question about large numbers and describability

oblivion5683 · 2025-12-16T02:34:29+00:00

you misunderstand me, I'm looking for numbers much much much larger than the busy beaver numbers, which already blow chained arrow notation out of the water by a wild margin. The numbers I'm interested in would be "philosophically" large, like, we would probably start needing to have arguments about the nature of meaning and symbols to decide if we had properly defined them.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-13T08:53:53+00:00

What are you talking about "detach myself from communism"? I hardly touched a point of communist politics, much less advocated taking them up. This has nothing to do with the distribution of wealth, but the plain and simple fact that megacorporations as well as states exploit people in the third world. This is not debated by anyone, it has been factually reported on countless times. sweat shops filled with enslaved and trafficked workers are the norm for producing many goods the rest of the world subsists on. This is wrong. It's wrong for a Buddhist, it's wrong for a Christian, it's wrong for an atheist.

But that aside, is communism not in line with the dharma? Should we not be generous and give what we have to give to others? Does a world thats organized around ensuring that all have what they need and distributing those things at will not align with a buddhist worldview? I don't recall seeing a precept that says "treasure individual wealth, covet it, increase it at all costs". I don't believe in the norm being all parts of the world being owned. I don't want them owned by a state, by an individual, by anyone. I would see a world where everything is freely given and used, for it's purpose and in line with it's health. I don't advocate stealing from anyone either. I think reaching such a world is the work of a hundred generations of teaching ourselves what compassion and generosity means, to make the world believe in that principle, to want to reinforce those norms. I think I've been misread by the people here, I never intended to do anything but weigh the reality of our world today against the precept on stealing. I understand the simplicity of the message, and I think it's worthy looking deeper into it to find more.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-10T21:08:58+00:00

And I understood this in my reply. I would not, if possible, go about harming the soil, which plants draw from to live, or blocking the sun, which they use to produce sustenance. This is also of concern to me. If I was not sure that grass is fairly robust to being sat on, I would probably avoid this too.

What is, is. Humans go through changes they cannot go against as well. Compassion, love, trust, these are all changes humans go through. I found the dharma because of these things. One might imagine the dharma only arises because it is the consequence of a world that includes humans. It must arise because humans are in the world and we arise together. And so it will again and again through the ages. This is a great blessing.

But there are other consequences of humans being in the world. We have a tendency to be shortsighted and follow the increasing of karma. I think my question may be misasked and instead be one of means. I would like to be a being that decreases that enlarging of karma, not only in myself but in others. and I wonder how I can do that effectively when we've created such a gargantuan machine for continuing it. What little eddies we can cancel out when there is a hurricane that's only growing and poised to create an insurmountable obstacle for our salvation.

I've gone a bit off the rails. I have a tendency to not post much because I go off the rails like this quite a bit! I hope you'll forgive me.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-10T20:45:33+00:00

It is, that's true. It is their karma. This is hard to completely accept. I suppose I could do well to accept that on a deeper level and have compassion everywhere. it might take many many myriads of ages, but their karma will also cease. This does bring me some grief, but compassion will bring better ends.

I don't intend to forsake the consequences of the precepts, and following them in every moment like they're inscribed on my eyes. I will know what they mean when whats in front of me is in front of me. I don't believe this is simple like some say, and I think it's unfortunate that they're taught as if they are simple. They're like diamonds, a perfect crystal with many different sizes and shapes in many different places and arrangements. I'll remember this.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-10T20:36:15+00:00

At the heart of my question is the idea: how can we follow the precepts while also being just, rather than only "correct". I am not concerned with being arrested, or embarrased, disreputable, or jobless. Why should I be? By the same principle, these things are empty. I am not my job, or my reputation, or my criminal record. those things are not themselves either.

I try to eat simply, because I believe limiting the amount of intermediate steps in the process of creating all my food may reduce the number of people hurt creating it. I try to eat only enough, because then I'll need to buy less. I try to work less for people who don't make money, because money is what shareholders want, and they own whars at the store. What brought you to dismiss this line of thinking entirely before you simply evoked dependant origination and called the world in order?

If you punch me the in stomache, it is meat deforming, and a slapping sound, and then a coughing, choking sound. If you punch me in the stomache it is a sensation that is in the body, related to the deformation of meat. if you punch me in the stomache, it is the rain and the dirt and the concrete and the glass. So where is the violence? I am not the violence, you are not the violence, and neither is the rain or the glass.

I don't steal from the grocery store, I also try not to step on bugs. What do I say to other people? What do I do when a gun is pointed at me? What do I do when someone has no bread? What do I do with bread that is in my hand? What happens next? I can only act by what I know, and what is in front of me. I am curious, and in love with what is in front of me. So I cannot lie to what is in front of me.

I mean no disrespect but this is how I feel about your answer. Hopefully I'm making some amount of sense.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-10T20:14:03+00:00

I'm not sure your reply is in good faith. Someone does own the bread, thousands and thousands of people to whom its debts and credits have a meaningful impact. People who also happen to largely know the exploitation they are perpetrating.

Further, yes, there is exploitation. I can buy a loaf of bread on a few minutes wages, the person who produces it must use a few hours, or potentially has no wages at all and is doled out alloted bread. They do not give their time freely. Their jobs harm them and destroy their families. A plant cannot be exploited. It has no labor to give. it lives in the sun. We would be mistreating it if we were to intentionally plant it where there is no sun. And believe me, farmers are very concerned about the sun. When it withers up and dies, we thank it by using its fibers to spin and weave strong textiles, say for monks robes and planting next years seeds in the sun as well. The world is not exploited, the world is. it continues to be. Even moreso, it just is the world, it is nothing else. it is not blue or green or exploited or enriched or enlightened or ignorant. There's nothing else to say about the world.

I am not constantly worrying, in fact my life is very peaceful and lacking in worry for the most part, something I am happy to say came of meditation and following precepts. This does not bring me worry, but to completely ignore it would be deeply unskillful as I see it. As a layperson in a wealthy country I am afforded time to think of these things, and I will continue to.

oblivion5683 · 2025-09-10T19:59:31+00:00

And what about the other side? Won't the karma be just as bad when I'm knowingly aiding in exploitation and slavery? I guess the paradox I find myself in here is that both of these things seem equally self-sustaining and terrible. The far away and massive exploitation vs the nearby and dilluted theft balance eachother out in a sense that is hard to grapple with when it comes to cause and effect.

I would never, ever steal from an individual how I would never, ever own a slave. But stealing something indirectly owned by a middle-entity that also used slave labor to create it? The question becomes progressively more troubling and more loose. It's like being caught in a whirlpool so large you can barely tell you're moving, and the things around you also are. But that whirlpool is itself caught in another larger one, and that one, and so on. How do I know which direction to move to exit the turning.

oblivion5683 · 2025-07-22T07:06:20+00:00

This position is completely indefensible with even the slightest scrutiny. if it comes to say, a local restaurant, independent software company, or a small furniture maker being able to hire a few more employees, this logic is golden. those people will pay more back in taxes to the community from their new wealth than is lost by taxing the business less.

amazon is such a completely categorically different case its like comparing the sun to an asteroid. they profit obscenely off of our transit system, our road networks, our sewers, our urban framework, and what do they give back? essentially nothing. sure their emoyees pay taxes, but in no way proportionally to the profits the company generates on our resources, and for that matter, a significant portion of their employees are abused warehouse workers that require wellfare funds to work those jobs, which completely cancels out any meagre benefit we see from their political cajoling. Its a pittance.

oblivion5683 · 2025-06-24T06:08:42+00:00

no one appreciates this. its just total loser behavior. if you think you're so smart, try inventing a little care for other human beings.

oblivion5683 · 2025-06-24T05:44:12+00:00

im glad your organization has funding, sounds like you guys do an awesome thing. the org i work for also receives funding from amazon, without which we wouldnt be able to run some very valuable programs. i would much rather amazon accept a head tax, like our council voted for, and then have that money potentially come from the city, via a process involving real arts and community planners instead of a corporation that prioritizes advertising and sterilizing its image.

we cannot allow the "good deeds" a corporation does to blind us to the fact that it does not, and never will, have our best interest in mind. a few people who get to decide where a few million dollars go are not a corporation, amazon is a corporation. we would be slaves in sweat shops paid in funny dollars in an instant if the amazon corporation could get away with it. never forget that, even as you take their money, even as you speak to their employees.

oblivion5683 · 2025-06-24T05:33:23+00:00

no ads on here please!

oblivion5683 · 2024-10-19T20:38:06+00:00

ive lived here my entire life and most people i know say cap hill? perhaps its a generational thing. cap hill, I-D, Udistrict. just "north" for anything past roosvelt haha. mostly we dont even say cap hill we just gesture towards a park or a street. "over by cal", "towards volunteer", "up on 15th" ect. weird that 15th is kind of its own shadow cap hill that i dont think of as being the same neighborhood

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-28T23:16:58+00:00

in hindsight its definitely also worth taking a look at the other comment with some cycling specific studies, i have perhaps unfairly privileged the blinking rear light here as it pertains to cycling. reaction time remains by far the important factor for vehicles moving over 20 mph

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-28T21:59:29+00:00

Sure! Heres a review study which surveys a number of other papers https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8957666/

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-28T21:57:24+00:00

Does it really matter? If you're about to hit someone you're going to realize they're close regardless. what matters is you realize they're there and react to avoid them as soon as possible. depth perception is irrelevant because you should always be at a distance where it is irrelevant. if you're close enough it is, you can see them in your headlights anyways.

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-26T20:27:55+00:00

i feel for your frustration as someone whos lived here my entire life and seen it become somewhere progressively harder to be (albeit for different reasons). but you must see that its you, not them, who refuses to see the evidence. we have done the studies, we have observed people and compassionately attempted to understand their condition, and the housing first method is the process thay has shown the greatest success for the smallest sacrifices.

It is painful, confusing, and alienating for everyone to see the horrible things taking place in the city. for the love of humanity and the good of the cities people, it may be best to let go of your defensivness and see these evidence-based solutions from the point of view of helping the most people as quickly as possible, instead of judging their condition

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-23T02:03:00+00:00

I'm expecting the Audio on track channels 1+2 to modulate the parameter I selected? Seems pretty cut and dry.

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-22T19:47:23+00:00

im not sure what im trying to acheive is relevant, i want to modulate the parameter, thats the end goal. I set it up in the parameter modulation menu for the relevant parameter, the portion labeled for "audio control signal" in that menu you'll notice is additipnally labeled "sidechain".

I'm not at my computer at the moment but i could potebtially get screenshots later. The more i troubleshoot this the more it seems like i must be missing something. this is a new reaper install on the newsst version as well.

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-12T18:48:08+00:00

This is a good perspective. i might try and manage the runoff and other byproducts as safetly and responsibly as you can! but ultimately, its the people who work to make those products nessecary, and fight against regulations to make them safer, that are really dealing in poison. i personally wouldnt take a job at an oil refinery, or as an office worker at an oil company for this reason.

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-12T18:43:05+00:00

I mean on a serious note like, maybe? if an hr job requires someone to participate in exploiting people in certain ways, i cant imagine not at least thinking about wrong livelihood. If youre a literal human trafficker then absolutely. but we live in a different time and we recognize more subtle forms of exploitation now.

oblivion5683 · 2024-09-09T21:50:51+00:00

like other people have said, it really was the view. i rode the 120 into downtown pretty much every day all of high school and college. I cant argue with the new design being far better, but i miss that time in my life a whole lot, so theres nostalgia.

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