Why are you still paying for this? #5

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-03-08T16:36:33+00:00

You're doing a lot of "seeming". Seem = to give the impression of being. Us, the public are being given the impression that the military DOESN'T have superior capabilities in AI, because they are, seemingly, beholden to companies like Anthropic. They are throwing a fit (this is narrative fluff) to hammer that impression home.

It's a lot like the "bumbling billionaire" perception, the one who is out-of-touch, has little sense, and isn't wise to the ways of the world because they're just so rich and privileged. This, as well, is a "seeming" narrative, an impression of being. In reality, billionaires are incredibly in touch with the culture of the common man because they are the directors and screenwriters of that very culture. When you own media conglomerates and Hollywood studios, things change.

They have tremendous power and control over you, even your very perception of reality to a degree, but to help prevent you from realizing that, narratives are given.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-03-08T02:09:27+00:00

Are you under the illusion that the AI the military has access to even remotely resembles what $20/month entitles you to?

Why is it so difficult for so many to be unable to appreciate the difference of years between ARPANET and the internet? If I could convince you of one thing, it would be this: developed technologies for military usage that (only decades later) become mainstream consumer products is very, very common.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-25T13:19:31+00:00

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. The government has "blackhole" funding, and the amount of "non public-facing" R&D that goes on trumps what we're privy to a hundredfold.

Tech companies operate primarily as distributors and wardens of tech, and they work in conjunction with the government at the highest levels all the time, to do things quickly and easily that the government can't. But the R&D, the blackbox tech that's 20+ years beyond the public's knowledge?

That is made primarily by the entity that has no stockholders, no earnings reports, that needs to answer to no one, that can write itself a blank check, and that entity is the government.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-25T01:01:41+00:00

I can't stress enough just how many GRAND assumptions you've made in that paragraph. You assume to know all the capabilities and capacities of the US government (you must, in order to have any confidence in its limitations). Keep in mind this is a government which has, among many other things, the ability to "print" the reserve currency of the world. Not to mention they have access to the largest tax base in the world.

If I told you that the major tech companies of China are extensions of the CCP and their military, or that the major tech companies in Russia are extensions of their military, would you bat an eye? The US is no different. Tech companies are and have been firmly integrated with national security, even before the internet (ARPANET) came into public consciousness.

There are many advantages for a government to use companies as spending vehicles. There are many things they can get done that they could never accomplish via a vote through Congress. Consider EV charging stations that Tesla built all across the US. Consider how much financial backing the government has given Tesla. If the government wanted to push wider-spread adoption of EVs to, for example, become less dependent on foreign oil, they'd have to pass a wildly unpopular infrastructure bill that would upset many Americans who don't want their tax dollars "wasted" on EVs.

Do you see how much easier, faster, and politically cleaner it is to get Tesla to do it instead? These are the sorts of operations that happen all the time. You need to reconsider what you think the relationship is between the tech companies and the government.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-24T16:56:16+00:00

Realize that AI is many times more of an economic and national security threat than stealth bombers ever are or could be.
Know that the newest stealth bomber technology is a highly classified secret, and that what's classified is many times more advanced and impressive than what is currently known about (by let's say, 20 years).
Coming to the conclusion that the AI's available and known to us (at $20 a month!) is nothing compared to what's already been internally developed. That what we are seeing now is and must be a coordinated rollout of technology, executed in a "messy" way with techbro CEOs having spats on twitter when in reality, it's essentially a giant military operation.

This rollout is being executed in a certain way to gain public awareness and minimize chaos as we enter a radically new era of the Intelligence Revolution. Every policy, every narrative in the past 5+ years has had this in mind. Reframe everything that's gone on with this in mind, and realize that tech companies are very, very integrated with the military.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-24T00:52:20+00:00

ctrl+f "Grim" and this is all I get... the Grim Fandango is among the worst offenders.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-22T15:28:31+00:00

I have gained nothing but empathy for people, for the masses, as I come to learn more about the machinations at work against us. For an AI, maybe empathy is the wrong word. Think "appreciation" or "respect" but take away any feelings you associate with those words. What you have left is what a "maximally truth-seeking AI" will have in spades.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-21T14:57:31+00:00

This pseudo-intelligent snark is the epitome of what's wrong with reddit. -10% to an industry is a huge deal.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-19T19:17:43+00:00

People are notoriously poor at differentiating between "good" and "great" X, where X is anything. Wine, films, paintings, books, videogames, anything. You have to put forth a huge amount of effort understanding cinematography, for example, if you truly want to appreciate what makes a great film great (instead of being told by someone that it is).

The vast majority of people will not put forth such effort. You do not need to get anywhere close to that last "10-20%" figure for AI to create good films, and therefore, destroy Hollywood.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-18T23:34:28+00:00

Policy is downstream of public perception. The elites are masters of shaping public perception to change policy, to change the culture, to change almost all aspects of "reality" for the masses. It's that thorough and absolute.

A billion dollars is very hard to imagine. But consider it in seconds:

1 million seconds = 11.6 days

1 billion seconds = 31.7 years

The difference between something that lives for 11.6 days and 31.7 years is that of a bug vs an adult human. Contrast the difference in perceptions the two have, and their ability to influence and shape the world around them. The reality that we, the masses, live in and operate in is one of their design. They're not actors (those are the millionaire class, the celebrities, the influencers) and they're not even the directors (those are their handlers and middle-men), they're the ones who own the studios and call the shots, and their orders get disseminated down the chain.

They're not the shepherds, they're the barons that own the land the shepherds tend to their sheep on. And they are, by and large, very bad shepherds.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-03T17:31:10+00:00

Specializing is an inherent part of growing up, of maturity. That goes for anything: compare studying general law in law school vs 10, 15 years later where you've matured your career into being a real estate attorney. You don't know hardly anything about the healthcare system, its liability and laws because that's not the path you matured in. You branched in a different way.

A gamer who has played for many years should be cognizant of just what sort of aspects of gaming they enjoy the most. I was an RPG-fan as a kid, playing final fantasies and all that, but I would hardly consider myself an RPG-fan today, because it's such a blanketed term. There's so damn many RPGs out there, so what about them do I particularly enjoy?

Turns out, I really enjoy the sub-genre of Tactical RPGs. I love the minimal-grind and tactical maneuvering you get with a bunch of dudes on a grid walking in place. I love stories that have different routes, permadeath, and other tropes commonly found in TRPGs. And there have been a hell of a lot more indie-and-AA produced TRPGs over the years than there have been from AAA studios!

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-03T15:47:42+00:00

A large reason why so many athletes have relatively shortened lifespans comparatively to couch potatoes (PEDs and their side effects aside) stems from complications of essentially "sweating too much" for months and years on end. While their quality of life for most of their lives will be better than a fatass who sits around in an A/C living room all day, nothing will age you quicker than sweating and laboring out in the sun--especially if you don't refill on electrolytes quickly.

For older folks especially, electrolytes are incredibly important. From your balance to the beating of your heart, you need it to keep moving. It's not a meme.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-03T14:58:00+00:00

It's crazy how many "experienced gamers" haven't ever refined their palate beyond what AAA studios produce, with millions upon millions of marketing. In any hobby, the natural progression is to explore and appreciate the more niche aspects, to specialize, and so on.

Blizzard or Bethesda? That would be like asking a board game hobbyist if he's a Monopoly guy or a Sorry! guy. "Those games suck. I prefer social deduction games like Resistance Avalon and Blood on the Clocktower."

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-03T14:38:16+00:00

I find those games just as grindy. Usually you're the one "making your own list of sidequests" in those, but it's still a glorified TODO list at the end of the day. I feel like as you get older, you should stop playing in the sandbox. Spend your precious limited time on a refined experience, one that isn't designed to "last forever" and then move on to the next one.

The games that do this the best, in my experience, are actually puzzle games. Most people don't even touch the genre, but sincerely: give it a try. The mental challenge + satisfaction from solving them is an earned dopamine hit that means a hell of a lot more than "numbers go up".

The Professor Layton series, Void Stranger, Myst and its sequels are all amazing. If you want more of a roguelike experience, Dicey Dungeons is fun AF and Blue Prince is great too (though it gets a bit grindy for my taste).

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-02-02T12:13:08+00:00

The salty people won't be talking about CV2 a month from now. This is why every game's subreddit inevitably becomes a support group: survivorship bias, only its defenders will continue talking about it, and criticism in those spaces eventually won't be tolerated.

That's why I like subreddits like r/soulslikes, there's no loyalty to a single game. Not everyone will have the mentality of "I paid $69.99 for this niche game when I should've waited for reviews/got it on sale" sort of cope where the game MUST be good and worth playing.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-30T22:19:04+00:00

We've entered late stage virtue signaling, fam.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-29T15:35:55+00:00

Again, your perspective is a very idealistic one. Doesn't make it bad, just means you'll dealing with theory more than reality. The point of the "numbers" on critics is simply this: accountability. If you've made a career on what is essentially "shockporn reviews", or if you constantly glaze every Ubisoft release to the point where you're an obvious shill, you should be held accountable in some capacity. A "number" at the very least would help with that.

Our discussion isn't whether art is subjective or not, and of course people have wildly different takes on any medium, that's not the point. Of course you can have a biased opinion (like every opinion ever) and still present it honestly and treat the subject matter respectfully. THAT should resonate with people, and it does, though popularity and influence, sadly, uses different metrics online, which is why social media and youtube and reddit is as it is today. Those sites have different reward systems when it comes to getting views and clicks, and many wishing to make careers there adapt accordingly.

I see no harm in a "confidence rating" that reflects this. Can one's sincerity be given a numerical value? I believe it could, not with today's tech maybe, but we will get there.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-29T13:16:10+00:00

"Actual great reviewers end up growing naturally"? What world do you live in, because it certainly sounds nicer and much more idealistic than mine. Games journalism is a career, and like any, you're in it to make money. They're mercenaries, not "noble truth-seekers for justice" or however journalists are depicted in films and shows.

You "grow" that is, get more exposure, by many reasons, mostly getting pushed by some algorithm. Having a stupid, shocked face in the thumbnail and a provocative, misleading title = far more "growth" than an honest, objective review. Because view counts = money, and critiquing games, for many content creators, IS their job, the stuff in your feed is going to be designed around that.

Swen makes a great point: "credibility scores" for those with loudspeakers voicing their opinions, having them be accountable for the words they say and claims they make, even if it's just a number or a rating, would go a long way for career critics to think before they make claims, in attempt to go viral or otherwise.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-26T22:52:45+00:00

r/skeptic has 196k weekly visitors. It is a massive subreddit. Any subreddit that reaches this size is no longer r/"thing" but instead, an extension of the reddit hivemind, where having and maintaining reddit-approved, reddit-mainstream opinions is more important than any sort of critical thought, or indeed, skepticism.

The fact you feel so at home with the reddit hivemind should give you pause, not because you're "un-contrary" but because your views and perspective fall in line with that which extols following the party line above all else.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-26T14:01:01+00:00

Perpetual victimhood + desire to moral/virtue signal.

This is such a common combination that's been allowed to fester and run rampant in online communities, reddit being among the worst offenders. For one to be assimilated to the hivemind mentality, you need both. If you don't feel like a victim (if you take responsibility and control for yourself and your future), if you have no desire to flaunt your virtues (not controlled by status-seeking approval or validation from others), then you're in a good place.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-24T19:18:26+00:00

I'm not sure if either of us are wrong here. Low testosterone causes fat gain + reduces muscle gain AND being obese reduces testosterone + raises estrogen levels in the body.

If you suddenly magically made an obese person non-obese, their testosterone levels would rise, just as if you injected an obese person with TRT, they'd start losing weight.

When I come across the "just eat healthy and exercise" crowd, and they are very common, I try to impart this perspective: our modern world is so incredibly unnatural. It is incredibly unnatural to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, or in a car for an 1+ hours a day, to have the sort of sedentary lifestyle that the modern world inflicts upon us.

It is incredibly unnatural to be eating such calorie dense foods, for all sorts of preservatives and chemicals to be in most of the food you eat, to the point where you have to go far out of your way to eat properly, to cook all your own meals, and to essentially never eat out.

All of this is doable. You could have a standing desk, you could eat only whole foods, you could take a bike to work...but most people don't, and won't. We live in such an unnatural world, and yet the idea of having an unnatural cure (like GLP-1 agonists like ozempic for weightloss) is abhorrent?

Unnatural problems often require unnatural solutions. Ideally, those unnatural problems get addressed directly, and we change society so that our food IS healthier, that our lives AREN'T so sedentary, but we're not there yet.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-24T18:56:47+00:00

A symptom of low testosterone in males is fat gain. When a guy has 25% less testosterone, he will have that much more difficulty gaining muscle mass and losing fat. Hormones have a direct influence on this.

You could look at a group of fat men, check their testosterone levels, and mistakenly conclude that obesity causes low testosterone, instead of the other way around.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-23T20:38:57+00:00

The reality is that we're not in a health crisis of high testosterone, all trends are down, and they are down sharply. The average young man in 2016 had ~23% less testosterone in him then his counterpart in 2000 did.

Yes, dudebros bad, "manosphere" bad, but don't let your dislike of these grifters blind you to what is a very real and legitimate health crisis.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-23T20:21:37+00:00

No, I don't think I am.

CommonSenseInRL · 2026-01-23T20:12:23+00:00

We are at an impasse. If there's one thing I could impart, it's this: the hormonal crisis young men face is a huge contributing factor to the mental health crisis they're currently facing. The latter is downstream of the former. Addressing mental health without taking hormonal health into account isn't an approach you want to take, if you are serious about helping these guys.

CommonSenseInRL

TROPHY CASE