This is also a big issue for me. When I felt embarrassed because of something I did, I would tall myself, “You’re so stupid!” Which launched me into a shame spiral.

What has helped me break out of the spiral is to notice when I tell myself I am stupid and actively respond, “No I am not”

If you could somehow inoculate them against smallpox you might have a fighting chance.

Of course I want to think I would do better. Maybe I would manage to integrate with the local indigenous people, but the reality is I would likely die. Either way my knowledge of science and “advanced” civilization will benefit me not at all.

You would die. There are many, many examples of explorers from “advanced” civilizations getting shipwrecked or stranded in an area where primitive hunter-gatherers live. Unless they are saved by the hunter gatherers, they are doomed, despite their knowledge of science and technology. Joseph Henrich talks extensively about these examples in his book, “The Secret of Our Success”

Check out this video to get an idea -> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jaoQh6BoH3c

He lost the case in that particular court but he won in the broader court of public opinion. The real loser was Wlliams Jenning Bryan.

Clarence Darrow, known for his defense in the Scopes “Monkey” trial, and more recently, Alan Dershowitz and Johnny Cochran.

Incidentally, the transcript from the Scopes trial is awesome. There is a book about the trial called “Trial of the Century” and it quotes from the transcripts heavily, a great read.

When I close all my tabs, i ask the question, was this hard to find? If for example I am looking for information on Tolstoy and the article I have open in my tab is the top hit when you search Tolstoy I will not bother bookmarking.

“You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people.”

We have come so far through the application of rationality and the scientific method. All the wonders of the modern world we owe to science.

What has pseudoscience bought us? Ignorance and stagnation.

I want ro live in a world of technological progress not a “Demon Haunted World.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World

Anytime I post about AI or LLMs I get aggressively downvoted.

I do not do it very often and when I do it usually a gee whiz, look at that post. Inevitably the response is AI slop!!! AI is bad, you are bad , you should feel bad.

A PC can be a server. A server can be a PC.

Famously Google use commodity PC hardware to build the v1 version of its search engine:

Day of Defeat source players:

https://steamcharts.com/app/300#All

Its like being on an island that is slowly sinking into the sea.

I can only speak for myself and my kids. I have an iPhone because my work gave me one for free. They only support iPhone for security reasons. Keeping Android devices up to date across a large fleet is challenging leaving security gaps. For my kids they wanted my old iPhones because it’s what all their friends have.

He was a shit human, but he was also a politician. His political message had two parts: 1. Jews are responsible for all our problems 2. We need to conquer more lands.

He said this was the only alternative to handing the country to communists.

The simple xenophobic message appealed to the common people, fear of communism bought the elites in-line.

Does the salary take into account inflation?

Sometimes it helps to feel bad for someone instead of being angry at them. I think of Gandalf’s quote from LOTR:

“Frodo: ‘It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum when he had the chance.’
Gandalf: 'Pity? It’s pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.”

So what’s the deal with the crows?

From an enterprise security perspective you want to operate with a least privilege model. For developers who need admin access this is typically granted through some just-in-time temporary elevation process, but many developers who are writing code and pushing builds through a devops CICD pipeline may not need admin to do their jobs.

Sometimes it helps to feel bad for the person rather than get angry. As Gandalf said in the LOTR:

“Frodo: ‘It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum when he had the chance.’
Gandalf: 'Pity? It’s pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.”

Remember that plumber earns his livelihood on his professional reputation. If he cannot keep an appointment, he is failing at his career.

This seems relevant -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsAd4HGJS4o

TLDW: You have to change your mindset. Do not accept the default, be mindful and self-aware.