Turtle's recent activity

  1. Comment on The philosophy of Star Trek: Is the Prime Directive ethical? in ~humanities

    Turtle
    Link
    Can someone sell me on the Prime Directive? I haven't thought about this that deeply, but it seems to me that: The Federation is complicit in a lot of suffering by not sharing their technology,...

    Can someone sell me on the Prime Directive? I haven't thought about this that deeply, but it seems to me that:

    1. The Federation is complicit in a lot of suffering by not sharing their technology, philosophy, etc., possibly making it the most evil political institution in human(?) history.
    2. It doesn't really make sense from an anti-colonialist perspective. There's no reason the Federation couldn't engage in technological/cultural exchanges without disrupting the sovereignty of the planet/culture they are visiting.
    3. I'm not sure that it even makes sense for the Federation to be anti-colonialist. It is clearly highly superior in its political organization, technological prowess, philosophy, etc., to any civilization that has arisen on Earth in this universe, and presumably on most pre-contact planets in the Star Trek universe. If we were given the chance to accept absolute rule under an interstellar, post-scarcity, highly enlightened civilization such as the Federation, I would say it would be immoral not to take it, as it would give us a much greater chance of solving our problems than we would have on our own, in addition to ending poverty, starvation, homelessness, etc. Is it really that much of a stretch to say that such a civilization ought to impose such rule regardless of the will of the subjugated? Obviously colonialism has been terrible historically, but that's because the colonists were always superior only in technology, and often inferior in many other ways to the colonized. I don't think this would be true with respect to a colonialist Federation.
    4 votes

  3. Comment on Credit-based communication platforms? in ~tech

    Turtle
    Link
    High value isn't the same as good quality though. Youtube is kind of like what your describing, in that it incurs costs on consumers in the form of watching ads, and on producers in the form of...

    High value isn't the same as good quality though. Youtube is kind of like what your describing, in that it incurs costs on consumers in the form of watching ads, and on producers in the form of opportunity cost, and rewards the most high value producers. Very little of the most popular content is what I would consider high quality. For that to be the case, your use base would have to value good quality content already, and then there's not really much point to what your proposing besides compensating creators.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Minneapolis violence surges as police officers leave department in droves in ~news

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    I mean if I was a police officer right now, I would be very wary of having anything to do with violent crime. If it became necessary to use deadly force, there almost certainly would be unrest,...

    I mean if I was a police officer right now, I would be very wary of having anything to do with violent crime. If it became necessary to use deadly force, there almost certainly would be unrest, calls for firing, threats to my personal safety, etc., regardless of the circumstances of the situation.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on What's something you don't understand the appeal of? in ~talk

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    There's something very amusing to me about how worked up people can get about things that just... aren't that important (i.e. text editors, muscular women in video games), and I don't think this...

    There's something very amusing to me about how worked up people can get about things that just... aren't that important (i.e. text editors, muscular women in video games), and I don't think this is necessarily unique to myself. The premise of r/HobbyDrama is just that, and it has 140k subs. The appeal of r/SubredditDrama is very similar and it has even more. I don't think it's that weird that people find deliberately provoking such reactions entertaining, even if it's kind of unethical.

    16 votes

  7. Comment on Did any Tilders vote for Trump? And if so, why? in ~talk

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    Do many people support actual riots? I thought leftists were generally more concerned about police cracking down on "riots" or otherwise instigating violence? I would assume some view them as...

    Do many people support actual riots? I thought leftists were generally more concerned about police cracking down on "riots" or otherwise instigating violence? I would assume some view them as justified class warfare or something but isn't that a fairly fringe position?

    5 votes

  8. Comment on Did any Tilders vote for Trump? And if so, why? in ~talk

    Turtle
    Link
    I can only speak for my mother but the main friction points seem to be: abortion opposition to another lockdown (mostly on economic grounds) fear that Biden/the Democrats won't crack down on...

    I can only speak for my mother but the main friction points seem to be:

    • abortion
    • opposition to another lockdown (mostly on economic grounds)
    • fear that Biden/the Democrats won't crack down on riots/looting (I think this is probably the most important one)
    • vague disdain for/mistrust of the intellectual elite that comprise the media & universities, who seem to near universally support Biden
    6 votes

  9. Comment on I hate generational hate in ~life

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    I guess I see things like home ownership, not living with parents, higher net worths, etc., as essentially luxuries. I also would like to own a home and not live with my parents, and I think...

    I guess I see things like home ownership, not living with parents, higher net worths, etc., as essentially luxuries. I also would like to own a home and not live with my parents, and I think having these things would probably make me somewhat happier, but I don't think there is any valid sense in which I am entitled to them, or that my difficulty in acquiring them can be said to be indicative of an objectively poor quality of life. Maybe for someone owning a Ferrari is absolutely necessary for them to be maximally happy. Does the fact that it's harder for them to afford one than it was for their parents really demonstrate that they have it worse than they did? Does it really matter objectively?

    1 vote

  10. Comment on I hate generational hate in ~life

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    We seem to have different definitions of "enough". Do you have reliable access to shelter? Do you have reliable access to adequate food and water? Are you relatively safe from assault, theft,...

    We seem to have different definitions of "enough". Do you have reliable access to shelter? Do you have reliable access to adequate food and water? Are you relatively safe from assault, theft, murder, etc.? Do you have disposable income and free time to spend on yourself and your hobbies? Are cheap and widely available medical interventions cheap and available to you (think penicillin, aspirin, antibacterial ointment, bandaids, etc.)? Then you have enough. Arguably most Millennials have enough by this metric. The things you mentioned basically don't matter to me. I don't think the marginally better quality of life enjoyed by Boomers is a valid reason for antipathy towards them.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on I hate generational hate in ~life

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    I don't really consider having to live with your parents or not being able to live out out some unsustainable middle class fantasy lifestyle to be legitimate grievances. Most Millennials are still...

    I don't really consider having to live with your parents or not being able to live out out some unsustainable middle class fantasy lifestyle to be legitimate grievances. Most Millennials are still better off than almost any generation in history, even if their quality of life is slightly worse than that of Boomers. That's all that matters to me.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on I hate generational hate in ~life

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    Why should it matter? As long as younger people have enough, does it really make a difference if elderly people have more proportionally? Of course lots of younger people don't have enough, but I...

    why should the proportions be skewed to older people?

    Why should it matter? As long as younger people have enough, does it really make a difference if elderly people have more proportionally? Of course lots of younger people don't have enough, but I don't think that is unique to any generation, and if my assumption is true, than this percentage should be less than or equal to what it was for Boomers however many years ago.

    If current trends continue, future generations will own nothing of value in absolute terms.

    Shouldn't they have proportionally less, but an equivalent or greater amount absolutely? Although I don't think current growth trends are really sustainable.

  13. Comment on I hate generational hate in ~life

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    Are Millennials actually worse off in absolute terms? I would assume 3% of today's wealth is at least equal to 20% of the wealth of 45(?) years ago.

    Are Millennials actually worse off in absolute terms? I would assume 3% of today's wealth is at least equal to 20% of the wealth of 45(?) years ago.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Switching from Chrome to Firefox can supercharge your privacy in minutes in ~tech

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    I do think a Chromium monoculture is problematic. I just don't think there's anything I can do about it. And is the time bomb thing actually wrong? It seems like the writing is on the walls with...

    I do think a Chromium monoculture is problematic. I just don't think there's anything I can do about it. And is the time bomb thing actually wrong? It seems like the writing is on the walls with the lay offs, all of the weird monetization schemes, the sheer disparity in available resources, the fast pace of web evolution, shrinking market share, etc. I just don't see how Mozilla can survive.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Switching from Chrome to Firefox can supercharge your privacy in minutes in ~tech

    Turtle
    Link
    IMO Firefox is a lost cause. Personally I abandoned it months ago. If you're worried about privacy, Chromium + addons is just as good as anything you can do with Firefox. Might as well switch now...

    IMO Firefox is a lost cause. Personally I abandoned it months ago. If you're worried about privacy, Chromium + addons is just as good as anything you can do with Firefox. Might as well switch now and get it over with. It's a lot faster too!

    5 votes

  16. Comment on What are we so afraid of? – Tony Green, on dismissing, denying, contracting and spreading the coronavirus in ~health.coronavirus

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    If a smoker dies of lung cancer because they were swindled by the tobacco lobbyist you were talking about into thinking it's perfectly safe, is that their fault? Is that a deliberate decision to...

    If a smoker dies of lung cancer because they were swindled by the tobacco lobbyist you were talking about into thinking it's perfectly safe, is that their fault? Is that a deliberate decision to ignore the truth? Is it not the fault of the tobacco lobbyist? Does it really change anything if he also convinces his friends that smoking is perfectly safe, based on information given to him by the tobacco lobbyist, and they later die of lung cancer as well?

    4 votes

  17. Comment on What are we so afraid of? – Tony Green, on dismissing, denying, contracting and spreading the coronavirus in ~health.coronavirus

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    meaning not a conscious decision.

    What I'm saying is that it wasn't necessarily deliberate.

    meaning not a conscious decision.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on What are we so afraid of? – Tony Green, on dismissing, denying, contracting and spreading the coronavirus in ~health.coronavirus

    Turtle
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    What I'm saying is that it wasn't necessarily deliberate. People don't deliberately choose to not care about the truth.

    What I'm saying is that it wasn't necessarily deliberate. People don't deliberately choose to not care about the truth.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on What are we so afraid of? – Tony Green, on dismissing, denying, contracting and spreading the coronavirus in ~health.coronavirus

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    It seems like this person truly didn't know that the virus was such a threat. Can we really fault them for that? Their ignorance was more likely a result of the media skepticism or whatever that...

    It seems like this person truly didn't know that the virus was such a threat. Can we really fault them for that? Their ignorance was more likely a result of the media skepticism or whatever that was pushed on them, not some conscious decision to ignore what they knew what was a serious issue because "fuck other people". Does that not make them something of a victim here?

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Resources for learning Hebrew? in ~humanities

    Turtle
    Link Parent
    No, I can't vouch for its accuracy personally. The main creator claims to have a Masters degree in linguistics and to be working on a PhD in Biblical Hebrew though.

    No, I can't vouch for its accuracy personally. The main creator claims to have a Masters degree in linguistics and to be working on a PhD in Biblical Hebrew though.

    1 vote