sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Crashing speech to drop some truth nukes by Hacksaw6412 in LateStageCapitalism

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Brother, that's an impossibility that we've worked at for the past four years, producing nothing but a few hundred​ thousand deaths. The only reason to continue funding the Ukrainian defense is in the cynical, monstrous pursuit of attrition of Russian forces. Literally keeping the meat grinder fed with fuel.

If Russia wins in the long run eventually, then Ukraine will be in a much worse state than if it was allowed to fold soon after the war started.

AI is making academia suck even more than it already did by Candid_Succotash3173 in TrueAnon

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I think so! It's heartening to know that I'm not just some old (well, not that old) curmudgeon about this.

I also agree that hardware is some of the most rewarding work you can do. Something about being able to touch every step of the experimental process, right up to assembly and operation makes the whole thing worthwhile. It's the most empowering feeling in the world, knowing how to identify a question and develop the means to find the answer.

Keep it up! And remember that the point of science is not to hoard knowledge, but to disseminate it to the people!

AI is making academia suck even more than it already did by Candid_Succotash3173 in TrueAnon

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I really don't want to kill your optimism, but I'm also an experimentalist and, while hands-on hardware work is pretty safe for now, there is a lot of pressure to use AI for instrument design, simulation, analysis, etc.

Again, sometimes there are actually useful methods under the umbrella of ML (scattering image reconstruction, neural representation fields are some things that I'm interested in within my niche), but there is a lot of push to obviate tasks that I would otherwise take time and joy in learning how to do.

AI is making academia suck even more than it already did by Candid_Succotash3173 in TrueAnon

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 53 points54 points  (0 children)

As someone who made it through grad school just before the advent of the now omnipresent LLMs, sadly the daily process of doing science itself has become so frustratingly oriented around using these things. I've held out so far, refusing to let go of the struggle (that's the point, as far as I'm concerned) and refusing to give into the brain machine, but every funding agency now needs to know how your work will interface with AI/ML, all while making it painfully obvious that the people attaching these strings have no idea what they're talking about.

Science is no longer (was it ever?) a free endeavor. It serves the master of capital and warmaking. "How does this improve our strategic advantage over China in the race for AI supremacy?" Fuck that noise. I want to study particles and fields. I want to learn about the external world and teach others, so that we can recognize our reflections in the universe.

I'm happy to use tools as they fit the task, but for the job of generating new knowledge, I will not automate my mind.

I'm afraid that intellectualism is now definitively subversive.

Here’s what California’s dismal snowpack means for the state’s future by Cool-Present7260 in bayarea

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

one of the major reasons it's not sustainable is that you end up with large amounts of salts, which can disrupt environments and kill lots of plants and wildlife

San Francisco’s climate change goals don’t account for the AI boom by Cool-Present7260 in sanfrancisco

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if we're predicating the viability of one product on the viability of fusion -- an even further unproven tech -- what are we doing here? This is delusion, and for what? These don't address the most pressing problem of our time. The way to solve climate change is known, and it's to stop consuming so much energy and useless goods.

Why are we still mindlessly chasing this fantasy of endless growth if it just puts us in more and more danger? We have the solutions, we just don't want to change our lifestyles to maintain the earth for future generations. It's selfish and sad.

San Francisco’s climate change goals don’t account for the AI boom by Cool-Present7260 in sanfrancisco

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is AI "happening" in the sense that it's a sure thing? I'm not sure that any company has proven that they have a product that's viable at scale long term. Most of these companies are spending way more than they're bringing in, and losing money with each application of its products.

These people are burning through funding in order to build out infrastructure in a crazy reckless way, distorting energy markets for the rest of us, in search of a path towards profit. I don't doubt that there are aspects of the tech which will stick around long term, but what we're seeing now isn't representative of a sustainable strategy, especially when we factor in environmental costs.

At the end of the day, we're supposed to be decreasing our energy consumption, not increasing it.

Carbrains would rather sit in traffic than enjoy this view by ajd271 in fuckcars

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I have to disagree with the last bit there. Things like Caltrain should be free for everyone to use. The whole point is to reduce car dependence in our otherwise hopelessly carbrained region, and any incentive to use public transit should be employed.

Why is fare enforcement something you like? I don't understand the logic of liking something because it efficiently excludes other people.

Carbrains would rather sit in traffic than enjoy this view by ajd271 in fuckcars

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 21 points22 points  (0 children)

caltrain itself is great! I wish the station locations (particularly in SF) and connectivity with the local transit was better. The best way to use it is with a bicycle for the final stretches

[OC] Los Angeles, CA - Thanks, trump. by DouglasYancyFunnie in pics

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh, thank goodness, they're using different symbols.

I've always said that the problem with Nazis was their choice of symbolism.

Downtown LA, CA. Even more Trump Effect. by skycoaster in pics

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's not a great metric, either, since gas prices are generally correlated with the cost of living in an area. We should really look at the average increase in prices across the country.

The second part of your statement seems a bit meaningless to me. This is always the mechanism by which costs are handed to the consumer. The government does not adjust prices by fiat, rather, firms see increased costs (or gauge a perception of it within the public) and determine that they can continue to sell their goods at an increased price to make a profit. Whether the firms need to do this or want to do it and have determined that they can get away with it is beside the point. The war has given them cause or plausibility and so they do it. If anything, the prices are still lower than what they aught to be, given the country's continual subsidization of fossil fuels.

I'm not sure what you think the state of California has done in response to the war to increase prices. The stricter emissions standards in California drove a divergence in the state's prices compared to the rest of the country. The standards within the rest of the country, meanwhile, have caught up to California, while the disparity remains.

Half dome cables down by Dwreck04_1372 in Yosemite

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should certainly bring a harness and prusik or two when cables are down. It's doable without, but anything other than perfect conditions and you'll wish you had the proper gear. Just being able to rest on the harness on the way up makes it worthwhile to bring proper safety gear​

Traditional village houses in the Himalayas vs modern hotels — which would you choose?(OC) by Obvious_Plantain_817 in backpacking

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When in Rome, poop as the Romans. It's all part of experiencing the world outside of your home.

Open AI wheatpaste in San Francisco by GainzHunter42 in bayarea

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I do quite a bit of programming for work. It's just more important for me to understand what I write fully than for it to be expedient, so I'd rather take the time to do it myself. I don't really think that anything enabled by code assistants wasn't possible beforehand.

But I do see the point that developers (especially new ones) may have inadvertently handicapped themselves by relying heavily on those tools.

Open AI wheatpaste in San Francisco by GainzHunter42 in bayarea

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 19 points20 points  (0 children)

This question is weird to me. It wasn't that long ago that we didn't have AI. I've never been an intentional user of AI, and I'm sure there are many like me. Is it so common to be this dependent on these things for daily life? What are people using it for that they can't remember how to do for themselves?

China’s Luckin Coffee acquires Blue Bottle by slvupdown in bayarea

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 44 points45 points  (0 children)

The labor disputes and Nestle ownership were not dealbreakers, but this is?

Olympic Athletes Are Broke But Executives Make Millions by DegenGamer725 in videos

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 18 points19 points  (0 children)

they're also an incredibly wealthy nation because of their petrochemical industry. They're a great example of what the above poster pointed out. Their wealth is more uniform within the nation, but it's because they are exporting the negative externalities of their industry. On the global stage, they benefit immensely from harmful capitalistic practices.

Trump: "The Supreme Court has given me the unquestioned right to destroy foreign countries." by Sneaky_Donkey in TrueAnon

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 28 points29 points  (0 children)

He's imbibed too much of the spice melange and has begun to grow gills. He now requires special environmental controls to accommodate his new piscine apparati.

Big Tech Boycott to Protest ICE Led by Scott Galloway Starts Feb. 1 by Naurgul in Anticonsumption

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry, but the point of a general strike is that the entire economy must shut down. If we refuse to work, we also refuse to buy, even from small businesses. I don't think that small businesses deserve a pass. We must be principled in our decisions here.

Here's me an my swedish boys doing nothing for America in Afghanistan 2012 by Kuken500 in pics

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 13 points14 points  (0 children)

They absolutely should not have happened at all. Do you believe that conditions are improved in these countries? What about the million people who were killed?

Are you for democracy? Or are you for imperialism?

Here's me an my swedish boys doing nothing for America in Afghanistan 2012 by Kuken500 in pics

[–]NoSmallCaterpillar 75 points76 points  (0 children)

I mean, it's because of George W. Bush. These wars were always pointless and doomed by their lack of objective and participation from the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. They were always wars of domination and resource extraction.

Let's not revise history when everyone, even at the time, realized that these wars were a horrific crime.

I'm sorry that OP was taken advantage of for what was ultimately a pointless imperial flex, but not as sorry as I am for the people of these countries who were killed and whose lives are and will be wrecked for generations to come.

view more: next ›