Scraping Through France
@johnjrose.bsky.social
On an old boat. Taking it slow Keen on good food. Half n half, France and Australia.
A: I do the hoisting around here, buddy
November 20, 2025 at 12:22 AM
A: I do the hoisting around here, buddy
The reason urban parks have grassed areas with intermittent trees, and flower beds, is that is how idealised gardens are imagined. Too few trees, no flowers = pasture. Too many trees = forest. Urban dwellers desire neither of these.
November 19, 2025 at 5:29 AM
The reason urban parks have grassed areas with intermittent trees, and flower beds, is that is how idealised gardens are imagined. Too few trees, no flowers = pasture. Too many trees = forest. Urban dwellers desire neither of these.
Urban parks in mature cities are gardens, not veldt. In most cases they are specifically designed as oases and play areas, not grazing or roaming spaces.
In the greater number of world cities, the suburbs are where planning ordains multi-level low-cost housing, not US-style quarter-acre plots.
In the greater number of world cities, the suburbs are where planning ordains multi-level low-cost housing, not US-style quarter-acre plots.
November 19, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Urban parks in mature cities are gardens, not veldt. In most cases they are specifically designed as oases and play areas, not grazing or roaming spaces.
In the greater number of world cities, the suburbs are where planning ordains multi-level low-cost housing, not US-style quarter-acre plots.
In the greater number of world cities, the suburbs are where planning ordains multi-level low-cost housing, not US-style quarter-acre plots.
That is absurdly untrue of the larger part of the world, from Paris to Saigon, from Barcelona to Bangkok.
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 AM
That is absurdly untrue of the larger part of the world, from Paris to Saigon, from Barcelona to Bangkok.
You mean that's where I can find good madness?
November 18, 2025 at 10:40 PM
You mean that's where I can find good madness?
Thanks for that, Dr F
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Thanks for that, Dr F
Aw, now you've got me. I knew Shannon would do me in.
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Aw, now you've got me. I knew Shannon would do me in.
My ultimate test of AGI is not whether it can replicate rational human intelligence. It will be if it can convincingly replicate a verifiable state of schizophrenia.
November 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
My ultimate test of AGI is not whether it can replicate rational human intelligence. It will be if it can convincingly replicate a verifiable state of schizophrenia.
No, not a bit. You claimed a man can feel the full range of perceptions of motherhood "if they were connected to his nervous system".
I'm a bit lost on your backroads there.
I'm a bit lost on your backroads there.
November 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM
No, not a bit. You claimed a man can feel the full range of perceptions of motherhood "if they were connected to his nervous system".
I'm a bit lost on your backroads there.
I'm a bit lost on your backroads there.
That's Wikipedia level now.
November 18, 2025 at 12:30 PM
That's Wikipedia level now.
What is "connected to his nervous system"? I have no problem with inference, or model-based approaches, it's how we navigate complex problems.
But the arrogance of (mainly) men who feel that logical systems can explain all phenomena and all information flows is staggering, and misguided.
But the arrogance of (mainly) men who feel that logical systems can explain all phenomena and all information flows is staggering, and misguided.
November 18, 2025 at 12:29 PM
What is "connected to his nervous system"? I have no problem with inference, or model-based approaches, it's how we navigate complex problems.
But the arrogance of (mainly) men who feel that logical systems can explain all phenomena and all information flows is staggering, and misguided.
But the arrogance of (mainly) men who feel that logical systems can explain all phenomena and all information flows is staggering, and misguided.
So a man can "feel" the reality of childbirth and the entire gamut of sensory, emotional, intellectual and motivational feelings of motherhood? In effect he can colonise those experiences to form an ideation of it? That motherhood is merely a collection of qualia?
November 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
So a man can "feel" the reality of childbirth and the entire gamut of sensory, emotional, intellectual and motivational feelings of motherhood? In effect he can colonise those experiences to form an ideation of it? That motherhood is merely a collection of qualia?
That's exactly what I mean about the arid limitation of AGI evangelists. You have such a tinny conception of information flows. You're trapped in bits and bytes models.
I have no problem with AI; LLMs are amazing. But they are not intelligence.
I have no problem with AI; LLMs are amazing. But they are not intelligence.
November 18, 2025 at 12:09 PM
That's exactly what I mean about the arid limitation of AGI evangelists. You have such a tinny conception of information flows. You're trapped in bits and bytes models.
I have no problem with AI; LLMs are amazing. But they are not intelligence.
I have no problem with AI; LLMs are amazing. But they are not intelligence.
And this applies to the entire AGI premise: of a sort of intelligence by proxy, sensation in facsimile, with a validity that substitutes for subjective apprehension, as well as inarticulate or tacit understanding between individuals based on millenia of societal development and 100 billion lives.
November 18, 2025 at 11:23 AM
And this applies to the entire AGI premise: of a sort of intelligence by proxy, sensation in facsimile, with a validity that substitutes for subjective apprehension, as well as inarticulate or tacit understanding between individuals based on millenia of societal development and 100 billion lives.
That's all very well, and sounds beautiful. And a male ob/gyn can competently deal with a woman in pregnancy and childbirth. As far as it goes. But he will never know in any meaningful sense the experience of childbirth or motherhood, in either a physical or broader epistemological context.
November 18, 2025 at 11:16 AM
That's all very well, and sounds beautiful. And a male ob/gyn can competently deal with a woman in pregnancy and childbirth. As far as it goes. But he will never know in any meaningful sense the experience of childbirth or motherhood, in either a physical or broader epistemological context.
Might have something. But I ain't reading yet another fucking analysis that uses the term 'orthogonal'. Life is too precious and short for that shit.
November 18, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Might have something. But I ain't reading yet another fucking analysis that uses the term 'orthogonal'. Life is too precious and short for that shit.
I mean no criticism, and I'll probably get heat for this, but I find it endlessly amusing to read about Brit expats in France constantly hoping that German supermarket chains will miraculously become like Tescos or Sainsburys in preference to the godforsaken French chains.
November 18, 2025 at 10:07 AM
I mean no criticism, and I'll probably get heat for this, but I find it endlessly amusing to read about Brit expats in France constantly hoping that German supermarket chains will miraculously become like Tescos or Sainsburys in preference to the godforsaken French chains.
Its good. But far too much packaging.
November 18, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Its good. But far too much packaging.
I note that NVidia releases its quarterly results on Wednesday. Bated breath.
November 18, 2025 at 9:54 AM
I note that NVidia releases its quarterly results on Wednesday. Bated breath.
Deeply anti-humanist. It claims a Bach cantata is no different from Palaeolithic banging a stick on a rock. It refuses to believe in human curiosity, or the drive to express oneself creatively in a search for meaning. It negates all scientific exploration. It's extreme nihilism that eats itself.
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Deeply anti-humanist. It claims a Bach cantata is no different from Palaeolithic banging a stick on a rock. It refuses to believe in human curiosity, or the drive to express oneself creatively in a search for meaning. It negates all scientific exploration. It's extreme nihilism that eats itself.
Is the sensation a qualia, or a cooked feel? And in either case, would an AGI's registration of it be anything more than a facsimile?
November 18, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Is the sensation a qualia, or a cooked feel? And in either case, would an AGI's registration of it be anything more than a facsimile?
I'm unfit to mount a strong argument either way, but I'm willing to bet that AGI will never be able to produce that toothless smile of relief when you finally take a pee after holding it in for nearly too long, nor be able instantly to understand a fellow machine's feeling the same, w/o description.
November 18, 2025 at 7:37 AM
I'm unfit to mount a strong argument either way, but I'm willing to bet that AGI will never be able to produce that toothless smile of relief when you finally take a pee after holding it in for nearly too long, nor be able instantly to understand a fellow machine's feeling the same, w/o description.
Or you could try the Code of Ur-Nammu and the Code of Hammurabi, around the 2nd Millenium BC. Both of them comprehensive, and bureaucratic rather than totalitarian, developed more to protect and preserve societal prosperity than to impose a ruler's will.
November 18, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Or you could try the Code of Ur-Nammu and the Code of Hammurabi, around the 2nd Millenium BC. Both of them comprehensive, and bureaucratic rather than totalitarian, developed more to protect and preserve societal prosperity than to impose a ruler's will.
"for literally millions of years" is a bit of a giveaway.
Is that the abolitionist inversion of the fundie-Christian idea of creation 10,000 years ago?
Is that the abolitionist inversion of the fundie-Christian idea of creation 10,000 years ago?
November 18, 2025 at 1:22 AM
"for literally millions of years" is a bit of a giveaway.
Is that the abolitionist inversion of the fundie-Christian idea of creation 10,000 years ago?
Is that the abolitionist inversion of the fundie-Christian idea of creation 10,000 years ago?
Put it in a song, John
November 17, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Put it in a song, John