Vila 'There isn't a lock I can't open if I'm scared enough' Restal was one of the finest sci-fi characters on British telly. The caustic exchanges between him and Avon were priceless. > Michael was asked whether Vila…
Consciousness and God both seem to have this property in common: they're real but not what we think they are. Only when we have a decent theory of consciousness will we know what counts as evidence for whether a…
When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte, As every child can tell, The House of Peers, throughout the war, Did nothing in particular, And did it very well; Yet Britain set the world ablaze In good King George's glorious days!…
The temperature a few metres below ground level is consistently cool (approx. 15 celcius) year round. Could this be made the basis of an efficient cooling system?
It's funny how every source of knowledge converges to the same thing: mass media. Telling you what to think and trying to influence your behaviour rather than trying to inform you. Using facts, omitting facts or…
It's hard not to trust answers which are superhumanly plausible. Imagine being offered a choice of two oracles. The first oracle would give you an answer that is inspiring yet mysterious and oblique. The second gives an…
I miss being able to spontaneously buy a ticket and travel off to see a friend in another town or city. I did quite a lot as a young man with the help of my 'young person's railcard'. The cost would be prohibitive…
Relatedly, microdosing with lactulose (which is very cheap) has a probiotic effect. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8353095/
Yes. There are distinct male virtues, such as courage, nobility and authority. But if a man isn't honest then he's not worthy of consideration. Or, if you like, he hasn't yet matured into manhood. This is why so much of…
>the heat is moved to the ground for storage ..or into a giant sand-filled barge which transports the thermal energy up north for the winter.
Doubling down and doubling down on some feeling (or lack of feeling) repeatedly isn't merely a strategy. It is the selling of ones's soul. There's no one left inside by the end of it, just a shell, with no creative…
I think you've got it the wrong way around. All ideology is wrong, incorrect and fails in contact with reality. The true purpose of ideology (or 'the system') is to provide its adherents with the excuse they need to act…
I go for a decent walk most days and it doesn't require effort or get boring. It goes well with listening to headphones and relaxing the eyes on the horizon plus seeing a bit of nature and humanity in action. This does…
Author is clearly not a happy bunny. Some people may be motivated by a wish to escape other people, but many will want to go to space because it's so cool. In other words: for adventure, romance and blazing a trail for…
I'm not even a programmer, but I can tell that dates are ambiguous a lot of the time. e.g. dd/mm/yyyy (British) and mm/dd/yyyy (USA) can be confused for the first twelve days of every month. So, given the high volume of…
Thumb on white notes. 4th finger on black because it is weaker than 2,3. But these are rules of thumb(!)
The original reads easier in the voice of the cookie monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbgRyColvE
I used to think the same when people spoke of social media being addictive, but not any more. Drugs aren't autonomous either, however they clearly do remove some people's autonomy. I can well imagine now that a person…
>tools that augment cognition when used intentionally can become parasitic when designed to maximize engagement at the expense of user agency Wonderful definition, thank you. It has reach beyond software I think, into…
Chemotherapy as I understand it works by killing rapidly-dividing cells (which is why your hair falls out). Fenbendazole purportedly slows down cell division, allowing the immune system a chance to catch up with the…
Yes! Similarly for text books, which are riddled with errors, generally speaking. They should have have an email address for reader-submitted errata printed in large friendly letters on the inside front cover.
Thanks. Yes it is strange. I do accept there's some overlap between propaganda and memeing. Yet whatever the intentions (or paygrade, or artistic ability) of the author of a meme, the fact remains that once it is posted…
Nah. Compressed ideas are simply very good explanations! Ideologues aren't open to changing their ideas, but some other people do so occasionally. One can have philosophical assumptions and/or preferences without…
Not everyone is an ideologue. Some people are just on the side of what is, or what is real.
Yes however I was not referring to memes in the broadest sense but memes as humorous (usually) images with captions, shared online. Unlike propaganda and advertising these are spontaneously created by unpaid individuals…
Vila 'There isn't a lock I can't open if I'm scared enough' Restal was one of the finest sci-fi characters on British telly. The caustic exchanges between him and Avon were priceless. > Michael was asked whether Vila…
Consciousness and God both seem to have this property in common: they're real but not what we think they are. Only when we have a decent theory of consciousness will we know what counts as evidence for whether a…
When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte, As every child can tell, The House of Peers, throughout the war, Did nothing in particular, And did it very well; Yet Britain set the world ablaze In good King George's glorious days!…
The temperature a few metres below ground level is consistently cool (approx. 15 celcius) year round. Could this be made the basis of an efficient cooling system?
It's funny how every source of knowledge converges to the same thing: mass media. Telling you what to think and trying to influence your behaviour rather than trying to inform you. Using facts, omitting facts or…
It's hard not to trust answers which are superhumanly plausible. Imagine being offered a choice of two oracles. The first oracle would give you an answer that is inspiring yet mysterious and oblique. The second gives an…
I miss being able to spontaneously buy a ticket and travel off to see a friend in another town or city. I did quite a lot as a young man with the help of my 'young person's railcard'. The cost would be prohibitive…
Relatedly, microdosing with lactulose (which is very cheap) has a probiotic effect. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8353095/
Yes. There are distinct male virtues, such as courage, nobility and authority. But if a man isn't honest then he's not worthy of consideration. Or, if you like, he hasn't yet matured into manhood. This is why so much of…
>the heat is moved to the ground for storage ..or into a giant sand-filled barge which transports the thermal energy up north for the winter.
Doubling down and doubling down on some feeling (or lack of feeling) repeatedly isn't merely a strategy. It is the selling of ones's soul. There's no one left inside by the end of it, just a shell, with no creative…
I think you've got it the wrong way around. All ideology is wrong, incorrect and fails in contact with reality. The true purpose of ideology (or 'the system') is to provide its adherents with the excuse they need to act…
I go for a decent walk most days and it doesn't require effort or get boring. It goes well with listening to headphones and relaxing the eyes on the horizon plus seeing a bit of nature and humanity in action. This does…
Author is clearly not a happy bunny. Some people may be motivated by a wish to escape other people, but many will want to go to space because it's so cool. In other words: for adventure, romance and blazing a trail for…
I'm not even a programmer, but I can tell that dates are ambiguous a lot of the time. e.g. dd/mm/yyyy (British) and mm/dd/yyyy (USA) can be confused for the first twelve days of every month. So, given the high volume of…
Thumb on white notes. 4th finger on black because it is weaker than 2,3. But these are rules of thumb(!)
The original reads easier in the voice of the cookie monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbgRyColvE
I used to think the same when people spoke of social media being addictive, but not any more. Drugs aren't autonomous either, however they clearly do remove some people's autonomy. I can well imagine now that a person…
>tools that augment cognition when used intentionally can become parasitic when designed to maximize engagement at the expense of user agency Wonderful definition, thank you. It has reach beyond software I think, into…
Chemotherapy as I understand it works by killing rapidly-dividing cells (which is why your hair falls out). Fenbendazole purportedly slows down cell division, allowing the immune system a chance to catch up with the…
Yes! Similarly for text books, which are riddled with errors, generally speaking. They should have have an email address for reader-submitted errata printed in large friendly letters on the inside front cover.
Thanks. Yes it is strange. I do accept there's some overlap between propaganda and memeing. Yet whatever the intentions (or paygrade, or artistic ability) of the author of a meme, the fact remains that once it is posted…
Nah. Compressed ideas are simply very good explanations! Ideologues aren't open to changing their ideas, but some other people do so occasionally. One can have philosophical assumptions and/or preferences without…
Not everyone is an ideologue. Some people are just on the side of what is, or what is real.
Yes however I was not referring to memes in the broadest sense but memes as humorous (usually) images with captions, shared online. Unlike propaganda and advertising these are spontaneously created by unpaid individuals…