult isn’t as strong maybe. But it is a statistical model trained on every bit of smut and slashfic off AO3. Even if it’s self censoring it’s inherently bringing in a lot of very mature concepts, including circumstances in its training data involving abusive and manipulative relationship dynamics, to a chat with kids. It is entirely inappropriate and if you can’t prevent it then the tool should not exist. You don’t get to just shrug and go “whaddayagonnado!?”
One glimmer of hope is that I’ve heard the attrition rate on this team was 100% over the 5 years it’s been active. Everyone who touches this seems to be disgusted by it except for Facebook’s senior management, the sorts of people who write “motivational” speeches about how the Rohingya genocide was worth it because it’s part of their mission to “connect people.” Absolute ghouls and amoral monsters every single one.
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Comment on Derek Thompson article: "the anti-abundance critique on US housing is dead wrong" in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentI have seen it here and there but I think Derek is basically fighting with a straw man here*. The primary critique of the Abundance narrative I see is that it doesn’t really address the underlying...I have seen it here and there but I think Derek is basically fighting with a straw man here*. The primary critique of the Abundance narrative I see is that it doesn’t really address the underlying political dynamics that cause the political gridlock around inefficient regulatory burdens and obstructionism. The argument is that, practically speaking, it’s just going to be used as a pretense to gut necessary environmental and social justice protections and tilt political dynamics in favor of large real estate developers to engage in the sort of terrible cheaply built, environmentally destructive, and unsustainably financed development patterns they’ve inflicted on the urban sprawl districts of America.
In theory we could have a good regulatory state that imposes good development patterns but all their criticisms are against the obstructionism with only vague hand waves in the direction of achieving the intended goods the rules were put in place for. A big part of that problem is that achieving that intended good would require doing a ton of work to completely rebuild and reorient the regulatory state, making it much better staffed with real expertise and teeth to enforce requirements. But all of that is basically a political non starter in the current climate and unless they have a solution to that conundrum (they don’t) it’s all just faffing about.
*This is actually a new type of strawman, I think. Where you’re not making up a weak argument, you are actually addressing an argument that’s out there but you’re intentionally engaging primarily with the dumbfucks to make your position seem reasonable in comparison and relegating the nuanced critiques to the side to deny them oxygen.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentOh then we'll also get the fun puzzle of how personal vectors might change as the training data updates. For example, suppose I tell an LLM personal assistant to emulate Neil Gaiman. And then at...There has been interesting research into “persona vectors.” I wonder if there’s a vector for “someone who makes lots of mistakes” that they could suppress to fix this?
Oh then we'll also get the fun puzzle of how personal vectors might change as the training data updates.
For example, suppose I tell an LLM personal assistant to emulate Neil Gaiman. And then at some point the training data updates with a whole lot of new quotes from Neil Gaiman that shift the personality from a dark gothic fantasy writer to being that of a serial sexual abuser. All of a sudden my LLM shifts over? If you asked the virtual assistant why it's being rapey it would deny it because Gaiman denies it!
Just a thought experiment obviously. I doubt the news stories would be enough to significantly shift the tone. But another example might be picking J.K. Rowling off a training corpus that stops at 2010 and then having your assistant start getting really weird as you add more years.
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentI don't think this is going to be a productive conversationYou are claiming that if they did not have these tools they would bet better at math
I disagree.
By your very own point these are EXTREMELY simple skills, and yet they have not bothered to learn them. By what evidence do you think that had these tools not existed that they'd suddenly be MORE willing to practice and learn, rather than find a different path of least resistance.I don't think this is going to be a productive conversation
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentNo I’m sorry but this is complete nonsense. I am talking about the rudiments of very basic numeracy here, simple addition and subtraction. Anyone without a learning disability can do this. It’s...No I’m sorry but this is complete nonsense. I am talking about the rudiments of very basic numeracy here, simple addition and subtraction. Anyone without a learning disability can do this. It’s not some esoteric skill or knowledge gap, it is pure atrophy of core competencies due to overreliance on a crutch and it has made them objectively worse at their job. It’s not adding to the pool it’s just making everyone in it perform worse.
They absolutely would be better at mental math if they did it at all because it’s a skill developed through practice. It is absolutely not “good enough” because I already demonstrated that they are causing inefficiencies in being able to budget and strategize by not being quick enough to keep up in a meeting.
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentIt’s literally their job. I have no idea what you’re trying to say here. That a professional accountant shouldn’t put a bit of effort into keeping their accounting relevant skills, such as basic...It’s literally their job. I have no idea what you’re trying to say here. That a professional accountant shouldn’t put a bit of effort into keeping their accounting relevant skills, such as basic mental arithmetic, sharp?
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentI don’t think they would have because arithmetic isn’t some inherent ability it’s just a matter of practice. They’re out of practice so their brains don’t work anymore. If they did practice they’d...I don’t think they would have because arithmetic isn’t some inherent ability it’s just a matter of practice. They’re out of practice so their brains don’t work anymore. If they did practice they’d be fine.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentWhat confused me is why the spelling and grammar start to fall apart. It makes sense that it would get repetitive and make less and less sense, but it’s odd that it starts making typos.What confused me is why the spelling and grammar start to fall apart. It makes sense that it would get repetitive and make less and less sense, but it’s odd that it starts making typos.
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentI don’t think this is true in the slightest. I’m talking about people with literal degrees in accounting. You think there aren’t people with college degrees who wouldn’t be able to do elementary...I don’t think this is true in the slightest. I’m talking about people with literal degrees in accounting. You think there aren’t people with college degrees who wouldn’t be able to do elementary school level arithmetic if calculators didn’t exist?
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara (edited )Link ParentI’ve started to come around on this one too TBH. Less with writing, largely because I’ve known how to write for so long I don’t actually know how people think without it. But I do regularly...I’ve started to come around on this one too TBH. Less with writing, largely because I’ve known how to write for so long I don’t actually know how people think without it. But I do regularly interact with accounting and finance people who are so excel/calculator dependent they can no longer do basic arithmetic in their heads. Trying to work through a problem that involves doing math (as one does when trying to work out a project budget) is a huge slog because they can’t keep up at the pace of a conversation. Yeah the aids are helpful, but we can’t actually talk through anything with a math component if your brain is just going to the Sunken Place any time I start adding more than 2 sets of numbers together.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentYeah Facebook, as it initially existed, was a MySpace knock-off that didn’t let you autoplay music and had enough guardrails to keep you from hurting yourself with custom styling. Once they...Yeah Facebook, as it initially existed, was a MySpace knock-off that didn’t let you autoplay music and had enough guardrails to keep you from hurting yourself with custom styling. Once they introduced the News Feed it was all over. If it remained just a personal page with little comment threads for your personal updates. It was something that was kind of there for stalking people but did make stalking a little bit hard. But replacing the model of allowing people to put up information for others to go out and seek into one where the platform pushes information/content to you took the control out of the user’s hands.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentThere is no “true you” that exists independent of your social context. The social norms and expectations around you are a core part of what make you, you. It’s also not like an unmoderated space...that is how you know how you truly are.
There is no “true you” that exists independent of your social context. The social norms and expectations around you are a core part of what make you, you.
It’s also not like an unmoderated space is free of social pressures. You’re not getting whacked with a moderation stick but you are responding to how other people react to you. You are reacting to abuse or praise or attention or being ignored, all of which is based on the nature and composition of the crowd that the community has drawn in. All of this applies pressures to make you behave like this and not like that. Moderation is meant to maintain healthy dynamics around that and without it you get a lot of ambient pressure to behave like a fuckwad and to have a lot of really strong (and socially unhealthy) fuckwad-resistant defense mechanisms. This is no more of a “true self” than if a moderator shows up to say “Hey you’re being kind of a dick tone it down.”
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentI’ve found if you keep pushing back on a chatbot enough, like “no not like that,” “wrong,” “this is incorrect try again,” it eventually starts to sound like a person having a mental breakdown and...I’ve found if you keep pushing back on a chatbot enough, like “no not like that,” “wrong,” “this is incorrect try again,” it eventually starts to sound like a person having a mental breakdown and will begin going through chains of repetitive logorrhea. It even starts to make mistakes, with typos and run on sentences, and start doing harsh self-talk sometimes. It’s very bizarre, and I suspect once you push far enough you start to get into exchanges from nasty break-up emails or something.
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Comment on The troubling decline in conscientiousness [especially in younger Americans] in ~life
NaraVara Link ParentI hate it when people bring up that “the youth now love luxury. . .” quote (usually attributed to Sophocles but actually kind of a paraphrase of various writers from around the same time). Largely...On the one hand, there's quotes from ancient civilizations arguing as such.
I hate it when people bring up that “the youth now love luxury. . .” quote (usually attributed to Sophocles but actually kind of a paraphrase of various writers from around the same time). Largely because that generation of writers it’s attributed to WERE RIGHT. The youths they were talking about would go on to destroy Athenian power on an ill-advised glory-whoring military campaign, fall under the sway of a bunch of deranged demagogues like Kleon and Alcibiades, and then eventually sell the city state out to the Persians, thus ending Athenian democracy.
Yeah people have always complained about young people, but also society being gripped by certain specific derangements stemming from entitlement, greed, and status anxiety are things that have happened cyclically throughout history and things get very bad when it does. Younger generations should be inculcated into certain civic virtues to ensure the social contract remains strong and if they are not you end up with this rapidly degrading husk of a civilization we find ourselves in.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentThe thing is they do translate to the digital world as long as everyone involved has some kind of persistent identity. Where things break down is when the majority of your interactions are...The thing is they do translate to the digital world as long as everyone involved has some kind of persistent identity. Where things break down is when the majority of your interactions are transient, with accounts that you will probably not see again and you’re only interacting with their thoughts as a sort of snack-sized bit of content unmoored from any sort of social connection or conversational context.
Even on pseudonymous forums most people didn’t act like total fuckwads. The community fuckwads were a bit of local color within each forum community. What’s changed is that social media has enabled all the fuckwads to get together into a giant fuckwad mob, and then those mobs can be incited into collective action based on rage bait to do Gamergate type shit. This has its own sort of feedback loop where when people marinate in enough of this it makes us all more defensive, more hostile in our interactions, more glib and less charitable or able to assume good faith. At that point the internet stops being a place to socialize (as in have open conversations with people) and turns into a place to sling propaganda around.
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Comment on Social media probably can’t be fixed in ~tech
NaraVara Link ParentTo be fair to humans, I don’t think the study method is all that great at simulating what the investigator thinks it is. Even if you change the incentive structures, the text the LLMs are trained...To be fair to humans, I don’t think the study method is all that great at simulating what the investigator thinks it is. Even if you change the incentive structures, the text the LLMs are trained on are still largely bodies of text from Reddit and Twitter.
When Elon told Grok to stop being PC and be “unfathomably based” instead as part of its system prompt it suddenly turned into a psychotic neo-Nazi. This is because LLMs aren’t people they’re statistical models where the prompt you give it is operating on weighted relationships between a bunch of different tokens/concepts it’s working with. When you change the prompt it’s not quite like you’re talking to a person to change their behavior about something. You’re altering how it’s modeling the web of relationships it has across its body of text. If the prompt makes the subject behave differently what has happened is that it has switched into simulating a different sort of person. But what if there aren’t any different sorts of people in the training data?
I would assume there is so much in the corpus based on behavior optimized for the actual existing social media we have that the behavior is not going to change regardless of what you do to it. Because bot isn’t responding to incentives like a person would, it’s mimicking the behavior it’s been trained on and if there isn’t enough training data of behavior under the contexts you’re trying to test you’re not actually applying the “treatment” you would think you are.
I have no game development experience myself, but what you’re describing seems to be a very system heavy game. One bit of advice I’ve gotten about independently developing a game is to try to first work out the systems as a card game or board game before you even worry about anything technical. Once you understand what kinds of rules and systems you’re going for you’ll have a better idea of what sorts of trade offs are best to make with your choice of engine. And also, you’ll have a better idea of whether the game itself is workable and fun before you burn a bunch of time on yak shaving to start development.
It seems like a lot of what you’re describing could be simulated with character sheets, a deck of “event” cards, and some dice.