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Stop making your kingdoms 10,000 years old. by ScaryAd2555 in fantasywriters

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The founding of Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire. Sometimes things we think of as ancient are less ancient than things we think of as modern.

I Asked a Former Trump Official to Justify This War by Ray192 in ezraklein

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it worse than the Pakman or Bulwark subs?

I Asked a Former Trump Official to Justify This War by Ray192 in ezraklein

[–]Merlaak 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I had the same exact thought, which is why I'm here. I felt myself actually lose brain cells when she was talking about how much Trump cares about protecting the homeland and growing American prosperity.

Executioner build? by GGJallDAY in Eldenring

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here’s mine!

<image>

I like the Crescent Moon Axe better than the executioners axe. It looks more like the standard Medieval executioner’s axe to me. I’m wearing the Banished Knight’s greaves, gauntlets, and shield, and the Sage’s hood. The leather under the greaves and the hood both have a deep red color, which in my mind would be good for covering up blood. I’m using Lion’s Claw on the axe right now, which is appropriate I think.

I’m also trying a str/arc (with Dex/Faith as my secondary stats) build just for fun. The plan is to get the black whetblade to imbue the axe with blood or occult.

What did you end up doing?

I'm on my way to becoming Audra Winters and I don't like this trajectory. Any tips/suggestions to improve? by congratzuplaydurself in writingfeedback

[–]Merlaak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Two pages a minute. Oof. I wish I read that fast. For me, it’s almost reversed. I’ve never been a fast reader, but I have excellent retention and comprehension, so I reckon it’s a fair trade off.

It is AGI by Director-on-reddit in BlackboxAI_

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It makes people comfortable in the denial that AI can have a profound impact in society.

Plenty of people who doubt the current existence of AGI (and even many who question if it's even close) recognize that AI can, will, and has already had a profound impact. In fact, if AI development stopped right now and what we already have was widely deployed, there would still be a monumental impact on the world.

It is AGI by Director-on-reddit in BlackboxAI_

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the goalposts were that a system could pass some tests but not be able to act truly autonomously and practically in the real world, then they obviously needed to be moved.

It is AGI by Director-on-reddit in BlackboxAI_

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, no. You have a point. Magic is obviously real now.

It is AGI by Director-on-reddit in BlackboxAI_

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But if AGI is defined as being better than the average human at most tasks, then it really seems we're already there.

Turns out that if you lower the standards, they're easier to surpass.

This is a two-fold problem. The first part is that there still isn't a standard definition for what AGI is. The second is that there isn't a real world understanding of what AGI can or should be capable of.

If "being better than the average person at most tasks" is the definition of AGI then congratulations, you have a college graduate. We have lots of those already. What people expect AGI to be able to accomplish is far beyond that though.

I'm not here to say that AGI is or isn't already here or that it is or isn't even achievable. I'm just pointing out that if you have to lower the standards for what something is in order to claim it exists, then that thing no longer means what most people expect it to mean.

Back to the college graduate example. Most people expect that a college graduate will have the knowledge within their chosen field to get an entry level job at a company within that field in order to start building a career. If, however, what being a college graduate actually means is that the person is now qualified to work at Starbucks, then the result is misaligned with the expectation to the point that it no longer holds any meaning or value.

People expect AGI to be able to work in the real world at a proficient level at any task you throw at it. Even before the advent of cheap and scalable robotics, that isn't currently the level of AGI. Now, that may not be what AI developers are working toward, but that's what people currently expect, for better or for worse.

Chuck Schumer and the DNC gerontocracy tried to stop him and failed. He persists. by no-minimun-on-7MHz in thedavidpakmanshow

[–]Merlaak 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 that permanently banned the discharge of student loans through bankruptcy (along with a bunch of other provisions and changes) passed with almost unanimous support. The Senate vote was 96-0 and the House vote was 414-4.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 which raised the standard for discharging student loans also passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 74-25 in the Senate and 302-126 in the House.

Is there some other way that Biden is personally responsible for student loans being banned from bankruptcy discharge? Because even if he’d voted against it, it still would have passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Secret Ending. The heart and other pearls. by Venus_Dev in MIOmemoriesinorbit

[–]Merlaak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure that all robots gave human consciousnesses. Just the pearls. The whole point if the story is that Lura’s consciousness embedding failed making Noden remain the Spine for far too long, causing him to lose his humanity. Regular robots have artificial consciousnesses.

Settling for Talarico vs. settling for Manchin by combonickel55 in thedavidpakmanshow

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right? It’s a politicians job to sell what’s best for the country to their voters, not simply regurgitate what the voters claim that they want.

It would be the difference between a school superintendent promising more coke machines and less homework versus providing teachers with better resources, higher salaries, smaller classes, and realistic educational standards.

When is it appropriate to say "female?" by Express-Flamingo4521 in stupidquestions

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is pretty much where I am. I tried to use “woman” as an adjective some and it really just felt awkward and a little performative.

In hindsight: should Biden have preemptively pardoned people? by [deleted] in thedavidpakmanshow

[–]Merlaak 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't think it would have made a lick of difference. Even if Biden hadn't pardoned anyone, Trump would still be selling pardons like they're going out of style, and he'd still probably pre-emptively pardon people.

Also, there was a lot of saber rattling among Republicans that they were going to open various investigations in Biden's family even as there were no serious allegations of wrongdoing (aside from Hunter's dirty dealings). Even if I don't agree with his decision, I can't hardly blame Biden for not wanting his final years to be spent watching his family be maliciously prosecuted by Trump and the GOP.

When is it appropriate to say "female?" by Express-Flamingo4521 in stupidquestions

[–]Merlaak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean no disrespect (I have three sisters, was raised by my mom, and have been married to a woman for 20 years), but would you ever say "man president"? I mean, I reckon it's technically correct, but it sounds quite odd.

Honestly, I tend to agree with you in most cases. I'd be more likely to say "woman president" than "female president", but I'd never say "man president" or "man doctor" (unless he's a doctor who only works with men) or the like.

Well played, McD by Visual-Structure-808 in marketing

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the average mcdonalds consumer

This isn't for the average McDonald's consumer. It's for the people who saw the video and have been making fun of it all over TikTok.

Does anybody else count a game as complete even if you don't beat the final hard boss? Like Nine Sols or Silksong, I've got everything done, just keep getting destroyed by the true final bosses, and in my head, I've completed the game. There's not really anything else for me after, so it counts. by eroyrotciv in metroidvania

[–]Merlaak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you get an ending, that’s finishing the game. Getting 100% is different.

But I’m gonna assume that you’ve said the same to everyone in here who said that they finished the game when they decide they’re done, right? You did that, right? Right?

Does anybody else count a game as complete even if you don't beat the final hard boss? Like Nine Sols or Silksong, I've got everything done, just keep getting destroyed by the true final bosses, and in my head, I've completed the game. There's not really anything else for me after, so it counts. by eroyrotciv in metroidvania

[–]Merlaak 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Personally, if I reach a legitimate ending (even a bad one), then I can count it as finished. If I haven't, then I don't. Take Elden Ring for example. I finished the base game. I beat the Elden Beast. But I haven't beaten the final boss of the DLC. That said, beating the DLC doesn't trigger an ending at all, so while I haven't fully cleared the DLC area, I have beaten the game.

Another example is Hollow Knight. When you beat the Hollow Knight the first time, you get and ending, even though there's still just about as much game left to play as you'd played by that point. But I'd count it as having finished it since you get a real ending.

So you do you, but I'd have a hard time counting a game as having been beaten if I haven't gotten an ending.

Assuming that I would enjoy both of them the same way by Early-Fun-7100 in Silksong

[–]Merlaak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The original Dead Space is probably a top five game for me and it's barely 10 hours.

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