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Joined 6 months ago
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Cake day: October 26th, 2025

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  • I hope all of this leads to a huge swing in popular opinion that data surveillance has the same potential as home surveillance, meaning that by monitoring the data of the average person across platforms — you can reach the same conclusions as you would by taking tenancy in their home to monitor their livelihoods. Then, I hope we revisit the constitutional amendments and ask ourselves whether a modern interpretation of the 3rd would yield that protection of the house (I.e., “no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner”) translates to protection of the data. Then I hope that we can interpret Engblom v. Carey to mean “soldier” applies to any executive authority. Finally, I hope we can all start paying a lot more attention to Larry Ellison — the man who is consolidating a whole lot of private healthcare data and top-secret defense contracts right now while the world remains focused on the Iran war.

    I know, I am asking for a lot.


  • I keep dual boot with Windows available for my wife. About a year ago my Fedora install was stuck in a boot loop and I hadn’t used my PC in a good while, nor updated anything the last time I had used it. The only conclusion I can think of is either bitflips corrupted the boot process, or Windows fucked with my Fedora install at some point while — perhaps my wife’s activity allowed a Windows update through, I don’t know. They’re on separate drives though, so… I recovered my data and reinstalled, kept Windows but I am now extremely sensitive to any shenanigans from that drive. Reading this news has me considering to tell my wife she will have to use Windows from a VM on my PC.



  • I’m quite doubtful that you’re aware of the situations nuance, either. Is your best argument “what’s more likely?” Because, actually, I think it’s quite likely that China would have been instructive toward how their citizens should act abroad. I think it’s quite likely that China favors its own sovereignty over an individual’s sovereignty. If you’d try to convince me that there was no intimidation going on, I’d think you’re the one not applying critical thinking. Do you have any reason I should believe you over a much larger consensus between news organizations and reports from Chinese individuals? Anything that would demonstrate the opposite and more benevolent intentions of Chinese state efforts, as you’ve so claimed? Or are you just here to pose baseless claims and talk shit?





  • While I understand your point, deterministic with a billion variables is beyond human ability to process, let alone the multi-billion parameter models in general circulation today.

    Fair enough. There’s a significant difference in complexity between the surface implication of what I said versus reality. Yes, it’s deterministic, but it’s also complex enough that something more should be said… though, we need to be careful here. Our language is not mature enough to scaffold the precise concepts we need here, and attempting to do so regardless carries the risk of smuggling in many concepts we did not intend to smuggle in. Concepts like intent, for example. I agree with you, but cautiously.

    At what point does deterministic descend into random?

    It shouldn’t at any point. Instead, we’re discussing a system that’s similar to the double pendulum or three body problem. It’s deterministic, though computationally irreducible. That’s chaotic, but it is not random. It’s extremely sensitive to initial conditions.







  • Outlooks, is that what’s inside of me?

    See, I’ve been thinking a lot about this. What am I? What aren’t I? Am I composite or irreducible? These are hard fucking questions.

    I think about why I care in the first place… unlike dogs, cats, kangaroos… the behavior of these animals don’t demonstrate contemplation. It’s as though they exist in a sort of “spotlight” consciousness—aware and responding to the spotlight of qualia in their field of awareness. Why are we different?

    Psychedelics are rather interesting because they have this profound capacity for instigating the feeling of deep insight. How is it that some mushrooms can make me feel like everything suddenly makes sense, when I have not actually learned anything during my trip?

    I get the feeling that the quality of an insight can be approximated somehow, and the brain likely uses this to make me feel the “aha” moment I know from true insights. That’s to say, insight is a feeling—and it can be triggered independent of actual insights having occurred. Fascinating idea, no?

    How might my brain approximate the quality of an insight? Well, if I’m not full of shit about this, then I think the answer here is an architectural one. Something about the structure of concepts should, perhaps necessarily, allow for related concepts to be graded by the quality of their relationship. For example as when you learn a new form of mathematics, as your brain realizes the strength of connection to prior learned forms of mathematics, it can make you feel “aha.”

    The “aha” feeling is tethered to my reward incentive, which helps structure my self-prescribed purpose. I want to learn, understand, grow… these are all endeavors that help mankind, because it is in mankind’s personal interest to levy control over nature. It makes sense, in this way, that I am how I am.

    But outlooks inside me? Hmm… I need to think on your theory more.