qob's recent activity
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Comment on Zombie anatomy in ~science
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Comment on Zombie anatomy in ~science
qob LinkI was really hoping to see something about zombie metabolism. Attacking people obviously requires energy that needs to come from somewhere, so they need some kind of system that converts energy...I was really hoping to see something about zombie metabolism. Attacking people obviously requires energy that needs to come from somewhere, so they need some kind of system that converts energy and transmits it to different body parts. But if the heart is dead, I don't understand how this works.
Max Brooks explains pretty much anything zombie-related, but nothing about metabolism. I'm beginning to suspect the whole zombie thing is not really viable.
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Comment on Was watching a history YouTube video when I realized they are all AI in ~tech
qob Link ParentNo idea. I'm not a historian. And even if I was, I still wouldn't know unless I actually did the research. But in general, movies are not supposed to be historically accurate, they are supposed to...No idea. I'm not a historian. And even if I was, I still wouldn't know unless I actually did the research.
But in general, movies are not supposed to be historically accurate, they are supposed to be entertaining. And while history has many entertaining stories to offer, they are always too complex and have very long stretches of boring politics. Even if Schindler's List happened exactly like that (which I highly doubt), you don't really learn much from that anecdote taken out of context.
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Comment on Was watching a history YouTube video when I realized they are all AI in ~tech
qob Link ParentSure, everything is a story, but the purpose of the story matters. If the purpose is to get views on YouTube, the story may be wildly different from the story told by historians who are trying to...Sure, everything is a story, but the purpose of the story matters. If the purpose is to get views on YouTube, the story may be wildly different from the story told by historians who are trying to figure out what actually happened. They spend decades trying to piece together the whole picture as accurately as possible from a pile of badly fitting pieces, and 90 % of them are missing. If you want to enterain, you don't care about missing pieces because you ignore half of them anyway to improve the story.
A broadly correct (if imperfect) story that is widly known is exponentially more valuable than a 5,000 page tome that nobody reads.
It depends on what you mean by "broadly correct (if imperfect)". I think it is worse to believe the movie 300 is historically accurate than to not know anything about the basis of the story. What actually happened matters, and we can't alter history so it fits better into our modern narratives.
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Comment on Was watching a history YouTube video when I realized they are all AI in ~tech
qob Link ParentIt's fine if the consumer knows it's storytelling/entertainment. If they think it's historically accurate, they are consuming misinformation.It's fine if the consumer knows it's storytelling/entertainment. If they think it's historically accurate, they are consuming misinformation.
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Comment on The new Firefox is so snappy, even with uBlock Origin enabled! in ~comp
qob Link ParentSame here. People have been talking about how slow Firefox is ever since Chrome came out, but I've never experienced it. Maybe it's because I'm even slower than Firefox, so I don't notice it. I...Same here. People have been talking about how slow Firefox is ever since Chrome came out, but I've never experienced it. Maybe it's because I'm even slower than Firefox, so I don't notice it. I don't know.
I find the bubbles annoying, but I've given up hope on ever having a stable UI again.
If you mean the new tab bar, you can disable that in about:config by setting
browser.nova.enabledtofalse. -
Comment on I don’t feel like I’m a creative person. How could I fix that and get ideas? in ~creative
qob LinkI'm late to the party, but I'd like to share a speech by John Cleese about creativity. It may or may not help you, but it's a fun watch in either case.I'm late to the party, but I'd like to share a speech by John Cleese about creativity. It may or may not help you, but it's a fun watch in either case.
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
qob Link ParentI don't see any references to biology here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feelingI don't see any references to biology here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feeling
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
qob Link ParentSo in that case the datacenter the AI is running on would have consciousness. Does that only work for matter or also for concepts? Does the AI have its own consciousness or is it connected to the...So in that case the datacenter the AI is running on would have consciousness. Does that only work for matter or also for concepts? Does the AI have its own consciousness or is it connected to the consciousness of its datacenter?
Does the story that is written in a book have its own consciousness? Is it in any way connected to the physical book?
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
qob Link ParentAgain, you can implement the same concept differently. The fact that our feelings work like they do doesn't mean all feelings are implemented exactly like that. The human implementation of vision...Again, you can implement the same concept differently. The fact that our feelings work like they do doesn't mean all feelings are implemented exactly like that. The human implementation of vision is very limited at night, but slow loris, bats or infrared cameras are doing much better.
As long as you don't know what feeling is, you'd also need extraordinary evidence to make the case that a significant part of feeling is biological.
[feelings are] part of a very complex, interdependent, system that co-evolved for a specific set of circumstances over millennia.
That may be true for the biological implementation of feelings. How do you know it's equally true for all other implementations? We can't even detect other implementations. The only reason we can correlate biochemistry and feelings is because the test subject can communicate them while their biochemistry is being measured. We did not look at someone's biochemistry and saw that this is how feelings manifest physically.
There is no body state or function that obviously produces feeling. Some people have perfectly healthy looking spines and suffer from terrible back pain. Others have terrible looking spines and are perfectly fine. So even the implementation we know best doesn't make any sense. How can you know so much about something so ethereal, almost magical?
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
qob Link ParentIt's probably reasonable to assume feelings require a certain level of complexity that toasters lack. There's no way to prove that, because we don't know what feelings are, but fair enough. But I...It's probably reasonable to assume feelings require a certain level of complexity that toasters lack. There's no way to prove that, because we don't know what feelings are, but fair enough.
But I don't understand why feelings can only exist on a neurological/biochemical basis that evolved naturally. The detection of electromagnetic waves (i.e. vision) evolved naturally, but there are various artificial processes that do the same thing. AFAIK, no living organism has ever implemented locomotion on land with wheels, but we have been doing it countless times every day for thousands of years.
If feelings are purely software, you could theoretically implement them in Minecraft. If they are a product of a special configuration of matter (hardware), we must be able measure them physically like gravity. Maybe they are a fifth fundamental force that we have figured out yet. We simply don't know.
In any case, as long as feelings are created in this universe (and not somehow injected into it by an external force), it should be at least theoretically possible for us to create them artificially. It may be extremely unlikely that we do that accidentally, but again: We can't measure them. We could disprove Russel's teapot with modern technology, but we cannot disprove that a teapot has feelings.
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Comment on A skeptical overview of AI and consciousness in ~humanities
qob Link ParentWhy not? We don't even know what "feeling" physically is. The reason we don't attribute feelings to a toaster or a rock is because it would make life too complicated, not because we can point a...In order to replicate feeling it would need to be the explicit goal, it won't happen accidentally.
Why not? We don't even know what "feeling" physically is. The reason we don't attribute feelings to a toaster or a rock is because it would make life too complicated, not because we can point a feel-o-meter at them and it reads 0.0.
Even if you believe that some kind of god or other metaphysical entity breathes qualia into dead objects: As long as we don't know how that works, we cannot know that we haven't accidentally replicated that process.
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Comment on China is dealing with its own manosphere in ~life.men
qob Link ParentI think MimicSquid is talking about the gender imbalance. If there are more men than women, those extra men will have to live without a woman. Even with a perfectly authoritarian government that...I think MimicSquid is talking about the gender imbalance. If there are more men than women, those extra men will have to live without a woman. Even with a perfectly authoritarian government that mandates some kind of rotational system, some men will go through significant parts of their lives feeling lonely.
And saying it's only 2% is pretty cynical. We are talking about millions individuals who will never have a family and kids, one of the most important things for most people.
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Comment on Around twenty drown in France as French seek relief from heatwave in ~enviro
qob Link ParentMany have changed their minds since the 90s, and many more will, but some stubborn nutjobs would rather die from heat stroke in Island than admit they were wrong. There were reports of people...Many have changed their minds since the 90s, and many more will, but some stubborn nutjobs would rather die from heat stroke in Island than admit they were wrong. There were reports of people claiming it's just a bad cold when they were dying from Covid.
And in 100 years we will still see the tiny but loud minority who claims climate change is a hoax, wondering how they can say that when whole cities are eaten by the ocean and unprecedented hoards of refugees are romaing the Earth.
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Comment on How much of an echo chamber is Reddit/the internet, really? in ~tech
qob Link ParentIt's funny because I recently had a discussion in another Tildes thread because I said "You can't spend money without making a political statement" and now I seem to contradict myself. But not...It's funny because I recently had a discussion in another Tildes thread because I said "You can't spend money without making a political statement" and now I seem to contradict myself.
But not really. I agree with you. Many of the things we do have some political aspect to them. But we don't do them for political reasons. If I laugh when my boss makes racist jokes, I might feel like throwing up but laugh anyway because he always supported me when nobody else would, and because I have a kid and I need that job.
So yeah, whether I laugh or speak up, my reaction is always political. But my reasons are probably apolitical because 0% of my life is about reorganizing society. It's about paying bills, getting food on the table and, every once in a while, if I have some money and energy left over, I will probably spend it on something that makes me happy so I don't fall apart.
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Comment on How much of an echo chamber is Reddit/the internet, really? in ~tech
qob LinkI think it all comes down to the fact that 99% of one's life is not political. You go to work, you eat, you socialize, you take care of your home and your loved ones, and that's it for the vast...I think it all comes down to the fact that 99% of one's life is not political. You go to work, you eat, you socialize, you take care of your home and your loved ones, and that's it for the vast majority, even for those with strong political opinions. It doesn't matter if you live in the USA or in North Korea. Is it a lot harder for North Koreans to have a good day and maneuver around political oppressors than in Finland? You bet it is. But that doesn't mean it's obvious if you visit.
On the internet, many people brandish their views like a sword, but unless you're a politician or an influencer, you don't do that at all in everyday life. You don't know if the cashier you just bought a snack from wants to bring back slavery, because even people like that are usually civilized and know how to behave to get through their day with a minimum amount of fuss. That doesn't mean there are no societal issues, not at all. But civilization means societies can still function when they are breaking apart.
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Comment on Proton sponsors far-right French YouTuber, claims lack of awareness in response to backlash in ~society
qob Link ParentI don't need a detailed report of every fraction of a penny to know that a $2 T-shirt made in Bangladesh is supporting exploitative working conditions and destroying natural resources. Maybe I'm...I don't need a detailed report of every fraction of a penny to know that a $2 T-shirt made in Bangladesh is supporting exploitative working conditions and destroying natural resources.
Maybe I'm weird because I like to imagine what my money might do upstream? I usually feel either good, bad or a mixture of both when I buy something. Not because of the product itself (that, too, of course, but that's unrelated), but because of the impact my actions have on other people.
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Comment on Proton sponsors far-right French YouTuber, claims lack of awareness in response to backlash in ~society
qob Link ParentNo idea. The world is way too complex to keep track of that. It seems you think I'm saying people are guilty for consuming things? I'm not. I'm saying you can't spend money without making a...No idea. The world is way too complex to keep track of that.
It seems you think I'm saying people are guilty for consuming things? I'm not. I'm saying you can't spend money without making a political statement. If I buy a computer that contains raw materials that were mined by slaves, and I use that computer for any-slavery activism, I'm not contradicting myself, I'm compromising, which is the basis of politics.
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Comment on Proton sponsors far-right French YouTuber, claims lack of awareness in response to backlash in ~society
qob Link ParentBuying land mines or investing in a company that makes land mines is certainly the most direct way of supporting land mines. But you could also donate to a party that wants to legalize land mines...Buying land mines or investing in a company that makes land mines is certainly the most direct way of supporting land mines. But you could also donate to a party that wants to legalize land mines or buy completely unrelated products from a company that uses the revenue from those unrelated products to subsidize land mine production in one of their subsidiaries.
And it can get a lot more complex, of course. Let's assume Peter Thiel bought some Freedom Land in South America and covered the borders in land mines. If I do business with some company that does business with one of Peter Thiel's companies, I'm effectively supporting land mines. There are so many steps between me and the land mines that it's very hard to blame me for the land mines. But still, if nobody would do business with Peter Thiel because of his land mining, he wouldn't have any land mine money.
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Comment on Proton sponsors far-right French YouTuber, claims lack of awareness in response to backlash in ~society
qob Link ParentI'm not saying you have to track down every dollar you spend to make sure it doesn't end up in land mine production. But if that dollar does pay for a land mine, you are effectively supporting...I'm not saying you have to track down every dollar you spend to make sure it doesn't end up in land mine production. But if that dollar does pay for a land mine, you are effectively supporting land mines.
That doesn't mean you are to blame for that land mine, it just means the land mine wouldn't have been produced without that dollar.
Interesting! How does this work? I tried searching for "virus locomotion" but couldn't find anything relevant. Do you have a link?