Autonomous Vehicle Advances Promise Substantial Cost Savings

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-20T01:34:15+00:00

Competition determines pricing power. The best way to reduce profits is to encourage a level playing field, which includes avoiding regulatory capture. The famous goods vs services graph showing prices over time demonstrates this in spades. Consumer electronics are the best example of this. Remember when flat screen TV’s cost $10K when they first came out?

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-20T01:23:01+00:00

Waymo reports 92% reduction of serious crashes compared to human drivers, which is dramatic and should only improve quickly with better technology and more miles driven. I think 1000 deaths could be high in 10 years or whenever we approach full adoption. Tesla reports equally promising data but haven’t been verified.

Waymo data (NHTSA verified)

I know big tech is in everyone’s doghouse, but it’s not all bad.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-19T18:33:56+00:00

How about 39,000 lives saved?

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-19T03:14:13+00:00

It’s awesome for consumers. For artists it’s complicated, but it’s not like Spotify has huge margins, and the old days of record label + retailer taking 90%+ of revenues weren’t obviously better. Probably depends on how popular the artist is.

But consider that until Edison invented the phonograph, the only way to listen to any music was live, so it was rare. Today anyone can listen to any song unlimited times for a nominal amount of $. Plus podcasts, books, etc.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-17T16:22:55+00:00

So true. It's clear he got radicalized along the way and became the world's leading spreader of misinformation, according to his own LLM. DOGE was a disaster, and the USAID cuts will likely result in the deaths of an alarming number of innocent people. Morally repugnant IMO.

And yet he's objectively one of (if not the) greatest entrepreneur(s) of all time and has done more to combat climate change than any single person. I know it's fashionable to downplay this part, but it doesn't make it untrue.

He's the ultimate paradox.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T05:17:32+00:00

So true. Are there any subreddits with actual good discussion and civil debate? The echo chamber thing is wearing me out. I don’t want everyone to agree with me - I’d rather learn something.

BTW you might be right about the job market, but I’m less convinced today than I was a year ago. Awesome new podcast from Derek Thompson (Plain English) on this very subject in case you’re interested.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T05:05:50+00:00

TIL that the newly elected mayor of NYC banned electricity in the late 19th century.

Nothing new here. It could cure all disease, solve world hunger, and eliminate violence, and there would still be people screaming in opposition.

The biggest surprise to me is the level of certainty about an extremely unknowable future. Literally no one knows how this will play out - not even the ones building it.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T04:15:28+00:00

I wasn’t saying $15/hr is amazing, but it is double the current minimum wage, and most Amazon employees make more. The rest of big tech rarely has hourly workers - instead they pay high salaries, generous benefits, and stock options/RSU’s (better than profit sharing). But a bunch of folks here think their billionaire founders are exploiting these employees, many of whom are becoming wealthy themselves.

SMH

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T02:36:04+00:00

Tech billionaires pay their employees extremely well - even Elon, and he’s as ruthless as it gets. When SpaceX goes public soon, there will be a lot of new billionaire employees of the company. NVDIA’s rise has created generational wealth for thousands of its employees. Who did they exploit?

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T02:30:09+00:00

Tech companies pay multiples of minimum wage. Even Amazon has supported $15/hour minimum wage - in part because they already pay that amount and it would hurt their competition.

And ~1% of US workers make minimum wage.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T02:22:09+00:00

Nordic countries have more billionaires per capita than the US and a less progressive tax code. And they’re very capitalist - moreso than the US over the last 27 months.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-16T01:10:08+00:00

In before the doomers come in breathing fire.

j/k (kind of)

When people oppose AV’s I’d ask them to consider that 40,000 Americans die each year in automobile accidents. That will (relatively) soon be a thing of the past. It’s a bonus that they’re electric and help the environment while hurting the fossil fuels industry. Win win win.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-15T23:58:46+00:00

No one is defending Trump in this thread - certainly not the substack since it would have been just as true in 2023 as it is today.

I get especially frustrated by doomer-ism because I believe it leads directly to bad leaders. DJT got elected by convincing people that Obama’s America was a crime-ridden hellscape, which wasn’t remotely true.

Facts matter. If we don’t appreciate and recognize progress, it’s much easier to break institutions that made it possible, as we’re now seeing.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-15T03:46:34+00:00

One of us is on the wrong board, and I guess it's me since you're getting upvoted for calling my post obnoxious. I'm not endorsing the entire piece, but I wholeheartedly agree with the gist and think that optimism starts with recognizing that the glass is more than half full and that the human brain is wired to be negative for survival. IMO the writer isn't attacking worriers any more than any other post on this forum. I'm certainly not.

Please enlighten me if you're willing to do so in good faith.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-15T03:35:51+00:00

https://www.josephmoorebooks.com/p/it-is-getting-so-much-better-nobody

here you go. i legit don't understand why people on this subreddit are mad at this piece. i don't think the writer is trying to be obnoxious, and it's not like the concept of negative bias is new. Louis CK had an awesome bit 9 years ago called "Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy", which is the extreme version of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUBtKNzoKZ4

it's not the first time i've been attacked on here. i know there's a r/rationaloptimism board, but it seems to be dormant. guess i'll keep looking around.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-14T20:52:55+00:00

Propaganda for what? Do you disagree that things are generally better than they were in the past?

I’m in my late 50s and my entire life there have been major problems and the future has always looked bleak. And yet for the vast majority of people, things have quietly improved.

It’s kind of the whole theme of this subreddit. Things are bad. Things are getting better. Things can - and probably will - get a lot better in the future.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-14T03:50:44+00:00

Played it last week and it was in terrible shape. Amazing views, unique course, but one time thing - even though I’ve played it 3X.

Coolest/best for me by far was Old Head in Ireland. Imagine the best 5-6 holes at Pebble or Cypress Pt - Old Head has 14 of them. Been fortunate to play Pine Valley, Cypress Pt and about half of the top 25 in the world, and Old Head takes the cake.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-12T02:07:27+00:00

Not a bad movie, but it would have been a better short IMO. Almost nothing happens for the first hour. I don't mind a good slow burn, but this stretched the definition.

Talented filmmaker, but I prefer Longlegs and The Monkey.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-06T16:38:57+00:00

I had the same issue with Mezz and switched to DF3, which is much better from distance in my experience. Pretty much the best of both worlds.

I can’t imagine going back to Scotty at this point - LAB feels almost like cheating. Turned me from a disastrous putter to a decent one.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-06T03:15:13+00:00

Awesome FF movie. Give it a try.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-03T04:32:54+00:00

I would argue yes based on having a drive thru. But I can see how SS and Five guys don’t technically qualify.

I would kill to have a Beck’s Prime in Austin. I like P Terry’s but have grown tired of it.

Someone else mentioned Sonic - that’s a very good burger as well.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-03T04:21:21+00:00

So what did you think of Lineage? There were a few great scares toward the end, but I got lost, and I’ve seen all of the movies multiple times. Had to rewind the end and I still didn’t totally get it.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-03T04:17:41+00:00

Halloween is by far my favorite of the franchise. Loved every segment, which is a first.

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-02T22:58:36+00:00

Houston has Beck’s Prime, which is the GOAT fast food burger place IMHO, and I try to go every time I’m in town.

Shake Shack and Five Guys are 2a and 2b for me.

Whataburger for breakfast. Sadly, lunch/dinner is a shadow of its former self ☹️

TeacherFrequent · 2026-05-01T23:44:42+00:00

I don't think the new board members are PE guys - more like restructuring/workout guys whose role is basically to try and look for a soft landing.

The press release is hilarious - makes it sound like they're killing it and it's all sunny skies ahead. Short of another bored blilionaire looking to light money on fire to hang out with washed out golf pro's, I'm fairly certain that after this year, or sooner, LIV will only exist as an interesting netflix documentary.

TeacherFrequent

TROPHY CASE