papasquat's recent activity
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Comment on Scott Adams dead: Dilbert creator was 68 in ~comics
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Comment on Scott Adams dead: Dilbert creator was 68 in ~comics
papasquat Link ParentDilbert was alright, and I really identified with it as a teen and a young working adult. It represents the attitudes and ideas of a lot of people, especially young people working in STEM fields...- Exemplary
Dilbert was alright, and I really identified with it as a teen and a young working adult. It represents the attitudes and ideas of a lot of people, especially young people working in STEM fields have.
As I got older and more exposed to the reality of the reasons behind a lot of management decisions, the comics started seeming a bit sillier, short sighted, and ignorant at times.
There's definitely a type of person in most offices that strongly identifies with Dilbert. They're usually male, usually engineers or programmers or some other technical role, and they usually think they're the smartest person in the room despite any evidence to the contrary. They usually have opinions that basically boil down to "all of my bosses are idiots with no common sense, and if they let me run this company we wouldn't have to do any of this dumb stuff". They also have no real interest in learning any of the reasons behind why they're being told to do the dumb stuff.
As I've gotten more experience, I've become less and less patient with people like that, and think back to when I was a person like that at times and cringe a bit.
Reading Dilbert nowadays makes me feel many of the same emotions.
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Comment on Concerning YouTube short I came across in ~society
papasquat LinkMy first instinct is: are all of the commenters on that video being fooled by AI, or are you? That is, how many of those comments represent real people, and how many of them are just bots farming...My first instinct is: are all of the commenters on that video being fooled by AI, or are you?
That is, how many of those comments represent real people, and how many of them are just bots farming engagement?
It's nearly impossible to tell, and the kind of person willing to post blatant lies in an attempt to mislead people for money is exactly the kind of person to also pump their engagement with bot farms.
That's not to say this stuff isn't concerning, but the entire Internet is rapidly becoming a series of bots interacting with each other.
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Comment on What’s a point that you think many people missed? in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentThis really pissed me off about the Wolf of Wallstreet. People are always very quick to defend Scorsase for glamorizing Jordan Belfort's crimes with "yeah but in the end he got divorced and went...This really pissed me off about the Wolf of Wallstreet. People are always very quick to defend Scorsase for glamorizing Jordan Belfort's crimes with "yeah but in the end he got divorced and went to jail and lost everything".
Yeah, in the last 15 minutes of a 3 hour movie that just spent most of the time hammering us over the head with how cool and badass belfort is and how fun his life is.
And now, Jordan Belfort gets to capitalize on his fame from the movie to pull in 80k speaking fees and run new scams while showing no real accountability or remorse while being idolized by a new generation of omega pilled hustle culture wannabees.
Way to go everyone!
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Comment on ‘Sell America’ returns to Wall Street after Donald Trump ups the ante against Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve in ~society
papasquat LinkThe crazy thing is that Powell's term ends in four months. This isn't even about applying political pressure to get him to follow the President's will. It's just vindictiveness for being unwilling...The crazy thing is that Powell's term ends in four months. This isn't even about applying political pressure to get him to follow the President's will.
It's just vindictiveness for being unwilling to bend the knee.
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Comment on What’s a point that you think many people missed? in ~talk
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Comment on What’s a point that you think many people missed? in ~talk
papasquat LinkTax brackets and progressive tax systems in general. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say "yeah I'd earn more if I took that position, but it'd bump me into a higher tax bracket...Tax brackets and progressive tax systems in general.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say "yeah I'd earn more if I took that position, but it'd bump me into a higher tax bracket and then I'd be worse off anyway".That's literally not possible. Tax brackets tax your income earned above that threshold, not all of your income.
There's no way to earn more money, but take home less of it because of income tax, all other things equal.
Similar thoughts to "tax write-offs", which many people think somehow means the government pays you for the entire value of the thing you're writing off.
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Comment on Feeling weird about my career with respect to AI in ~life
papasquat Link ParentYeah, I think an Iain Banks esque culture future is the absolute most positive scenario if the technology pans out. I don't know if it's feasible to get from where we are as a society now to there...Yeah, I think an Iain Banks esque culture future is the absolute most positive scenario if the technology pans out. I don't know if it's feasible to get from where we are as a society now to there though. I don't even know if it's feasible without radically changing how the human mind works.
We evolved in a world with scarcity, where labor was valuable. It's not only how we were brought up, it's how our DNA has shaped the physical structure of our bodies and brains. I'm not even sure we are compatible with the idea of having no real "utility" or "purpose", and I definitely know that our political systems aren't.
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Comment on Feeling weird about my career with respect to AI in ~life
papasquat Link ParentYeah, I mean that would align with the first scenario, where the promise of AIs long term capabilities are overstated. All of the insane investment and speculation is built up by at least some...Yeah, I mean that would align with the first scenario, where the promise of AIs long term capabilities are overstated.
All of the insane investment and speculation is built up by at least some hope that that'll be the future, and all of the actual problem solving will be able to be accomplished by AI alone.
I hope you're right, but even if you are, that would coincide with a major market crash and a ton of unemployment and poverty once the reality of the limitations are made obvious.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentPersonally, I feel like I can very quickly tell when someone hands me unedited output from an LLM. Of course, that could be confirmation bias though. I'm only identifying the LLM generated...Personally, I feel like I can very quickly tell when someone hands me unedited output from an LLM. Of course, that could be confirmation bias though. I'm only identifying the LLM generated documents I identify, and all the other LLM generated documents I get fly under my radar.
I don't feel like that's the case, because of my own experience generating documents with LLMs though.
For me, even if LLM generated documents were useful, getting one still feels disrespectful. It's almost like asking a question and someone replying back with a https://letmegooglethat.com/ link.
It kind of makes me fee like l I could have just done that easily myself, and the fact that you don't think I thought of that sort of insults my intelligence.
Like, it just feels cheap and disposable, and like there must be a better solution than to just have something dump something into an LLM, then paste the output into an email.
It's tough to get at exactly how I feel about it, but I just generally don't like receiving stuff like that.
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentHonestly, the only use I've found for it is communication that no one reads. If I have some weekly status report or meeting summary or something that I know people want for some reason, but won't...Honestly, the only use I've found for it is communication that no one reads.
If I have some weekly status report or meeting summary or something that I know people want for some reason, but won't actually read? Yeah, it's a good task for an LLM.
If it's something I think people will actually need to glean useful information from, I need to review it anyway. It's almost always filled with so many inaccuracies and fluffy language that I need to rewrite it anyway. At that point I have to wonder if it's even saving me any time.
It usually isn't.
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Comment on Feeling weird about my career with respect to AI in ~life
papasquat LinkThe depressing thing about AI is that regardless of the long term viability of the strategy companies are taking right now, it's only bad news. If AIs long term capabilities are overstated, we've...The depressing thing about AI is that regardless of the long term viability of the strategy companies are taking right now, it's only bad news.
If AIs long term capabilities are overstated, we've wasted a whole shit ton of money, effort, and time forcing something to be used that will just result in tens of thousands of companies going bankrupt and millions losing their jobs.
If they're not overstated, human beings have lost the competitive edge to do be given any sort of actual, rewarding work. Solving problems is interesting. Making art is interesting. Writing code is interesting. The long term path of AI if everything pans out the way they say it will is that humans are really only there to provide some sort of intent to the AI.
User: "Make me a useful product"
AI: alright. Here are the 10 most profitable ideas I have. Which would you like to pursue?
User: whatever. The one that will make me the most money.Any sort of actual interesting work is totally stripped away. That's a best case scenario if this stuff pans out too.
The whole thing makes me really cynical about the future, and has turned me into sort of a luddite.
In the industrial revolution, there was some refuge against those feelings. Namely, "yes, my sweat and manual labor are no longer valuable, but I, or my kids can become a skilled laborer instead"
When the information revolution and automation started eliminating skilled labor, it was "yes, my skill with my hands is no longer valuable, but I or my kids can use our minds to solve problems instead".
Now that it seems like our minds aren't valuable anymore, what's even left?
In my perfect world, not only would this technology not exist; it wouldn't be possible to exist.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentThe issue is that paramedics, nurses, social workers and firefighters don't do policing. Their jobs don't involve walking a beat, patrolling an area of a city. So they'd never really be in a...The issue is that paramedics, nurses, social workers and firefighters don't do policing. Their jobs don't involve walking a beat, patrolling an area of a city. So they'd never really be in a situation to actually respond, unless someone called them there first. The police are ostensibly supposed to fill that role. They're supposed to be deeply plugged in and woven into the community so that they notice when something is going wrong.
The fact that they don't in many cases doesn't mean that we don't need police. It means that we're doing policing wrong very very often.
People's concept of police is the USA are shaped by the way police departments currently work, and especially the high profile abuses of power by those departments. There's no reason police have to be that way though. There are police who don't carry firearms, after all.
At the end of the day, a police officer is just someone whos job it is to keep order in some way. The way they do that is shaped by the policies we build around policing.
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Comment on Mystery trader garners $400,000-plus windfall on Nicolas Maduro's capture in ~society
papasquat Link ParentLeaking information about top secret military operations is... bad. Ignoring the moral issues with this specific military operation, the practice of leaking military secrets for personal profit...Leaking information about top secret military operations is... bad. Ignoring the moral issues with this specific military operation, the practice of leaking military secrets for personal profit already has a name: treason.
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Comment on On 2016 nostalgia in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentLate 2000s/early 90s for me. Back then, information technology seemed like it was going to make the world a perfect place to live. Everyone would have access to all the worlds information at their...Late 2000s/early 90s for me. Back then, information technology seemed like it was going to make the world a perfect place to live. Everyone would have access to all the worlds information at their fingertips, of course that meant that everyone was going to be smart and no longer ignorant. You'd be able to work from anywhere, and everyone would get a job because the system would be so much more efficient when we do away with paperwork!
I was definitely an early tech-bro that insisted that the old luddite boomers just didn't get it, and that the internet was going to solve all of our problems.
I'm one of those boomers now though.
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Comment on On 2016 nostalgia in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentWow, clubbing being dead is news to me. I graduated college in the early 2000s and never really went to clubs much, and still don't, but I didn't realize that most people aren't either. What do...Wow, clubbing being dead is news to me. I graduated college in the early 2000s and never really went to clubs much, and still don't, but I didn't realize that most people aren't either.
What do young people even do on a Friday night in general now?
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentUnfortunately this is an arms race. SUVs are safer (in some, limited crash scenarios) for the people inside, at the expense of being much more dangerous for everyone else. It's a tragedy of the...Unfortunately this is an arms race. SUVs are safer (in some, limited crash scenarios) for the people inside, at the expense of being much more dangerous for everyone else.
It's a tragedy of the commons. If everyone drives SUVs, we're all much less safe overall. Crashes are more likely, and when they occur, they're far more likely to be fatal for pedestrians or other drivers.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentThe depressing thing is that that's not really true. Advertising can't make everyone want something, but it can make people want something. When the iPod came out, hard drive based mp3 players had...There is an arguement to be made that CAFE encouraged companies to market those beastly monster cars which nurtured the current culture, but no advertising campaign can change everyone’s mind
The depressing thing is that that's not really true. Advertising can't make everyone want something, but it can make people want something.
When the iPod came out, hard drive based mp3 players had already been out for years. They weren't as small as the iPod, but the iPod didn't really do anything radically new. Except for a brilliant, well funded ad campaign. Everyone wanted an iPod. I wanted one, and I didn't even listen to music that much.
This happens constantly with all types of products, many of which aren't even very good.
With a big enough advertising budget, you can get people to want virtually anything. All it takes is paying someone they look up to, crafting an ad campaign that speaks to their values, or fashioning a group identity that people want to belong to, then tie it to a product. You can literally conjure that desire out of thin air. Can you convince everyone? No. You don't need to convince everyone though. You need to convince some people who will take the identity you crafted for them and run with it. Those people will influence others, and pretty soon half of the vehicles you see on the highway are massive pickups with empty, never used beds.
American cars aren't big because Americans want big cars. Americans want big cars because American cars are big. The cars are big because they have better profit margins. Then, of course, the reason they have higher profit margins is because of policy.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentI don't know if it's particularly useful to draw conclusions from the fact that institutions in the US formed in support of slavery. The entire US was built on slavery. Any institution that...I don't know if it's particularly useful to draw conclusions from the fact that institutions in the US formed in support of slavery.
The entire US was built on slavery. Any institution that existed during its beginnings played a large hand in supporting slavery, from the census, to the supreme court, to the US Marshalls service and so on.
I think we're a lot better off examining those things as they exist today and weighing their pros and cons rather than how they started.
Secondly, policing is extremely complex, so it's hard to say whether most people want more or less police funding. What most people actually want is to feel safe. Whether they're primarily concerned about safety from criminals or safety from police depends on a whole lot of life experiences and factors about their lives.
In your example, the police department you're talking about likely received that MRAP for free. A tiny police department with 20 officers and virtually no budget could have an MRAP if they wanted to in 2010. The federal government handed them out like candy.
I think most people in a town would rather have 40 uniformed, friendly police officers that are engaged with the community, run foot patrols without harassing people, and respond quickly to calls than 20 officers and an MRAP that they routinely use to enforce warrants. The former is far more expensive than the latter though.
I don't think it's necessarily the budgets that are the problem, it's what those budgets are used for. Well trained, well disciplined officers that are routinely put through and held to de-escalation standards, that are incentivized to make contact with their beats and get to know people, and who you generally trust going to for help are much more accepted all around than guys who run around with t shirts and bullet proof vests carrying ARs, sealed away in unmarked SUVs and who routinely beat up on people.
The budget isn't really the factor in which one you get. Civilian oversight and good governance is.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentIsn't this the same situation with working class white people as well? The whole theory behind affirmative action is that a group as a whole is underperforming economically, thus, their...Isn't this the same situation with working class white people as well?
The whole theory behind affirmative action is that a group as a whole is underperforming economically, thus, their underperformance is related to their membership of that group.
If Asians as a whole aren't underperforming, but some individuals still are... Aren't those just normal economic problems?
Like, there are a lot of poor white people too, but white people as a whole aren't poor compared to other racial groups, thus we don't relate individually poor white people as being poor because they're white. Why would it be different for Asian people?
Dumb stuff like prioritizing things that make money right now versus things that may help your small slice of the pie long term. Or enabling some new AI tool that hasn't been properly vetted, or shifting priorities in a project last minute.
An example from my job recently is that we were evaluating new vulnerability management tools recently. The engineer in charge of evaluating them liked this very big, fancy, expensive option that would do a great job and make our life a lot easier. When we got the quote, it so massively expensive that it would have been one of the most expensive pieces of software my organization buys. The proposal predictably got shot down.
The engineer raged about it, shouting and whining about how the organization doesn't take security seriously, and how are we supposed to protect the environment with substandard tools, and how management is so short sighted.
We have a limited budget to get a lot of things achieved though, so even though that's not the decision I wanted, I still understand it and it makes sense. We have servers to buy, firewalls to license, other security software we need to pay for, developers that need to be paid and on and on and on. Yes, vulnerability management is important, but so are about a thousand other things. It's very common that engineers can't, or more likely refuse to see outside of their very limited silo and understand that their organization exists to make money or achieve some goal that isn't "create the most efficient motor of all time" or "have an impenetrable network" or whatever else it was they were hired to do.