This. I bribed my way out of many traffic tickets in Southeast Asia by suggesting that because I’m so busy, I’ll pay the cop directly and then he can pay the ticket on my behalf. Worked every time except once, where the guy was a real stickler
The problem with religion is not the stories that they tell, from those about Amaterasu to those of Zoroaster[0], but that people take those stories and mistake them for truths.
1. Those stories do contain truths about humanity. Simulation theory doesn’t from what I gather, it’s purely a materialistic concept.
2. Abrahamic religions are extremely influenced by Zoroastrianism. Christianity maybe the most influenced due to it competing with Persian monotheism for the dominant near east religion.
To the extent that I would accept that religious myths and legends contain truths about humanity, I assert that so too do all the other good stories — that The Fellowship of the Ring was popular because of the Fellowship rather than because of the Ring, that Star Trek and Doctor Who are popular because they gel with the political issues at the time of filming rather than anything to do with subspace fields and the polarities of neutron flows. (Yes, all the settings and technobabble/magical conlangs also allow for very spectacular scenery and events, but I don't think that's what sells them in the long term (it sure does for pure popcorn-spectacle blockbusters, but those are quickly forgotten), for good fiction it's just the icing on the cake).
Likewise for religion, the Greek[0] myths about jealous and infidelious gods speak to mortals in the same situation, and gods playing games with mortals echos with politicians doing the same with their people (especially given the various times and places where leaders have been deified in their own lifetimes).
But there was no Helios driving a chariot across the sky, and Icarus never flew too close to the sun; Ilúvatar never turned the world into a sphere in order that mortal men could no longer sail The Straight Road to Aman; and not only is Noah's Ark nowhere near large enough if taken seriously[1], a majority of Herod biographers and "probably a majority of current biblical scholars" consider the story fabricated or unhistorical[2]. (Also neither of the two kings called Herod line up with the Christian calendar, but a few years here and there is only really a problem for fundamentalists, not normal believers).
[0] now I think about it, it's kinda weird that the Greek ones are more famous than the Roman ones… I suppose the Roman Empire turning Christian part way through has something to do with that?
[1] Depending on which value of cubit you use, about the size of Berlin Zoo's monkey house.
As a religious person, I find it fascinating how my concept of God could fit into simulation theory. Miracles, prayer, afterlife, healing - all these Christian concepts can be explained very easily if we imagine a futuristic neckbeard sitting in front of his gaming rig playing our world like a giant game of the sims.
Simulation hypothesis has at least one problem in common with Boltzmann brains, as the evidence that leads to that conclusion also says you can't trust your reasoning process including that you have reached this conclusion.
The reason why you can't trust your reasoning process is different in each case, for Boltzmann brains it's that your entire history is as much a dice roll as anything else and therefore most likely just random noise.
With the simulation hypothesis, the you can't trust your reasoning process is that for any finite simulator, it's always going to be easier to simulate something simpler than reality, which again means it's always going to be wrong about something in that reality. If you posit we are more likely to be simulated beings than physical, it's much more likely that we're a lazy simulation than a high quality one, and a lazy simulation… well, something something stochastic parrot. (We don't know what qualia even is yet, and I've only heard one reasonable seeming idea for even testing it, so for all we know stochastic parrots are as capable of qualia as we are).
If you’re into that stuff and also like animes, recently I finished watching the “Pantheon” series and it has an even more interesting and somewhat more realistic plot compared to Matrix and super scary and exciting at the same time.
Yes! It is a very exciting concept in science fiction, indeed!
Some other similar ideas that come to mind are the multiverse quartz megaspheres in the second half of Diaspora and the message embedded in pi in Contact, the novel.
These are stories of course, but the cosmic microwave background radiation is a real life megastructure that encodes the remnants of the Big Bang and that is terrifyingly fascinating.
Another real world one is the giant foreboding galaxies in the background of the Angular Diameter Turnaround xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2622/
What other examples, fictional or real, are there of giant monumental pieces of information encoding?
> I could have sworn that said “anomalous material”…
(I saw that too)
Cave Johnson, new owner and CEO of Black Mesa. That's right, you've been bought. First order of business, we're renaming you under the Aperture brand. I'm leaning towards Blappeture Mesa. Marketing boys think something else. So: Blappeture it is.
Next, they tell me you people are conducting some anomalous materials research that could result in a resonance cascade. So I'm shutting that down before you idiots end the world. A resonance cascade! You're supposed to be scientists! Use some common sense.
Having worked in customer service before, the only time customers tried to reason with me was when they were wrong. For at least a large portion of customer service calls, the ability to reason is a negative.
Customer calls to say the product is faulty, and with a simple question they admit they didn’t connect the ground wire. They then try to reason with me that they deserve a warranty replacement because their mum just got cancer - fuck reason on cs calls. (Reason might still have a place on complex situations [which yours never is], customer retainment, sales etc)
Even as the top tier tech support for a complex product, 99% of my calls could have been dealt with well by chat gpt in its current form. And my customers would have a more concise outcome, without the variability of my mood, hold times, judgement of their tone etc to effect my advice.
I can’t wait for more ai cs so I can stop talking to a fuckwhit, and talk to an ai that’s almost certainly far more equipped to handle my query.
I'm not talking about a customer arguing that they deserve warranty. I mean if the human CS agent misunderstands the problem, the customer can explain the problem better and try to make the human CS agent understand. If the "AI" CS agent misunderstands the problem, there is no recourse.
I have a lathe and a mill at home. Quit my job in the city 1.5 hours away during covid and now run a business from home / get to be a parent. It’s the best. I gave up $190k salary to barely make my mortgage, best decision I ever made!
Couldn't agree more, sounds like you're in Australia too - I've been here 9 years and am yet to file tax... Interested how bad they will fuck me when I do...
I just got a phone call yesterday from Autodesk, saying they’ve seen me active using the new Generative Design function, and asked how I’m finding it / what I’m doing with it to make money.
Great feedback for them, and I felt chuffed to get a phone call, and am happier with my software than I was before - win win!
This article is hyperbolic and angsty.
90% of users in Australia don’t have a need for a dongle, and for those that do, there is a dongle. My iMac at work has a dongle to attach a second monitor via hdmi. My iMac at home does not, I would buy a dongle if needed.
My AirPod pros are the best headphones I’ve ever had, would never go back to wired headphones, but if you’re an audiophile - there is a dongle for you.
If you use flash drive still, there’s a dongle, or a USB C flash drive. If you need 400 USB ports, there’s a dongle.
This doesn’t limit anyone, it’s just turning the devices into more slim lined machines with better IP ratings. 90% of people (made up statistic) are happy with this system, I’m sick of hearing these old codgers dream of the glory days when their thinkpad had 40 ports... buy a thinkpad then ya dangus, why would you buy a Tesla if I want to go rock crawling off road?
Most people complaining are those who actually like Apple devices but now have very less choice if they want to stay dongle free. People who buy thinkpads might mock not complain.
