Grayscail's recent activity

  1. Comment on Which grand strategy are you? in ~misc

    Grayscail
    Link
    Probably true, but not super helpful

    You’re a Mix of Strategies!

    Selective / Deep Engagement, Liberal Hegemony

    Your answers span multiple grand strategies. This is common—many policymakers mix elements of different approaches depending on the issue.

    Probably true, but not super helpful

    4 votes
  2. Comment on US President Donald Trump was going to roll out a health care plan. Then Republicans weighed in. in ~society

    Grayscail
    Link
    Remember when Obama was president and Republicans spent 7 years talking about how they were going to repeal and replace Obamacare ever single day? Did that ever happen?

    Remember when Obama was president and Republicans spent 7 years talking about how they were going to repeal and replace Obamacare ever single day? Did that ever happen?

    8 votes
  3. Comment on Shock discovery reveals sea urchins are basically 'all brain' in ~science

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    I agree. The default stance is that pain and suffering is bad, so if something feels pain thats bad, but that stance is predicated on the human centric concept of pain. Once you start expanding...

    I agree. The default stance is that pain and suffering is bad, so if something feels pain thats bad, but that stance is predicated on the human centric concept of pain. Once you start expanding the definition of pain, or any other concept, you need to reassess whether those previous stances should still apply to the new definition.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on How to brew solar powered coffee in ~food

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    We would do it sooner, but the hanging is solar powered too.

    We would do it sooner, but the hanging is solar powered too.

    1 vote
  5. Comment on Shock discovery reveals sea urchins are basically 'all brain' in ~science

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    It makes sense that living things should feel pain in an abstract sense, but its hard to figure out a specific concrete sign. Like, plants dont have nervous systems like animals do, but they do...

    It makes sense that living things should feel pain in an abstract sense, but its hard to figure out a specific concrete sign. Like, plants dont have nervous systems like animals do, but they do still respond to stimuli. So its possible they feel something analogous to animal pain, but its hard to say if thats the "same" thing. Are plants really "feeling" that, or is the experience of "feel" something specific to the nervous system?

    3 votes
  6. Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    Is there a reverse to this? I definitely see where you are coming from in this case, but I have on occassion had people make similar suggestions to me. I dont really think that is the case for me,...

    Is there a reverse to this?

    I definitely see where you are coming from in this case, but I have on occassion had people make similar suggestions to me. I dont really think that is the case for me, but I also dont really know how to respond to such a suggestion when part of the suggestion is that maybe it is true and I just dont recognize it or am in denial.

    Like, to the same extent that I dont really know what gender dysphoria is supposed to feel like, I also dont really know what non gender dysphoria is supposed to feel like. I just always feel like me, and I have nothing to compare that to.

    There is a conclusion if I decide the answer is yes, then its settled, but if I decide the answer is no, then I might just be wrong.

    1 vote
  7. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    I think it tends to be more that the criminals are elites of some kind. Typically intellectual elites. People like high end buisnessmen, sure, but also chess chanpions and symphony conductors and...

    I think it tends to be more that the criminals are elites of some kind. Typically intellectual elites. People like high end buisnessmen, sure, but also chess chanpions and symphony conductors and poets and photographers, and other people who may not be wealthy but you just assume they are because they are famous.

    The real underlying thread I think is that Columbos criminals are people who have reason to think of themselves as being too smart to be caught by a run of the mill police detective.

    3 votes
  8. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    The more humanized criminals are great because sometimes they would get a big celebrity like Johnny Cash or Donald Pleasence to play the bad guy, and its fun to see Columbo get to banter with them.

    The more humanized criminals are great because sometimes they would get a big celebrity like Johnny Cash or Donald Pleasence to play the bad guy, and its fun to see Columbo get to banter with them.

    5 votes
  9. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    Grayscail
    (edited )
    Link
    I figured out where he was going with this about halfway through the comic but kept going in hopes that I was wrong. I dont necessarily disagree but I wish it wasnt the case. I wish people just...

    I figured out where he was going with this about halfway through the comic but kept going in hopes that I was wrong.

    I dont necessarily disagree but I wish it wasnt the case. I wish people just liked things and wanted to talk about them for other reasons beyond circling back to the same one conversation that has been constantly ongoing for the last 10 years or so.

    For what its worth, I also like Columbo, but not because of class warfare. I like Columbo as a character, I like that hes calm and controlled and polite even when facing off against murderers and criminals, for the most part. I like that the episodes telegraph who the murderer is so the whole episode doesnt hinge around a big twist reveal. I like that the show needs to find a different way to be interesting beyond having high stakes and suspense.

    Columbo has actually been a really well regarded show across the world for decades. There are other reasons why someone might like any given thing beyond hating Donald Trump, is what Im getting at.

    8 votes
  10. Comment on Longest government shutdown in US history ends after Donald Trump signs funding bill in ~society

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    Out of curiosity, would it be legal for them to kill the fillibuster now, and then turn it back on before they lose control of Congress?

    Out of curiosity, would it be legal for them to kill the fillibuster now, and then turn it back on before they lose control of Congress?

    4 votes
  11. Comment on Around the world in 80 days ... sustainably in ~talk

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    You call it an environmental hazard, I call it organic free-range plant food with no pesticides.

    You call it an environmental hazard, I call it organic free-range plant food with no pesticides.

    4 votes
  12. Comment on Around the world in 80 days ... sustainably in ~talk

  13. Comment on An AI-generated country song is topping a Billboard chart, and that should infuriate us all in ~music

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    Maybe, but I dont listen to music as a roundabout way to give donations to artists, I listen to music to hear sounds I like.

    Maybe, but I dont listen to music as a roundabout way to give donations to artists, I listen to music to hear sounds I like.

    6 votes
  14. Comment on Microsoft is adding AI facial recognition to OneDrive and users can only turn it off three times a year in ~tech

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    In case anyone else reading is also thinking of switching to Linux, please consider something other than Arch. If you know what you are getting into it can be a fun experience, but Arch is not a...

    In case anyone else reading is also thinking of switching to Linux, please consider something other than Arch. If you know what you are getting into it can be a fun experience, but Arch is not a beginner friendly distro.

    If you havent used Linux before, some easier options would be Ubuntu/Debian or Mint.

    18 votes
  15. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    That sounds pretty cool. The core concept of decomposing a task into a set of operations and choices is far more important to getting good at programming than learning the syntax of a given...

    That sounds pretty cool.

    The core concept of decomposing a task into a set of operations and choices is far more important to getting good at programming than learning the syntax of a given language. Which is to say, I think what you are doing in the game sounds like a great way to practice, even if its not "real" python.

  16. Comment on There’s a reason US electricity prices are rising. And it’s not data centers. in ~enviro

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    Kind of, but not in this case. There is going to be some added transmission infrastructure, but the costs of maintaining the existing grid dwarfs that. The study referenced says that the load...

    Kind of, but not in this case. There is going to be some added transmission infrastructure, but the costs of maintaining the existing grid dwarfs that.

    The study referenced says that the load increases in question are deployed in a way that has not demanded a ton of new infrastructure expenditures, but the increase in load does mean that there is more money coming in, which means the maintenence they were going to have to do anyway is now a smaller cut out of their revenue.

    This finding aligns with the understanding that a primary driver of increased electricity-sector costs in recent years has been distribution and transmission expenditures—often devoted to refurbishment or replacement of existing infrastructure rather than to serve new loads (ETE, 2025, Pierpont, 2024, EIA, 2024a, Forrester et al., 2024). Spreading these fixed costs over more demand naturally exerts downward pressure on retail prices. It is also notable, however, that this negative load-price relationship was pronounced when considering overall average retail prices but was smaller and lost statistical significance when analyzing residential prices alone (see SI-8). Load growth over this historical period was led by commercial customers, and cost allocation practices have tended to benefit those large, non-residential customers.

    Whether these historical relationships extend to a future of significant, nationwide load growth is unclear and is a point to which we return in the conclusion.

    4 votes
  17. Comment on What's a quantum computer? in ~tech

    Grayscail
    Link
    Quantum mechanics has a thing where quantum particles have a wavelike nature and have discrete wace modes that can interfere with eachother. Scientists have theorized that we could use these...

    Quantum mechanics has a thing where quantum particles have a wavelike nature and have discrete wace modes that can interfere with eachother.

    Scientists have theorized that we could use these quantum effects to carry out computations by mapping the problems we want to solve onto quantum effects.

    There are a lot of potential ways we could do this, so its not like there is a single type of quantum computing. But most ideas involve taking advantage of interference to effectively apply algortihms to a wide range of potential inputs at the same time by using superposition to map different inputs to different wave modes.

    This is because the idea of superposition implies that each wave mode kind of operates independently to eachother until you add them all up at the end. So if map a different input to each mode you can run them all through the same circuit at the same time without them changing the outcome, as long as you know how to extract that specific mode out at the end.

    2 votes
  18. Comment on “No one asked for this reboot”: ‘Tron’ may mark end of Jared Leto’s franchise-leading days in ~movies

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    He also gets murdered by Christian Bale in American Psycho, which is probably his best movie role.

    He also gets murdered by Christian Bale in American Psycho, which is probably his best movie role.

    13 votes
  19. Comment on Adam Conover: Unmedicated in ~tv

    Grayscail
    Link Parent
    I think its very personal, and also contingent on the person involved. For example, in this case, I would say being involved in a crypto scam is particularly egregious, because I think of Adam...

    I think its very personal, and also contingent on the person involved.

    For example, in this case, I would say being involved in a crypto scam is particularly egregious, because I think of Adam Conover as beinf a pretty hard leftist and rhe kind of guy who rails against greed and capitalistic tendencies.

    So when I see someone like him caught up in a kind of money making pyramid scheme like crypto, it really makes me feel like he is a hack.

    On the other hand, theres a bunch of drama going on right now because a lot of comedians like Bill Burr are going to a comedy festival in Riyadh. But I really am not that bothered by that because I always saw Bill Burr as a comedian more than anything, so him selling out to make a bunch of money doesn't really matter to me because I assumed he was doing it for the money the whole time.

    1 vote
  20. Comment on Can you really be addicted to food? Researchers are uncovering similarities to drug addiction in some eating patterns. in ~food

    Grayscail
    Link
    If you can get addicting to psychological things like gambling I wouldnt be surprised if you can be addicted to anything, under the right circumstances.

    If you can get addicting to psychological things like gambling I wouldnt be surprised if you can be addicted to anything, under the right circumstances.

    13 votes