site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3150 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 24, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Eliezer single-handedly blowing 20 years of the AI safety movement's accumulated social capital in a single tweet

Seeing Ilforte call Yud a "bloviating chuunibyo" was the precise moment I fell in love with themotte over SSC.

I doubt that anyone who thinks that Eliezer's perspective is valuable will change their mind because the man likes fedoras.

In retrospect, this take aged poorly as he started doing podcasts and stuff.

Little unrelated, but why I see "You’re unable to view this Tweet because this account owner limits who can view their Tweets" from my account, but not from incognito window? If it's a block notification it's quite amusing, because I never interacted with him in any way

Certain people use 'tweet nuking' where you block every single person who liked a particular tweet.

I've never really bought into the Rationalism is a Cult accusations... Until today when I saw someone tell Big Yud that he's the only person that looks good in a fedora. Yud has his upsides, but I've never seen a photo where he looked good in anything, let alone a fedora. I'm also convinced that most of the criticism of EA sex practices is just dudes being jealous that somehow this fucking guy is getting laid.

... Then again, I do have a stetson in my closet that I wear sometimes when I'm outside in the rain/snow/sun. So glass houses and all that.

Big Yud

It's crazy how up one's own ass someone can be but Yud always delivers.

Rationalism isn't a cult but it does have its social contagions. I think colloquially when people are referring to a "cult" they are loosely referring to the presence of some group behavior that has no practical basis related to the group activity (which is common for cults). It does raise some eyebrows that the bay area rationalists "normalized" polyamory among themselves to such am extent, which begs the question were they there for the rationalism or the sex? Using the colloquial definition, rationalism is more of a cult than let's say skiing or mountain biking. Or even kpop stanning.

I'm far from a fashion plate but I typically wear a fedora or trilby to the office. I wouldn't say they're making a comeback but I do get complements from people on the subway often enough.

Are you wearing with a suit?

Do you get compliments from women?

Not an actual suit normally. Usually slacks, dress shirt and a sport coat, so suit-adjacent.

I get compliments from men and women.

I think that's the ticket. If you're wearing it with a close-enough outfit, and not a salmon polo shirt.

No doubt it'll happen eventually. Within our lifetimes? No clue, but I'd bet against. People seem to want to get less and less formal, and hats are more formal to me. That said, while I don't personally wear one I think they're stylish as hell and appreciate when I see someone wearing one.

I've been wearing an Galactic Imperial Officer's kepi sometimes lately. It's surprisingly functional.

No. The testosterone level of men at the present are insufficient for that.

high testosterone and affinity for brimmed hats is not the connection I would have made

You only need to look at the data - back when men were wearing hats, testosterone levels were far higher. Heh.

What I had in mind was that men are now so feminised by environment that the it's less likely you'll find among men the independence of mind that lets a man wear a hat because he feels it's a good way of keeping sun and rain off his head or out of his eyes.

I bought a hat once for that purpose. Found that it's great, I had no idea what I'd been missing in my hat-less days.

Then it was stolen by some asshole. I forgot it at a train, and someone kept it instead of turning it in.

Back when more people wore hats, they were more exposed to the environment in daily life also. People who are exposed to the environment regularly do wear hats still.

and I agree the high T/high autism groups are more likely to do something which may be socially costly, brimmed hats included

but I don't see why that would translate into more brimmed hats being worn because in an environment where you're not exposed to the elements, they are just another piece of clothing which is kind of a hassle

Well, I found it useful because I like to walk outside a lot, so..

No, but high testosterone and being willing to be daring in any form do go together.

I agree high T/high autism are more likely to do things which are perceived as being socially costly, but I don't see why that translates into brimmed hats making a comeback. IMO, the biggest reason brimmed hats aren't regularly worn is because people aren't exposed to the environment which makes them have a lot of utility.

0 times anything is still 0.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats