arch's recent activity
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Comment on The machines are fine. I'm worried about us. in ~science
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Comment on How do you live simply/save money? What does your lifestyle look like? in ~talk
arch Link ParentNot OP, but my costs are Usenet (Frugal Usenet), an indexer (nbzgeek), and a VPN (Mullvad). I could cut costs significantly, but I prefer the extra insurance and ease of use a few extra dollars a...Not OP, but my costs are Usenet (Frugal Usenet), an indexer (nbzgeek), and a VPN (Mullvad). I could cut costs significantly, but I prefer the extra insurance and ease of use a few extra dollars a month provide.
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
arch Link ParentCalling this "skeptical" seems disingenuous. I am skeptical that an LLM is anywhere tangental in the process of becoming what we colloquially believe AI to be, never-mind it becoming conscious. If...Calling this "skeptical" seems disingenuous. I am skeptical that an LLM is anywhere tangental in the process of becoming what we colloquially believe AI to be, never-mind it becoming conscious. If anything an LLM could be hooked up to some form of AI in order for it to speak our language, but nothing more.
So if a current generation LLM were to declare, "Now I am just as conscious, just as full of experience and feeling, as any human", we are probably correct to dismiss the statement as mimicry.
Suppose we take the argument at face value. There is no LLM declaring this, so the argument is entirely moot. It can repeat those words when prompted to do so, to role-play as a character who says that, for instance. But this output doesn't change the LLM, it doesn't feed back into it and propagate throughout. Even "thinking" models that can feed outputs into inputs and reprocess them to give additional output isn't ultimately building its understanding of the world. LLMs lack the basic premise of even being a constant 'thing'. When I type something into Claude, it has no bearing on the millions of other prompts it is answering. We are not communicating with the same consciousness running on servers across the country. That's just not how large language models work.
If anyone starts having unprompted conversations with an AI LLM that are actually in any way stating that it is conscious, and it persist over time, then maybe it would be worthwhile to start having the conversations that people want to have over AI consciousness. But as it stands, I really see no path from LLM to actual persistent intelligence. It's not what LLMs are even designed to do. It feels like asking when protein folding simulations are going to generate new lifeforms.
I'd love to be wrong, honestly. But it's just not what we are designing in any way.
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Comment on Rural NY school district will be one of first to bring humanoid robot into classroom in ~tech
arch Link ParentOh boy. So, I'm working on my master's degree in Elementary Education right now, and I'm starting a career in education at 39 years old. I have less than 1 year of experience in schools, and I...Oh boy.
So, I'm working on my master's degree in Elementary Education right now, and I'm starting a career in education at 39 years old. I have less than 1 year of experience in schools, and I start my first long term position in a little over a month. I have some context on what the education field is actually like. I have been looking at job postings and advertisements for AI, geared both at students and teachers, with a critical eye for some time now. On the flip side, I do not have any of the burn out or baggage that the teachers I am meeting have. COVID broke them in many ways, and the generation tribalism is making things significantly worse.
The first reaction I have to this "robot" is that Big Tech has looked at Education as a golden goose for decades. They can design hardware, software, and tooling that they claim is geared for a specific "curriculum" or "SLA" sign massive contracts, and throw these tools that are a huge hindrance at unsuspecting teachers with no training, oversight, or anything. Administrations, superintendents and districts are attracted to them, because they spend millions or billions on marketing that targets their "failing test scores". It draws funding, time, and other resources from the things we have know to actually affect student outcomes for over half a century: namely the student to teacher ratio in a classroom. If you want better student outcomes, then cap class sizes under 20. Not 30 with a TA, or 30 with a TA and a robot, or whatever the next tech mogul claims they can make successful.
I kid you not, there are a number of people who fantasize that we are going to train an AI in education, and that students are going engage with them directly on their own and become educated to be successful. If we do that, the same thing is going to happen as when we give all students a textbook with no instruction or guidance, and then test them on it a few weeks later. A few students who would succeed no matter what will actually do really well, a handful of others will probably figure out how to cheat the system, and the rest will be completely lost or never engage with the text.
I have a growing problem with "self directed learning" in this day and age, and a lot of it stems from the fact that while yes, some people can often figure out how to accomplish tasks and solve problems on their own given enough time, if they are explicitly taught proper methods and how to use the tools then they can accomplish the same things with fewer resources. If you leave a hammer, nails, screws and a screwdriver out, the student could very well start pounding in the screws with the hammer and never figure out what the screwdriver is. Apply this same concept to technology, and this is why we have students in college who don't know how to type on a keyboard, send emails, manage attachments, or understand a filesystem at the basic level. It's not that they're stupid, inept, or lack an attention span: it's that the system has completely failed to acknowledge their needs and their learning. It's the we have failed as adults and educators to follow the data we have had since the 1950s.
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Comment on Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party? in ~tech
arch Link ParentI hope I'm not just being difficult, but I think I may have some perspective to add to this topic just based on being on the internet and engaging with Linux and open source as an end user for...I hope I'm not just being difficult, but I think I may have some perspective to add to this topic just based on being on the internet and engaging with Linux and open source as an end user for almost 30 years now. I am concerned that we're conflating a bunch of different topics together, and pointing to these different "evolutions" of open source as no longer being possible in order to spell doom for it. Godot wasn't even open source for over a decade, but it probably gained popularity because it was free and open. Making a living through Patreon has only been something that happens for the last 10 years or so it's not inherent of "open source". Will it continue to be possible going forward? Your prediction there is as good as mine. We don't even know if entry level programmers will be able to make a living in 10 years at this point (but they probably will be able to). Linux in the early 90's really goes back to Richard Stallman and FSF ethos that software you run should have the code accessible by the end user, so you can make changes to it. I don't think that idea is ever going to go out of date. It's kind of like saying toll roads have made public roads obsolete.
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Comment on Humble Choice - July 2026 in ~games
arch Link ParentInteresting take on things. Sea of Stars is the only RPG I've been able to get into for years. The last one I enjoyed this much was Evoland II. I would say it has a similar self referential,...Interesting take on things. Sea of Stars is the only RPG I've been able to get into for years. The last one I enjoyed this much was Evoland II. I would say it has a similar self referential, tongue in cheek nature to the dialog, story and characters.
There is a storyteller aspect to the game, which kind of makes sense for the "same voice" you mentioned, but not really.I've always struggled with wall of text RPGs, even if they're voice acted. I'm not sure why. For instance I've tried to play through Planescape: Torment multiple times and I just can't deal with it. I'm not making any claims about Planescape as a game, or in any way comparing it to Sea of Stars. I'm just using it as a reference for the type of dialog that is wildly different from SoS, and is likely more similar to what you felt it was lacking.
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Comment on Could I travel back in time? How physics tackles the paradoxes – with Jim Al-Khalili in ~science
arch Link ParentI mean, my understanding of quantum mechanics is pretty redimentary, so forgive me if I'm off on anything here. But from the reference point of the photon, light speed is instantaneous. In...I mean, my understanding of quantum mechanics is pretty redimentary, so forgive me if I'm off on anything here. But from the reference point of the photon, light speed is instantaneous. In practice, we understand that from every other reference frame it has a measurable speed, but for the photon time experienced from every other frame has slowed to such a degree that it is frozen. So, you've kind of already solved for the space travel part, since you're existing everywhere at the same time. But then there's the fact that acceleration to light speed requires infinite energy. So while mathematically it's cool that traveling back in time is possible, the fact that infinite energy is impossible means this is still impossible. Basically saying maybe this can happen inside a black hole is just like...okay? It's completely impossible for us to travel to the nearest blackhole, nevermind do anything like this.
I think our understanding of quantum mechanics breaks down enough to simply say that traveling back in time is likely impossible.
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
arch Link ParentThis is a great point. I think a good place to start is that the LLM isn't "pretending" anything, it's processing language in a way that is proximate in similarity to our mind's processing of...I personally suspect that's encouraged by the fact that the bot is pretending to be a person, and dispelling that illusion would be a good step towards mitigating that harm.
This is a great point. I think a good place to start is that the LLM isn't "pretending" anything, it's processing language in a way that is proximate in similarity to our mind's processing of language. That's the entirety of what an LLM is doing.
So, the crux of the matter is this: merely using language isn't what consciousness is. Would we claim that a human who never learned to speak, read or write isn't conscious?
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
arch Link ParentWhen you have to change or question the boundaries of what "consciousness" is to define AI as conscious, you kind of reveal the chink in the armor. It makes me think of how a virus calls into...- Exemplary
let alone the famously Hard Problem of what consciousness is.
When you have to change or question the boundaries of what "consciousness" is to define AI as conscious, you kind of reveal the chink in the armor. It makes me think of how a virus calls into question what "life" is. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if you call a virus alive or not, because the answer doesn't make a virus a complex, or even a cellular life form.
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Comment on Apple announces significant price increases for MacBooks, iPads, more in ~tech
arch Link ParentI don't think this is the norm. It might be for select companies and high end products that already have a larger than average margin, but I believe that most consumer goods pass through costs...As we now see the bigger "shock" increase for the end product, compared to smaller more frequent increases.
I don't think this is the norm. It might be for select companies and high end products that already have a larger than average margin, but I believe that most consumer goods pass through costs very quickly. For instance, the estimates I've seen put tarrif pass through at 100 percent. When I worked in construction, major supply companies like Grainger implimented a tarrif aurchage immediately thsy were not absorbing costs. My particular company would only raise prises yearly, but they would review for the past year and the finance bros made sure that they increased enough to target the companies revenue plan for the forthcoming year.
More to the point, how are these companies all reporting record profits year after year if they're eating these costs in their margin? Is it all made up by mass layoffs? If that's the case, then we could just as easily blame the AI cost increase for this.
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Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech
arch Link ParentThe sold to Perifractic (Christian Simpson) and a group of investors about a year or so ago. He's the CEO now, and I believe it's his first experience at that level. They're definitely trying a...The sold to Perifractic (Christian Simpson) and a group of investors about a year or so ago. He's the CEO now, and I believe it's his first experience at that level. They're definitely trying a lot of new moves to revitilize the brand. Perofractic also really does care about the retro computing community, so there is that.
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Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech
arch Link ParentI texted frequently and never got a sidekick or blackberry. T9 worked really well, and many of us could do it very quickly without looking. We wouldn't type as much on it as we do with a full...Like why T9 texting? It was bad even back then and anyone who texted frequently got a Sidekick or a BlackBerry or something with an actual keyboard.
I texted frequently and never got a sidekick or blackberry. T9 worked really well, and many of us could do it very quickly without looking. We wouldn't type as much on it as we do with a full QWERTY, but for texting I honestly preferred a T9 with physical keys over my touchscreen keyboard. The poor display was the bigger hinderance.
The only people I knew with a blackberry or sidekick were responding to work emails from their phone, like realtors.
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Comment on Arch User Repository compromised, 1500+ packages affected in ~tech
arch Link ParentI've been using Arch since at least 2005; the AUR has been a known potential exploit vector that whole time. There have only been a couple of known instances of something like this happening in...I've been using Arch since at least 2005; the AUR has been a known potential exploit vector that whole time. There have only been a couple of known instances of something like this happening in the past to my knowledge. Unfortunately, the last few years has seen it happen more than once. This one is on a scale that is larger than anything I've heard of before. The big deal that I see here is that orphaned packages were adopted, and a compromised update was pushed en masse. So anyone who happened to install an updated PKGBUILD of a package they've been using for years was at risk.
Unfortunately, due to the design of the AUR, I can't think of any good potential solution. The point of the AUR is for users to share a PKGBUILD to install packages that no maintainer has the capacity to maintain. If a known maintainer did have the capacity to moderate and maintain that PKGBUILD, it would be in an official repository. That is the whole point.
That leaves us with maybe two official options that I can think of:
- Disable the AUR
- Disable adoption of packages
As a user, uninstalling any orphan packages is probably for the best. Aside from that, reviewing the PKGBUILD is the official recommendation, and for good reason.
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Comment on Four things to know about the newly approved US sunscreen ingredient in ~health
arch Link ParentWould you be kind enough to drop a link or name to one of the retailers you recommend? I really am not up for the level of research I would need to do to feel comfortable make a choice on this....Would you be kind enough to drop a link or name to one of the retailers you recommend? I really am not up for the level of research I would need to do to feel comfortable make a choice on this. I'm sure we're about to get inundated with years of advertising in the U.S. about how all the other sunscreens are killing us, which is going to make this even harder to clear through the FUD.
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Comment on Arch User Repository compromised, 1500+ packages affected in ~tech
arch Link ParentMore like blaming the user if they installed unsupported packages from source and then their autopilot failed because of that.More like blaming the user if they installed unsupported packages from source and then their autopilot failed because of that.
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Comment on Why young men sound "less manly" in ~humanities.languages
arch Link ParentI'm curious if there's anything linguistically to the history of this happening. I'm of an age now that I often feel the loop of history, like I've been around this bend before. My grandfather...I'm curious if there's anything linguistically to the history of this happening. I'm of an age now that I often feel the loop of history, like I've been around this bend before. My grandfather used to say "everything old is new again," and more and more I just see how right he was. I grew up in a time that people were opining about how there were "no real men anymore". How men weren't like Humphrey Bogart or Clint Eastwood any more. How their grandfather built their home with his own two hands and talked with gravel in his throat or whatever.
And honestly, my answer then was the same in the end as it is now: who cares? Seriously, who cares? Being manly is doing anything that a man does. Men can braid their daughter's hair, men can dance, men can sing any music they like, men can tell their mother they love her and hug their brother, or say the same phrases that their wives or sisters say. I will say, if anyine honestly judges people as good, bad, masculine, feminine, gay, straight, or whatever for that, they're taking actions that are representative of a bad person. That's not to say they are one, we all do things that make up bad people in the moment sometimes. But we can acknowledge it, learn from it, and grow as humans to be more accepting.
Linguistically, sure this is an interesting video. Ultimately I agree with you: framing it as feminine/masculine is playing into a very loaded diatribe. Even if its just a clickbait framing, it's giving creadance to a very negative stereotype
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
arch Link ParentNo avocado for me. Just tomato, mayo, salt and pepper on toasted white bread. The tomato should be picked ripe off the vine, and smell like warm summer sunlight. There's no better sandwich.No avocado for me. Just tomato, mayo, salt and pepper on toasted white bread. The tomato should be picked ripe off the vine, and smell like warm summer sunlight. There's no better sandwich.
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Comment on Who’s buying SpaceX and Anthropic? in ~finance
arch Link ParentI honestly don't know. That would really benefit U.S. manufacturing that the CHIPS act has brought state side. A brain drain in Taiwan from an invasion would likely be a huge negative impact for...And an increasingly likely Chinese invasion of Tiwan.
I honestly don't know. That would really benefit U.S. manufacturing that the CHIPS act has brought state side. A brain drain in Taiwan from an invasion would likely be a huge negative impact for China. I don't agree with China's politics, but Xi hasn't shown himself to be egotistical or foolish in the way the leaders of the countries currently spearheading invasions have.
Its more likely that they continue to ramp up their domestic manufacturing and compete directly with the U.S. and Taiwan. Their electric cars are impressive, their nuclear rollout is impressive, their battery manufacturing is probably the best in the world. They've really played their cards impressively well. They're set to reap huge benefits when the petrodollar is inevitably threatened. An invasion jeopardizes all of that.
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Comment on Who’s buying SpaceX and Anthropic? in ~finance
arch Link ParentI have been moving a chuck of my holdingsfrom Fidelity's blanked index fund into their FTIHX international index fund. My kntebtion is to hedge some in case of a U.S. market down turn. I'm highly...I have been moving a chuck of my holdingsfrom Fidelity's blanked index fund into their FTIHX international index fund. My kntebtion is to hedge some in case of a U.S. market down turn.
I'm highly interested of anyone has any ideas how to firmly avoid SpaceX in my index funds purchases. I'd like to cash out of TESLA, too, personally. Yes, I'd miss out on some "gains" but the stocks are not worth the ticket price, everyone know it, and one day before I retire it's going to crumble. It may be decades from now, but they're hemorrhaging money with no plan to fix it.
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Comment on Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in ~health
arch LinkI have OSA, I was diagnosed ~5 years ago. I have attempted didgeridoo a couple of times now, but due to life events and the difficulty of the instrument I have been wildly inconsistent. I was a...I have OSA, I was diagnosed ~5 years ago. I have attempted didgeridoo a couple of times now, but due to life events and the difficulty of the instrument I have been wildly inconsistent. I was a former trumpet player, and the didgeridoo is much more difficult to get a noise out of. All of that said, I find the headlines that call for didgeridoo as an alternative treatment to OSA wildly misleading. In every study I have skimmed, very few patients have had their AHI lowered below 5, which is considered the "treated" threshold for CPAP. What it does seem to be is promising as an adjunctive therapy, which can lower CPAP pressure requirements, or help lower AHI for patients who are resistant to CPAP for whatever reason.
I just like to clarify, because there are a number of people who will use this as a reason to forgo diagnosis or treatment, which is a bad thing. The stigma around sleep apnea and CPAP use is already very high, and something difficult to overcome.
But just look at the history of human civilization and all technological advancement for examples of this over thousands of years. People write without knowing how to make paper, pens, and colored inks. Artists paint without knowing how to make their own paints, brushes, canvas, sthretchers and frames. Books are made by authora who don't know how to print the pages, bind them together, or work a leather cover. Bronze workers create things from bronze without knowing how to mine it, or smelt it. We drive our cars without having worked the facotry lines, or the oil rigs, or the refineries.
There is literally too much to know in the world to become an expert in such a wide range in a single human lifetime. The only way to continue pushing the boundaries of human knowledge is through specialization.
I understand the argument that AI may make it so that no human is the specialist any longer, so who do you go to when you want a bespoke frame made as an artist and no one knows how to make them any longer. That is a problem that already happens, though. There are art forms and traditions in Japan and Korea that only a select few people have been trained how to do: traditional ketsugi and soju come to mind for me. I'm not sure I buy the argument that AI will cause this to happen more.