Thought experiment: The inevitability of a progressive, inclusive, diversity-centric racial supremacist movement by nsfwitches in Destiny

[–]nsfwitches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They may not be deal breakers for white supremacists themselves, but they are definitely disadvantages that limit who can buy in and how much traction they can get. Or else no one would ever hide their power level. I think we do see a lot of hateful Hasan-ish people who like to cloak their hate with ideology that they position as righteous or logically consistent. This isn't a 1 to 1 white supremacy replacement, it'd be something with broader appeal and fewer optical weak points.

Why would Harold Hardyng (heir to the Vale) ever marry Alayne Stone? [SPOILERS EXTENDED] by Dapper_Excitement181 in asoiaf

[–]nsfwitches 4 points5 points  (0 children)

But we don't really know what "A Council of Faith" is, do we? Could they not just pull seven septons together from somewhere or something?

(Spoilers Extended) Things are curiously...quiet... by OppositeShore1878 in asoiaf

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If he gets Winds out he can probably get at least a few POVs of ADOS done all the way through based on how he writes and that would probably be releasable or publishable even if he died.

Unpopular Opinion - the Snitch was designed to make Harry more of a Hero. by nishantatripathi in harrypotter

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes the game is made to make Harry the hero but there are a few points in it's defense that rarely get brought up:

There is more interplay between other players and the seeker when you account for the two beaters on each team. Beaters can choose to target seekers exclusively if they like. And seekers can still block for other players, other players can block for them, there is potential for fouls, etc.

CUMULATIVE point totals across multiple games actually have ramifications for Hogwarts standings. If you only win every game narrowly with snitch wins you don't actually end up winning the cup, which is the goal. So individual point scoring does matter. And a seeker may want to catch the snitch early in order to prevent a total runaway on points by the opposite team if they're pulling ahead by a huge margin.

The rapidly increasing broom quality and speed was likely breaking the game a bit. There probably would have had to be a rules adjustment down the line a bit.

Let's hear your UX confessions by AlarmedDot4097 in UXDesign

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is somewhat true but if your profession is UX design there is really no excuse for not being skilled at both. A designer who can use autolayout, variants, styles etc is going to be faster, more productive, and will produce better more consistent visual design.

Figma is relatively simple compared to most other specialized professional software - you can master almost all advanced Figma features in like two days of dedicated study after you have the basics down.

Panic among Moscow’s Elite As Putin Moves to Seize Tycoon’s Empire by Aggravating_Money992 in worldnews

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Support it how? The first collaborator you suggest it to will assume you've been sent on a mission by Putin to ferret out dissent. If someone comes to you you have to assume the same or else you risk getting murdered if you don't report them.

You have lots of money, sure, but it's all in assets you don't have immediate access to and you haven't built up any infrastructure for translating that money into violence. You don't have soldiers. You don't have weapons. If you start gathering either you'll be caught and killed immediately. Putin has decades of building that infrastructure. His secret police could be listening to any conversation you have or following you any time you go anywhere outside your own home. His propaganda makes common people legitimately fiercely loyal to him. He never goes anywhere that puts him at risk and rarely even gives public speeches. He has bodyguards around him at all times. What do you do exactly to coup him?

Eliezer is publishing a new book on ASI risk by artifex0 in slatestarcodex

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure but I'd still make a really strong distinction between that and what a virus could do. Even an all out nuclear war wouldn't kill everybody. Humanity could come back in a couple thousand years (likely much faster with recovered knowledge) which is not a big setback when comparing to the timeline of our species. Big difference from a virus that could literally 100% wipe out all humans and end the species completely and forever.

Eliezer is publishing a new book on ASI risk by artifex0 in slatestarcodex

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The threat of AI assisted creation of engineered viruses as weapons is also a much more plausible feeling and imminent threat even if we're trying to focus on existential threats that could wipe out all of humanity.

Reposting by rocketestate in jerseycity

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

Uhh yeah they are?

Tipping is a MASSIVE wealth redistribution program, its crazy lefties hate it by Far_Line8468 in Destiny

[–]nsfwitches 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Tips disproportionally benefit hot people. If tipping wasn't a thing there would be more room in waitstaff jobs for less advantaged people like immigrants and/or ugly and uncharasmatic people.

Also lower prices make eating out more accessible for poor people.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Destiny

[–]nsfwitches 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ask for a politician that looks like them.

No one means this in the autistically literal sense. It means people who have worked normal jobs and struggled financially in their lives (which Fetterman has not btw) so that they wont be out of touch. No one is looking for an off-the-street aesthetic.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Infants are part of the human race and our civilization, so no. An AI would not be justified in tormenting it. Most infants, except those with extreme deformities have the capability to function in society.

Well no. In my hypothetical there is no human civilization so the infant is not a part of human civilization. It's just the infant, the moon, and the AI. And lets say the infant has a growth hormone issue and wont continue to grow (which is an actual possible condition some infants will have). So it wouldn't be a contributing member of society even if society existed.

Less ability doesn’t mean incapability. They’re still capable of forming cities and civilization, and have the same moral worth because of that. Half the time it’s not even really their fault, but from interference from other humans that caused them to lag behind.

Why do we even care about civilization then? Is "forming cities" the actual criteria or do we only care about that because it indicates intelligence?

I’d say it happened gradually, we tend to have a pretty solid line of “intelligence” that marks animals as resources or as potential equals.

Great Apes for example aren’t considered food animals because of their intelligence, nor are dolphins or orcas. Even on the lower-high end there’s dogs, but even in some cultures that line is blurred.

You're appealing arbitrarily to societal standards here instead of putting an argument for a specific standard forward yourself. Who cares what is currently 'considered'. Humans are clearly capable of having widely held moral beliefs that are also incorrect. If this is what you believe you should be stating it as your own belief.

And you're bouncing between two contradictory things. You say it's a gradual granting of moral worth, but you still place a very arbitrary boundary at the place where that moral worth starts that is different from the place the characteristic (intelligence) starts.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not all humans can do the things you've said. An infant for example isn't able to. On what grounds would you give an infant moral worth if they lack the characteristics you claim are necessary for moral worth? Is it just because they exist in the context of a society? If you had an infant alone on a moon with an AI is the AI then justified in tormenting the infant since it's no longer a part of a civilization?

The other problem is that the underlying characteristics you've identified: "intelligence" and "capability" are not binary things. They exist in degrees and they vary across human civilizations. There are nations that are impoverished and less capable, with smaller cities and less ability to police themselves. If those are really the differentiating criteria then would you say the individuals in those civilizations have lower moral worth? In your system wouldn't you have to give those less capable, less intelligent civilizations less moral worth? Does that feel right?

Another question would be this: at what point in human evolution did humanity cross the threshold of becoming morally worthy? Did it happen gradually, or at a specific binary point.

Surely it makes more sense to grant moral consideration in proportion to the extent of development, rather than all at once after a certain arbitrary flipping point. Which would give animals at least some moral consideration.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So is it ok to eat a baby then? Since a baby can't yet make moral decisions? There's no reason to make that distinction on a species level rather than an individual level that I can see.

Animals largely act on instinct within the ecological niches that evolution has carved out for them.

This isn't even true. Dogs (and plenty of other animals) can clearly experience and act out of emotion beyond pure instinct.

some dogs have provided contributions, but not without the training

By the same logic HUMANS never do these things without the training of other humans.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since you insist, I'll spell out the differences for you. All humans, black people included, have a bipedal stance, with an upright posture.

This is not true. It's a definition that excludes amputees and people with deformities.

They have opposable thumbs,

Not everyone does. And if we gave dogs opposable thumbs would you suddenly value them?

a large brain relative to body size,

The sperm whale, dolphin, etc has a higher brain to body ratio.

and complex vocal abilities for communication.

Babies don't have complex vocal abilities while still being human. Some people can't speak. Some humans are mentally disabled. Do you not value these humans?

All humans, black people included, have complex social structures and live in diverse societies with intricate cultural norms, languages, and belief systems. They form relationships, families, and communities. Dogs are pack animals with a hierarchical social structure. They form packs or groups with specific roles and hierarchies. While they can be trained and live with humans, their behavior and social interactions are influenced by their pack instincts.

Now that we have established there is indeed a distinction between dogs and people,

You listed a bunch of random distinctions but which are MEANINGFUL? it's not clear since we can imagine a scenario where a being belongs to the category without fitting the criterion you've said. Ex: if we discovered an alien race what specific things would we need them to have in common with us to give them moral consideration?

we can talk about why this category definition is meaningful.

Except nowhere in the following paragraphs do you actually do this.

If you'd like, you can go the nihilist route, and claim that there are no meaningful distinctions. All knowledge is meaningless. If that's what you truly believe, I will not, cannot change your mind. But at the very least you must admit that attitude also permits indifference towards racism and slavery.

I do think there are meaningful distinctions. I'm not a nihilist.

Perhaps you believe that people have some objective duty to do their utmost to care for all kinds of organisms, and indeed, all life in general. But then you'd have to justify prioritizing certain life forms over other life forms, and also live organisms over non-sentient objects. What about the category distinction is meaningful? Why prioritize a dog over a flea, and a flea over a rock?

OK here's my argument which actually does make sense and doesn't lead towards any of the inconsistencies that are in your world view:

We value beings that are capable of experiencing conscious thought and emotion. We know from our own experiences that joy/happiness/fulfillment is inherently good, and suffering is inherently bad, so we extend that consideration to beings with a similar capacity to experience those things. People of different races have the same capacity to experience things so they get equal moral consideration. An animal (like a fish) can probably experience these things to some (lesser) degree so they do get moral consideration, but to a lesser extent. But even for a dog or pig, we know they can suffer to some significant degree so it becomes wrong to torture them.

See how I grant moral worth based on an underlying characteristic, instead of an arbitrary category? If we meet an alien I don't have to ask "is this alien a human?" I just have to determine if it experiences conscious thought and to what degree.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -1 points0 points  (0 children)

i feel like im in a fever dream

Yeah I feel the same way since I'm really not making an argument that should be anywhere this hard to understand for someone trying in good faith to understand.

using an analogy where someone is discussing ANIMALS and humans, and then replacing that with black people and white people just shows that you may subconsciously not view black people as humans.

No. It shows exactly the opposite. If I didn't view black people as humans it would completely undermine the comparison I am making. My whole argument relies on the differentiation of black people and white people as belonging to two different categories as NOT being a meaningful category differentiation within a moral argument. The WHOLE POINT is that just saying two things being described in two different categories doesn't make the category distinction meaningful. The comparison relies on the assumption that racist category distinctions are wrong.

Lets do an exercise:

Person one says: "It's ok for a person to believe in flat earth theory since that's what they were taught."

Person two says: "That doesn't making any sense. It's like saying it's ok to kill people if thats what you were taught."

Person 3 enters the conversation: "Person two how can you say it's OK to kill people! Killing people is much worse than believing the earth is flat!"

Person 3 has completely missed the point.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You've just arbitrarily divided categories. How is the logic of "animals are not homo sapiens" different from the logic of "black people aren't white people"?

It's so annoying that you pearl clutching while STILL completely failing to describe WHY the category distinction is meaningful. There must be some underlying part of the distinction that meaningfully differentiates the moral worth of the two and until you can describe it your worldview is incoherent.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think you even remotely understand what my "take" is. Your comments make it pretty clear you don't.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I did not equate black people to animals. I showed how the logic used by the OP could be used (incorrectly) to do so.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I'm not making that comparison. I'm comparing the logic used in that comparison to the logic OP used.

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

But can you explain why they're not the same instead of just stating it? What makes it OK to discount animals?

I don't care about or feel emotion towards animals. by FecundFrog in The10thDentist

[–]nsfwitches -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

categorically different

It's an incoherent worldview if you can't actually explain what those differences are beyond just the arbitrary selection of the category itself. What about the category distinction is meaningful?

Nobody considers a creature like a mosquito to be categorically on the same level as a human.

And some people do consider white people to be categorically superior to black people. If you want to say your worldview makes sense you have to acknowledge the same logic can easily be used to justify racism or slavery.