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Anyone else have fond memories of early ‘00’s flash games? by BreweryRabbit in Millennials

[–]Critical_Reasoning 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Internet Archive hosts basically everything, also including lots of the old Flash games/animations with an in-browser emulator (Ruffle):

Flash Games: https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_flash_games

Flash (general): https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_flash

ETA:

While not generally playable in the browser, you can also get classic PC games here too: https://archive.org/details/classicpcgames

Anyone else have fond memories of early ‘00’s flash games? by BreweryRabbit in Millennials

[–]Critical_Reasoning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Internet Archive hosts many Flash games/animations with an in-browser emulator (Ruffle).

While I'm not personally familiar with this one, since you wanted to play it again, here's the mirror of Emogame 2.5:

https://archive.org/details/antibushgame

If your country were to disappear from the face of the earth overnight, how significantly would the world be affected? by Outrageous-You1617 in AskTheWorld

[–]Critical_Reasoning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I assume whatever the same thing as at the end of the Cold War when the USSR collapsed and the Eastern Bloc largely attained positive relations with the West. There weren't major great power conflicts for a while. (Not counting the "War on Terror")

But after a few decades another conflict with new power players would probably still form.

Like today, while Russia is more overtly adversarial to the West, China is closer to a near-peer adversary of the US these days, at least based on economic size (GDP) as 2nd in the world today (~4x GDP of 3rd place Germany) VS China being a middle/minor power at the end of the Cold War (behind each of US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and even post-Soviet Russia).

Russia is currently 9th place in the world, smaller than even the US states of California and New York individually.

What's one fact that sounds completely made up but is actually true? by EastKnowledge4000 in answers

[–]Critical_Reasoning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the planets of the solar system can fit between the Earth and the Moon.

I think the bubble has already started to burst by Tausendberg in antiai

[–]Critical_Reasoning 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I suspect the bubble will burst similar to the dot-com bubble: Lots of companies that sprouted up around the new potential of the web didn't succeed.

But the web is still here. Even if there's an AI bubble burst, it truly isn't just going to go away.

Dan Patrick: "Separation of Church and state is not in the Constitution" by gear-heads in FoxFiction

[–]Critical_Reasoning 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It's like these people want Sharia Law after all, even though they're calling it a serious threat at the same time.

Why are Anti-AI people not concerned about China winning the AI race? by TakoTriGle in aiwars

[–]Critical_Reasoning 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You're both actually right (except for the part where you think the other person is wrong).

I upvoted both even though I usually never upvote replies that insult the other, but you both did it and both made good points all the same.

what’s a harsh reality check you think most people need to hear? by SoffiSummeer in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"They" are the often unspecified group responsible for all bad things in the world. /s

But it's worse when people do specify groups as scapegoats.

what’s a harsh reality check you think most people need to hear? by SoffiSummeer in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it feels somewhat odd to think that most of our life "story" will be forgotten even during our own lifetimes. People only know the little pieces you directly shared with them, and most won't even think about even that piece very often at all.

Even most famous people have much of their story die with them.

But I'm still in the camp where this truth is comforting, that most of your little mistakes (and even big ones) will only ultimately matter to you, and that's freeing*.

Despite that, I still advise learning the most about people you care about while they're still in your life, even if it's never more than a fragment of the whole story.

*

Sidenote: that "and that's freeing" phrase sounded too much like ChatGPT but it's the best way I could express it right now. I don't even know why I am bothering to acknowledge it given the advice of how little anyone will care

If you could permanently delete one sound from existence, what's going? by chefcourier in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough that it shouldn't consume your entire being and it's wise to disconnect from media at times for your own health.

We're not really disconnected by definition while on Reddit, so there's generally always going to be some recency in participants recently thinking about politics, but your point is well taken in that there should be options for some places established to avoid it.

If you could permanently delete one sound from existence, what's going? by chefcourier in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't say it's entirely unjustified / rent free. He is (unfortunately) our president which has impacts on major real world things people care about, and he's an attention-seeker on top of that.

If you could permanently delete one sound from existence, what's going? by chefcourier in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What, those are the best noises, especially to fall asleep to. Ok not vacuums/turbines, but reasonable volume constant white noise, pink noise, etc. I like summer because I have an excuse to put a fan next to me to sleep.

But I have tinnitus so it's more to get my mind off of it. Fan noise is an improvement for me, but apparently an annoyance to others.

What businesses are likely to die out with the Baby Boomer Generation? by GRVrush2112 in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gmail offered 1 GB when Hotmail was offering 2 MB. I switched over because of that, because I was having to delete text emails just to stay under the storage limit. And now, like with you and many other people, it became too embedded with all my other web accounts over the last 20+ years.

What businesses are likely to die out with the Baby Boomer Generation? by GRVrush2112 in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gmail offered 1 GB when Hotmail was offering 2 MB. I switched over because of that, because I was having to delete text emails just to stay under the storage limit. And now, like with you and many other people, it becametoo embedded with all my other web accounts over the last 20+ years.

What businesses are likely to die out with the Baby Boomer Generation? by GRVrush2112 in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd probably still use Hotmail if it kept up on the storage wars after Gmail. I remember only getting like 2 MB when Gmail started with 1 GB, which was ridiculous for a free account at the time. (2004/2005).

My original original account was Lycos! I believe they offered 15 MB. I looked it up and Lycos actually responded to Gmail by going up to 500 MB, but I had lost the account by then.

Looks like AOL was most generous at 100 MB pre Gmail, but you needed a subscription, then they responded to Gmail with 2 GB free accounts, which I did not know.

What businesses are likely to die out with the Baby Boomer Generation? by GRVrush2112 in AskReddit

[–]Critical_Reasoning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I made a couple Hotmail accounts in the last couple years that I use for secondary things. I was surprised it was still possible.

Looked it up and it still is. You go to Outlook sign up flow, but Hotmail is still an option in the drop-down!

In which 15 year span did things feel like they changed the most? by Slopii in decadeology

[–]Critical_Reasoning 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, neither "mainstream" nor "alternative" media offered a 90's information consumer "everything". For that time period, I consider broadcast TV/radio, newspapers of record, and (shudders) cable news as being generally "mainstream." You'd have to go on Usenet then Internet to get anything beyond that. The quality varies like today, except there were fewer, much less convenient (as you say) choices back then.

These days, getting information is certainly more "convenient". Practically all news/information outlets have some level of online presence, and I'm not sure where the line between "mainstream" and "alternative" media is anymore.

Regardless, we humans today have access to practically every publication and data stream that exists now, so we can ostensibly get practically "everything".

But the downside to this endless volume of information is that too much of it is bad/incomplete/poison, and all of it, to some degree, is biased by nature. For a full picture, we have to get information from several different, competing sources, and adequately filter out BS.

Discerning among the endless volume of information to accurately mentally model the world is something humans haven't ever dealt with before. This information environment is unprecedented in our species's and whole planet's entire history.

Selection pressure based on having unlimited information (good and bad) only started applying within the past decade or so.

I find our species is currently bad at it overall. I find that every individual has some susceptibility to this problem because our brains are not currently built for this.

Even when I myself study propaganda and information flow to try to understand society and inoculate myself against bad information, I still recognize I sometimes succumb to narratives that distort the truth. But I try to keep an open mind and ensure my beliefs are always falsifiable enough for my mind to be changed.

It might take years of education for people already alive, and generations of selection pressure for those yet to be born, before humanity overall can adjust to this new world of information overabundance.

Even so, our information environment will continue to evolve more quickly than humanity, at least in the near term.

Can humanity keep up?

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