carsonc's recent activity
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Comment on What "one-hit wonder" do you think has a discography worth exploring? in ~music
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Comment on The rise of 'conspiracy physics' in ~science
carsonc Link"The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, has delivered fewer breakthroughs than scientists expected when it turned on in 2010." Hilarious. The Large Hadron Collider,..."The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, has delivered fewer breakthroughs than scientists expected when it turned on in 2010."
Hilarious. The Large Hadron Collider, built to test theories about the nature of reality at the deepest levels that could be formulated, is portrayed as a flop because it confirmed the theories of its builders. Those monsters not only had the audacity to be right, but also managed to squander the taxpayer dollar (sorry, euro) proving it.
Did you know that you can buy antimatter from CERN?
So the team at CERN built a two-meter-long portable containment device. On one end is a junction that allows it to be plugged into the beam of particles produced by the existing facility. That junction leads to the containment area, which is blanketed by a superconducting magnet. Elsewhere on the device are batteries to ensure an uninterrupted power supply, along with the electronics to run it all. The whole setup is encased in a metal frame that includes lifting points that can be used to attach it to a crane for moving around. -Ars Technica
Those so called "physicists" have done nothing more than master the laws of nature so thoroughly that they can contain, package, and transport the most energetic matter in the universe. What a fiasco!
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Comment on What "one-hit wonder" do you think has a discography worth exploring? in ~music
carsonc LinkWell, I had a nice post here about Crowded House with some attempts at word play and sappy reminiscence, but it's gone now, all gone. So all I say now is "Crowded House". So there.Well, I had a nice post here about Crowded House with some attempts at word play and sappy reminiscence, but it's gone now, all gone. So all I say now is "Crowded House".
So there.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - How is it going? in ~books
carsonc Link ParentI think I have the same audiobook and yeah, the different narrator creates a completely different sense of the story. The second one was a bit of a slog for me, except that I have a good friend...I think I have the same audiobook and yeah, the different narrator creates a completely different sense of the story.
The second one was a bit of a slog for me, except that I have a good friend who, in so many ways, resembles the narrator. The tenor of the interior monologue, even the choice of words, was so familiar, I felt like I was listening to some hyperbolic version of my friend telling me about his most recent epiphanies. I kept wondering, "How much of this will be revealed at the end of the story to be just a chemically-induced episode of mania?"
The eternal struggle between the maximizers and the satisficers strikes again.
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Comment on Is the concept of debate completely useless? in ~talk
carsonc LinkThis is actually two questions, each with different answers. To illustrate, allow me to share with you my own situation. I have a colleague with whom I disagree on virtually every topic....Is there a better way to steer "debates" into something more productive that can actually change peoples minds?
This is actually two questions, each with different answers. To illustrate, allow me to share with you my own situation. I have a colleague with whom I disagree on virtually every topic. Furthermore, my colleague is voluble in the extreme, and I get treated regularly to sort of personalized, wide ranging podcast on a daily basis. However, this colleague and I share a friendship that has covered the better part of the past two decades.
Then for me, every day is an invitation to a debate, after a fashion, in the manner that you speak of. However, as a Bahá'í, I am not allowed to contend with any one and am enjoined to shun conflict and controversy, so I focus instead on inquiry. This result is that I have learned a great deal over the years and have come to appreciate the logic of certain worldviews, even if I do not share them.
To answer the first question: Yes, there is a way to steer debates into something more productive, practice inquiry.
To answer the second question: No, people do not change their minds due to debates. If two people are trying to solve a difficult problem, and one person has the right of it, the other person can be convinced, but debates you speak of are as much about style and perspective as they are about substance (if not more). You can learn much, if you choose, but it's likely that your counterpart already believes themselves to be possessed of the truth. How can you add to a cup that is already full?
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Comment on Greek-American musician George Smaragdis dies tragically in Manhattan in ~music
carsonc LinkOn a lark, I started listening to this and I wanted to say, Thank you for sharing this. I was listening to New Cydonia and I couldn't shake the feeling that this was like a Lionel Ritchie song,...On a lark, I started listening to this and I wanted to say, Thank you for sharing this. I was listening to New Cydonia and I couldn't shake the feeling that this was like a Lionel Ritchie song, but all that came to mind was The Commodores The Night Shift. That didn't quite fit, then my spouse suggested All Night Long and that was it.
Now, the two songs keep frankenmerging as they bounce around my skull:
... And I know you won't remember
memories in ember
Lighting up New Cydonia
All night long (All night)
All night long (All night)
We're going to party, (Ingwe idla ngamambala)
Karamu, fiesta, forever (Ingwe idla ngamambala)...I just mean to say that I have really enjoyed discovering his music. What a loss.
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Comment on Greek-American musician George Smaragdis dies tragically in Manhattan in ~music
carsonc Link ParentMany years ago in New York was the last time that I rode my bike. I was rolling slowly down a hill next to a like of cars, not lane splitting, and a car started to pull out in front of me. I...Many years ago in New York was the last time that I rode my bike. I was rolling slowly down a hill next to a like of cars, not lane splitting, and a car started to pull out in front of me. I squeezed the breaks and went over the handle bars. The driver realized I was there and nosed back into their lane. I picked my self up, went into work, and got bandaged up there.
I enjoyed cycling, but I'm amazed that other people ride around on the streets in US cities. I'll probably never ride again.
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
carsonc LinkInfinite fuel is infinite mass in a finite volume. Tiny collisions with intergalactic protons are going to be the least of your worries as your ship collapses into the black hole caused by the...Infinite fuel is infinite mass in a finite volume. Tiny collisions with intergalactic protons are going to be the least of your worries as your ship collapses into the black hole caused by the infinite mass singularity, expanding outwards at the speed of light, consuming the universe in the reaches far beyond the Degenerate Era.
Instead using infinite matter, why not use merely exotic matter? All matter has positive mass and cannot take values of negative mass, according to the laws of physics (as we understand them). But if infinite masses are possible, then so might complex-valued Higgs fields. Suppose then that we had a large (but not infinite) amount of negative mass matter and enough normal matter to form a black hole.
Now we arrive at the Alcubierre Drive. It could probably be designed to accelerate at 1 g indefinitely, although you might still be floating inside it. Plenty of things could go wrong eventually, but if you have the power to make and concentrate exotic matter with negative mass, dealing with the occasional hydrogen atom collision should be no trouble at all.
As for all that pesky blue-shifted radiation: well, the universe is only going to be making visible light for the next 800 billion years, and that's in the rest frame. Once you are twenty eight 9s into your fraction of c, a trillion years will be just another Tuesday. In fact, you'll need the blue shift to make out what's happening out there in the dark. Hydrogen might not slow you down, but a giant, cold, starving black hole gliding through the void would definitely end the cosmic pleasure cruise in the unlikely event of a collision.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - August 2025 - Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut in ~books
carsonc Link ParentI'd like to ask: what do you think we are reading in Cat's Cradle? The narrator is a journalist by trade and is making a record of the end of the world. It begs the question then, who are we as...I'd like to ask: what do you think we are reading in Cat's Cradle? The narrator is a journalist by trade and is making a record of the end of the world. It begs the question then, who are we as the readers of this narrative?
The book ends abruptly, as he meets Bokonon, who reveals what is last act will be. Are we to believe that the narrator has done the same, and that we are... survivors or aliens that now find this preserved journalist with the narrative of Cat's Cradle as his pillow?
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - August 2025 - Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut in ~books
carsonc Link ParentThe concept of ice 9 is great, and kudos to Vonnegut for staying away from the messy details of how it was first made. At the end though, I had two points to raise. So, from a purely scientific...The concept of ice 9 is great, and kudos to Vonnegut for staying away from the messy details of how it was first made. At the end though, I had two points to raise.
So, from a purely scientific perspective, I didn't think the weather would be hot and I didn't think there would be clouds. Most of the heat that we experience from the air around us is from water vapor that has been heated by absorbing solar radiation. In an "Ice 9" world, the vapor would turn into ice 9 essentially on contact. As a result, the air would turn dry, but there would be no heat, as our primary greenhouse gas would have virtually disappeared instantaneously. Things would get cool and dry in a hurry.
Perhaps things heated up due to the massive latent heat of crystallization being released from the "freezing" of the ocean, but no mention is made of this, and delving into this would also reveal the impossibility of rapidly freezing the ocean anyway. That said, it would be interesting to know what the colligative properties of saltwater would be in contact with ice 9.
Second, because there would be no vapor, there would be no clouds, and there would be no tornados, at least not the "wormy" kind mentioned at the end.
Regardless, it wouldn't be any fun.
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Comment on So was there no song of the summer this year? in ~music
carsonc Link ParentIt's less that I have been listening to it and more that everyone else in my family has been listening to it all summer. In fact, everyone sans yours truly is going to a sing-along showing of KPDM...It's less that I have been listening to it and more that everyone else in my family has been listening to it all summer. In fact, everyone sans yours truly is going to a sing-along showing of KPDM at the movie theater. But yeah, I can't name a song of the summer that would not be off the KPDM soundtrack.
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Comment on Share a book you're feeling enthused about in ~books
carsonc LinkWhen I was a kid, I read an anthology of science fiction short stories called "The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF", edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Although the stories...When I was a kid, I read an anthology of science fiction short stories called "The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF", edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Although the stories stuck with me, I forgot the name of the anthology (along the names of most of the stories and authors).
After dedicating a solid hour to scouring through the internet's recommendations for the same damn books that are not what I was looking for, I finally stumbled across it and am happy to have it again.
Anyway, it's an excellent collection and may actually be as enjoyable to others as it was to me when I was a teenager, "but you don’t have to take my word for it."
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Comment on Guilt and video games in ~health.mental
carsonc LinkI think you are right: there probably is something better you could be doing with your time. However, I might suggest looking at your situation from different perspectives. Suppose you had a good...I think you are right: there probably is something better you could be doing with your time. However, I might suggest looking at your situation from different perspectives. Suppose you had a good friend who played video games when they could be doing something else that, presumably, was more productive. Would you think less of this friend for doing so? Would you be ashamed of your friend or your friendship? Perhaps, but you might also accept this part of them as it is.
While I do believe that dissatisfaction with ones self is an essential prerequisite for growth, kindness to ourselves is also important. Often, the way that we treat ourselves is reflected in our treatment of those closest to us - forbearance with our own shortcomings is excellent practice for being forebearing with others. In addition, there are no guarantees that our bad habits cannot be replaced by worse ones. How unfortunate would it be to curse one vice only to find it replaced with one that even desirable.
For what it's worth, I find that video games are an activity that allows me to be called away to help others without leaving behind a mess of tools in a partially completed project. So, if someone needs something, there's no downside to pausing my Noita run and helping where I am needed.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut - How is it going? in ~books
carsonc LinkI liked the observations about the military-industrial complex in Cat's Cradle (1963), which would seem to show up in Stanislaws His Master's Voice (1968). Also, the Bokononist bits kept reminding...I liked the observations about the military-industrial complex in Cat's Cradle (1963), which would seem to show up in Stanislaws His Master's Voice (1968). Also, the Bokononist bits kept reminding me of Earthseed, albeit with more inventive terms for different relationships.
The disappearing polymorph phenomenon at the heart of Cat's Cradle is, thankfully, not real, but the freezing-memory effect is, apparently.
The nucleation rates significantly increased when the water had previously frozen as ice and melted (freezing-memory effect)...
I've been toying with the idea of reproducing this at the "high-school science fair" level.
I was reminded also of The Xi Effect, where the earth ends up being destroyed by these vast alterations.
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Comment on Feeling defeated, and the need to keep trying in ~health.mental
carsonc LinkFriend, I completely sympathize with your plight. Having experienced my own extended periods of unemployment and terrible working conditions, I know well the difficulty of perseverence in the face...Friend, I completely sympathize with your plight. Having experienced my own extended periods of unemployment and terrible working conditions, I know well the difficulty of perseverence in the face of indifference. You have every reason to feel like you have failed, given what you have experienced, and yet your post is clear about your determination.
I think of a particular passage of the Bahá'í Writings:
Anybody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility. -Bahá'í World Faith
I think that your efforts to keep your spirits up during a difficult time are very laudable. No doubt, when these difficulties have passed, the qualities that you have developed during this time will help you provide support and comfort to others during their hardships.
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Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk
carsonc Link Parent♪ Now I know my z - y - x'es. Next time let's all walk to Texas ♪♪ Now I know my z - y - x'es. Next time let's all walk to Texas ♪
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Comment on Breaking up cybercrime gangs is helping save the planet, incredibly in ~enviro
carsonc LinkAn estimated 10k tCO₂e out of a global >30,000,000k tCO₂e of emissions doesn't seem like it helps much, but if each of us does our part and breaks up just one cybercrime gang, then, we can save...An estimated 10k tCO₂e out of a global >30,000,000k tCO₂e of emissions doesn't seem like it helps much, but if each of us does our part and breaks up just one cybercrime gang, then, we can save the planet together.
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Comment on Looking for surreal horror/mindbending in ~books
carsonc Link ParentLibrary at Mount Char was what I came to post. What a ride.Library at Mount Char was what I came to post. What a ride.
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Comment on Why is the right so fascinated with fantasy literature? in ~books
carsonc Link ParentThis piece is about the ways in which many conventional Fantasy narratives align with conservative politics, at least moreso than they do with progressive politics. The author writes: This theme...This piece is about the ways in which many conventional Fantasy narratives align with conservative politics, at least moreso than they do with progressive politics. The author writes:
Fantasy represents less a return to a premodern idyll, then, than a fulfilment of the freedom the Enlightenment promised but social complexity took away. This is harder for the left to buy into, for social structure is what the left is all about.
This theme is markedly similar to the one in the sketch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which King Arthur, very much the symbol of a traditional (i.e. conservative) authority, encounters "Dennis", who is a member of "an anarcho-syndicalist commune". The humor in the imagined encounter comes from the absurdity of dropping a caricature of the modern left into the middle of an otherwise conventional fantasy narrative.
"Dennis" has no desire to join or follow King Arthur and ridicules him for believing that his "Supreme Authority" is derived from "some farcical aquatic ceremony". Clearly, the left isn't going to be draping themselves in allusions to the legend of King Arthur.
What I find notable is that Monty Python treats the same subject matter that the author of the essay does in the same way, yet they are not mentioned. Either because they didn't think about it, don't know about it, or because Monty Python has become culturally irrelevant, even among a crowd that would be otherwise receptive to their satire.
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Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk
carsonc Link ParentI believe that I have learned to live with it so effectively that the possibility of a world with clothes softer than the completely stiff ones that dry out in our basement has now become...I believe that I have learned to live with it so effectively that the possibility of a world with clothes softer than the completely stiff ones that dry out in our basement has now become completely foreign to me. If you find a way, perhaps you can tell me and then we will have soft clothes in our home as well.
My apologies. The loss has been ours, that we have not recognized just how good Crowded House is.