Scott Adams Thread (Garfield Cartoonist)

[freebeard]

Whatever became of our co-conspirator? Perhaps we can find another hot button to press.

What did you think of the link. AI text voice and pictures; For me it's the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect -- text wasn't gibberish, face didn't contort, and car moved forward in traffic, not backward.

[redpoint5]

I haven't listened to the link yet.

Listened live to the episode today. I mostly tune out Trump or politics, which can comprise a significant amount of the show, but he ended with a useful frame. Folks that are depressed or angry are usually inwardly focused, dwelling on their misery or anger. The way to get out of depression is to get outside of yourself, and start thinking of others, and what contribution you can make.

[freebeard]

I haven't listened to the link yet.

Imagine Chat GTP dryly describing hippies. The visuals are hallucinatory psychedelic cartoons, with a strong prevalence of VW buses.

I haven't been listening to Coffee with... so much as Russell Brand. Two hours ago (at this time in this location): Trump’s Abortion “U-Turn”: Bill Maher’s SHOCKING Reaction

It starts from Trump but is really more about (my current favorite word) subsidiarity.

He has less of an ego investment than SA, and packs concepts pretty densely together. OTOH, I've watched him over the years and there has always been a 'log store' as he put it, in the background. The stack of firewood would rise and fall, then it stopped. Now, one day ago, he did a post (Oh SH*T, Elon To JAIL?!) where the logs are still there but the shed is gone! Then today it's back to normal. Kidding, it's a different room, I guess he just likes firewood.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I haven't been listening to Coffee with... so much as Russell Brand.
(my current favorite word) subsidiarity.

He has less of an ego investment than SA, and packs concepts pretty densely together.

It's Russell's favorite word too, I think. He likes all the big words though, which is why it's difficult for me to listen to in the background. Lots of excitement, lots of big words, faster pace... requires attention.

That word is what I'm always on about, distributing authority to the lowest level capable of dealing with that particular issue. What kind of car should I drive isn't a POTUS level question, as an example. Maintaining foreign relations and ensuring a secure border are, however. The more time the executive or legislative branches are spending on deciding what cars or ovens I should be using, the less they are attending to appropriately sized problems meant for those roles.

Russell and Scott's egos are at similar levels; Russell just wears a hippie veneer to conceal it better. Neither egos bother me, as Scott points out, that it's what allows a person to explore the boundaries. It resonates with my boundary exploring nature.

[freebeard]

Whelp, here's a black pill that requires attention: The Coming Psychological Black Death

I may have mentioned Whatifalthist before. This one comes with a bibliography with 25 entries and two 'best ever' videos, as well as the usual text wall you have to pause (like parentheses or footnotes).

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Whelp, here's a black pill that requires attention:

I'm short-term optimistic, medium term pessimistic, and extremely long term optimistic. There's room for a couple black pills in my white pill container.

Speaking of pills, it's entirely rational to choose the blue pill when you're already taken the black one.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Whelp, here's a black pill that requires attention: The Coming Psychological Black Death[/URL]

I may have mentioned Whatifalthist before. This one comes with a bibliography with 25 entries and two 'best ever' videos, as well as the usual text wall you have to pause (like parentheses or footnotes).

Took me several attempts, but I listened to it all and looked at most of the charts and graphs. Most of that is familiar since I keep up with Jonathan Haidt and Peter Zeihan.

Nothing I disagree with much in that analysis, and I don't see the black pill (except in the medium term) since the pendulum re-centers things.

SA has conditioned me to not assume a cause > effect relationships between correlated things. For example, I don't accept that college "makes people smarter". It seems just as likely that smart people go to college. In that same vein, I don't accept that financial wellbeing causes people to be happier. It seems just as likely that happier people make more money, with perhaps a 3rd variable being the few extremely driven people who sacrifice life balance for very high incomes/statuses.

Today's SA episode theme was that there is no penalty for dishonesty in politics. That's a recipe for suffering, because that's the unavoidable outcome of sacrificing honesty for a brief win. It's not fixable through political means, because it's a cultural problem. Our institutions have taught so much cultural relativism that people are convinced there is no objective truth, and there's no such thing as one culture (or aspects of that culture) being better than another. If people believe it doesn't matter which direction one heads, it always leads to hades. Funny, I recall something about a road that is narrow leading to a better place, and aimless wandering leading to a worse one.

[freebeard]

It's been said....

https://quoteinvestigator.com › 2014 › 02 › 18 › stand-fall
If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything
Here are three versions: (1) If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. (2) Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. (3) When you stand for nothing, you fall for everything. This adage is attributed to Alexander Hamilton, Peter Marshall, and others.

[freebeard]

Today approx. minutes 22 to 28 he laments nobody is doing anything (about taxes and inflation) and suggests senior citizens should take a 15% haircut and become hippies.

Already, Medicare and Walgreens conspire to provide me with pharmaceuticals with no out-of-pocket cost.

I think everyone should build a geodesic dome in their back yard and move into it. Else a yurt or teepee. Rent out or demolish the deprecated housing.

[redpoint5]

I'm not finding anything to back the story that 1 German minister is responsible for rewriting and misrepresenting nuclear safety, causing parliament to shut them all down.

Insane that they have spent the most on renewables, have the dirtiest electricity, and it costs the most. I know they have engineers in Germany. Why nobody consulted a single one is beyond me.

Scott sounds enthusiastic about California exporting "cheap" renewable electricity to other states. Selling cheap electricity because you've got too much isn't a positive indicator. Needing to store it in batteries is an even worse indicator. Clearly among the many topics he's given very little thought to (he mostly reads the headlines and makes whatever comments come to mind).

Originally Posted by freebeard

Today approx. minutes 22 to 28 he laments nobody is doing anything (about taxes and inflation) and suggests senior citizens should take a 15% haircut and become hippies.

He's doing the normal "shake the box" routine on that. Surprised he isn't familiar with Vivek's plan to address the problem, which is economic growth. He's always saying "drill, frack, nuclear"... energy is the cornerstone to all economic prosperity.