tlwest.bsky.social
@tlwest.bsky.social
I get the impulse not to forgive former supporters for previous monstrous behaviour. But if Trump goes all in, each person that has defected will be critical in determining whether the rest follow Trump to Götterdämmerung or lose their nerve.
It’s not justice, but it might be wisdom.
It’s not justice, but it might be wisdom.
November 15, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I get the impulse not to forgive former supporters for previous monstrous behaviour. But if Trump goes all in, each person that has defected will be critical in determining whether the rest follow Trump to Götterdämmerung or lose their nerve.
It’s not justice, but it might be wisdom.
It’s not justice, but it might be wisdom.
Except for damned private equity buying a smaller business with good reputation.
You can make a lot of money milking an existing reputation into the ground :-(. I’ve been caught by that more than once.
You can make a lot of money milking an existing reputation into the ground :-(. I’ve been caught by that more than once.
November 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Except for damned private equity buying a smaller business with good reputation.
You can make a lot of money milking an existing reputation into the ground :-(. I’ve been caught by that more than once.
You can make a lot of money milking an existing reputation into the ground :-(. I’ve been caught by that more than once.
The main thing I look for before establishing an attachment with a company is whether their overall success is linked with serving me better. If dropping quality or raising prices will make their business succeed better, then I’m very cautious.
Luckily, for most business, that’s not true.
Luckily, for most business, that’s not true.
November 11, 2025 at 8:57 PM
The main thing I look for before establishing an attachment with a company is whether their overall success is linked with serving me better. If dropping quality or raising prices will make their business succeed better, then I’m very cautious.
Luckily, for most business, that’s not true.
Luckily, for most business, that’s not true.
The reason social media rules the world is that it has the ability to exploit its user’s psychological glitches for profit.
Traditional media tries, but mostly has to fall back to the tried and true tradition of exploiting its workers :-).
Traditional media tries, but mostly has to fall back to the tried and true tradition of exploiting its workers :-).
November 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The reason social media rules the world is that it has the ability to exploit its user’s psychological glitches for profit.
Traditional media tries, but mostly has to fall back to the tried and true tradition of exploiting its workers :-).
Traditional media tries, but mostly has to fall back to the tried and true tradition of exploiting its workers :-).
I try not to assign a value judgement to it. A truly decent media platform never gets the funding to get off the ground and is irrelevant (sorry Mastadon), or has to adopt a business model that eventually eats its users.
I don’t think it’s a business that by its very nature can be decent over time
I don’t think it’s a business that by its very nature can be decent over time
November 11, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I try not to assign a value judgement to it. A truly decent media platform never gets the funding to get off the ground and is irrelevant (sorry Mastadon), or has to adopt a business model that eventually eats its users.
I don’t think it’s a business that by its very nature can be decent over time
I don’t think it’s a business that by its very nature can be decent over time
Certainly enough to keep me well away from the AI market, but I’m not certain it’s illegal. However, considering the size of all of these loans and investments, I’m having a hard time imagining that when the AI market collapses (er, corrects), the rest of the market won’t collapse along with it.
November 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Certainly enough to keep me well away from the AI market, but I’m not certain it’s illegal. However, considering the size of all of these loans and investments, I’m having a hard time imagining that when the AI market collapses (er, corrects), the rest of the market won’t collapse along with it.
The cry of those who are just too good at games. Meanwhile I’m raging “surely the designers have a setting for the rest of us below ‘Toddler’” as my toddler demonstrates ‘Toddler’ isn’t that hard.
November 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The cry of those who are just too good at games. Meanwhile I’m raging “surely the designers have a setting for the rest of us below ‘Toddler’” as my toddler demonstrates ‘Toddler’ isn’t that hard.
I feel that if you want to be a “notable” scientist in the field, you have to make a finding that is entertaining to the general public. The biggest problem Psychology has is the general public is interested in the results.
I don’t know how any science survives that.
I don’t know how any science survives that.
November 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I feel that if you want to be a “notable” scientist in the field, you have to make a finding that is entertaining to the general public. The biggest problem Psychology has is the general public is interested in the results.
I don’t know how any science survives that.
I don’t know how any science survives that.
Attitudes tend to change pretty quickly when the leader of a country makes multiple credible threats and engages in high stakes economic warfare against Canada.
His threats may have induced eye rolls to start, but we’ve now seen that he may randomly follow through and has no checks.
His threats may have induced eye rolls to start, but we’ve now seen that he may randomly follow through and has no checks.
October 14, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Attitudes tend to change pretty quickly when the leader of a country makes multiple credible threats and engages in high stakes economic warfare against Canada.
His threats may have induced eye rolls to start, but we’ve now seen that he may randomly follow through and has no checks.
His threats may have induced eye rolls to start, but we’ve now seen that he may randomly follow through and has no checks.
I suspect that many believe most of their constituents *want* a strong man.
I’ve heard “I hate what he’s doing, but at least he’s doing something”, so often, I’m quite convinced that at least a strong minority of American no longer consider the compromises that democracy requires to be worth it.
I’ve heard “I hate what he’s doing, but at least he’s doing something”, so often, I’m quite convinced that at least a strong minority of American no longer consider the compromises that democracy requires to be worth it.
October 11, 2025 at 11:26 PM
I suspect that many believe most of their constituents *want* a strong man.
I’ve heard “I hate what he’s doing, but at least he’s doing something”, so often, I’m quite convinced that at least a strong minority of American no longer consider the compromises that democracy requires to be worth it.
I’ve heard “I hate what he’s doing, but at least he’s doing something”, so often, I’m quite convinced that at least a strong minority of American no longer consider the compromises that democracy requires to be worth it.
Imagine evolving the cat gene for boxes and then waiting *thirty million years* for the box to be invented.
That’s patience.
That’s patience.
October 8, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Imagine evolving the cat gene for boxes and then waiting *thirty million years* for the box to be invented.
That’s patience.
That’s patience.
My hypothesis is that learning is hard work that your brain really, really doesn’t want to do. It’s really hard to persuade your brain to put in the effort to learn if there isn’t a person right in front of you putting in almost as much effort to teach.
And no, a video doesn’t count.
And no, a video doesn’t count.
October 7, 2025 at 11:54 AM
My hypothesis is that learning is hard work that your brain really, really doesn’t want to do. It’s really hard to persuade your brain to put in the effort to learn if there isn’t a person right in front of you putting in almost as much effort to teach.
And no, a video doesn’t count.
And no, a video doesn’t count.
I fear this is what dooms us all.
AI’s cheerful authoritativeness combined with the fact that it’s usually right (and its hallucinations are often plausible) means our poor human brains are not up to the task of continually doubting its output.
No number of warnings is going to fix that.
AI’s cheerful authoritativeness combined with the fact that it’s usually right (and its hallucinations are often plausible) means our poor human brains are not up to the task of continually doubting its output.
No number of warnings is going to fix that.
September 15, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I fear this is what dooms us all.
AI’s cheerful authoritativeness combined with the fact that it’s usually right (and its hallucinations are often plausible) means our poor human brains are not up to the task of continually doubting its output.
No number of warnings is going to fix that.
AI’s cheerful authoritativeness combined with the fact that it’s usually right (and its hallucinations are often plausible) means our poor human brains are not up to the task of continually doubting its output.
No number of warnings is going to fix that.
Not *just* those who would be safe.
Being able to wield lethal violence while under personal threat used to be one of the most effective ways of rising through society. Practically all of society was oriented around it.
Now its allows you to excel in a street gang.
Some dream of the past.
Being able to wield lethal violence while under personal threat used to be one of the most effective ways of rising through society. Practically all of society was oriented around it.
Now its allows you to excel in a street gang.
Some dream of the past.
September 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Not *just* those who would be safe.
Being able to wield lethal violence while under personal threat used to be one of the most effective ways of rising through society. Practically all of society was oriented around it.
Now its allows you to excel in a street gang.
Some dream of the past.
Being able to wield lethal violence while under personal threat used to be one of the most effective ways of rising through society. Practically all of society was oriented around it.
Now its allows you to excel in a street gang.
Some dream of the past.
99% of authors not succeeding and the system being reasonably fair are not incompatible.
The vast majority of gatekeepers are trying to make money, not find “special pets”. After all, their credibility to the bookstores depends on the bookstores believing the publishers just want to make money.
The vast majority of gatekeepers are trying to make money, not find “special pets”. After all, their credibility to the bookstores depends on the bookstores believing the publishers just want to make money.
September 11, 2025 at 10:38 PM
99% of authors not succeeding and the system being reasonably fair are not incompatible.
The vast majority of gatekeepers are trying to make money, not find “special pets”. After all, their credibility to the bookstores depends on the bookstores believing the publishers just want to make money.
The vast majority of gatekeepers are trying to make money, not find “special pets”. After all, their credibility to the bookstores depends on the bookstores believing the publishers just want to make money.
Yes. That’s why he’s an idiot and we, hopefully, are not.
September 1, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Yes. That’s why he’s an idiot and we, hopefully, are not.
To be fair, saying Clinton has a 71% chance of winning is saying that they believe Clinton has a 71% chance of winning, not who will win.
Obviously claims like this are not falsifiable when you can’t rerun reality a bunch of times, but let’s not misinterpret statistics just to take a shot at him.
Obviously claims like this are not falsifiable when you can’t rerun reality a bunch of times, but let’s not misinterpret statistics just to take a shot at him.
September 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM
To be fair, saying Clinton has a 71% chance of winning is saying that they believe Clinton has a 71% chance of winning, not who will win.
Obviously claims like this are not falsifiable when you can’t rerun reality a bunch of times, but let’s not misinterpret statistics just to take a shot at him.
Obviously claims like this are not falsifiable when you can’t rerun reality a bunch of times, but let’s not misinterpret statistics just to take a shot at him.
If I do anticipate, it’s about 50% likely that the feature is never added, and our code is more complicated than necessary for the rest of time.
September 1, 2025 at 3:21 PM
If I do anticipate, it’s about 50% likely that the feature is never added, and our code is more complicated than necessary for the rest of time.
I struggle a lot with this. If I don’t anticipate future needs, it’s almost 100% guaranteed that when a feature needs to be added, we won’t re-design, and I’ll end up with the new feature being badly bolted on creating some sort of Frankencode lurking on our code base for the rest of eternity.
September 1, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I struggle a lot with this. If I don’t anticipate future needs, it’s almost 100% guaranteed that when a feature needs to be added, we won’t re-design, and I’ll end up with the new feature being badly bolted on creating some sort of Frankencode lurking on our code base for the rest of eternity.
I consider AI to be outsourcing on steroids. And when I first encountered outsourcing, I was appalled at how badly it worked. The company had to throw away the first two attempts, and the third attempt kinda, sorta worked.
It was considered a huge success, saving 40% on the development costs.
It was considered a huge success, saving 40% on the development costs.
August 31, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I consider AI to be outsourcing on steroids. And when I first encountered outsourcing, I was appalled at how badly it worked. The company had to throw away the first two attempts, and the third attempt kinda, sorta worked.
It was considered a huge success, saving 40% on the development costs.
It was considered a huge success, saving 40% on the development costs.
I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your honest run through of the game.
I’m not sure I would have been able to resist the “that was non-representative” excuse to re-film the game, especially after the first attempt.
I’m not sure I would have been able to resist the “that was non-representative” excuse to re-film the game, especially after the first attempt.
August 31, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your honest run through of the game.
I’m not sure I would have been able to resist the “that was non-representative” excuse to re-film the game, especially after the first attempt.
I’m not sure I would have been able to resist the “that was non-representative” excuse to re-film the game, especially after the first attempt.
First, there are a fair number of people who want the status of being an artist/author without all the effort.
But more challenging is answering the person who doesn’t want art, they just want a pretty picture/story. Effort/process is irrelevant, since they only care about the end result.
But more challenging is answering the person who doesn’t want art, they just want a pretty picture/story. Effort/process is irrelevant, since they only care about the end result.
August 17, 2025 at 9:24 PM
First, there are a fair number of people who want the status of being an artist/author without all the effort.
But more challenging is answering the person who doesn’t want art, they just want a pretty picture/story. Effort/process is irrelevant, since they only care about the end result.
But more challenging is answering the person who doesn’t want art, they just want a pretty picture/story. Effort/process is irrelevant, since they only care about the end result.
I feel this is an overreaction to an overreaction. I read the thread expecting dozens of humourless replies and all I got was one almost parodic attack, and a few more or less ignoring the joke and addressing the article seriously.
Maybe Bluesky is hiding the really eye-rolling posts.
Maybe Bluesky is hiding the really eye-rolling posts.
August 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I feel this is an overreaction to an overreaction. I read the thread expecting dozens of humourless replies and all I got was one almost parodic attack, and a few more or less ignoring the joke and addressing the article seriously.
Maybe Bluesky is hiding the really eye-rolling posts.
Maybe Bluesky is hiding the really eye-rolling posts.
While I don’t think human nature is particularly malleable (different from individuals making huge changes), that doesn’t mean we must surrender to it.
Civilization is 10,000 year fight to overcome our base nature to create something that man the animal could never aspire to.
Civilization is 10,000 year fight to overcome our base nature to create something that man the animal could never aspire to.
August 14, 2025 at 8:47 PM
While I don’t think human nature is particularly malleable (different from individuals making huge changes), that doesn’t mean we must surrender to it.
Civilization is 10,000 year fight to overcome our base nature to create something that man the animal could never aspire to.
Civilization is 10,000 year fight to overcome our base nature to create something that man the animal could never aspire to.
> They seem okay with stealing research
I would imagine so. Otherwise I’m not certain how I would handle reading non-fiction and incorporating the knowledge and ideas into my life, including my professional life.
I prefer to see AI attacked for not buying a copy of each work they trained it on.
I would imagine so. Otherwise I’m not certain how I would handle reading non-fiction and incorporating the knowledge and ideas into my life, including my professional life.
I prefer to see AI attacked for not buying a copy of each work they trained it on.
August 13, 2025 at 2:20 AM
> They seem okay with stealing research
I would imagine so. Otherwise I’m not certain how I would handle reading non-fiction and incorporating the knowledge and ideas into my life, including my professional life.
I prefer to see AI attacked for not buying a copy of each work they trained it on.
I would imagine so. Otherwise I’m not certain how I would handle reading non-fiction and incorporating the knowledge and ideas into my life, including my professional life.
I prefer to see AI attacked for not buying a copy of each work they trained it on.