valravn's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    valravn
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    One of my favorites! I love how Gibson just throws you into his worlds, with what feels like little "translating" or handholding. It's hard for me to wrap my head around at first, but by the end,...

    One of my favorites! I love how Gibson just throws you into his worlds, with what feels like little "translating" or handholding. It's hard for me to wrap my head around at first, but by the end, you just get immersed into the Sprawl.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    valravn
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    So, my favorite band is called CHON. They're a really sick, progressive, soulful math rock band; sorta post-hardcore on some of their earliest stuff. Years ago, they namedropped a pianist named...

    So, my favorite band is called CHON. They're a really sick, progressive, soulful math rock band; sorta post-hardcore on some of their earliest stuff. Years ago, they namedropped a pianist named Tigran Hamasyan as an inspiration for their sound, and a couple days ago I finally decided to look him up.

    My mind's still blown. This is some of the best modern fusion music I've ever heard. I really didn't know this existed.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xlNF9-C6lQ

    1 vote

  3. Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~society

    valravn
    Link Parent
    You know, I've become very sympathetic to the idea that the systems of power acquisition we have in place naturally cater to those with psychopathic tendencies. A limited capacity for empathy and...

    You know, I've become very sympathetic to the idea that the systems of power acquisition we have in place naturally cater to those with psychopathic tendencies. A limited capacity for empathy and remorse, deficits in socially-related cognition, deep-seated issues masked by desperately projecting confidence - these are traits that might allow you to make the types of unreasonable and harmful decisions that can take you to the top and line your pockets along the way. It lines up a bit too well.

    Somewhere along the line, a threshold is crossed, and now you're describing your feverish dreams of controlling the world around you with every scam in the book; unfortunately, there's a cheering audience of those who think just like you. Together, you'll achieve nothing like what you've planned, but you'll leave your footprint on the world, and none of it will have made you happy. It's a shame for everyone involved, and everyone affected.

    7 votes

  4. Comment on Hidden giants: how the UK’s 500,000 redwoods put California in the shade in ~enviro

    valravn
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    It's a bucketlist item of mine to visit a proper redwood forest at some point. It's wild that we still live alongside these ancient, fantastical things. Some of the pictures I've seen point to a...

    It's a bucketlist item of mine to visit a proper redwood forest at some point. It's wild that we still live alongside these ancient, fantastical things. Some of the pictures I've seen point to a scale that is difficult to comprehend - how cool is it that you can hike into a forest that seems to shrink you with every kilometer, walking past roots at first thicker than your thighs, then your torso, then your car...

    5 votes