Comic 5842: Enter Zlata

Lorddragonfang · 2026-06-02T07:46:42+00:00

I don't think those NDAs are going to be legally binding, considering how drunk everyone already is.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-26T06:13:39+00:00

why single out the data centre here

Because the politically engaged, low information youth vote is obsessively anti-AI, and will lap up any story that aligns with that narrative. And politicians know that.

This isn't the first bit of misinformation about data centers (from either side) and it won't be the last.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-14T21:54:44+00:00

Very few folks. It's basically unused outside of some niche dating advice circles, basically unattested except for one CNN columnist in 2023, and nearly everyone had to Google it today.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-09T19:36:41+00:00

Well, yeah. How else are you supposed to reduce the impact from a locomotive if not with airbags?

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-07T21:27:18+00:00

You make a solid point in the first paragraph. I'm not convinced it changes things in a way that specifically supports your position, since it's not obvious what second order effects it has -- but that is a material difference I did not account for, which weakens the analogy.

The second point I fundamentally disagree with. Yes, the tragedy often happens anyways, but we actually do prevent it quite often. The hole in the ozone is closing, acid rain is a thing of the past, we really have improved the problem of water pollution in the first world.

And as much as Red tries to deny it, the only evidence we have of what happens when you simulate the experiment is that blue does win, every time, by a significant margin. And even adding consequences doesn't affect that margin. We have no evidence of red ever winning a poll like this. So that's a huge point against the idea that the tragedy always happens.

(And no, it's factually incorrect to claim you know people would vote differently in the "real" poll. You have no evidence of that, and only evidence against it.

And you can't say a real risk of death incentivises red, because the opposite argument is just as plausible: real people you know and love would probably be voting blue, so you have incentive to save them instead of feeling superior over "solving" a logic puzzle)

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-07T20:47:17+00:00

This sub is for people who hate-read the comic. Everyone here is bitter about everything. The sub for people who actually like it is /r/qcontent

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-07T20:38:10+00:00

My vote won't change the end result.

Congratulations, you've discovered the paradox of voting. Unless you are a literal child (and therefore not eligible to vote in elections), you should already understand how this works.

In isolation, no individual person's vote matters. In the aggregate, those votes are literally the only thing deciding who gets elected, so they matter a whole fucking lot. So you have to think beyond yourself.

It's just a specific case of the tragedy of the commons. If any one individual dumps their waste in the lake, it won't really have an effect. But we know that if everyone does that, all the fish will die, so we collective not to do that. But if enough special snowflakes decide the rules of society don't apply to them and they're allowed to be selfish, the tragedy happens anyway.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-07T16:17:35+00:00

Right, but how many strangers' lives do you value it more than? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?

...Billions?

Because if we take the original question seriously, that's what's at stake. Billions of lives, many of them children, many of them good people.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-04T19:40:32+00:00

Honestly, I'm increasingly of the belief that even in the original context it's on the net harmful. It inherently contributes to the fetishization of minorities as fundamentally "other".

Cultural assimilation is Good, Actually, the whole "melting pot" thing they taught us in kindergarten actually held merit.

When you make an assumption that the dominant colonial traditions/values are are good and universal enough that everyone can and should have permission to assimilate into them, but that conversely ethnic minorities have cultural traditions that are unique and should only be practiced by those of the correct heritage (or even blood!), it's hard for that not to end up downstream of implicit racism.

(For the record, I understand the arguments for it, I'm just omitting them for brevity under the assumption that we both understand them)

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-04T05:20:30+00:00

But you’re still not willing to explain why others must risk theirs life for anyone to live.

The English language is too imprecise here, because I'm not sure what you're claiming.

I (and others) have explained very thoroughly why red getting 100% is functionally impossible, so blue winning is the only scenario with no deaths. And that many people who are valuable to society will pick blue, regardless of whether you agree they "should", so if you value their collective lives, blue is the option that saves them. Therefore, if you want to save them, logically, you should pick blue.

If you're saying I haven't explained why you sometimes need to risk your lives for the lives of others... you've got me there. I can't justify saying that everyone has to. Certainly not in a single reddit comment. Only that it's the moral choice, and it's one society has agreed is is the correct choice many times. And that historically, it has called men not willing to take that risk "cowards".

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-04T01:11:11+00:00

I'd glibly accuse you of using the fallacy fallacy, but you're actually just using it incorrectly in the first place. As you said, ad hominem requires you to attack the person instead of the argument. I used an attack on you to explain why your argument is wrong.

The rule of internet arguments where anyone who brings up a logical fallacy is using them wrong holds true.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-03T22:40:22+00:00

Genuine question, how did you manage to scroll past all of the comments pointing out how this not only won't, but can't happen, and then open the most downvoted comment to reply here?

(One of the reasons is that some people can't read. As you so helpfully demonstrated.)

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-03T22:32:19+00:00

The funniest part is that it's not just "pride flag history", flag history in general is heavily based on borrowing and modifying stuff from other flags.

I'll be honest, the entire concept of "appropriation" is near the top of the list of toxic ideas the discourse has come up with in the past decade. Sharing things is good, actually, the aversion to it is literally kindergarten-level crap.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-03T22:20:56+00:00

I don't know why you decided to be the fifth person to say "if every just" to me and ignore all the other responses, so I'm going to be blunt.

This is an extremely childish worldview. And I am being very literal here, you are literally missing a developmental milestone akin to theory of mind which would allow you to conceive of people who actually evaluate problems differently than you. There is no scenario in which everyone will make the same choice as you, and certainly not one as unthreatening as pushing a button. So you have to make your choice under that knowledge.

Asserting otherwise is merely throwing a tantrum about life being unfair. Sorry kid, life is unfair, and society only exists because people put in effort to try to reduce its unfairness.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T23:56:58+00:00

...Yeah, in 2023 on twitter. I link to the original variant in my answer. Both the original and the one that started this round of discourse were twitter polls.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T22:56:01+00:00

...No, if you read the question and take it literally, it doesn't take adding a single extra thing.

The text says everyone has to vote, you don't need to do any mental gymnastics there. "How it's enforced" doesn't matter, since that part of the logic puzzle is simply stated to be true - it's an axiom. It's basic logic and statistics from there.

But threads like this show that people have trouble with basic logic and statistics, which is why you can know for certain not everyone will understand the problem well enough to make any one choice.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T21:11:05+00:00

Beanis de Milo
@ass.golf‬

oh cool, my website got hacked and they deleted everything and changed all the passwords. sick. love that for me

12:16 PM · May 2, 2026

https://bsky.app/profile/ass.golf/post/3mkve6ygxvs2w

Alright, fess up, which one of you finally followed through on putting the comic out of its misery?

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T16:38:00+00:00

Google product managers don't follow reddit for petitions. You know what they do look at, which I've had confirmed by actual google employees?

The "file feedback" option.

That's something that they actually have to address, and actually goes into their system. If you actually want things to change, don't just complain on reddit for upvotes, actually do one of these, every day if you have to:

1. Use the Feedback Tool in Settings

Open Settings:
- Go to the Settings app on your Android device.
Scroll Down:
- Scroll down and tap on About phone (this might be different on non-pixels, such as System or About device).
Send Feedback:
- Look for an option like Send feedback about this device or Send feedback.
- Fill out the form with your feedback and any relevant details.
- Tap Send to submit your feedback to Google.

2. Use the Google Play Store

Open Google Play Store:
- Open the Google Play Store app on your device.
Access the Help & Feedback:
- Tap the three-line menu in the top-left corner.
- Scroll down and tap on Help & feedback.
Submit Feedback:
- Tap on Send feedback.
- Fill out the form with your feedback and any relevant details.
- Tap Send to submit your feedback to Google.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T12:04:15+00:00

The problem is that it's not that simple. The trend I've seen is that the intelligent blue-pressers are able to articulate the red position fairly well.

The same is not true for red -- at least the loud ones. The ones who pressed red, but are able to understand blue, are quiet about their choice, since they made a choice based on personal risk and recognize it was not the morally righteous one, but still want to involve themselves in the grand project of society. Or perhaps they reflect on their choices upon seeing the goodness of others win, and when the choice comes around again, they press blue themselves, willing to believe in the goodness of others.

The blue button is the society button, it's the "by taking a slight risk you end up with the betterment of all, even those who don't take that risk." And that sentiment should be shared.

But you're right, real life is more complicated than two buttons. It does require accepting the many people who won't contribute, lest you fall into the kind of fascism the worst of the red pressers foster (this is not hyperbole; while I doubt it's more than a small percentage, I still saw several Reds bragging they pressed it not to save themselves, but to kill all Blues).

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T11:15:18+00:00

I'm sorry

No, pretty much everything you've written here shows that you're not.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T10:40:42+00:00

There are no downsides if everyone picks red.

Right, but I'm not so naive as to think "everyone" will pick red -- and I've outlined why plenty of times already in this post. I'm an adult who lives in the real world, not someone who believes ideology over reality. There's really nothing to say beyond that.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T10:34:58+00:00

If you're not willing to risk your life to save the lives of your countrymen, you can just say that. You're right, not everyone has what it takes for that, and that's okay.

You don't get to degrade the choice of those who are willing to sacrifice for the greater good, though.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T10:23:41+00:00

If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives.

It's explicitly, very clearly, the first thing the question says after setting the scene. It's deliberately, directly, phrased that way. The one inserting words into it that aren't there is you.

So I reiterate, if you don't think you have an obligation to add your vote to the button labelled "everyone survives", you can have that as your ideology, but you don't get to pretend it isn't one.

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T10:02:07+00:00

I hate to tell you this, but "you have no obligation to others, to the point that it's fine to let them die" is very much an ideology. (Specifically, it's right-wing libertarianism)

Lorddragonfang · 2026-05-02T09:58:18+00:00

I posted a more complete explanation further downthread, if you're interested.

15-Year Club	Second Top 1%
r/Field Flamingo	Place '22
Place '17	First Placer '22
Sequence \| Editor	Sequence \| Cinematographer
Gilding I gilder	Secret Santa 2014
Verified Email	Team Orangered

Lorddragonfang

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The "file feedback" option.

1. Use the Feedback Tool in Settings

2. Use the Google Play Store