R3qn65's recent activity
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Comment on The Oatmeal: A cartoonist's review of AI art in ~comics
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Comment on How some veterans exploit $193 billion US Department of Veterans Affairs program, due to lax controls in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentFor what it's worth, the rate of homelessness among veterans is lower than among representative non-veterans. I'm not sure I agree that veterans don't know of the options available to them. I'm...The other extreme leaves our troops on the streets...
For what it's worth, the rate of homelessness among veterans is lower than among representative non-veterans. I'm not sure I agree that veterans don't know of the options available to them. I'm sure it happens, but on any sort of significant scale? I doubt it.
But ultimately there is zero reason to pick between the two extremes. It's not like applying more scrutiny to tinnitus claims is a straight road to abandoning veterans to sleep on the streets. I get and appreciate your concern for veteran welfare, but - and this is more philosophical - I think that we as a society have gone too far. It's coming from a good place, but I don't think it's healthy for our society or veterans themselves to put veterans up on such a pedestal. Greater and greater semantic separation between veterans and everyone else is a bad thing. Service to the collective whole should be viewed as something that we all do in some way, not something so praiseworthy and distinct that it earns you special treatment for the rest of your life.
Again, we need to make sure we're taking care of the people who lost limbs, who were sexually assaulted in the course of their service, who suffered psychological injury. And a lot of this is an overcorrection in response to the brutal reception shown to returning Vietnam vets - it's coming from a good place. But for context, in 2023 there were 5,283 workplace fatalities in the US. That's about twice as many fatalities as the US suffered in two decades in Afghanistan. My point is that I don't think it's healthy for our society to treat any one group - in this case veterans - as being so sacrosanct that we can't apply scrutiny to their disability claims.
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Comment on How some veterans exploit $193 billion US Department of Veterans Affairs program, due to lax controls in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentIt's sort of both. Unclear pathologies and/or insufficient documentation often mean that you get stuck in the system for forever, yeah. And unfortunately a lot of the really pernicious stuff that...It's sort of both. Unclear pathologies and/or insufficient documentation often mean that you get stuck in the system for forever, yeah. And unfortunately a lot of the really pernicious stuff that people suffer with falls into the former category. But there are also all kinds of issues that are very easy to get approved -- especially, unfortunately, if you're solely looking for a payout and are therefore highly motivated to make sure everything is tight.
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Comment on How some veterans exploit $193 billion US Department of Veterans Affairs program, due to lax controls in ~society
R3qn65 (edited )Link ParentFor sure, but there's probably an answer in between, no? From personal experience, if there's too much fraud in the system you reach a sort of tipping point in which people who otherwise wouldn't...For sure, but there's probably an answer in between, no?
From personal experience, if there's too much fraud in the system you reach a sort of tipping point in which people who otherwise wouldn't commit fraud get led into it. It's like a very extreme version of schoolkids stealing from the convenience store because everyone else is doing it. When I got out of the military I was told by multiple people that if I didn't get some sort of VA rating I was an idiot. Everyone knew off the top of their heads what the ratings were -- "oh, we basically all have tinnitus and you can get 30% for that. It's impossible to prove." These were people who were otherwise honorable but who looked around and said to themselves "I guess this is what one does."
I was a servicemember. That my brothers and sisters who were broken by their service get taken care of is extremely important to me -- but we've gone way too far, and not out of compassion but for political reasons.
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Comment on Horror games to play during October in ~games
R3qn65 LinkRE7 scared the shit out of me. I thought the first act of inscryption was incredible, but I really struggled with act 2 and thought 3 was only fine.RE7 scared the shit out of me.
I thought the first act of inscryption was incredible, but I really struggled with act 2 and thought 3 was only fine.
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Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
R3qn65 Link ParentI don't think it invalidates your broader point, but are you speaking of the perspectives of laymen or, like, lawyers here? The first few lines of the wikipedia page on copyright specify that it...The modern conversation almost always starts from an assumption that ideas are private property, something to be exclusively owned, bought, and sold, rather than from the assumption that they are public by default but that it's sometimes worthwhile to grant an artificial, time limited monopoly... Even when talking about copyright reform, it's almost always framed from the point of view of the copyright holder having an inherent right that could perhaps be limited, rather than as society itself being the main stakeholder.
I don't think it invalidates your broader point, but are you speaking of the perspectives of laymen or, like, lawyers here? The first few lines of the wikipedia page on copyright specify that it expressly doesn't protect ideas, for instance, only their expression (which is consistent with how the courts talk about copyright).
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Comment on Platonic friendships (as a guy) in ~life
R3qn65 LinkYeah, it's often tough for single people attracted to each other's gender (hereafter "mutually attracted") to be friends. A couple of thoughts: You may not be doing this, but it's worth...Yeah, it's often tough for single people attracted to each other's gender (hereafter "mutually attracted") to be friends. A couple of thoughts:
my style of friendship I think might also play into it (emotionally open and more one-on-one than group oriented)
You may not be doing this, but it's worth introspecting to consider if you're leading people on. Generally speaking, emotionally deep one-on-one connections between single, mutually attracted people is, while not exactly flirting, what leads to more. That's just how the world works, you know? If you know in advance you're not interested in someone, there's something to be said for not putting yourself in that position. You say this is already making friendships hard for you, so maybe you've got this covered.
I think it would be nice to have solid, platonic friendships with women (especially since I don't have many friends in general), but I'm not sure how to navigate it and it seems like it only gets harder the older you get.
Honestly it's basically exactly the same as having emotionally resonant friendships with men (or whatever gender you're not sexually interested in)... As long as neither of you is single. One or both parties being single just makes things too messy.
Personally I don't think there's any way around this. I have multiple deep, fulfilling relationships with women -- including one-on-one relationships -- but only with married women (I am married myself). I have single female friends, but I don't hang out with them one on one. So, my advice would be that there's nothing difficult about having group friends or mutual friends or whatever who are single women, but that you simply not try to have emotionally deep, one on one relationships with them.
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Comment on California attorney fined for using twenty-one AI hallucinated cases in court filing in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentIt's worth reading the actual MIT study if you find this sort of thing interesting. There's a lot of nuance that wasn't really captured in the FT piece -- most notably that the MIT study was...Edit to add this interesting FT article I read today (sorry, not a share link, so there is a paywall, probably):
https://www.ft.com/content/e93e56df-dd9b-40c1-b77a-dba1ca01e473
It mentions the famous recent study at Microsoft/MIT Media Lab and quotes that work:
“When we spoke to executives, they would often say the internal tool was very successful,” said Challapally. “But when we spoke to employees, we found zero usage.”It's worth reading the actual MIT study if you find this sort of thing interesting. There's a lot of nuance that wasn't really captured in the FT piece -- most notably that the MIT study was generally pro-AI use in business and the FT piece is generally skeptical of it, so they kind of took opposite conclusions.
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Comment on Young Greenlandic woman living in Denmark will regain custody of the infant girl taken from her shortly after birth – becomes the latest flashpoint between Denmark and Greenland in ~life.women
R3qn65 Link ParentWe've clashed a couple of times along those lines, yeah, but for what it's worth this is an occasion in which it's clearly warranted to discuss how eugenics and white supremacy play a role. I...We've clashed a couple of times along those lines, yeah, but for what it's worth this is an occasion in which it's clearly warranted to discuss how eugenics and white supremacy play a role. I think you're exactly right to bring it up. Taking children away - whether it be preemptively through sterilization or in a more literal sense like this one - is a fearsome power that the state should always, always hesitate to use and which should prompt the maximum possible amount of self-reflection.
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Comment on What "one-hit wonder" do you think has a discography worth exploring? in ~music
R3qn65 LinkCarly Rae Jepsen only sort of fits in this category, but I think it's reasonably safe to say most people only think of Call me maybe. Those people are missing out, because Emotion is one of the...Carly Rae Jepsen only sort of fits in this category, but I think it's reasonably safe to say most people only think of Call me maybe. Those people are missing out, because Emotion is one of the greatest pop albums of all time.
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Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp
R3qn65 Link ParentIf you don't need it, you don't need it! No worries either way. I only mention it since you said you recently upgraded to fiber and liked the speed.If you don't need it, you don't need it! No worries either way. I only mention it since you said you recently upgraded to fiber and liked the speed.
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Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp
R3qn65 Link ParentJust so you're aware, if you're on wifi4 you're probably not going to be able to actually use all the bandwidth your fiber connection has available.Just so you're aware, if you're on wifi4 you're probably not going to be able to actually use all the bandwidth your fiber connection has available.
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Comment on More US employers fire workers over Charlie Kirk posts as pressure from right mounts in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentThat's really not many at all in a country the size of the US. I don't bring that up for any particular reason, I guess I'm just surprised.Roughly three dozen workers are reported to have been suspended or fired over their responses to Kirk’s killing,
That's really not many at all in a country the size of the US. I don't bring that up for any particular reason, I guess I'm just surprised.
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Comment on The woman who wrote "Eat, Pray, Love" tried to kill her girlfriend and wrote a book about it in ~books
R3qn65 Link Parenthttps://xkcd.com/2501/I sometimes forget how much of this stuff normal people know.
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Comment on Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens? in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentDefinitely a risk and you may well be right that it's best to start over entirely, but there is some precedent for succeeding at rebranding. There are a handful of higher-end American convenience...I think there's a risk that not cutting the stuff that people associate as low quality can cause that association to infect the new products even if the new products are better.
Definitely a risk and you may well be right that it's best to start over entirely, but there is some precedent for succeeding at rebranding. There are a handful of higher-end American convenience stores (Wawa, bucees, others) which successfully sell nicer versions of hotdogs, chicken sandwiches, and so on.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentMy guess would be because it's so deeply unfair. That's the best way to put it - it's incredibly unfair that shitheads get to act like shitheads and decent people get constantly exhorted to be the...Those things all feel very intertwined in politeness and propriety and who gets told to "behave" better vs who gets a shrug because we know they'll be inappropriate anyway. It feels like I'm dancing at the edge of being able to articulate how all of this is connected and why it's so frustrating.
My guess would be because it's so deeply unfair. That's the best way to put it - it's incredibly unfair that shitheads get to act like shitheads and decent people get constantly exhorted to be the better person, turn the other cheek.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentWell, that wasn't my intent, so if that's what I did, I am sorry.I may just be tired of feeling like I'm told that I'm a threat to society, and then told to be nicer to the people saying it, even after death. Tired of being told that if I would only be nicer to the people who voted for my rights to be revoked, to those who now advocate to "repeal the 19th" they wouldn't want to revoke my rights so much.
Well, that wasn't my intent, so if that's what I did, I am sorry.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentI feel the exact same way about the assassination attempt against President Trump, who, by any measure, has done vastly more than Charlie Kirk to produce harmful outcomes for far more people. I...I feel the exact same way about the assassination attempt against President Trump, who, by any measure, has done vastly more than Charlie Kirk to produce harmful outcomes for far more people.
I don't fully understand what is behind your argument. Obviously you're not claiming that he's more accurately described as a republican fundraiser and therefore it's okay that he was killed, right? If you take what I said and replace it with "assassinated because he built his entire career around promoting and propagating a bad opinion", does anything fundamentally change? Like, yeah, I would still very much oppose that.
So... Are you calling me disingenuous because you feel like I haven't fairly represented your points? As some sort of gotcha for not directly quoting people? Other?
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentVery fair points. For what it's worth, I'm not taking this stance because of propriety or etiquette, and certainly not out of some sort of respect for Charlie Kirk. For me, it's a spiritual...Very fair points. For what it's worth, I'm not taking this stance because of propriety or etiquette, and certainly not out of some sort of respect for Charlie Kirk. For me, it's a spiritual question. Not religious, but spiritual -- both for our individual psyches as well as the national soul of America.
Politics is corrosive. It makes us think in terms of teams, and in many ways we humans are at our absolute worst when we think in terms of teams, of us versus them.
My overarching goal here- and clearly I have desperately failed in this- is to remind people that when we are indifferent to the assassination of someone because of the opinions that they held, we all have lost something -- but no one has lost more than the person who is indifferent.
It's in the same spirit of forgiving someone for you, not for them.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentI don't blame people for feeling unable to express sympathy. I simply think the appropriate reaction to that realization is horror - as you very articulately put it - and not schadenfreude.I don't blame people for feeling unable to express sympathy. I simply think the appropriate reaction to that realization is horror - as you very articulately put it - and not schadenfreude.
What's the opposing position? That all drawn things are of equal value? I feel like that's probably not what you would argue but I'm not sure how else you would frame it.