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pusher_robot

PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS

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joined 2022 September 04 23:45:12 UTC 

				
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pusher_robot


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 04 23:45:12 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 278


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I think most innovators will stay in the US even if there is more wealth redistribution, as long as there is not so much wealth redistribution that being based in the US becomes less attractive than being based in some place like Dubai or Singapore.




Or China.  The U.S. currently has an edge due to the unparallelled easy access to capital financing.  Degrade that by attacking capital and redistributing it to consumption, and what exactly does the U.S. have to offer?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, but the question is whether it's also better to be part of an 80% winning coalition than, say, a 40% losing one.  That's why there's a threshold effect - if a party becomes minority enough that its chances of ever winning decrease below a threshold, then every rational voter will abandon it and try to effect political change through the dominant party, which further decreases the minority party's chances of ever winning, creating a vicious circle.




I think this applies generally to coalition-building -- if you plan a bank heist, you do not want to bring along extra accomplices who do not increase the probability of success.




The bank is going to be robbed no matter what.  The only question is whether you will be part of the crew that gets paid for the job.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, but this claim needs more than just gesturing at the marginal voter theorem. Porkpiehat is right - this can be a completely stable system.  You only need to reach the tipping point that people feel they have more influence by voting in the primary than in the general for it to come to pass.  The numerous municipal governments with single-party rule show exactly why this works: the real election is the primary.  For the general, the winners all go vote for their person and the losers mostly stay home.  Importantly, almost nobody votes for the other party in the general, because everyone has already invested all their networking, patronage, and coalition-building efforts in The Party.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There have been, and still are, plenty of nominally democratic states with effectively single-party rule.  While I don't think it's probable this happens in an electorate so evenly divided that it swings back and forth every few years, simply stating "no it will not" seems like rank it-can't-happen-here-ism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 1, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've been using a trackball as my daily driver at work for years.  For a long time I used a thumb-operated track ball but eventually I came to prefer the two-finger style track ball and landed on the Elecom Huge from Japan.  Amazon says I bought it in 2018 and it's been working reliably since then.  If you're going the large-size two-finger ball, I'd suggest you want left-click on your thumb and right-click on your ring finger.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 1, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This passage stuck with me since I read the novelization of The Return of the Jedi as a young boy:




Jerjerrod—tall, thin, arrogant—was the Death Star commander. He walked without hurry up the ranks of soldiers, to the ramp of the shuttle. Hurry was not in Jerjerrod, for hurry implied a wanting to be elsewhere, and he was a man who distinctively was exactly where he wanted to be. Great men never hurried (he was fond of saying); great men caused others to hurry.






Yet Jerjerrod was not blind to ambition; and a visit by such a one as this great Dark Lord could not be taken too lightly. He stood at the shuttle mouth, therefore, waiting —with respect, but not hurry.




I don't know why that passage was so memorable - maybe it was my first real exposure to the concept of social signaling - but it came back to me frequently as I hurried - or saw others hurry - hither and thither.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 1, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Second - Asimov generally is very friendly to the reader and has a large catalog of short stories, which I think are much less intimidating to an inexperienced reader.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for October 30, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Get a meat injector (giant syringe) and fill it with liquid soap and a green glow stick. Put on a bloody lab coat and now you're The Reanimator


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've spitballed a modest proposal around national mandatory summer camp from about age 12 to 16 (with exemptions for the employed).  Being someplace away from home and family even for a couple of weeks builds a huge amount of independence, IMO.  Even more so if some basic life skills (cleaning, scheduling, meal prep) are imparted.  Punishment details, administered far away from where mommy and daddy can bully staff on your behalf, can teach lessons about actions and consequences, and counselors can be real about a lot of facts of life that family and schools won't, and have enough age proximity to have credibility.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'd wager innocent black men worry a lot more about being victimized by other black men than about not being able to collect handguns.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Mental health treatment was much worse back then, and consisted heavily of involuntary confinement, surgery, or just enough benign neglect to let nature take its course.  But it did have the effect of keeping it away from the rest of society to a higher degree.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 25, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I sympathize with everyone but especially Jane Doe because she got sold an idea of female empowerment and sexuality that is pretty incompatible with like 80% of women and found out the hard way.




The young men were sold the exact same story and are being punished much more harshly.  Why more sympathy for her exactly?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 25, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I live in Milwaukee and have been a Brewers fan my whole life!  I was at Game 2 Saturday screaming myself hoarse.  Go Brewers!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 25, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The thoughts and feelings of humans are also electric patterns whose rules are fundamentally governed by physics that can be expressed mathematically.  While I'm aware this can lead to sociopathic territory, I'm not fully convinced this is substantively more "real" because it runs a meat substrate rather than a silicon one.  The moral differences will probably have to come from elsewhere.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Tinker Tuesday for October 20th, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Had my first go at something with SuperGrok.  A desktop USB accessory using some kind of HID controls from a custom Windows app, but I wanted to use it on Omarchy.  I downloaded the Windows application, asked Grok Build to produce a service for my Linux environment that would perform the same functions, and in about 15 minutes it was done and working.  A couple of minor tweaks for Office 365 authentication and I was on my way.


Not many times in my life have I felt such empowerment!  Just months ago, I would be resigned that such things would have to wait for someone with the skill, desire, and spare time to tackle.  Now, it seems like there is no want too trivial not to request bespoke software to satisfy.  Awesome and a little terrifying.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Is there a more proper term for pretending to be from an "enemy organization" in this way? From what I can tell black propaganda is the closest one.




"Fake, but accurate."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Can you actually afford to stand alone with no allies?




I believe European cultural suicide has most likely already foreclosed the possibility of "standing with allies."  Fortress America may in fact be doomed, but is has a better chance of success without committing its blood and treasure to the glory of a Europe undergoing MAID.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Though I believe Objectivism is not about practicing objectivity; it is about the philosophical axiom that there is a morality objectively proper to rational beings, from which ethics can be logically derived.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're right! I've forgotten if there's a name for the phenomenon of increasing competence causing people to increase their overestimation.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for October 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Helicopters at least would be extremely vulnerable to even 1939-era AA guns.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Maybe I’ve just been swayed by the Rationalists’ PR campaign, but I’d wager that the average Rationalist is better at overcoming bias than the average human (which is not to say that they’re immune to it, far from it); or at the very least, people who are naturally better at overcoming bias are more likely to be drawn to Rationalism as a hobby or social group.




Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're better at recognizing their own limitations at overcoming bias.  There could certainly be a type of overcoming-bias Dunning-Kreuger effect, where people who are better at overcoming bias are also more likely to overestimate their true ability to do so.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Make a brutal kind of sense - social media viewing is much easier to monetize.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well, what do you think "trust the experts" means?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You mean an excavator?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for October 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Even better, get large ricer.  Makes superior, absolutely lump-free mashed potatoes and can be used for other things, like mashing egg yolks for deviled eggs or avocados for guac.