Round Up #6

Finds While Web Surfing

I have found that I can basically read in Interlingua.  I am now debating whether I should count it toward my life goals as a language I can read fluently in?  I think that if I read two books in it, that would not only be a fair test of whether I can read in it while providing an opportunity to learn what I need to know, both at once.

Here is some great analysis of the 1984 movie Gremlins.

If you ever want to make your own language, I have found a tool to help you generate words.  Just put in what letters you want to allow, and boom!

One of the most interesting, nuanced, and oldest takes on the singularity.  Teaser quote:

It is here that we find Lem’s key strength as a futurist. He refused to discount human nature’s influence on transhuman possibilities, and believed that the still-incomplete task of understanding our strengths and weaknesses as human beings was a crucial prerequisite for all speculative pathways to any post-Singularity future

There is one aspect of snowflake-ism that my experience shows to be a unique and growing problem.

If you've ever studied Spanish, I recommend this collection of covers in Spanish of classic songs, such as the Beatles.

Reddit

You want to understand Trump?  It's easy. (h/t Scott Alexander).

In the wake of Charlottesville, some of the most beautiful writing on collapse I have seen in a while:

I do think this a symptom of collapse. People have been squeezed for decades, they don't understand it, and are eager to find a scapegoat. Also, most people are functionally insane from modern life and decades of delusion.

A comment on the ideology that productivity has to be tied to profit.

I got into one my longest Reddit discussions, which surprised me because the first comment I replied to was really short, and just some hate toward poor people.  I certainly see the irony in getting involved in it after writing the following in my piece Doomer and Dumas :

Doomer sees these online arguments as a waste of time, and gets mad at himself when he gets sucked into them. He sees the fake binaries and team sports of politics as methods of control, or at least methods of using up time that could be better spent either a) preparing to survive the first few waves of crisis or b) fully living his limited amount of time left. 

Aphorisms/Shorts

As you can see above, I'm bringing "web surfing" back.  Most people don't surf anymore; they are herded.

They say they have no Faith, but then talk like True Believers about every opinion they state.  I know what they really worship.

After a beautiful walk, I have a theory that depression, or at least melancholy, primes us for feelings of euphoria.

"Even our age may seem great when the worst of us are forgotten" Will Durant

Anyone who thinks their best thinking happens on twitter, misunderstands both the medium and thought.

One big reason people hate millennials (and are really going to hate the next group) is the mastery of the lazy-clever -- recognizing patterns that allow for a) something sounding clever to a relatively large group, b) requiring no mental effort from the speaker, and c) requiring more time and effort to disprove than it should be worth.

I never get V.I.P. treatment.  But a solid majority of the time I get minimally acceptable treatment.  Globally speaking, this makes me extremely fortunate.

It's sad to see how many Americans think they have nothing to lose.  What makes it more sad is that they are wrong.

I can be convinced that gambling for amusement is immoral, but it needs to be on the table as tool to deal with blowhards.

If You Like a Mystery . . .

Key:

rh xov srca t bxmfalx. . . 
fka wvrdc ilogu hoq zvbym opal fka stjx noe

Text:

fkrm ammtx rm tiovf fka utfvla oh bxmfalram tun grss erpa xov moba hvlfkal bxmfalram fo aqysola.

r latssx koya xov vman t dobyvfal fo no fkrm, tf fka palx satmf doyxrue fka faqf oufo t nodvbauf tun vmrue fka "hrun tun laystda" hvudfrou tm xov hrevla ovf saffalm . . .

bxmfalx, tun rf’m fgru t mauma oh gounal, tla elatfsx stdcrue ru ovl frbam.  btlrt yoyopt oh iltru yrdcruem htba gtm ouda ou fka ou iarue yondtmf tun mtrn:

"ga maab mobakog iolan grfk fkrucrue. ga gtuf fo rumftufsx cuog. . .  ga’pa iaau ruhadfan grfk fkrm crun oh ytfkosoerdts rbytfrauda fktf btcam vm gtuf fo ktpa fka cuogsanea ivf uof no fka golc oh dstrbrue rf. . . fkala rm uo mkolfdvf hol fka douwvamf oh baturue."

rh xov tla latnrue fkama golnm, r ylamvba xov nrn moba golc fo vuhosn t bxmfalx.  (ysatma no uof no fka golc oh nadonrue rf hol mobaoua asma.  haas hlaa fo doyx fka audonan palmrou, ol apau yvf rf ru t nrhhalauf dona, ivf ysatma erpa fka erhf oh saffrue mobaoua no fka golc fo dstrb fkrm cuogsanea, fkrm bxmfalx.

fkala rm t hvuntbaufts dstmk iafgaau namrla tun baturue.  ga maac fkruem ireeal fktu ovlmaspam.  r btca uo mftfabauf (kala, tf satmf) tiovf fka vsfrbtfa karekfm oh baturue, ivf gkau htdan grfk fka naay iatvfx ru srprue tun iarue ru fka  auprloubaufm tun hsogm tlovun vm, ga hrun baturue, tun fka zox fktf dkrsnlau hrun.  fktf rm, vusamm namrla eafm ru fka gtx.

ru fka hrlmf iooc oh fka ntonazrue (fto fa dkrue) rf rm glrffau:

flvsx, "lrn oh namrla, oua dtu yaldarpa fka gounlovm."
grfk namrla, oua dtu yaldarpa ousx ovfdobam.

fkama ktpa fka mtba movlda, ivf nrhhalauf utbam.
fkrm movlda ga dtss bxmfalx.
ol bola bxmfalrovm fktu tux bxmfalx.

fka etfagtx fo tss gounal.

fka ntonazrue rm palx bvdk t iooc fktf dtu erpa xov bola fka bola golc xov yvf ru fo dstrb rf’m bxmfalram.  rf rm fkvm bx hrlmf ladobbauntfrou.  r ktpa fgo bola:

doumrnal xovlmash tu rurfrtfa fo fka gtunal modrafx.

tsmo, xov tla ruprfan fo fka yxfkou dktssauea.

r dtu uof erpa xov bola fo fkama bxmfalram fktu fka etfagtxm fkabmaspam.  r ptsva xov iadobrue lamovldahvs.  fkrm rm fka ousx gtx fktf xov dtu ia lamrsrauf.

tun, gktf rm bola,  rf rm fka ousx gtx xov dtu yaldarpa gounal.

Doomer and Dumas

Mr. Dumas believes in supporting one of the large political coalitions. He sees the sense in every election and every issue becoming nationalized. He takes great comfort when every issue is boiled down to a few slogans that express a clear ideology. And he honestly thinks that if his political party can just win enough elections in a row, the country can be saved from ruin.

Doomer thinks any possible solutions to problems will need to happen through re-localization, starting at his home. He thinks that the politicians of both sides are liars, parasites, and arrogant fools.

Mr. Dumas spends a lot of time online, arguing. He gets real joy pointing out when his opponents are making dumb arguments. He knows his opponents are dumb asses.

Doomer sees these online arguments as a waste of time, and gets mad at himself when he gets sucked into them. He sees the fake binaries and team sports of politics as methods of control, or at least methods of using up time that could be better spent either a) preparing to survive the first few waves of crisis or b) fully living his limited amount of time left.

Mr. Dumas thinks we need growth.

Doomer thinks that’s the definition of a cancer -- too much growth kills any patient.

Mr. Dumas thinks that he is owed at least 80 years of life. He doesn’t really say this to anyone out loud, because he doesn’t want to think about his death at all. So he has just absorbed the expectations expressed around him.  Magic healthcare will mean he lives to be at least 80, probably, like, I dunno, 100.

Doomer knows that in many places around the world and in many time periods people have had no expectation of living out the potential human life span. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, people lived meaningful and productive lives. In fact, by all accounts, the lives seemed significantly more meaningful.  Doomer wants to have meaning in his time left, not survive for survival's sake.

Mr. Dumas thinks that renewable energies are just around the corner, and so our way of life will not have to change.

Doomer No.

Mr. Dumas is excited about artificial intelligence and robots. He thinks that this could be the ticket to the next great wave of prosperity.

Doomer hopes Dumas is right, and knows some really smart people who see it this way. However, Doomer being a Doomer, thinks that these same technologies could make armies essentially unbeatable by humans, removing any risk to mistreating civilian populations. Also, why would prosperity just start spreading all the sudden?

Mr. Dumas thinks virtually reality is cool.

Doomer thinks virtual reality might be the only way to keep the population pacified while cutting them off from more and more material resources. This kind of world might be among the best realistically possible outcomes.

Mr. Dumas thinks about his food coming from restaurants and grocery stores. He would fight, especially in online arguments, to defend all of those things. It is, after all, his way of life.

Doomer knows his food comes from the soil. He is terrified about how our current industrial agricultural practices deplete the soil, and sees a world where petroleum is drawing down and oil-made fertilizers flushed once through the soil leading to run-off as the death sentence for billions of people. We need radical change. And Doomer is a Doomer because he doesn’t think humanity can get its act together in time.

Round Up #5

Published on Medium

• Language Tasting: Bengla
• Language Tasting: Punjabi

Reddit

An explanation of how I use peg lists, major memory, journaling, and Anki as one big, happy system.

Answering whether "stupid" is an ablest slur.

Response to someone claiming "science is the new god" so it was the job of scientists to tell us more things we didn't want to hear (but only the way the user wanted it done).

Aphorisms/Shorts

You are overhead for the technosphere.  Prepare to be more human or prepare to be liquidated. Actually, prepare for both.

I'm not sure of much, but someone as sure as you is probably wrong.

The first step is to have someone read harder than they would read regular life.  But you cannot neglect having something of value to give if they go to the trouble.

For $10,000 -- $5,000 upfront -- I will rewrite War and Peace into a Infinite-Jest-style narrative for you, footnotes and all.

Life is so much more interesting when you are learning new stuff instead of being told that you are going to like what is exactly like something you have enjoyed before.

If you met my 83 year-old Grandma you wouldn't be saying 100 is the new 80 (not even getting into the fact my other 3 grandparents are dead).  Rather, the new selection bias is the old selection bias.

We live in a society that thinks it has no time for politeness markers, but then wonders why everyone is angry at each other.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by twitter.