Scott Adams Thread (Garfield Cartoonist)

[redpoint5]

Our culture increasingly adopts the view that we're leaves helplessly floating on a current we've got no control over. Headlines will say an SUV killed 6 people and injured dozens of others. I heard someone recently say their car got in an accident, as if inanimate objects make poor decisions.

Anyone blaming inanimate objects is either profoundly stupid, or horribly corrupt, both of which are disqualifying attributes of journalism or leadership.

[freebeard]

Or beta testing Full Self Driving? Hmmm?

Wash -- "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar." [THUMP]

[redpoint5]

I concede we are in fact leaves on the water, but it isn't a useful frame. There's no getting around the absolute necessity to proceed as if we are free to make our own decisions. We possess intention that makes us unique from inanimate objects.

[freebeard]

We possess intention that makes us unique from inanimate objects.

What would the Dogbert cartoonist say about ascribing intent to others?

You arrive at Solipsism, or 'everyone cra-cra except me and thee and I'm not real sure about thee.'

Free will is a useful frame.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

You arrive at Solipsism, or 'everyone cra-cra except me and thee and I'm not real sure about thee.'

Free will is a useful frame.

I prefer Peterson's framing of ideas existing independently, capturing the attention of others and becoming embodied through them. They are like spirits that possess individuals, and often survive their hosts deaths.

As I've said before, it allows a frame whereby an idea can be attacked without aligning against the host person.

It also seems useful to think about how to attract the ideas most likely to be good, while simultaneously reducing the attack surface for the bad ideas. An operating system that maximizes functionality while minimizing exploitable code that can be used maliciously by others. Those 2 objectives are generally oppositional.

[freebeard]

An operating system that maximizes functionality while minimizing exploitable code that can be used maliciously by others.

You have no idea. I've worked with the smarty-pants at Symantec fighting malware, it get really deep.

That was number 2 at Permalink #6 if you want to get a sense of it.

[freebeard]

Episode 1894: at ?t=1964 Mr. Adams suggests his solution to the current unpleasantness in Ukraine.

A globohomo supra-government. A fine solution I am sure.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Episode 1894: at ?t=1964 Mr. Adams suggests his solution to the current unpleasantness in Ukraine.

A globohomo supra-government. A fine solution I am sure.

Well, the thing about ideas is they are usually bad. Just gotta throw them out there to see if that inspires a something workable.

The entertaining thing about his talk today was when he said nobody ever disagrees with him, and then demonstrates that point by showing all the comments that suggested positions he's never held.

"So what you're saying is..."

[freebeard]

Weird times. Elon Musk apparently is suggesting that Taiwan just drop their pants and bend over.

[redpoint5]

Doesn't sound like the person I figured he was.

My suggestion for negotiation with a deadly hostile is to assert that your first, best, and final offer is they get to live so long as they immediately stand down. Sort of like a doomsday device in Dr. Strangelove. Make it clear that crossing the red line guarantees their misery.

Here was one of my favorite episodes, and it occurs to me it's almost entirely due to the section that starts at 35:42.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFmPkOSYOMs&start=2142