domain:savenshine.com
Dursleys were middle class social climbers (the most universally despised class). weasels and malfoys were the two types of old money with no money (and fathers who had to stoop to taking govt sinecures as welfare, or in shady business with The Wrong Sort ("directly in business" being the most disreputable part of course)). Hermione was the acceptable kind of rising middle class (dentist, daughter in higher education, probably going into non-profit work). Harry was the ideal form of old money, with a good pedigree on the father's side, fresh blood of undeniable quality from the mother's side, and the money still there (and nobody asks where it came from because it obviously wasn't from anything as tasteless as working for it). Goblins were the international finance class obvs.
Harry is the classic storybook prince who grew up noble living in a pig pen and instantly takes to the ways of his people through pure blood memory.
I'm not sure we even saw anyone who was legitimately from the lower orders except a few parodies like hagrid and the house gnomes, maybe the bus driver? There was probably a scholarship boy hanging from a bannister by his underwear that nobody bothered to mention because it would be gauche to bring attention to it.
I love that Americans can look at the same scene through an entirely different colour spectrum, and all the flashing red bits just look gray to them.
jeroboam
13hr ago
Perhaps I'm not fully versed on the intricacies of the British class system, but it seems obviously middle class?
jeroboam
14hr ago
Invest in public transit and rework urban planning
I'm 100% with you. But first, we need the DOGE man to come and fix government.
Too many people think that dollars = progress. This is obviously false. California has spent on the order of $100 billion on high speed rail and has nothing to show for it. If we had the efficiency of Spain or China we could do stuff. Unfortunately we are hamstrung by a corrupt and incompetent government.
Until that is fixed, we could spend infinite dollars and get nothing for it.
So I assume that you agree with me that the best way to get car-free cities is to start by gutting the corrupt people who are preventing public money from being utilized.
Sidebar: I would note that the stereotypically very liberal states like CA and NY have the highest life expectancy; the worst states are in the ultraconservative Deep South.
Yes, rich people who benefit from our economic system have better life outcomes. How can we help disadvantaged people get the same thing? I don't think standard liberal politics have the answer. Look at Philly, DC, and Chicago.
jeroboam
14hr ago
I don't mean to try to disparage your belief system, sorry if it came across that way. To me, "normie" isn't a bad thing. It's usually correct!
But I do believe that most regular people haven't read Slime Mold Time Mold or Gary Taubes. "Just eat less fatty" does seem to be the default belief. Although, yeah, Midwesterners do have an odd way of thinking that fat people are normal and skinny people need to eat more.
some metabolic issue where 1000 calories/day doesn't result in weight loss
This is real: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html
Obviously these are extreme cases, but to a lesser extent I think it applies to most Americans. You have a set weight. It's unclear how to lower it (other than taking Ozempic).
I'd still like to hear from you about autism! I think an effort post would be great.
coffee_enjoyer
☕️
14hr ago
You can’t. Also, you probably don’t want to. The closest thing is probably Gwern? You probably don’t want to be Gwern. How many Gwerns does the world need? Even Gwern himself, for all his knowledge, does not provide any societal benefit except for his collation of information.
Ray Peat
I am very suspicious of this (newly popular) health trend. Bill Gates and Trump have ridiculous diets, Steve Jobs had a ridiculous diet in the other direction, and Jordan Peterson has a yet more ridiculous diet. Yet all top in their respective fields. Meanwhile the average fad diet-ist is a loser, relatively speaking. The only things that I think are probably true is that we need more greens, fibers, and a lower glycemic load for meals (unless you’re working out), and also that consistency of diet is a uniquely beneficial independent variable in health because our body adapts to patterns. When I looked into the diet of top university students it was just like: consistent three meals per day, carbs, more fruit and vegetables. That was the best study I could think of for this question (how do top performing students eat), we should see the best habits rise to top there (or it just doesn’t matter).
Quantumfreakonomics
14hr ago
Would Aileen Cannon be better? I'm honestly not sure.
guy
14hr ago
Hmm, but then why do I hear stereotypes about various central American or SE Asian countries being very friendly? I'm sure there are many rude tourists there, but somehow they come away thinking everyone is nice.
Oopz
14hr ago
I think they also do algorithms based on time spent watching a thing.
I understand. One aspect of my problem is how do I collect information of different formats from different places into information that actually allows me to improve my life and the life of others.
But I feel like your approach is backwards anyways.
I understand why you say this (maybe?). If I believe that sorting out information is too much for my brain why not just rely on an algorithm?
It's kind of hard to explain but having a general overview of things allows you to see that more isn't necessary better. You can go super deep on a subject and become the world's expert and still lack in other subjects.
I've seen crypto guys do the most inefficient workout routines and I've seen the genetics guys and the psychology guys struggle with the same question but from different angles but they have no idea that they can answer each others questions.
Everybody is so Silo'd that they can't really grasp the full picture. I am not saying that I have grasped the full picture but I have an overview that a specialist in their field cannot see unless they look at another field to complete the picture.
I'm watching people who have infinitely more IQ, attention, education, wealth, work ethic, etc than me make mistakes because they are siloed into an algorithm.
MadMonzer
Temporarily embarrassed liberal elite
14hr ago
The issue isn't Texas state courts, it is specific federal judges in the Northern District of Texas, plus the fact that the Northern District of Texas makes it possible for plaintiffs to choose their judge depending on which courthouse in the district they file in.
LeBronIsTheGOAT
14hr ago
Yeah a lot of this has been debated to death. But I'm not sure if "eating more food and exercising less" is the normie belief. A lot of normies seem to believe in other stuff - some kind of poison in our food, some kind of environmental contaminant, some metabolic issue where 1000 calories/day doesn't result in weight loss, the belief that obesity is normal, etc. There may not be a majority belief about the cause of rising obesity, idk.
sarker
It isn't happening, and if it is, it's a bad thing
14hr ago
Which made me realize that I am not sure if I have ever watched a movie that depicted a modern religious institution well.
Not a movie, but Shtisel was a pretty good depiction of charedim I think.
clo
14hr ago
I have a much nearer and deeper fear. You are correct, evolution will out, women are liars and biological determinism will make sure that pandas that refuse to fuck all die out.
However, governments around the world, especially in what we think of as the liberal western/developed first world, are addicted to the expanding growth of their sclerotic, overweight bureaucracy, while running a state full of economic dependents.
I an deeply, deeply concerned with what they will inflict on me in the name of keeping things going once tax revenues dry up and the economic expenditures of supporting their old and infirm grow stupendous. Singles tax will be the first of many, it won't be the last.
Oh, and privately I don't relish having to compete with increasingly older and more wealthy men for an ever-shrinking pool of young women.
MathWizard
Good things are good
14hr ago
Sure, but my example is basically a disproof by counterexample. In this example, prices don't match utility, therefore, the statement "prices always match utility" is logically false. It's really easy to disprove an "always" statement with a single example, even a hypothetical one, because an "always" statement is such a strong claim that it's almost never true. Utility value and market value are different things: sometimes they will be equal, sometimes they will not. I'm not saying they're never equal, I'm not saying they won't usually be close, especially in an efficient market. My point is that markets in the real world are not always efficient, therefore the two values are not always equal in the real world. This should not be controversial.
sarker
It isn't happening, and if it is, it's a bad thing
14hr ago
OliveTapenade
14hr ago
Pretty much the same as past expansions. If you play FFXIV for the mechanics and don't care about story, I recommend Dawntrail as more of the same.
If you haven't played FFXIV at all...
It is a WoW-style MMO, and specifically, modern-WoW-style, where party finder tools make it easy to engage in fundamentally linear mechanical challenges. It's not like classic WoW in that you do not experiment with different character builds or party comps much, since all class builds are pre-set, and party comp does not matter very much. It's also not a game for you if you enjoy the social challenge of MMOs, so if you're into classic WoW but dislike modern WoW, I'd suggest that FFXIV is probably not for you.
That said, if you like the WoW theme park model, with lots of directed challenges, FFXIV does that very well. The hardest challenges, though, are much more about optimisation and execution than they are about innovation or creativity.
Skibboleth
14hr ago
A focus on reducing obesity and preventing sickness would be a welcome change.
Reducing obesity is a goal, not a policy. Obama focused on reducing obesity. Didn't achieve much. What is the Trump administration and the GOP going to do? What policies that are both effective and palatable to a) Republican voters b) Republican elites do you expect them to pursue
What changes would you propose?
Tax sugar (or Ozempic4All, if you're feeling pro-injection and like free healthcare). Invest in public transit and rework urban planning (15min cities are back, baby) so people drive less (fewer car accidents) and have more active lives (-obesity, +basically every other aspect of human health).
Of course, these are already ballot box poison (and that's before we even try to do anything about suicide, where massive social engineering might be more politically viable than restricting access to guns). Which points back to what I was originally saying: low American life expectancy is revealed preference re: lifestyle. Policies to address these issues have been floated repeatedly and outside of a few locations they've been shot down.
(Not a clue, re: drugs. There's some proximate interventions you can do to reduce OD deaths, but that's just nibbling around the edges of the problem)
Cities like Chicago and DC have done literally everything that establishment figures say is good, and look at the results.
Can you be more specific? Which establishment figures, which policies?
Sidebar: I would note that the stereotypically very liberal states like CA and NY have the highest life expectancy; the worst states are in the ultraconservative Deep South. Again, I don't think this is really about policy (cf. Idaho, which is also extremely conservative), except perhaps insofar as state governments could spend money on ameliorating the consequences of Southerners' unusually unhealthy lifestyles but don't (generally with the support of their electorate).
I am not aware. Here in Seattle open air drug markets are tolerated and people who have been arrested for dozens of crimes (including violent crimes) are frequently released onto the streets without trial. It's hard to imagine a more lenient system.
Well I'm pleased to inform you that the world did not start three years ago, nor did America's durable problems with drug use and violent crime, nor its unusually harsh sentencing practices. The US has mass incarceration. It, rather notoriously, has more prisoners per capita than almost anywhere on Earth, including actual totalitarian regimes. It doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. Unless you can do something about the processes that produce new criminals, the problem isn't going to go away just by throwing more and more people in prison.
Dean
14hr ago
But here in America, we're rarely exposed to the British working class.
Out of curiosity, what did Harry Potter qualify as?
hydroacetylene
14hr ago
I wonder if Gaetz is a maximally unacceptable figure put forth to make the still-controversial real appointment more palatable.
FD4280
14hr ago
Is the gameplay any good by modern standards? After a long hiatus from both, EverQuest felt horrible, but WoW Classic held up pretty well.
quiet_NaN
14hr ago
I am not sure that the utility value concept is coherent.
So all the farmers quit one day and the rest of the economy stays the same, magically. People will likely decide that they want food more than they want shelter, move out of their rented buildings and spend their rent on what food there is to be had, establishing a utility value of food.
Except now the people running the waterworks also go on strike, and there is a water shortage. Very quickly, people decide that they would rather drink than eat. Nobody would waste precious water to irrigate crops.
And then some acute threat of violence looms, and people will trade their precious water so that they are not ripped apart by velociraptors in the next minute.
Depending on what their most urgent need is, that piece of bread is worth 1$, or a kings ransom, or nothing. So what should its utility value be?
cjet79
14hr ago
I think they also do algorithms based on time spent watching a thing.
But I feel like your approach is backwards anyways. You should be liking the interesting and enlightening content. Some people will specialize in it. It's better to follow them.
cjet79
15hr ago
I love how flexible the game is. It does feel like they designed things with certain play styles and strategies in mind. But you can usually just overwhelm the "optimal" path with enough resources.
We did not optimize on Nauvis. I went after it with three players initially which is almost overkill for the early gameplay. Someone working on core factory, someone working on resource gathering and extraction, and then someone killing bugs.
I feel like if you are naming build strategies and talking about complex circuit network setups then you are at the top of the play curve.
Supah_Schmendrick
15hr ago
My grandfather taught me to solve chess puzzles with him from old magazines, kicked a soccer ball and threw a baseball with me, took me to the local small community college's football games and tried to explain what was going on (in retrospect he failed mostly because the gameplay was so sloppy it defied normal football analysis). Took me to local small-town orchestra concerts, went on small hikes in the hills, etc., talked with me about my favorite books, dinosaurs, etc.
It probably has to do with money.
In poor countries, people will dance for you. In rich countries, they won't. I actually much prefer the detachment of the French waiter who is too good for my filthy American dollars.
In the Third World, I always feel like a leaky sack of money more than a human.
Edit: Thinking about this some more, Latin Americans really do seem to have a friendly and positive attitude.
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