dynarr's recent activity
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Comment on Capitalism is ruining science in ~science
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Comment on Now that the Steam Summer Sale is over, what have you bought? in ~games
dynarr Link ParentPlaying Road Rash split screen with my little brother is a favorite memory, so I knew I had to get Road Redemption as soon as I saw it.Playing Road Rash split screen with my little brother is a favorite memory, so I knew I had to get Road Redemption as soon as I saw it.
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Comment on In reversal, Trump signs order stopping family separation in ~news
dynarr Link ParentBecause when he does good things, it’s not because he’s a good person. He has corrupt or, at best, amoral motives for so much of his behavior; why not this too? And if he really is emotionally...Because when he does good things, it’s not because he’s a good person. He has corrupt or, at best, amoral motives for so much of his behavior; why not this too? And if he really is emotionally affected by the suffering he and his administration caused, and that’s why he reversed the policy, that still doesn’t absolve him. He still did something terrible with no remorse, and continues to do many other terrible things. He got shouted into stopping the most emotionally charged part of a larger change to enforcement policy, and I disagree vehemently with the overall change, and almost everything else he’s doing that’s being shadowed by that outrage (e.g. sent dozens more court nominees to the Senate in the same day he signed this EO, most of which are young, barely qualified, super right wing, activist judges who will get through confirmation without a sweat) and I’m supposed to be happy that he unmade (for now) an absolutely horrendous problem he himself created? Give me a break.
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Comment on Any D&D players around? How'd your last session go? in ~games.tabletop
dynarr Link ParentIn my (admittedly limited) experience, I think it’s a good thing because it’s usually not the novelty wearing off: rather, as players get more into their characters and the world, they become more...In my (admittedly limited) experience, I think it’s a good thing because it’s usually not the novelty wearing off: rather, as players get more into their characters and the world, they become more excited about and imaginative with the in-character possibilities, and forgot about the silly stuff like teabagging that makes little sense in the game world.
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Comment on Favourite non-fiction books of the last couple of years? in ~books
dynarr LinkI have been reading The Book of Why by Judea Pearl. He is responsible for some fundamental innovations that gave rise to modern machine learning, but over the last few decades has been trying to...I have been reading The Book of Why by Judea Pearl. He is responsible for some fundamental innovations that gave rise to modern machine learning, but over the last few decades has been trying to figure out how to get a machine to do causal reasoning instead of just correlational reasoning. If you are a trained statistician or data scientist or whatever, you are going to be more interested in his academic papers or the work of other authors on causal inference. However, if, like me, you’re just a layperson with an interest in statistics, Pearl’s new book is written for you. It’s partly a history of stastical reasoning, partly a theory of cognition, and partly a description of his framework for doing causal inference. Very interesting so far.
If I can tempt you with something written in the 80s instead of a month ago, I highly recommend Cadillac Desert. To my knowledge, it has yet to be surpassed in its status as the best comprehensive history of water in the American West. Although on that note, if anyone has any good resources on how things have been changing on that topic in the last thirty five years, I would love to hear them. But this book is also super fun to read, and will get you thinking about how bizarre a lot of water-related infrastructure we take for granted really is, at least in the US. I like it so much I’ve even been sneaking it into fiction recommendations!
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Comment on How do you manage your tasks, keep focused in ~life
dynarr Link ParentYeah, that story sounds very familiar haha. I even used emacs (with evil-mode!) for almost a year, partly so I could try out the legendary org-mode. Moving country would definitely be a stress...Yeah, that story sounds very familiar haha. I even used emacs (with evil-mode!) for almost a year, partly so I could try out the legendary org-mode.
Moving country would definitely be a stress test for any organization/planning system, so if you can recommend bullet after that, I think I’ll just have to give it a try.
Thanks also for the reminder about A6 notebooks; I’ll go with an A5 as I’m guessing that’s the popular choice for some reason 😛
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Comment on America may soon face its biggest labor strike in decades in ~life
dynarr Link ParentHeck, most delivery drivers striking might be just as good as a general strike. We should do the Inception thing and get FedEx and DHL to try screwing over their new employees too and see if we...Heck, most delivery drivers striking might be just as good as a general strike. We should do the Inception thing and get FedEx and DHL to try screwing over their new employees too and see if we can get all the delivery companies’ drivers to strike!
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Comment on America may soon face its biggest labor strike in decades in ~life
dynarr Link“We just haven’t agreed on whether to pay them yet, no biggie.” It makes no sense to me that the union would capitulate to allowing UPS to just arbitrarily pay their new employees less. How is..."The reality is that UPS and the Teamsters have already reached tentative agreements on a wide variety of non-economic issues," said UPS spokesperson Glenn Zaccara.
“We just haven’t agreed on whether to pay them yet, no biggie.”
It makes no sense to me that the union would capitulate to allowing UPS to just arbitrarily pay their new employees less. How is that on the table? Seriously, does anyone know? There’s no explanation in the article.
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Comment on Can we invite in another community? in ~tildes
dynarr Link ParentThat’s a good point; I think OP should invite some of HFY’s leadership so they can get a feel for it and see if it might be a good fit down the line. Then they might decide to hold off on moving...That’s a good point; I think OP should invite some of HFY’s leadership so they can get a feel for it and see if it might be a good fit down the line. Then they might decide to hold off on moving away from Reddit until Tildes is larger and opens up to the public.
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Comment on Can we invite in another community? in ~tildes
dynarr Link ParentWe are talking about massively increasing the size of the community; I’m seeing 75k subscribers and >1000 online on the subreddit OP linked. So this would have to be a more concerted thing, as at...We are talking about massively increasing the size of the community; I’m seeing 75k subscribers and >1000 online on the subreddit OP linked. So this would have to be a more concerted thing, as at some point it would require the leadership over there to say, “Okay, everyone, we are leaving Reddit for X.” Then what—they all email @Deimos without warning? Not likely to pan out 😛
And if they did all come over here right now, it seems like they would completely dominate the community, which may not be the best way for Tildes to grow. Unless that online count was all people linked from this thread lol.
But it does seem at first glance like a kind of community that would align with the goals of Tildes. I say wait until ~ is open to the public and there is a wider influx of other groups. That makes the most sense to me personally, if HFY doesn’t have too strong of an itch to ditch Reddit ASAP.)
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Comment on Homosexual marriage legal or illegal? in ~talk
dynarr Link ParentCompletely agree, and this was my first thought on seeing this thread. At the risk of coming off as even more confrontational and getting banned for personal attacks, my second thought was, “ugh,...Completely agree, and this was my first thought on seeing this thread. At the risk of coming off as even more confrontational and getting banned for personal attacks, my second thought was, “ugh, another @Hypnotoad thread; should I just ignore it?” So far, all of their posts seem pretty low effort, but not quite what I would call fluff. And I have to admit they seem to generate some actual discussion, but I have a suspicion this is mostly due to a dearth of activity to engage with elsewhere. If you’re listening, Hypnotoad: I love your prolificness, and you have interesting ideas for threads—but could you please put a bit more effort into them? Maybe don’t just keep throwing questions into the air, as ajar puts it, have some real discussions.
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Comment on Homosexual marriage legal or illegal? in ~talk
dynarr Link ParentI agree with where you’re coming from, but I think you want the inverse conclusion. As I mentioned elsewhere, religion having anything to do with marriage is a relatively recent innovation of the...I agree with where you’re coming from, but I think you want the inverse conclusion.
As I mentioned elsewhere, religion having anything to do with marriage is a relatively recent innovation of the Catholic Church, but it has always been a societal concern. Society has an interest in how families are organized, and in figuring out how to encourage, support, or prevent reproduction and child rearing. In the West, religion took over one aspect of this (marriage), but to the extent that we might want to do stuff like, I don’t know, offer tax benefits to parents to encourage them to remain together to raise a child—well, marriage being legally regulated in some way might be an important component of how we collectively want to manage that behavior.
While people are free to additionally abide by their religious convictions, tying marriage in any way to clergy cedes, at least in name, some of that collective decision making power to religious institutions and ancient texts.
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Comment on Homosexual marriage legal or illegal? in ~talk
dynarr Link ParentThe church should, and historically did, have nothing to do with marriage. This is another medieval innovation of the Catholic Church, as it slowly latched onto, replaced, or controlled more and...The church should, and historically did, have nothing to do with marriage. This is another medieval innovation of the Catholic Church, as it slowly latched onto, replaced, or controlled more and more aspects of civic life, many of which used to be more or less governmental. Marriage in particular was either a local custom or based on the authority of a ruling lord.
From a US perspective, the fact that it is still legally tied into religion and the church in the US today, when it is basically a tax issue as far as legality is concerned, is a gross violation of the spirit of “separation of church and state.” Unfortunately, the establishment clause doesn’t quite equate to separation of church and state, and separation of church and state isn’t quite as strong as fully secular government, which is what we should really want.
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Comment on What’s the best book you’ve read lately? in ~books
dynarr Link ParentYes! He also did an outstanding job translating The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, which everyone absolutely should read if they haven’t yet.Yes! He also did an outstanding job translating The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, which everyone absolutely should read if they haven’t yet.
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Comment on Daily Book: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson ( Hard Science Fiction ) in ~books
dynarr LinkDId you just copy and paste the synopsis from Wikipedia uncredited? Why not give your own thoughts? 😕 Also you double posted btw.DId you just copy and paste the synopsis from Wikipedia uncredited? Why not give your own thoughts? 😕
Also you double posted btw.
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Comment on How do you manage your tasks, keep focused in ~life
dynarr Link ParentI used to do something very similar to bullet journaling that worked very well. I stopped because I wanted to try out OmniFocus, and have been trying out various software over the intervening...I used to do something very similar to bullet journaling that worked very well. I stopped because I wanted to try out OmniFocus, and have been trying out various software over the intervening years. I think everything I have tried since has suffered from the fact that I have to get into the habit of going through all the steps of GTD or whatever other system, otherwise it breaks down and becomes useless. The strength of my old system, which is also the crux of bullet journaling, was that to use the system at all, it forced me to regularly reevaluate and cull old tasks.
I have been thinking about how to make an app that would force you to go through the ingest and review steps regularly, and not even let you look at your pending tasks until you did. But maybe I should go back and see how well that old system actually worked, or whether I’ve got rose colored glasses. Or maybe I’ll try out bullet journaling, which seems a little more refined—thanks for mentioning it!
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Comment on What’s the best book you’ve read lately? in ~books
dynarr LinkI've been strongly recommending The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi for the last few years. Bacigalupi writes really believable speculative fiction about stuff like biodiversity, climate change,...I've been strongly recommending The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi for the last few years. Bacigalupi writes really believable speculative fiction about stuff like biodiversity, climate change, or in the case of The Water Knife, fresh water availability. Think Phoenix running out of water. But, like, with secret agents and violence and chase scenes. It's like the perfect mix of a pulpy Tom Clancy-style bestseller with really convincing speculation about a real issue. Several characters in the book recommend the non-fiction work Cadillac Desert, which Newsweek (I think rightly) calls the "definitive work on the West's water crisis." I ended up reading it, and it's super fascinating. Definitely a "truth is stranger than fiction" situation though, so if you're going to read both, read The Water Knife first! (And yes, that includes the seemingly unbelievable first chapter, for those that have/will read it.)
Accursed Kings sounds interesting! I haven't read it myself, but it sounds like you might be interested in His Majesty's Dragons. My buddy who introduced me to GRRM and is a big history buff recommended it to me, so it's on my list.
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Comment on Anyone want to talk philosophy? in ~talk
dynarr Link ParentCool, glad I could be of some help. Coincidentally, just moments ago, I came across a funny answer to your original question about biopower, from a Reddit comment: (Well, it's mildly funny in the...Cool, glad I could be of some help. Coincidentally, just moments ago, I came across a funny answer to your original question about biopower, from a Reddit comment:
Michel Foucault going off of this establishes another concept, biopower. Biopower refers to the new way of governing, which started in the enlightenment that somehow rulers had to take care of their citizens. It is now the job of government to provide a good life for its citizenship, as opposed to the old ways. The old ways ruled by might. The new ways work by uprooting your reality. And yes mother fucker, he's comparing civilization to a mental asylum! And he's still killin' it!
(Well, it's mildly funny in the context of the whole swear-word-laden comment.)
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Comment on A warning to those visiting Auschwitz in ~life
dynarr LinkWow, that’s really disturbing. I was there a few days ago and didn’t see anyone behaving that way. Maybe it’s because our guide was especially dour, and explicitly reminded us a few times that...Wow, that’s really disturbing. I was there a few days ago and didn’t see anyone behaving that way. Maybe it’s because our guide was especially dour, and explicitly reminded us a few times that this was not just a museum, but also the final resting place of an incredible number of victims. But you really shouldn’t need that reminder, and it boggles the mind that people could behave with so little respect while there. That does leave a sour feeling in my stomach.
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Comment on Studying law in ~misc
dynarr LinkI don't know a thing about studying or practicing law in Estonia, but you should listen to this deep dive into what law school is like in the US.I don't know a thing about studying or practicing law in Estonia, but you should listen to this deep dive into what law school is like in the US.
What aspect of Taylorism are you referencing here? It seems like a natural development of capitalism, not an adversarial tendency that could "ruin" capitalism. I always thought the reason we no longer use the word "Taylorism" is just that its basic ideas (efficiency improves profits, labor should be replaceable whenever possible) are so obvious and natural in a capitalist system that they aren't worth naming.
From that view, where capitalism leads to Taylorism, as opposed to Taylorism having an external cause, it seems that Taylorism is just one instance of capitalism ruining labor. Just like it ruins art, science, and everything else, sometimes in analogous ways involving productivity metrics, but none of those ways are specifically Taylorist.