VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
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User ID: 64
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
1d ago
Why did we decide to stop (most) further study of lobotomies? The inventors of the procedure won a Nobel Prize for it! At some point it seems we decided that it wasn't actually worth it, as far as I can tell.
I think it's a hard question, honestly, even before the pediatric ethics complications. How do we decide what experiments are reasonable to run on people? Definitionally, sometimes experiments find negative outcomes, and if we never run such experiments, we never find ways to make things better. To me, at least, there needs to be some level of reasonable confidence on the theory for why a potentially-harmful, irreversible experiment would be likely to succeed, and clear consent to participate.
Medicine isn't my wheelhouse, but the repeated failure to turn what should be lots of test data into verifiable claims of strong evidence suggests that the evidence isn't as glowing as the rhetoric would require. Which colors me cynical about much of the whole movement, but that's just my opinion.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
2d ago
They want (liberal) artists to create conservative-inflected art,
If anything, I think they'd be happy with conservative artists making conservative-inflected art, but The Academy has largely destroyed the teaching of traditional forms of (visual) art. Over the last decade or so I've found a decent list of artists whose works I enjoy, but most of them have very mixed advice about "art school" specifically: it's not a great place to learn, for example, traditional painting (landscapes, formal portraits, still life) because "traditional" isn't "cool," and so you see those produce things (uncharitably: ugly schlock) like "CalArts-style" or brutalist architecture that are IMO visually unappealing.
For some reason, the (traditional) music side of the academy seems to have held onto tradition better, although even there "I went to music school. Don't go to music school. Just make music." is a surprisingly common piece of serious advice. And despite not being a huge Rand-stan, The Fountainhead feels fairly relatable here: most of the artists I'd list seem successful because they chose to make what they were themselves were passionate about, not what the zeitgeist told them to. Some of them seem to be doing reasonably well based off their social media profiles. And I really appreciate it, because it's had me take up art as a modest hobby, even if it'd never work for me as a career.
(liberal) historians to write conservative historical narratives,
I think this has largely the same concerns as the artists: the pipelines for traditional publishing are fairly tightly controlled, and while it's possible for non-leftist fiction authors to self-publish, non-fiction has a higher expectation of review. I'm not the biggest reader of history, but my understanding is that nonfiction skews more male than other parts of literature, and I haven't seen modern book reviews of history (say, Scott's review of Hoover) take on a hugely strong left-leaning bent. But your average school history textbook is probably a left-of-center framing.
I definitely believe that AI and automation change the shape of industry over the next 50 years - and yes, the next 5. What I would not bet on (absent other factors, which are plenteous) is everyone waking up the same day and deciding to fire all their employees and replace them with AI, mass pandemonium in the streets.
For one, I'd like to point out that this has been a constant for centuries at this point, dating back to at least the industrial revolution. I was discussing family history a while back, and we have photos of my great grandfather proudly picketing for a union that doesn't exist anymore. That entire profession was gone and the union folded before I was born because of pre-AI "automation" (computers, really). Entire professions have disappeared since WWII because of the spreadsheet — VisiCalc famously sold users on a $2000 Apple II to run a $100 application, in 1979 dollars!
The real question that comes to mind about "AI" in these days is whether this is a rather impactful step change (like the spreadsheet, or the smartphone), or whether this is something else in kind. And I'm somewhat leaning toward the former, and find that arguments for the latter tend to under-sell the impact of major technology changes even within my lifetime; for all the concern about "singularity", exponential growth manages to look pretty similar but lacks the vertical asymptote. But I'm open to hearing other ideas.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
I don't think Hillary ever claimed the documents in question weren't classified on that basis. And I don't think they were publicly released like these seem to have been. I'm not sure it would have gone more smoothly if she had, either.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
3d ago
if a 10K time was fast or slow
Where would you put the threshold for "fast" or "slow"? I run a fair amount, and while I'm definitely not "fast" by my own definition, I have won a race or two when it's a low-key park run or such. I suppose compared to the average American I'm "fast", but my personal mark is "the Boston qualifying time" which continues to be slightly out of reach.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
4d ago
even if it didn't involve classified intel
Honestly it should be pretty embarrassing regardless, but the technicalities probably side with the folks in the administration saying it didn't: classified is a distinction largely imposed by executive orders (excluding some unrelated carve outs) and the power to declare a given fact "secret" or not is a power that has long been delegated to some of the people in the chat.
Maybe it should have been treated more sensitively, but the Secretary of State is empowered to decide "this isn't classified" definitively, and everyone else is supposed to follow along.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
5d ago
I've certainly heard this opined about high-level political types. In my experience the contractors and low level folks take it pretty seriously, and I know there was a lot of annoyance from those groups in particular about Hillary's email server, for example. There is (perhaps rightfully) a pretty strong view of a two-tier system there.
ETA: I've also heard rumblings that different departments within the government handle things like this very differently too.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
5d ago
The boring answer is that "the official channels" require badging through a few locked doors to log into a desktop computer in a windowless room to check email, which isn't very responsive if you're trying to move very quickly across several tiers of organization.
That is a poor excuse, but it seems the most likely one to me. Either that or concern about opsec was minimal given the adversary's technical prowess, but that also strikes me as a poor excuse.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
5d ago
I think the text of the laws in question largely date from a time with well-defined "work" and "not work" life spaces, but they're hardly unique to the US. If you're a laptop-class worker, can you "check your email" while on vacation somewhere? I can appreciate that there is a line somewhere before your host country should at least expect you to pay income taxes and such, but a small amount of de minimus work seems pretty harmless.
I follow a number of professional artists on social media, and at least once have seen a post lamenting that following the letter of the US tourist visa meant they couldn't paint a canvas, even for fun, while visiting (a high profile makes legal scrutiny more likely to appear too).
On the other hand, I don't have a specific threshold of "reasonableness" in mind. I'm open to hearing ideas, but "no" is at least a clear answer, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to personally leave work at work when I'm on vacation.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
8d ago
There are a surprising number of cricket fields in the couple American metro areas I frequent. Not a ton, but people are clearly investing in them. I suspect a good chunk of the players are South Asians on H1B visas or their relations, but I don't see a problem with trying to evangelize a sport.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
8d ago
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
8d ago
if you're the product of a mixed family, are roughly the same color as Taylor Lautner and have the surname "Lopez" are you hispanic or white?
There have been a number of shifts in the common definition of "white" (which has occasionally gone by other terms like "WASP") that generally get swept under the rug by partisans. In the late 1800s, it didn't include Italians. Catholics more broadly were probably excluded until maybe the JFK administration.
I sometimes wonder if we'd all get along better if we actively tried to culturally expand that definition to include all Americans, rather than focusing on divisive "hyphenated Americans" (a term which dates back to the late 1800s). But it seems an unpopular idea in political activist circles.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
8d ago
I am generally supportive of peaceful, voluntary political union, and have occasionally mused on the topic myself. I could see some trouble selling Americans on it with an actual monarch as it's head, though.
I did think it was interesting when The Queen died that everyone so quickly agreed that Charles would head the Commonwealth (apparently agreed upon in advance by the heads of state), since the position is officially non-hereditary.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
9d ago
I think you'd be more likely to win this for those without work visas or other formal federal recognition, which is still a large number. "If you (1) sneak over the border and never talk to customs and immigration, or (2) if you overstay the terms of the visa through which you went through customs, you clearly don't see yourself as subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" strikes me as at least defensible, especially the former.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
9d ago
Remember when Trump totally ended the deluge of illegal immigrants in a week using only executive power?
People cite this frequently, but I think the biggest change isn't one of law or even executive policy, but only one of stated preference. The Biden administration was perceived as being friendly to illegal immigrants asylum seekers, and when a flood showed up in response, then administrative choices (the CBP app, for example) demonstrated the perception to be broadly correct. So far, at least, it seems enough to merely change that perception, although I assume some actions to back it up would eventually be necessary.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
9d ago
ICE raids my workplace and I tell them I’m Jose Gonzalez, I’m a US citizen, and I don’t say another word the whole time. How could they affirmatively prove that I’m not?
Lying to a federal officer (in this case about citizenship status) is a felony. It won't prove their case for them, but if they already had one current practice would allow them to tack on a "charged with felony" qualifier that seems to have a much broader approval rate with the public for rapid deportation.
Being silent might prove an alternative strategy, but I'm definitely not in a position to provide legal advice here.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
10d ago
This is the law in Japan for any non-Japanese. You must carry proof of your status at all times--the 外国人登録証 or popularly-known "gaijin card," which indicates your visa status. Everyone here who stays longer than 3 months gets one (students, those employed, etc.) except maybe diplomats. This is in lieu of carrying your passport, which visitors (under 3 months) are required to do.
I feel like this is pretty standard for all the non-US countries I've visited worldwide, at least on paper. I will admit to, say, going for a run and leaving my passport at the hotel, but in theory I've been required to carry it with me at all times. As far as I know, this is true in the US too: green card holders are supposed to carry it with them at all times, and visitors are supposed to carry their passports, although citizens are not required to do so (but if you are carrying such ID, you may be compelled to display it). Actual checks seem less frequent outside of ports of entry (and the occasional border patrol checkpoint further from the border).
On one hand, I respect the American tradition of civil liberties, but on the other I have trouble being alarmed at backsliding into fascism by adopting policies that checks notes align with every other first world country.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
10d ago
Does he think the United States government has, by itself, the capacity to replicate 1% of all intra-country flight capacity? To multiple different countries around the world? To do this every day for a year? I am skeptical.
The US government has contracts with commercial airlines as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to support DOD needs in emergencies, presumably in advance of their other customers.
I don't think this would be popular, but the mechanism at least exists.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
11d ago
Young people live in a world where they constantly have doors slammed in their face.
Worse, "ghosting" has become ubiquitous in dating and employment, so doors aren't even being slammed. They just disappear without feedback.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
12d ago
Even more boring: the files implicate intelligence collection methods that would be embarrassing to admit existing. "We know he's not an Israeli asset because we've wiretapped the entire country of Israel and nobody ever mentioned him as an asset" is probably overstating the US power level, but is an example of something that isn't directly germane but would cause international relations trouble if it got out. IIRC there was that incident involving Merkel I think a decade or so ago.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
14d ago
In general I consider aesthetics-based zoning rules to be a left-leaning preference, and many of those are varying degrees of "traditional": I've heard Europeans in touristy cities complain that installing a heat pump is difficult because they can't visibly change the facade. Or San Francisco requiring expensive custom woodwork for similar reasons. Santa Fe codified "traditional" adobe as an architectural requirement, and I've suspected some "cute" small American towns I've visited do similarly to manage their aesthetics.
If anything, architectural free-for-all seems a bit of a libertarian aesthetic, and it's popularity in the US strikes me as a remaining vestage of the nation's cultural focus on "liberty".
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
15d ago
Compare the programming concept of recursively subdividing an area into ever-smaller pieces as a quadtree.
The original zip code system was designed to simplify mail routing in a similar fashion. It's somewhat duplicative of the rest of the street address, but it was implemented to improve efficiency, despite occasional complaints about its supposed nonsensibility (not aligning with political boundaries, etc). The Irish solution is an interesting take on it with fully computerized sorting available, but there are legitimate questions about the comparative expense of renumbering everything versus the existing systems.
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
16d ago
No doctor, sports PT or coach has ever quite told me that though, probably because it's considered rude and most people can't reliably and significantly affect their weight.
Serious coaches and such also have to be careful because eating disorders are common among (elite) endurance athletes: "if losing 10 pounds made me faster before, let's try it again" only works a finite number of times. There is a point, which I would doubt you've hit so far, at which losing weight is actually detrimental or harmful to more general health (hugely increased injury risk).
VoxelVexillologist
Multidimensional Radical Centrist
18d ago
The US was rather close to getting Newfoundland in 1948.
Your post intrigues me, and I'd be interested in watching/listening to any specific links you'd care to share. (High) Opera has never been a particular interest of mine, but I do enjoy musical theatre and the occasional Gilbert and Sullivan, so it seems like something I might like with the right introduction.
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