wervenyt's recent activity
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
wervenyt Link ParentI see your perspective, and think it's missing some major nuances. Primarily, to conflate governmental regulation with private terms and conditions is to equate law with capacity. Secondarily, but...I see your perspective, and think it's missing some major nuances. Primarily, to conflate governmental regulation with private terms and conditions is to equate law with capacity. Secondarily, but more pressingly, the mechanisms that lead to such cooperation between regulators and private organizations are usually enacted in order to circumvent democratic mechanisms in the government.
If our standard for further regulation and centralized control is "people can defraud others", well, that's simply a recipe for a police state in the long run. I won't be dignifying that line of reasoning.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
wervenyt Link ParentThank you for the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, I don't think it's even a conspiracy per se, let alone the work of conniving what-have-yous, just to clarify. But the colonial engine goes brrrrr with...Thank you for the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, I don't think it's even a conspiracy per se, let alone the work of conniving what-have-yous, just to clarify. But the colonial engine goes brrrrr with or without a guiding hand, and conspiratorial messaging is remarkably efficient for this scope of issue, if you simply assume that "it's actually all those uppity [insert minority group]!" is never the answer.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
wervenyt Link ParentEquivocating this with governmental regulation is ridiculous. Insultingly so.Equivocating this with governmental regulation is ridiculous. Insultingly so.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
wervenyt Link Parentthis is how we will own nothing and be happy (about that, at least): being incapable of wielding the benefits of ownership while the responsibility of it gets loaded onto us continuously I wonder...this is how we will own nothing and be happy (about that, at least): being incapable of wielding the benefits of ownership while the responsibility of it gets loaded onto us continuously
I wonder if people will ever realize how much they're being manipulated
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Comment on A24, Sony and The New York Times circle Letterboxd as bidding starts at $300 million in ~movies
wervenyt Link ParentEven niche social networks must be centralized and for-profit! If it can't be used for data mining, it isn't worth time or effort. Greed is good, silly.Even niche social networks must be centralized and for-profit! If it can't be used for data mining, it isn't worth time or effort. Greed is good, silly.
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
wervenyt Link ParentI'm convinced that the reason everyone clamped down on the hype around Big Data was to minimize this kind of backlash. Only the marketing firms, data brokers, and law enforcement/intelligence...I'm convinced that the reason everyone clamped down on the hype around Big Data was to minimize this kind of backlash. Only the marketing firms, data brokers, and law enforcement/intelligence operations really have the capacity to demonstrate the power of this kind of information, and they'd all be fools to do so.
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Comment on Emily Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in ~movies
wervenyt Link ParentI'd say that I expect my reaction to this piece wouldn't have been very dissimilar to yours, but I saw the movie Sunday, and I think she makes good points. I went in skeptical, came out enjoying...I'd say that I expect my reaction to this piece wouldn't have been very dissimilar to yours, but I saw the movie Sunday, and I think she makes good points. I went in skeptical, came out enjoying it, but it's soured really rapidly for me, for many, many reasons.
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Comment on There is no ‘hard problem of consciousness’ in ~humanities
wervenyt Link ParentI've been trying to figure out how to respond to this for most of a day now, and I'm not sure how to distinguish scientific knowledge from philosophical insight for you. There are not "proponents"...I've been trying to figure out how to respond to this for most of a day now, and I'm not sure how to distinguish scientific knowledge from philosophical insight for you. There are not "proponents" for the hard problem, there are simply those who recognize that every ontology has a gap somewhere and those who believe theirs is flawless.
There's no answer here. "How does matter turn matter into psyche?" is not a well-formed scientific question, as psyche is not an apt object for rigorous scientific investigation. Non-physicalist ontologies have similar issues, but science isn't discussed in those terms, typically, and the anglophone world is not very friendly to such paradigms anyway, so they tend not to be understood by people who take the "hard problem of consciousness" as a debate.
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Comment on There is no ‘hard problem of consciousness’ in ~humanities
wervenyt Link ParentI take issue with Chalmers' reasoning as well, that's not the contention here. The question is whether consciousness can be examined in itself via scientific methods, and there's no way to even...I take issue with Chalmers' reasoning as well, that's not the contention here. The question is whether consciousness can be examined in itself via scientific methods, and there's no way to even start doing that without introducing some mediating device, which creates yet another source of distrust for any perspective that doesn't take the assumptions of the method for granted.
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Comment on There is no ‘hard problem of consciousness’ in ~humanities
wervenyt Link ParentVery true! but that's basically metaphysics changing around it. Without our current physicalist paradigm, the hard problem is dissolved.Very true! but that's basically metaphysics changing around it. Without our current physicalist paradigm, the hard problem is dissolved.
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Comment on There is no ‘hard problem of consciousness’ in ~humanities
wervenyt Link ParentThere will still be an explanatory gap. We likely will, eventually, reach a point where it feels like pointing out the problem of induction rather than a real lack of explanation, but science is...There will still be an explanatory gap. We likely will, eventually, reach a point where it feels like pointing out the problem of induction rather than a real lack of explanation, but science is not apt to consciousness in itself, it mediates science. Brain scans will only ever give us more "outside" of the experience, and even sci fi ideas of mind melds made real will beg the issue of communication vs commingling. It will never work as "proof" against competing theories of consciousness, in the way people really want.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
wervenyt Link ParentOn the headline level, perhaps. But people are happy to dig their own graves too, if it means taking the easier path.On the headline level, perhaps. But people are happy to dig their own graves too, if it means taking the easier path.
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Comment on Of course viewers are giving up on Netflix shows in ~tv
wervenyt Link ParentAnd that's exactly the depth we wouldn't have gotten without your elision! Now, I'm not sure what we'll learn from this millimeter dip, but hey, it happened.And that's exactly the depth we wouldn't have gotten without your elision! Now, I'm not sure what we'll learn from this millimeter dip, but hey, it happened.
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Comment on Of course viewers are giving up on Netflix shows in ~tv
wervenyt Link ParentIn this comment, you have said something much more interesting than if you'd said 'ending'. The abruption is the ending now, and it's a different story. Holding onto our ideas of narrative can...In this comment, you have said something much more interesting than if you'd said 'ending'. The abruption is the ending now, and it's a different story. Holding onto our ideas of narrative can spoil the ones in front of us.
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Comment on Why does WhatsApp drain so much phone battery? in ~tech
wervenyt Link ParentPeople tend to acknowledge my points, even if they don't change their behavior. But the whole network effect is built on being frictionless and the idea that everyone's on it. I'm not, and I make...People tend to acknowledge my points, even if they don't change their behavior. But the whole network effect is built on being frictionless and the idea that everyone's on it. I'm not, and I make friction when people bring it up.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
wervenyt Link ParentOh, absolutely. That's why the framing ticks me off. If we legitimately were freeing ourselves from the oppression of written language, it'd be great. If we were training kids to think...Oh, absolutely. That's why the framing ticks me off. If we legitimately were freeing ourselves from the oppression of written language, it'd be great. If we were training kids to think multidimensionally and immanently, the loss of artistic appreciation for a form I love would be a worthwhile trade. Instead, people are being trained to fear indeterminacy, not to think, and are being left to follow their pleasure centers into the human mill. That's social collapse, not change.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
wervenyt Link ParentTo me, post-literacy as a state implies it does something. Preliterate culture existed. I'm rather unconvinced that our culture will survive once the average person's education is as simple as...To me, post-literacy as a state implies it does something. Preliterate culture existed. I'm rather unconvinced that our culture will survive once the average person's education is as simple as being hitched onto the hedonic treadmill of algorithmic conditioning.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
wervenyt Link ParentThis is why lumping all this in as illiteracy is ridiculous. This is The Atlantic, we all know their conventions, and you probably read up to the start of the quote, contextually realized that you...This is why lumping all this in as illiteracy is ridiculous. This is The Atlantic, we all know their conventions, and you probably read up to the start of the quote, contextually realized that you didn't need to read it to get the point, and moved on. That is good media literacy, not even necessarily an indicator of low attention span, let alone a sign of poor literacy. But kids are being deprived of being taught how to learn things like that.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
wervenyt LinkI'm particularly tired of think pieces looking at the mess that is education (globally, nobody is utilizing the state of the art in pedagogy at large institutions) failing when beaten by the waves...I'm particularly tired of think pieces looking at the mess that is education (globally, nobody is utilizing the state of the art in pedagogy at large institutions) failing when beaten by the waves of social media addiction and deciding this is an evolution for humanity. This isn't post-literacy, it's our society failing and us all willfully converting ourselves into dependent hostages a la North Korea.
I do my best to deploy it contradictorily, hoping to inspire people to go digging for how I'm wrong, if that helps your peace of mind. Otherwise, I guess my thinking is that conspiracy theories form out of latent storytelling structures and unsatisfactory understanding when a thinker is stressed, and are reinforced into belief upon contact with external validation. However, because of that reliance on assumption and the inherent differences in each believer's lack of knowledge, it's highly likely (outside the context of people putting themselves into filter bubbles and engineered propaganda campaigns) that the actually-held beliefs carry little to no correlation with one another. That's wiggle room to undermine from. If that makes sense.