heraplem's recent activity
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Comment on US FBI says Google engineer used internal search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket in ~tech
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Comment on US FBI says Google engineer used internal search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket in ~tech
heraplem LinkI fail to see why this should be penalized. The "pro-social" argument for prediction markets is that they help people make better decisions by more accurately forecasting the future. If someone...I fail to see why this should be penalized. The "pro-social" argument for prediction markets is that they help people make better decisions by more accurately forecasting the future. If someone has inside information, shouldn't we (according to the foregoing logic) encourage using it to make bets in order to make the forecast even more accurate?
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Comment on If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentI fundamentally disagree with this sentiment. I engage with art because it is a kind of communication with other humans across space in time. I have absolutely no interest in anything produced by...I fundamentally disagree with this sentiment. I engage with art because it is a kind of communication with other humans across space in time. I have absolutely no interest in anything produced by an AI, regardless of its "objective" merit.
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Comment on OpenAI is preparing to file for an IPO in the coming weeks in ~finance
heraplem Link ParentOpenAI in particular may already be past their prime, as Anthropic looks pretty well set to become the dominant player in their space.OpenAI in particular may already be past their prime, as Anthropic looks pretty well set to become the dominant player in their space.
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Comment on When Richard Dawkins met Claude in ~health.mental
heraplem Link ParentI don't think that LLMs are conscious, or even particularly "close" to being conscious, but I keep seeing people say things like this, and it seems to me like people are missing the point. I mean,...The code that's running isn't doing any sort of conscious calculations. It has no self-awareness. It is random word generator running on top of a statistical model, that is itself just a glorified lossy compression algorithm of the frequency of word groupings in large sets of textual data.
I don't think that LLMs are conscious, or even particularly "close" to being conscious, but I keep seeing people say things like this, and it seems to me like people are missing the point.
I mean, I could describe the human brain in a similarly dismissive way. It's just a bunch of chemical signals being transmitted through a bunch of cells, right? There's no magic there.
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Comment on Why I find woke criticism of veganism and effective altruism so outrageous in ~society
heraplem (edited )LinkI agree with the overall sentiment of the article. I think the arguments in favor of veganism are so sound—and, moreover, if those arguments are correct, then their ethical implications are so...I agree with the overall sentiment of the article. I think the arguments in favor of veganism are so sound—and, moreover, if those arguments are correct, then their ethical implications are so damning—that basically every common argument against veganism is both comically bad and also a transparent psychological defense mechanism.
But this article strikes me more as a single slap in a particular slap fight than a reasoned defense of veganism. Maybe that's an unreasonable critique—maybe the article never purported to be a reasonable defense of veganism—but, even so, I don't really see its value. Very short on light and very long on heat.
(That said, it did point me to this article on "reasonable moods", which I find very compelling in general, even if I'm skeptical of some of its specific claims.)
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Comment on What I learned about billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s private retreat in ~society
heraplem Link ParentTraveling to a popular tourist destination (which has good weather) during peak season (when the weather is best) is not something that everyone can afford to do.I think "even the weather felt expensive" shows his hand. It's Santa Barbara, so of course the weather is usually good. What does that even mean?
Traveling to a popular tourist destination (which has good weather) during peak season (when the weather is best) is not something that everyone can afford to do.
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Comment on Suggest media in which the antagonist is an idea or an abstract concept rather than a person or intelligent entity in ~talk
heraplem Link ParentIn a similar vein, there's "The Library of Babel" by Borges, which is an acknowledged influence on Piranesi, and I would be surprised if Borges weren't an influence on House of Leaves as well.In a similar vein, there's "The Library of Babel" by Borges, which is an acknowledged influence on Piranesi, and I would be surprised if Borges weren't an influence on House of Leaves as well.
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Comment on Apple announces Macbook Neo, a new budget Mac in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentMaybe it's a difference in perspective. For me, "basic web browing" means 100+ tabs, which reliably brings my laptop to its knees.No, you won’t be doing Xcode on it, but basic web browsing and pages document editing is fine.
Maybe it's a difference in perspective. For me, "basic web browing" means 100+ tabs, which reliably brings my laptop to its knees.
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Comment on Apple announces Macbook Neo, a new budget Mac in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentmacOS has pretty good memory management, but there's limits to what you can do with software. I have an 8gb Air, and I feel the limitation pretty much constantly. 8gb just is not enough for the...macOS has pretty good memory management, but there's limits to what you can do with software. I have an 8gb Air, and I feel the limitation pretty much constantly. 8gb just is not enough for the modern world.
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Comment on Bun is joining Anthropic in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentIsn't that kind of the point, though? It sounds like you're saying "That was never going to happen, so we didn't really lose anything," but then I can just as easily say "This was always going to...Isn't that kind of the point, though?
It sounds like you're saying "That was never going to happen, so we didn't really lose anything," but then I can just as easily say "This was always going to happen, so we didn't really gain anything."
Libre software has become a sacred cow. It demonstrably does not do what it was supposed to do, and yet we still treat it like an unquestioned good.
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Comment on Bun is joining Anthropic in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentAnd this exact situation has led to corporate capture, enshittification, and the complete defanging of what once seemed to be a movement with radical potential.Lots of good work on open source projects gets funded by tech companies.
And this exact situation has led to corporate capture, enshittification, and the complete defanging of what once seemed to be a movement with radical potential.
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Comment on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end all monkey research in ~science
heraplem Link ParentRight, I understand the reference. What I mean is that there are actual living humans who might think of themselves as paperclip optimizers; but most of them are probably optimizing for net human...Right, I understand the reference. What I mean is that there are actual living humans who might think of themselves as paperclip optimizers; but most of them are probably optimizing for net human welfare (or, more generally, intelligence-weighted sentient welfare) over the lifespan of the universe, and they would probably reason that the suffering incurred by experimenting on a few less-intelligent primates now will likely be vastly outweighed by a resulting future decrease in human suffering.
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Comment on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end all monkey research in ~science
heraplem Link ParentI guess it depends on the referent of "paperclip", but I think most (living, human) paperclip optimizers would make the exact opposite judgment: they would say that the suffering of a few primates...I guess it depends on the referent of "paperclip", but I think most (living, human) paperclip optimizers would make the exact opposite judgment: they would say that the suffering of a few primates in the present would be justified by the prevention of a nigh-incalculable amount of human suffering in the future.
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Comment on A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3 in ~tech
heraplem Link Parent40% of Americans own no stock whatsoever.if you held well diversified market funds
40% of Americans own no stock whatsoever.
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Comment on Former PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir has said the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance in ~humanities.languages
heraplem Link ParentWe said similar sorts of things in the early days of the Internet.At the same time, I wonder what we could achieve as a species if language barriers no longer existed.
We said similar sorts of things in the early days of the Internet.
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Comment on Prospect of life on Saturn’s moons rises after discovery of organic substances in ~space
heraplem LinkThis is coming off the heels of the discovery of mineral formations on Mars that look a lot like they were created by microbes in the past, and in fact are a potential definite signal if we can...This is coming off the heels of the discovery of mineral formations on Mars that look a lot like they were created by microbes in the past, and in fact are a potential definite signal if we can get them to Earth. Exciting times: it's looking increasingly likely that, within a decade or so, we will have concrete evidence of alien life in the Solar System, at least in the past, and possibly in the present.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
heraplem Link ParentLet me ask you, and this is a legitimate question, because I'm not tuned in to the intricacies of right-wing online subcommunities: would you have identified them as groyper memes before the...Let me ask you, and this is a legitimate question, because I'm not tuned in to the intricacies of right-wing online subcommunities: would you have identified them as groyper memes before the shooting? Or only afterward, when people started spreading this idea around? Because I strongly suspect that this is a memetic self-defense; i.e., what the kids call "cope".
If actually pieces of queer culture I'd expect the other "memes carved on bullets" to match that.
Eh. Helldivers isn't the first video game I'd associate with extremely online queer spaces (I'd think of things like Disco Elysium, Fallout: New Vegas, Celeste, Ultrakill, Touhou, and Team Fortress 2), but it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to me. Extremely online queer spaces are heavily steeped in video game culture.
As for Bella Ciao, I'd never even heard of it before all this, so all I have to say there is that the song was originally associated with the Italian Resistance and was apparently having A Moment on TikTok before this, so I think it's more likely that it was being used with its original connotation. Same with the direct reference to fascism, actually.
I mean, let's look at it this way. Suppose the shooter actually is a groyper. I'd say, then, that he did a pretty poor job of getting his message across, engraving his bullets with two messages whose most straightforward interpretations are left-wing, and no explicitly right-wing messages.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
heraplem Link ParentI've seen a lot of people framing it this way, and I don't agree. These are exactly the kinds of things you find in certain self-aware and self-deprecating online queer spaces.And the evidence itself always came back to "If you read this, you are gay lmao” and “Notices bulges OWO what’s this?”. That is very much mocking of two liberal identities.
I've seen a lot of people framing it this way, and I don't agree. These are exactly the kinds of things you find in certain self-aware and self-deprecating online queer spaces.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
heraplem Link ParentExtremely unlikely. This sort of thing almost never happens, and it would be a colossally stupid thing to do in the age of smartphones. The shooter seems to have gotten away without anyone having...How possible is it that this might be some sort of play to deflect from further attention on the Epstein list?
Extremely unlikely. This sort of thing almost never happens, and it would be a colossally stupid thing to do in the age of smartphones. The shooter seems to have gotten away without anyone having taken any useful photos or videos of them, but all it would take is one person with a smartphone at the right time and place to completely screw the whole plan over. Also, the conspiracy would have to extend at least from the head of the FBI all the way down to campus police. Not remotely plausible.
That's a problem for the organization whose information is being used, not society at large. So yes, it might be bad for Google if someone makes Polymarket bets using their information, and Google would be justified in firing them, but does that harm society at large?