heraplem's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
heraplem (edited )LinkMy wife and I just finished The Incident at Galley House. This is another entry in the mystery game mini-revival that seems to have been kicked off by Return of the Obra Dinn. If you're a fan of...My wife and I just finished The Incident at Galley House. This is another entry in the mystery game mini-revival that seems to have been kicked off by Return of the Obra Dinn. If you're a fan of Obra Dinn, The Case of the Golden Idol, and/or The Roottrees are Dead, then you must play The Incident at Galley House.
Notably, it's published by Evil Trout, the same people that published the criminally-underrated The Roottrees are Dead. I wouldn't say I liked it quite as much as Roottrees, but I'm not sure that's the game's fault—it might have something to do with expectations, and also with the fact that Roottrees was comfy, and this game decidedly is not. Nonetheless, it's a stellar puzzle. I wish I could say more, but the nature of this sort of game is that you can only experience it once.
Like Roottrees, Galley House is actually a remake of an itch.io browser game—specifically, Type Help. (What an awful title!) I went and played a bit of Type Help after finishing Galley House, and the core game is actually 100% identical, except that Galley House adds an additional arc at the end (much like Roottrees did). I actually think that Type Help is in some ways more compelling—pure text gets certain vibes across better than voice acting and visuals—and it apparently made big waves in the interactive fiction community when it was first released. Still, don't let that stop you from playing Galley House, if for no other reason than to support the original developer.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
heraplem (edited )Link ParentWell, there are fans that swear by Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy, Thracia, Binding Blade, and Sacred Stones . . . I don't think anybody swears by Gaiden. I'm in the same place. I don't mind if...There's a few fans that swear by Gaiden and Thracia
Well, there are fans that swear by Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy, Thracia, Binding Blade, and Sacred Stones . . . I don't think anybody swears by Gaiden.
So, I don't think I'm a Zelda fan anymore?
I'm in the same place. I don't mind if they felt like Zelda had to change, but I just despise open-world design in general. I wish they had gone in a different direction.
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Comment on The tantalizing possibility of locating consciousness in the brain in ~science
heraplem Link ParentI'm not saying you're definitely wrong—consciousness is a mystery, and I have very few certain ideas about it—but, like, you have subjective experience, right? Because, as far as I'm concerned,...I'm not saying you're definitely wrong—consciousness is a mystery, and I have very few certain ideas about it—but, like, you have subjective experience, right? Because, as far as I'm concerned, "consciousness" is basically just a synonym for "subjective experience".
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Comment on The tantalizing possibility of locating consciousness in the brain in ~science
heraplem LinkWas it ever a widespread view that consciousness requires intelligence? If so, I would just like to plant my flag and say that I have always been on team "Consciousness and intelligence are not...Of course, the idea that consciousness requires intelligence might be pre-AI thinking. As that assumption has begun to weaken, researchers have become increasingly willing to consider the possibility that subjective experience arises from evolutionarily older structures deep within the brain.
Was it ever a widespread view that consciousness requires intelligence?
If so, I would just like to plant my flag and say that I have always been on team "Consciousness and intelligence are not directly related".
If this starts to become a consensus, I do have to wonder what it will do to peoples' views on veganism.
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Comment on Worse on Purpose: a site that tracks which brands are still worth their old reputation and which have been enshittified in ~enviro
heraplem (edited )Link ParentThat probably is true, but I meant something a little stronger than that. Anyone who could get themselves hired at Palantir could get themselves hired at any generic company that needs developers,...I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying a white collar person always has the option of going blue collar because blue collar is a step down, whereas a blue collar worker doesn't have a similar option available (if I misunderstood, please don't be offended, just let me know what you actually meant)?
That probably is true, but I meant something a little stronger than that.
Anyone who could get themselves hired at Palantir could get themselves hired at any generic company that needs developers, which is to say most companies. I suppose we're assuming they got rejected from other big tech firms, so Palantir was their only option in that regard—but no one needs to work at big tech. They can go work for a bank or a grocery chain or whatever.
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Comment on Worse on Purpose: a site that tracks which brands are still worth their old reputation and which have been enshittified in ~enviro
heraplem Link ParentSomeone who works at a slaughterhouse may have had no choice. Someone who works at Palantir always had other choices. Maybe they would have had to give something up to make those choices. Well,...Some of them may have had no choice when starting to work there
Someone who works at a slaughterhouse may have had no choice. Someone who works at Palantir always had other choices. Maybe they would have had to give something up to make those choices. Well, the right choice isn't always the easiest choice.
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Comment on How “HIV is the cause of AIDS” is true in ~science
heraplem LinkI don't have a paid subscription to this Substack, so I can't read the whole thing, but I find it strange that the author is appealing to causality as the central problem here rather than...I don't have a paid subscription to this Substack, so I can't read the whole thing, but I find it strange that the author is appealing to causality as the central problem here rather than reference. Frege, Russel, Kripke, and Putnam all dealt with this sort of problem at length.
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Comment on What did banning Airbnbs in New York City accomplish? in ~finance
heraplem Link ParentThis is something that I wish more neoliberal types would accept. I'm sympathetic to the ideal of effective evidence-based government, but so many neoliberal types (or, at least, the ones who are...This is something that I wish more neoliberal types would accept. I'm sympathetic to the ideal of effective evidence-based government, but so many neoliberal types (or, at least, the ones who are vocal online) are frustratingly stubborn and seem to simply not care about winning.
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Comment on If AI is sentient then so is ‘Age of Empires II’ in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentPersonally, I'm a bit of a biological chauvinist; i.e., my prior is that organic brains are more likely to be conscious than non-organic "brain-like things" of similar or even greater complexity....I just struggle to ascribe a “maybe there’s emergent behaviour there that we don’t understand” to a biological machine like a bacterium or a fly without being forced to ascribe the same thing to a trillion parameter ball of statistical input/output processing.
Personally, I'm a bit of a biological chauvinist; i.e., my prior is that organic brains are more likely to be conscious than non-organic "brain-like things" of similar or even greater complexity. Actually, I have some doubt that digital brains can ever be conscious on any scale of complexity.
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Comment on ‘Donkey’: Eddie Murphy ‘Shrek’ spinoff sets summer 2028 release in ~movies
heraplem LinkHistory shows that spin-offs starring a comic relief character rarely work. The earliest example I'm aware of is Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, starring Falstaff (the comic relief...History shows that spin-offs starring a comic relief character rarely work. The earliest example I'm aware of is Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, starring Falstaff (the comic relief character of Falstaff from the Henry IV plays) and often considered Shakespeare's worst.
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Comment on If AI is sentient then so is ‘Age of Empires II’ in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentI think that's pretty controversial! For flies I would say "probably", and for everything above I would say "certainly".I’d still expect something like this to be a pretty uncontroversial take:
I think that's pretty controversial! For flies I would say "probably", and for everything above I would say "certainly".
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Comment on Kings of the losers in ~life
heraplem LinkThis doesn't seem like a very good "experiment", for several reasons, most importantly that it actually agrees with the core incel logic. At best, it shows that incels shouldn't hate women for...Andrew Thomas also works as a therapist. He has incels as patients. Sometimes he conducts an experiment with one. He asks him to search for office staplers on Amazon and narrate it step by step. Okay, says the patient, there are ten thousand results. So he filters; 4 or 5 stars, not too expensive, fits at least two hundred tacks, only in the color red. “And then I tell him: you picky bastard! What’s wrong with the blue staplers? How can you be so narcissistic and have such high standards?”
This doesn't seem like a very good "experiment", for several reasons, most importantly that it actually agrees with the core incel logic. At best, it shows that incels shouldn't hate women for being pickier than men, but I think even that is somewhat doubtful.
To be clear, I'm not necessarily saying that the core incel logic is even wrong; rather, I'm saying that this experiment is simply not saying anything that they're not already saying.
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Comment on Comedian Ronny Chieng tells Harvard to ‘Destroy AI’ as graduates cheer in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentWould that it were true.Our generation’s upcoming battle…is going to be people with substance versus people with shallow knowledge, it’s going to be mastery versus faking it, it’s going to be people with good taste versus tacky.
Would that it were true.
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Comment on US FBI says Google engineer used internal search data to win $1.2M on Polymarket in ~tech
heraplem Link ParentThat'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...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?
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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.)
It took my wife, a friend, and myself about four nights with a few hours of play each night. But having multiple people around really makes this sort of game easier. Depending on how good you are at these sorts of puzzles, I could reasonably see it taking around a week if you're playing alone.