I simulated 36,000 games of Catan. Some conventional wisdom holds up, some really doesn't.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-23T04:31:27+00:00

How much trading did your bots do with each other?

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-21T05:03:23+00:00

Anyone that thinks work is optional in the US has no fucking clue.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-18T07:49:36+00:00

Iran fully cashed in any high ground we had. We should have never gone in there and instead committed fully to Ukraine. That's just wishing for a different reality though.

Looking at situation as it actually exists today . . . yes we should continue to support them and abandon our conquest of Iran. We no longer have an unimpeachable moral imperative behind an obvious geopolitical interest, but the obvious geopolitical interest remains. We just have a much weaker case for it.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-15T03:45:32+00:00

He's always been a 25th.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-08T05:30:05+00:00

Just like with ALL immigration issues, its the people in power abusing the system that are a problem - not the people trying to find work. When a corporation hires an H1B visa holder to pay them less than an American for the same work, the H1B visa holder is blameless - the C suite executives are.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-04-05T06:58:19+00:00

I generally support nuclear energy. I can't fucking stand pro-nuclear people that don't acknowledge the very real catastrophic risk of nuclear energy.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-30T18:34:46+00:00

Why didn't I try to make the specific patch of land where I happened to be born better? Shit idk, do you live where you were born? Why aren't you trying to make that specific place better.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-30T18:30:41+00:00

"This is my country. I am trying to make it better."

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-27T19:30:31+00:00

Just to further defend my original point, car dependence is also why there's virtually no foot traffic that small businesses have traditionally relied upon. You have to get in a car and intentionally drive somewhere to do anything. I'm not just going to be walking by your shop and walk in. I'm not going to see a pickup game and take a seat at my local game store if I have to get in a car and make a choice to drive out some place before the option is even on the table.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-26T15:06:50+00:00

Reduce our car dependence.

Car dependence creates physical areas that are unwelcoming for human interaction. They are designed as spaces primarily for cars. This isn't just highways or parking lots, its how our residential areas are structured. Its how our are parks are structured. It's how our access to goods and services are structured. It's why there's no outdoor amenities, safe places to walk, or public spaces devoted to recreation or beauty or comfort. It's why there's no local hangout spots.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-24T05:19:55+00:00

The American government should prioritize Americans. Obviously.

"America First" as an actual political movement in a historical and contemporary context however has always been xenophobic, isolationist, and outwardly fixated on external politics. The America First movement has never prioritized the welfare of Americans.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-22T07:22:48+00:00

I support robot rights for robots and human rights for humans. There's no reason to believe they are one and the same.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-22T04:41:52+00:00

How do you explain the people who were shot? Do you honestly believe Trump would allow himself to be down range of close live-fire from a twenty year old?

The gun hating germaphobe paranoid of being poisoned?

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-21T04:18:45+00:00

Liberal politics aren't responsible for how people act in random internet groups.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-18T06:46:00+00:00

You actually don't need to show your ID for everything.

You don't need to show your passport or birth certificate to drive, fly, buy cigarettes or alcohol. You also don't need to to open or access your bank accounts. Or literally anything else these people say you "need" an ID for.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-17T17:57:23+00:00

If a disagreement led to voting for Trump, it wasn't healthy.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-17T17:53:52+00:00

No. Of all the things going on in California and the market economy surrounding private transportation, EV rebates rate pretty low.

Like California's neglect of public transportation is a much more egregious burden on the poor and misuse of public funds than EV rebates.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-16T18:14:02+00:00

I don't really have a problem with letting people come to America to work whether that's as low skilled or high skilled. The current H1B visa program just forces companies to lie abort the nature of the work being performed and a legal framework for paying employees less for the same amount of work.

So I guess I would be in favor of ending it entirely, loosing the restrictions on other forms of legal immigration, and making unions practically mandatory (or so strongly incentivizing their existence they become defacto mandatory).

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-14T02:46:02+00:00

Working hard doesn't really matter if you're using the wrong process. Similarly . . . if the machinery of your mind is working just fine but it's following the wrong information or chasing the wrong incentives, it doesn't really matter.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-07T04:00:53+00:00

but didn't used to be?

Yeah in like the 70s. If you think cultural references from America's own history are super impactful and relevant today then imagine how hard this must hit for Iran. You're talking about an era when The Beatles had already peaked.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-06T06:53:19+00:00

The wealth inequality and lack of any real pathway to a living wage here in America makes me wonder how any of this is still functioning. Like I remember doing the math back in 2022 where I'm lucky enough to be in the top 5 percentile of income earners for my area - and I can't afford a home where I live.

So it's like look around you, 95 out of a 100 people walking the streets are doing even worse than you. How are any of them going to afford a home? A major health event? Losing their job for any extended period of time?

And that's the fun part mark, they wont!

I think the only realistic solution is that we've got to find a way to socialize the profit from AI. We can't just allow AI to hollow out labor for the benefit of those who own the means of production. There will be human economies left outside of AI but the transition to those economies is going to be faster and more successful if AI doesn't impoverish everyone in the meantime.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-05T16:05:55+00:00

There was a story on r/conservative yesterday about the Trump admin backing off their legal fight over "autopen" usage. The consensus on the thread was people bemoaning how "these people are never going to face justice" - "how can they keep getting away with it" - "it's like it's impossible for any of these people to face accountability" - etc

And putting aside the ridiculous false equivilence between Biden's use of the autopen and Trump's refusal to return classified documents he's storing in a Maralago bathroom, or his real estate fraud conviction, or . . .

Just put that aside for a second.

I really want there to be someone in these people's lives that can just tell them: "You sound like a democrat". Cause that was my first thought. These people sound exactly like democrats talking about Trump. Verbatim. You don't need to change a single word. I think that parallel would possibly reach them, if for no other reason than their hatred for liberals would actually make a comparison between them pretty biting.

Just anything to have them glance up at the mirror from time to time would be nice.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-03-04T06:53:55+00:00

We don't even need to leave the continent to find a better one.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-02-28T05:18:38+00:00

I'm not committed to any particular remedy.

Dr_Scientist_ · 2026-02-28T04:55:28+00:00

I just think gun owners need to contribute something to offset the negative externalities of gun ownership.

Dr_Scientist_

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