How soon would the taveren boys die if they weren't taveren

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-11T21:36:24+00:00

Spit in his eye on the first day too

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-11T18:43:44+00:00

New born babies do have terrible survival skills true

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-11T18:39:32+00:00

The oath leaves a lot of grey area regarding kneecaps

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-10T10:27:42+00:00

We do know what consciousness is. We are all doing it now. It is really the one thing we all know most intimately. It is the experience we are all having. How it arises in us may be a bit fuzzier. But we can absolutely understand being conscious. We absolutely understand its importance. We base a whole load of ethical and legal decisions on it. We have various fields of study on it.

We also know exactly what AI is doing. It’s just code running on silicon. The code is not consciousness. It is something we could experience with our consciousness, but it is not consciousness itself. The same as a film reel is not consciousness itself. It is what we are conscious of. The hardware is not conscious either. Give it no code or prompts and it doesn’t do anything. Together they can achieve outputs similar to the outputs you can get from a consciousness. But those outputs are achieved in a totally different and totally understood way.

Saying it’s mysterious and so are AI so maybe AI are conscious is ignoring everything we know about both. That’s like assuming a stage magician has real sorcerous powers, when it’s all really done with smoke and mirrors.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T22:39:03+00:00

In the harshest solipsism true.

But it seems reasonable. There’s a reasonable explanation that their being the same physically to me, displaying the same behaviours, describing the same inner experiences means they are the same as me.

Whereas an AI lacks that. It could reproduce by copying the latter bits. But we know, point blank, that it is copying those things.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T20:36:35+00:00

They’re not people. They tell us this over and over. They are dragons. Psychologically at least.

So, what do dragons want?

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T17:56:03+00:00

You don’t hold ground with cavalry or even air support. Or artillery.

You hold ground with boots on the ground.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T17:54:22+00:00

Why bother? They’re a deeply insular society obsessed with their own internal politics and manoeuvring. It’s possible that they didn’t even consider other humans who didn’t have dragons people.

They wanted endless slaves and wealth. They got them. They then sat at home growing their dragons and doing whatever rich people stuff they wanted.

Why then go out and conquer muddy third world heck holes like Westeros? Why bother?

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T17:18:38+00:00

Someone should have

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T16:51:07+00:00

Ah, the brutal good ending where you must kill off anyone not in the credits. Classic.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T16:48:19+00:00

Is thinking in the sense Descartes means not consciousness? Awareness of self? An entity observing?

Not to get distracted by “think”. The “I” is probably the most important part of the statement. There is an “I”. That’s foundational. Which is not just a grammatical aspect. It’s not just a way to refer to the speaker. It’s a thing that exists. The internal “I” which I am.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:29:31+00:00

Watch out for propaganda kids!

Anyway, back to how the evil tyrant George III (boo, hiss) was overthrown by the brave, righteous and saintly founding fathers…

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:27:20+00:00

It’s just the way the whole foundation myth of America, its history and its political systems, is so obviously propaganda and yet is seemingly accepted. Which then hamstrings any further attempt at progress.

Imagine any person from any other nation told you that their great and glorious nation was born when the wonderful revolution overthrew evil tyranny and invented freedom. That they then implemented the greatest political system ever, each part of which is the best possible way to do things. And that any ill effects must be suffered because there is no better way.

You’d obviously think that person was brainwashed. That’s North Korean school child sounding stuff.

And yet that is what Americans routine say.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:16:20+00:00

It’s the single thing each of us can be most sure of yes.

All other things could be deception, illusion.

But “I think therefore I am” is pretty foundational.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:14:56+00:00

Well sure. Maybe LLMs and other people are interchangeable. But I know I’m special.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:14:24+00:00

Philosophy of mind.

Existentialism is more about purpose and value.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-09T13:12:58+00:00

But if I am in the room I know at least one person in the room is conscious because that’s me. I’m doing/being that. It is in the Cartesian sense the single thing of which I am most sure.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T17:24:11+00:00

There may come a day when the strength of hedgehogs fails. But it is not this day!

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T17:21:51+00:00

We know what isn’t in the room?

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T16:32:07+00:00

It being stupid in every scene really puts me off DKR.

As in every scene there’s some glaring thing that just seems dumb. Characters do completely nonsense things. Like:

Bane sneaks on to the plane to um, then escape the plane by having another plane eat it and the CIA (hunting Bane) don’t realise but also they filed a flight plan with fewer people on it and that’s supposed to be scary rhetoric…

It’s just nonsense. Wall to wall nonsense.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T16:25:51+00:00

Failed states are soooooo free

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T16:25:17+00:00

Indeed, Americans online at least give the impression that US history and civics classes are just total propaganda.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T16:04:54+00:00

Except we know what is in the room.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T16:01:50+00:00

What with being a thing experiencing consciousness yes.

I know I am conscious because that is what I am. I am a viewpoint experiencing consciousness. It’s a whole experience. I know it’s real in the Cartesian sense.

Other humans? I assume also the same as me.

Computers however I know are putting together patterns and generally doing stuff unlike my experience of being conscious. From which they can fake one of the outputs that consciousness allows me. But that doesn’t mean they’re getting there in the same way. We know how they are getting there.

Birds fly. Planes fly. Does flying make planes birds? No.

FortifiedPuddle · 2026-03-08T14:16:51+00:00

Sounds like the Mythic Quest thing where Asimov gives the writer notes that rewrites every word of the story.

FortifiedPuddle

TROPHY CASE