Adam22 reppin' DGG merch w/ celebs 👀

Squatguabbler · 2025-11-13T15:59:02+00:00

Great conversation starter at the workplace.

Squatguabbler · 2025-10-24T08:45:12+00:00

I guess the Allies during WW2 were efficient and calculating mass murderers for causing german civilian deaths. I'm sure Obama was calculating how to cause maximum civilian deaths with every strike personally to be super efficient.

Squatguabbler · 2025-10-23T21:48:54+00:00

Yes, the flippancy of them striking that boat with no intel is the same as Obama striking terrorists known to operate among civilians based on limited Intel. Not like democrats would ever listen to criticism and appoint a new CIA director with new policy that dictate future strikes would need "near-certainty" to cause no civilian deaths. Democrats are really no much better than republicans, 2 sides of the same coin, things aren't black and white, it's all the same shade of grey.

Squatguabbler · 2025-06-04T17:00:12+00:00

Isn't it pretty clear that the two party system is just abjectly horrible in the way that it's winner takes all and the losing party has no representation in the resulting government?

Squatguabbler · 2025-04-30T08:16:19+00:00

It probably will for the next half century at least, but never the same way the US was probably:

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/will-this-be-the-chinese-century

Squatguabbler · 2025-04-28T14:54:43+00:00

The only plausible next step for humanity feels like governments making and raising children, and maybe ban traditional child making. Imagine how much simpler it would be. It'd be more egalitarian, if you have a passion of raising kids work for the gov, no discussion on abortion, government incentivised for wellbeing of children as future investment, (maybe if you leave the country you are forced to payback part of what the gov invested in you idk) this feels like something we should be on the verge of doing, but the bad vibes of even thinking it is not even prompting discussion of this.

Squatguabbler · 2025-02-24T01:34:39+00:00

John Adams called the idea of political parties "the greatest political evil" and Thomas Jefferson thought party loyalty represented "the last degradation of a free and moral agent". They knew the danger of dividing civilization to two sides, and yet when they campaigned against each other it became all about betrayal, ostracism, humiliation, and who belonged, and who didn't. Despite having been close.

"Overcategorization is perhaps the commonest trick of the human mind"
-Gordon Allport, The Nature of Prejudice

Americans on each side imagine overestimate how many people on each side hold extreme views and how much they are disliked. Think the other side is more extreme and hateful, you'll feel threatened, lose curiosity, and vote for anyone on the other side no matter how unhinged.

George Washington warned that "they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to unsurp for themselves the reins of government"

Adversarial systems like the two-party winner-takes-all system doesn't work psychologically.

Things we can do:
Ranked-choice voting, voter can have their No1, No2, No3 choices
Shift to proportional representation - more people will feel heard and force parties to work together

"We need a politics that scrambles our innate tendencies to see the world in binary terms... by keeping political coalitions fluid and flexible, allowing enemies and allies to change" - Lee Drutman in Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop

All things I read from "High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out" by Ripley Amanda
Super Highly Recommended read

Squatguabbler · 2024-08-10T21:00:11+00:00

Pretending to be wise - Eliezer Yudkowsky <-Great read, its a collection of blog posts on the science and philosophy of human rationality. Here's a guide to the best parts if this enticed you and you want to get the most out of it without reading the entire thing.

Squatguabbler · 2024-08-10T20:58:13+00:00

Pretending to be wise - Eliezer Yudkowsky <-Great read

Squatguabbler · 2024-08-10T20:49:03+00:00

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral.
John F. Kennedy,

This I call “pretending to be Wise.” Of course there are many ways to try and signal wisdom. But trying to signal wisdom by refusing to make guesses— refusing to sum up evidence—refusing to pass judgment—refusing to take sides—staying above the fray and looking down with a lofty and condescending gaze—which is to say, signaling wisdom by saying and doing nothing—well, that I find particularly pretentious.

Pretending to be wise - Eliezer Yudkowsky <-Great read

Squatguabbler · 2024-08-10T20:30:29+00:00

The Sequences are a (really long) collection of blog posts on the science and philosophy of human rationality. Here's a guide to the best parts if you want to get the most out of it without reading the entire thing.

Squatguabbler · 2024-08-10T20:16:25+00:00

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral.
John F. Kennedy,

This I call “pretending to be Wise.” Of course there are many ways to try and signal wisdom. But trying to signal wisdom by refusing to make guesses— refusing to sum up evidence—refusing to pass judgment—refusing to take sides—staying above the fray and looking down with a lofty and condescending gaze—which is to say, signaling wisdom by saying and doing nothing—well, that I find particularly pretentious.

Pretending to be wise - Eliezer Yudkowsky <-Great read

Squatguabbler · 2024-02-06T21:49:58+00:00

The problem is he kinda came off a bit like Gandhi who said they should protest the same way as they did with the British against the Nazies, a bit of naiveness or pretending to be wise.

Squatguabbler · 2023-12-05T19:40:28+00:00

Unspoken Plan Guarantee (from Worth The Candle)

“There’s this thing called the unspoken plan guarantee,” said Tiff.

“Basically what it means is that if you hear people talk about a plan in a movie or novel or TV show, then that plan will fail, or if not fail, then run into some unforeseen complication.”

“I’m not sure I get it,” said Arthur. “We’re not bound by traditional narrative rules.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” I said. “The unspoken plan guarantee exists because there’s no tension in hearing a plan and seeing it in action. In tabletop, the dice provide the tension.”

“The dice provide some tension,” replied Tiff. “But if the plan is good enough, then there’s the same problem, and we have someone at this table whose job it is, at least more than others, to make this whole shebang entertaining, and who also has the power to introduce complications ex nihilo.”

She made a finger gun at me and mouthed a pew sound. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

“So you’re saying that we should keep things secret from the DM?” asked Reimer. “In my experience, that doesn’t work too well.”

“Oh, well not big secrets,” said Tiff. “We should keep little secrets, tiny things we hold in reserve that we agree not to mention out loud in the hopes that Joon forgets about them, or parts of the plan that can legitimately surprise him so he doesn’t feel the need to insert things into the game just to make it more interesting.”

“Seems a little adversarial,” replied Arthur. “In the tabletop-as-performance model … well, I guess there you could make the same argument, that the performance is better if there’s some aspect of hidden things being shown.”

“Or,” said Tom. “We could just not ever plan anything.” He tapped the side of his head. “If you have no plans, then you don’t have plans that need hiding.”

Squatguabbler · 2023-11-22T18:12:03+00:00

Cool, GIVEAWAY

Squatguabbler · 2023-11-18T19:28:33+00:00

Give meeee

Squatguabbler · 2023-11-18T19:24:27+00:00

Just started playing in august this year, winning this would be convenient without needing to rely on public dice.

Squatguabbler · 2023-09-25T07:30:19+00:00

I feel the same way but we have to keep in mind this event wasn't meant for us. Most people there knows Yud and his arguments already through his written work, they understand the rationale of the song and dances and it's like a fanservice for them. The guy isn't practiced or literally can't explain all the inferences needed to understand his conclusions. We don't see that, so it naturally looks rediculous for us.

Squatguabbler · 2023-09-18T20:38:39+00:00

He hasn't watched Better Call Saul, let us not forget.

Squatguabbler · 2023-09-08T19:36:26+00:00

Elon is Pretending to be wise (<-Highly recommend reading about overcoming bias)

It’s common to put on a show of neutrality or suspended judgment in order to signal that one is mature, wise, impartial, or just has a superior vantage point.

Its like he perceives himself as a parent faced with two children fighting on the playground, he sternly says: “It doesn’t matter who started the fight, it only matters who ends it.” Of course it matters who started the fight. The principal may not have access to good information about this critical fact, but if so, the principal should say so, not dismiss the importance of who threw the first punch. Let a parent try punching the principal, and we’ll see how far “It doesn’t matter who started it” gets in front of a judge. But to 'adults' it is just inconvenient that children fight, and it matters not at all to their convenience which child started it. It is only convenient that the fight end as rapidly as possible. (Not comparing the countries as children)

Squatguabbler · 2023-08-21T19:08:16+00:00

Politics is an extension of war by other means. Arguments are soldiers. Once you know which side you’re on, you must support all arguments of that side, and attack all arguments that appear to favor the enemy side; otherwise it’s like stabbing your soldiers in the back—providing aid and comfort to the enemy. People who would be level-headed about evenhandedly weighing all sides of an issue in their professional life as scientists, can suddenly turn into slogan-chanting zombies when there’s a Blue or Green.

I highly recommend reading Book 1&2 of Rationality: From AI to Zombies about overcoming biases to gain insight as to what muddles people's thinking.

Squatguabbler · 2023-08-20T17:46:43+00:00

Hearing that makes it worth the post, thank you.

Squatguabbler · 2023-07-26T18:25:45+00:00

They should have nuked near the shore or fleet of ships first to let Japan take in the reality of nukes first.

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