imperialismus's recent activity
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Comment on Exit Generation Alpha, enter Generation Beta in ~life
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Comment on All main Disney animated canon films are going to be destroyed and you can save five, which five do you pick? in ~movies
imperialismus Link ParentI think so too. I suspect there's basically two periods when you're primed to really connect with Disney movies: when you're a child, somewhere between kindergarten and the start of puberty (old...Also, I feel like you can dial in on exactly how old a person is by what movies they pick.
I think so too. I suspect there's basically two periods when you're primed to really connect with Disney movies: when you're a child, somewhere between kindergarten and the start of puberty (old enough to fully appreciate the narrative but not so old as to be embarrassed or watching it ironically), and whenever your own children are that age.
I don't have a definite list, but it would be a mix of older titles I watched as a kid in the nineties and the ones that were actually released in the nineties. I pretty much stopped watching Disney movies once I hit my teens, initially because I thought it was embarrassing to watch children's movies at that age. As a grown ass adult I'm not embarrassed, I just haven't kept up with them as they released, and I suspect I'll never be able to capture that magical feeling I had watching those movies when I was, like, eight years old. Maybe if I was watching it with a child, or on certain drugs...
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Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news
imperialismus Link ParentOf course it's Nigel. I don't play or follow competitive Scrabble, but there's an excellent youtube channel that occasionally pops up in my recommends that covers it, and has many videos about...Of course it's Nigel. I don't play or follow competitive Scrabble, but there's an excellent youtube channel that occasionally pops up in my recommends that covers it, and has many videos about Nigel Richards' best plays. Of course there's a video about this one as well.
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Comment on Ten years ago, one of the uber-wealthy predicted "the pitchforks are coming for us" in ~society
imperialismus Link ParentI didn't forget that two people tried to kill Trump, and one guy almost succeeded. I just think that goes into the same basket of isolated extremism on the part of singular individuals. Especially...I didn't forget that two people tried to kill Trump, and one guy almost succeeded. I just think that goes into the same basket of isolated extremism on the part of singular individuals. Especially when it's unclear what their actual motivations for doing so were. Let's remember that there were a number of plots against Obama too. The Secret Service and FBI were simply more competent at sussing them out before they got close to succeeding. I don't think the incompetence of the security apparatus in one instance should be the determining factor when we consider the question of whether this is truly the actions of a few isolated crazies, or a forecast of impending revolution.
A crapton of people support Trump. Many hate him but have no interest in political violence. Many who hate him, hate him for reasons other than his wealth or belonging to a ruling class of capitalists. I don't think it requires any mental gymnastics to express skepticism about assigning too much importance to an isolated data point.
I don't want to dismiss your opinion out of hand, but I think you could strengthen your argument a lot by framing it in terms of broader trends in society, rather than relying so much on the example of a couple of angry men with guns. Like I said, one individual's actions can trigger a cascade of major changes in society, given the circumstances are ripe for it. But that's just step one. You mentioned a couple of examples that could potentially be inciting incidents. Now where's the follow-up? Where is the evidence that there will be any serious follow-up? How is this different from previous examples that didn't lead to impending societal collapse or revolution? Weren't the conditions for a violent uprising against the ruling class of capitalists to erupt even better 15 years ago? Why didn't it happen then, but it will now?
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Comment on Ten years ago, one of the uber-wealthy predicted "the pitchforks are coming for us" in ~society
imperialismus Link ParentI feel like an isolated incident of some dude with a vendetta shooting a CEO isn't much of an indication of an actual large scale socioeconomic revolution brewing. A better example would be a...I feel like an isolated incident of some dude with a vendetta shooting a CEO isn't much of an indication of an actual large scale socioeconomic revolution brewing. A better example would be a broader movement like Occupy Wall Street, which fizzled out after the economy started improving post Great Recession.
Of course, it's possible that a single individual's act catalyzes a huge array of changes that have been brewing for a while, just waiting for a trigger. An example would be Thích Quảng Đức, the Vietnamese monk who set himself on fire in 1963, which caused a huge political chain reaction. The fact that people are buying merch celebrating a cold-blooded murderer's message is certainly something. But somehow I feel like this isn't going to lead to all out class warfare.
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Comment on Norwegian payment service Vipps becomes world's first company to launch competing tap-to-pay solution to Apple Pay on iPhone – follows agreement with European regulators in ~tech
imperialismus Link ParentFor context: this is basically the Nordic CashApp. It's the biggest payment app in Norway and also big in Denmark and Finland after a merger with another similar company called MobilePay. This...For context: this is basically the Nordic CashApp. It's the biggest payment app in Norway and also big in Denmark and Finland after a merger with another similar company called MobilePay. This isn't some obscure startup, it's an app that most people already use. Now they just offer an additional service. It has way more users locally than Apple Pay does. In fact many banks don't even offer Apple Pay.
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Comment on South Korean president declares emergency martial law in ~society
imperialismus LinkThis is wild. It's easy to think of South Korea as a bastion of democracy, especially in contrast to its neighbor. But the country has only been a democracy since 1987. Hopefully it will remain one.This is wild. It's easy to think of South Korea as a bastion of democracy, especially in contrast to its neighbor. But the country has only been a democracy since 1987. Hopefully it will remain one.
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Comment on Fragile promise of psychedelics in psychiatry in ~science
imperialismus LinkIt's discouraging to hear that many studies are flawed. But at the same time, there's a bunch of things to unpack here. I would write a longer comment, but I don't have the time, so I'll summarize...It's discouraging to hear that many studies are flawed. But at the same time, there's a bunch of things to unpack here. I would write a longer comment, but I don't have the time, so I'll summarize my feelings in a few bullet points:
- Their general statement about "psychedelics" being a popular term for hallucinogens is concerningly off the mark. Psychs are a subset of hallucinogenic drugs, and most people who use them would agree that they don't even have to be hallucinogenic at all to be psychedelic. The purpose of the trip is to induce the psychedelic headspace. Ketamine is a dissociative; MDMA is a stimulant and entactogen; LSD and psilocybin are psychedelics; and something like Amanita muscaria is a deliriant. All of these are distinct subclasses of drugs that can induce hallucinations.
- This point is important because there are different approaches depending on the class of drug and mechanism of action. In ketamine treatments, the "high" is often seen as an unintended side effect; some companies are trying to develop NMDA antagonists that don't produce any kind of high, because the downstream effect on BDNF is seen as the desirable effect. This is a lot more of a "treat issues with chemicals" approach like SSRIs and less of an "enhance therapy with drugs that allow one to alter and re-examine thought patterns" approach like LSD or MDMA.
- This field is a huge argument in favor of publicly funded research. The article mentions ketamine nasal spray, which is making a very cheap and commonly available anesthetic very expensive. Pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in patentable drugs, and these drugs are so old that they can't be patented, but you can patent specific formulations of the drug or isolated isomers of the drug like esketamine. There's no guarantee that these are necessarily better for the patient, but they're definitely better for the drug company's finances.
- The article recommends active placebos, but it's hard to find convincing active placebos that aren't, you know, full-blown drugs that might work for the same reasons that the drug under study works. For similar reasons, they recommend using a different therapist in follow-up from the one who was present at the treatment sessions. This is good from a scientific methodology standpoint, but these experiences are, to put it mildly, intimate, and from a patient comfort perspective, I imagine a lot of patients would prefer to stick to one therapist through the active treatment sessions and the non-drug followup sessions.
- Concerns about patient safety from transgressions by therapists are very valid. This is quite shocking and obviously way out of line. These drugs make already vulnerable patients more vulnerable.
Unfortunately, the overblown hysteria about these drugs that got all research shut down around the 1970s has perhaps caused an overreaction in the opposite direction: suppress all negatives, to prevent another complete shutdown of all research. The fact that a lot of pharmaceutical research is funded by private companies is a huge issue. As mentioned, these drugs are generally not patentable. In addition, they're usually intended to be taken infrequently, not daily like traditional psychiatric drugs, again cutting into profit margins. It's not a big conspiracy theory to suggest that companies might want to focus research on avenues that make them more money. This is why this kind of research should be publicly funded.
For the record, I've tried to use psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. Didn't do jack shit for me, but it didn't have any long-term negative consequences either. Unfortunately, this wasn't in a controlled medical setting, because that wasn't available to me at the time. I'd be interested in trying again in a medical setting, but unfortunately it's very expensive and/or plain inaccessible at the moment. I'm on the fence; I've heard too many stories of people successfully using these drugs for long-term mental health gains to dismiss them as useless. But I definitely don't think they're a panacea, a miracle cure for everybody. As I've said, my own experiences were disappointingly ineffective.
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Comment on US President Joe Biden pardons son in ~society
imperialismus LinkProbably a hot take on tildes, but I don't think presidential pardons based on personal discretion should be a thing. It's far too abusable. It literally circumvents the justice system, and if you...Probably a hot take on tildes, but I don't think presidential pardons based on personal discretion should be a thing. It's far too abusable. It literally circumvents the justice system, and if you or a loved one was in prison for something that someone more well connected had gotten wiped away by a penstroke, how would you feel? This is a principled stance and has nothing to do with Biden, jr or senior, specifically. Trump already abused that power and will probably abuse it again in the future.
I just really don't like any system that puts some people above the law.
If the American justice system is so fucked that these special powers are needed, you might as well make the office of president into one entirely dedicated to issuing pardons. I guarantee there's thousands of far worse cases that go unresolved because nobody important gave a damn, or even knew about them.
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Comment on World Chess Championship 2024 - Ding Liren vs Gukesh D in ~games.tabletop
imperialismus LinkI haven't been as hyped about a chess game in a long time as after Ding's victory with the black pieces in game 1. I recommend GM Daniel King's recaps. Ding is such a soft-spoken, introverted, shy...I haven't been as hyped about a chess game in a long time as after Ding's victory with the black pieces in game 1. I recommend GM Daniel King's recaps.
Ding is such a soft-spoken, introverted, shy character, he's never involved in any drama, and has seemingly struggled with mental health issues the past few years. Meanwhile I have nothing against Gukesh, amazing player and not at all arrogant or conceited, but Gukesh has many years ahead of him as an elite player. I was afraid this match would be a complete blowout, and I still expect Gukesh to bounce back shortly, but I'm just happy that it seems we have an actual match on our hands, not just a steam train of the younger generation overrunning the old.
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World Chess Championship 2024 - Ding Liren vs Gukesh D
The World Chess Championship started today between reigning champion, China's Ding Liren (2728 Elo, 32 y/o) and India's young prodigy Gukesh D. (2783 Elo, 18 y/o). It's taking place in Singapore...
The World Chess Championship started today between reigning champion, China's Ding Liren (2728 Elo, 32 y/o) and India's young prodigy Gukesh D. (2783 Elo, 18 y/o). It's taking place in Singapore with games starting at 5PM local time (10AM CET, 4AM EST). Commentated coverage can be found at Chess.com or FIDE as well as numerous smaller channels.
Coming into the match, Ding is far more experienced, but has been displaying terrible form since becoming World Champion. Meanwhile Gukesh has looked far stronger and has the chance to become the youngest World Champion ever, beating out the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov by several years. Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen is still ranked as the #1 player in the world, but has declined to participate, just like last year.
The match is 14 games from November 23 to December 13, with potential rapid chess tiebreaks if the score is even after 14 games. The players will have a rest day after every 3 game days.
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Comment on Marius Borg Høiby, the 27-year-old son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in her 20s in ~news
imperialismus Link ParentUnlikely. The monarchy and royal family had a great starting point, sitting at around 80 percent approval rate a few years ago, so even with a recent dip in popularity, they still have the support...- Exemplary
Could it lead to the end of royalty?
Unlikely. The monarchy and royal family had a great starting point, sitting at around 80 percent approval rate a few years ago, so even with a recent dip in popularity, they still have the support of the majority. The monarchy has been so popular that no politician has even raised the question or wanted to start a debate on the topic for many many years, regardless of their private feelings. Arguably there hasn't been an actual serious public debate about it since the establishment of the modern monarchy in 1905, when there was a referendum. That's nearly 120 years ago. Not that there's any political repression of the topic, or that people who are anti monarchy can't get their opinions published in any newspaper... It's just not something that anybody takes very seriously. Anti monarchy editorials are seen less as a threat to the order of society than as kind of... out of touch? Irrelevant? Like, don't we have more pressing issues to debate?
One more scandal, or if this scandal somehow grows to involve the crown prince and princess more directly (like if it turns out they helped their stepson/son destroy evidence or something)... And we might have an actual public debate about the monarchy. Just a debate mind you.
Personally I've always been a small-r republican, as in someone who favors a republic as a form of government. However, it's not a very pressing political matter since the monarchy in practice has no actual political power. It's mainly a question of symbolism, and to me the symbolism of some people being "born to rule" and literally above the law has never sat right. I've had this conversation multiple times with my parents. To them, and the majority of people it seems, they see the apolitical figurehead monarch as a kind of unifying force. The king only ever expresses opinions that are extremely popular and uncontroversial. Some people really like the idea of the head of state being representative rather than being directly involved in governance, and they want that representative head of state to be completely apolitical.
For complicated historical reasons I won't get into, the current Norwegian monarchy is young; there have only been three kings since its introduction and it's been constitutional and symbolic from the start. This means the royal family has always had to endear itself to the people and justify their existence by presenting themselves as that unifying apolitical force that's always expressing the opinions that are already held by the vast majority of people and never ruffles any feathers. To their credit, even as someone who is anti-monarchy, those three kings have done a very good job of that. They've built up a large "sympathy bank" balance, and even if the current heir to the throne raised a right bastard as a stepson, there needs to be way more to fully deplete the goodwill bank.
Most people have the "bad apple" approach to the royal family. Prune off the bad branches but leave the trunk alone. A recent survey found a majority of people want the King to step in and strip his daughter, Princess Märtha Louise, of her royal title. She's controversial because she has some to put it mildly, alternative views on science and medicine, and her husband* (who has no royal title) is even worse on that front, but the main crux of the critique is her exploitation of royal titles for commercial gain. This runs counter to what most people believe and desire the monarchy to be.
The monarchy may have dodged a bullet with her, since she's the eldest child of the king, but far down the line of succession because the inheritance law was changed from oldest son to oldest child after her birth, which is why her younger brother is heir, but his daughter is second in line. Of course, there may be an argument that if she'd been born to inherit the throne, her life might have turned out quite different. When she was younger, she was a competitive equestrian and read fairy tales to children on tv; she was at least moderately popular. As she got older she apparently decided that what she really wants to be in life isn't a nice lady who reads fairy tales and smiles for the cameras, but rather a mystic who renounces conventional science and medicine and a profiteer off of her royal name. Funny how that goes.
But even if she were to be de-titled or even removed entirely from the line of succession, that hardly changes anything. Her antics just kind of move the needle a few percentage points on public opinion, and arguably if you're anti-monarchy, you have this perverse incentive to want the worst offenders (in the court of public opinion) to remain closely associated with the royal family and the monarchy. If they're entirely disassociated, you kind of just lost one of your best arguments against the monarchy.
* Wikipedia has a pretty damning intro paragraph: "Durek Verrett (born November 17, 1974, as Derek David Verrett) is an American conspiracy theorist,[2] convicted felon,[3] alternative therapist,[4][5] and self-professed shaman as a practitioner of Neoshamanism. He has been widely described by media and other observers as a conman and conspiracy theorist." My favorite thing he's said (as in one of the worst) is that children who have cancer are sick because they want to be sick. Apparently he believes in some kind of "the secret" esque world where thoughts can manifest directly into reality, so you can literally wish yourself to be cured and be cured, which means if children aren't cured of cancer it must mean they don't want to be cured badly enough. This dude really had the gall to pull the race card and claim that the Norwegian public don't like him because he's black, and not because, like, he's a criminal conman and all-around asshole.
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Comment on Marius Borg Høiby, the 27-year-old son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in her 20s in ~news
imperialismus Link ParentHe isn't a royal. He has no blood relation to the royal family, he's the son of the crown princess from a previous relationship before she met crown prince Haakon, the son of the king. The law in...He isn't a royal. He has no blood relation to the royal family, he's the son of the crown princess from a previous relationship before she met crown prince Haakon, the son of the king.
The law in Norway states that the monarch can't be prosecuted. It also states that princes and princesses can be prosecuted, but only by a court appointed by "the king". In this case, the legal interpretation of "the king" would likely be "the cabinet", as "the king" in Norwegian constitutional law in practice more or less means the democratically elected executive branch of which the king is a mere figurehead. The cabinet would likely simply appoint a regular court of law, if Marius were a prince, but he's not. He has no official royal title or representative duties, and thus no special legal protections.
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentIt's a buzzword that was coined by John McCarthy in 1956. It might be overhyped at the moment, and applied incorrectly and overeagerly, but it's certainly not a new word or concept and I'm not..."AI" is a buzzword, it's not what the research use to be called
It's a buzzword that was coined by John McCarthy in 1956. It might be overhyped at the moment, and applied incorrectly and overeagerly, but it's certainly not a new word or concept and I'm not basing the above opinion on hype from the past five years.
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentI think we just have fundamentally different views on this topic. You seem to be entirely focused on the means and not the end result. The purpose of the field of AI research, going back to...I think we just have fundamentally different views on this topic. You seem to be entirely focused on the means and not the end result. The purpose of the field of AI research, going back to Turing, has been to replicate intelligent behavior. The means are statistics and computer science, but that's like saying the human brain isn't relevant to psychology because it's just physics which is just applied math which is just a particular application of theoretical math. The context matters a lot.
If machine learning didn't have any scientific applications, I'd agree with you. But it does. Regardless, I don't think we'll reach an agreement on this, but I appreciate your perspective, it just simply doesn't line up with my own.
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentI think the study of intelligence is inherently connected with science in a way that most theoretical math isn't. I also think as a matter of principle, if a technology is invented that is...I think the study of intelligence is inherently connected with science in a way that most theoretical math isn't. I also think as a matter of principle, if a technology is invented that is relevant to almost all fields of natural science, it's within the purview of the premier award in science to award the theoretical underpinnings of that technology, even if they're mostly math/computer science-y in nature.
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentI have to disagree. It's no more "99% math" than theoretical physics. In a year where they awarded a prize for the practical application of the technology in chemistry, it makes perfect sense to...I have to disagree. It's no more "99% math" than theoretical physics. In a year where they awarded a prize for the practical application of the technology in chemistry, it makes perfect sense to award the theoretical underpinnings of said practical application as well.
That's just my opinion of course.
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentYeah, I think they're running into the issue that a lot of modern scientific fields simply didn't exist back when Alfred Nobel wrote his testament. It would be a bit strange if machine...Yeah, I think they're running into the issue that a lot of modern scientific fields simply didn't exist back when Alfred Nobel wrote his testament. It would be a bit strange if machine learning/artificial neural networks, a field that's like cross-disciplinary relevant to almost all fields of science, never got acknowledged by the premier award in all of science. There just isn't anywhere else to "slot it in". At least that's my guess as to why.
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Comment on What are your spooky, creepy or unexplained stories? in ~talk
imperialismus LinkI haven't told this story to many people, because it sounds like a joke without a punchline. But it's the most unexplainable thing I've ever experienced. When I was about ten years old, someone...I haven't told this story to many people, because it sounds like a joke without a punchline. But it's the most unexplainable thing I've ever experienced.
When I was about ten years old, someone sneaked into my family's house, left a giant pile of shit on the floor, and sneaked back out. This all happened in broad daylight, in a time window of about 15-20 minutes when my entire family was upstairs having lunch. It was mid morning on a weekend and two cars were parked out front. We didn't have any pets and the entire family was accounted for. It happened in a room my parents were renovating downstairs, and I was the last person to leave that room. When I got back down there after lunch, I almost stepped in the pile of poop.
To this day, I have no idea who did it, or why, or how they got in and out undetected. The last part is the least mysterious: I know from experience that the front door was noisy, and you'd have to pass through several doors to get to the room at the back of the house. But those doors were usually unlocked during the day when people were home, so it wouldn't have required any Mission Impossible style antics, just being very very careful not to make a noise while opening and closing the doors. The more interesting question is who and why. What could possibly be the reason? I can't think of anyone in my life at the time that would have done it as a prank, certainly not done it and kept quiet about it for more than 20 years.
I was more intrigued than creeped out at the time. Now, many years later, I'm thinking a freak who would do something like that, so brazenly with a whole family present in the house, could potentially be capable of something more sinister. But nothing else creepy or strange ever happened in that house, which my parents have been living in for more than 25 years at this point.
So yeah, that's my unexplained experience. The mystery pooper. It's so bizzarre I'd almost convinced myself it was a false memory until a family member brought it up recently. At least it wasn't a severed horse head!
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Comment on 2024 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 7th - 14th October 2024 in ~misc
imperialismus Link ParentThe scientific prizes are decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It's only the Peace Prize that's handed out by the Nobel Committee in Oslo.I guess describing the oceanic conveyor belt, the carbon cycle, and “global warming” wasn't enough for Oslo.
The scientific prizes are decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It's only the Peace Prize that's handed out by the Nobel Committee in Oslo.
I think there's plenty of millennials who will have children in the next few years that still remember a time before the internet was a part of their daily lives, even if it technically existed. After all, the trend is people becoming parents later in life, and plenty of people born in the 1980s and early 90s could still have children. I found a US Census survey from 2000 that said only 30% of children aged 3-17 used the internet at home at the time. And the US was one of the earliest adopters of private internet access. The internet has only been available to the general public since around 1990, and didn't really become an everyday fixture of most children and young adults' lives until the early 2000s. Even in highly developed countries.