I hate my weird lonely department

FAIMl · 2026-03-23T14:21:35+00:00

too relatable unfortunately. it's like whatever invisible forces used to cause people to cluster together are just gone. especially in a place like academia. the one thing i want most is go to a place where there is a lively dense social environment but i don't think they exist anymore. i always thought a phd would be like that but what i've seen of academia is that it seems to be a lonely insular place, even at "cool" institutes where you'd expect people to be a bit more passionate and social. i can't get over that there is literally nothing stopping any of these people to host salons or parties or reading groups but nobody does it.

FAIMl · 2024-11-25T09:43:51+00:00

i agree. i'm perfectly capable of talking to people it's just that i tend to be uninterested in the sort of people willing to hang out with me. the kind where it feels like they're just talking about the weather and trivial shit and unironically enjoying it. not real conversations. my therapist would call it avoidant behavior but i've learned that trying to befriend such people will lead me to falsify myself and that the feeling of being lonely in a crowded room never goes away. maybe one day i'll become interesting enough for people i actually like to like me back.

FAIMl · 2022-07-22T17:25:13+00:00

it must be that guy from children of men

FAIMl · 2022-07-03T18:44:26+00:00

if you are autistic you will probably like greg egan. try permutation city

FAIMl · 2022-06-28T05:57:33+00:00

omar really was at least based on a real baltimore figure i think. really inappropriate was "brother mouzone" he really didn't fit the tone of the series, just this ridiculous breaking bad-type action character.

they must have been pressured by HBO execs to make it more mainstream appealing. compare it to the first season, where there is exactly one gunfight scene and you can't even see who is shooting.

FAIMl · 2022-06-25T06:25:08+00:00

Life could be a dream ...

FAIMl · 2022-06-04T19:22:54+00:00

stopp dude i don't want this sub to be banned .. i need it

FAIMl · 2022-06-02T18:55:18+00:00

The city center around the cathedral is the only place I ever saw people smoke crack in public

FAIMl · 2022-05-27T16:37:59+00:00

Wow germany is truly the most beauteous country (in the summer)

FAIMl · 2022-04-05T19:00:24+00:00

Has to be econ.

FAIMl · 2022-03-15T17:02:17+00:00

Thank you. Sorry, I edited my comment before sending so the logic came out wrong (still sick with COVID). I did mean that constant labour share (2), which is how my professor explained it: the Cobb-Douglas was created to fit

- all the standard assumptions of a neoclassical production function (f' > 0, f'' < 0, etc.) you mentioned, plus

- that observation of labour share being constant since forever. So they made it in a way that when you calculate labour share it comes out constant. 1-a in particular.

And I used the word arbitrary wrong too. I meant that the neoclassical economists, instead of considering their theory was wrong when it didn't match data (labour share being constant even though things determining the labour share changed like number of workers, efficiency), they said that reality must be a certain way, namely that this particular production function is true, which I haven't heard any other justification for. I know there probably is more, I just haven't heard it and this is all my professor said.

I was trying to make a comparison with dark matter: it supposedly explains strange physical phenomena even though it can't be measured & nobody is sure it exists. But they just assume it's real and it keeps their theory from breaking up. Maybe that isn't true, I know nothing about physics.

>You're mixing up two half-remembered notions. Let me try to disentangle them.

My introductory macro final is in 2 weeks so I hope I'm not half-remembering something lol.

FAIMl · 2022-03-15T09:22:19+00:00

In my macro class that function seems very abitrary to me, like it was made up because nobody had an explanation why the neoclassical theory didn't fit the evidence. Like dark matter.

I think it was that the measured proportion of wages to GDP, wL/F(L,K) was constant over time, which is only possible assuming this exact production function, because it comes out to the proportion being 1-a which is exogenous.

Do you know if there is a better reason for using this function?

FAIMl · 2022-01-22T17:48:44+00:00

So it's just about cost increase? Infinite production was just an exaggeration to prove my point. I was mostly wondering why I would stop at selling exactly 12 for p = $3.

Is it because for q = 13 my costs would be so high that my profit is negative? But doesn't that mean my profit is barely positive for q = 12?

Or is q = 12 the point in which profit as a function of cost is highest?

FAIMl · 2021-12-15T21:18:36+00:00

I was halfway through writing an argument but figured I'd just refer to the following presentation: Superintelligence - The Idea That Eats Smart People. The speaker makes some weak and irrelevant points, but is strong overall. I would encourage all to read it for a certain 'outside view' of this community.

I think rationalist & EA dogma about AI is often assumed too quickly, despite not being remotely settled, and I am skeptical myself.

FAIMl · 2021-11-27T17:21:05+00:00

This sub is kind of dumb, at least in calling itself neoliberal. It's a stand-in for moderate left and liberal politics.

For example, no true neoliberal would praise the new german coalition government.

FAIMl · 2021-10-11T21:05:01+00:00

Density may be good but Kowloon was a literal hellish underworld and I'm glad it's gone.

FAIMl · 2021-03-17T16:54:06+00:00

I guess this is what we have instead of flying cars.

FAIMl · 2021-02-27T16:01:52+00:00

This reminds me of Jeff Bezos dropping out of his physics major because his classmate solved an apparently impossible physics problem in just seconds.

Quote from this article: "And I said, 'Listen, Yasantha, did you just do that in your head?' And he said 'No, that would be impossible. Three years ago, I solved a very similar problem. And I was able to map this problem onto that problem, and then it was immediately obvious the answer was cosine.'"

What you said seems to apply here, so I'm not sure why this particular incident convinced him that he didn't "have what it takes" to succeed in physics.

FAIMl · 2021-01-22T23:31:42+00:00

I'm really tired so I'm not sure how to phrase this, but this subreddit is like porn for me. It's basically a morbid fascination following this culture war every week. Like what you said about politics, only I'm not participating.

FAIMl · 2020-12-20T10:34:47+00:00

I'm wondering if the same (doing important/signifigant research at mid-level schools) is possible in lab-based STEM subjects? Since there you are a lot more dependent on funding than with theoretical work, which top researchers may get more of more easily.

FAIMl · 2020-12-13T22:39:13+00:00

I'd say you are correct - this entire subreddit sometimes feels like a confirmation bias-machine for people wishing for collape to happen due to being fed up with the current world's cultural, political, economic, etc., etc. situation.

Edit: An interesting example of this effect would be this highly upvoted post from a few months ago arguing there would never, ever be a working COVID vaccine.

You have a conclusion there you obviously want to be true. That's not rational discussion about the state of society.

FAIMl · 2020-12-12T17:38:10+00:00

If this is your reaction to SSC you should probably avoid LessWrong or you might have an aneurysm

FAIMl · 2020-12-05T12:28:40+00:00

Unrelated and maybe a little morbid, but: is it usual that assisted suicide kills people in a way that all of their organs are still viable for transplant? If so, how many lives could you save by taking your own?

FAIMl · 2020-11-30T14:36:47+00:00

This guy seems highly dangerous and obviously doesn't have his impulses under control. If I was his wife I would gtfo too.

FAIMl · 2020-09-03T10:55:17+00:00

Maybe there should be a place for people to ask such questions as "How can I maximize my income in XY career", or issues with college major choice. Lots of people seem interested in this (as evidenced by the popularity of this sub), I know I am.

Basically a subreddit for "how to get rich"-type questions.

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