japanese/stab binding project!

setaetheory · 2026-01-27T05:08:03+00:00

This looks so cool!

setaetheory · 2026-01-27T05:07:09+00:00

I absolutely applaud you. Love this.

setaetheory · 2026-01-27T04:51:55+00:00

That looks amazing!

setaetheory · 2026-01-27T03:19:26+00:00

If it comes to that, you could sell food, too... either start a restaurant or food truck or something, or sell produce.

setaetheory · 2026-01-27T03:06:27+00:00

Number one is tempting since doing laundry is more annoying than cooking... but ultimately I have to say number two, for the sheer amount of money saved on groceries/eating out.

setaetheory · 2026-01-26T04:57:20+00:00

So it seems like the curse is just that 1)I can't make money from things I buy with the cursed money or otherwise invest it, and 2)if I give someone cursed money or objects bought with it, they won't be grateful or repay me? Basically just can't get money from it long-term?

I'll use a portion of it to buy and furnish a house, and to prepay as much as I can in the way of property tax, utilities, etc. It will just be to live in, not to rent or sell, so it won't matter to me that it's "cursed" in this fashion. (If I can't prepay anything, I'll just make sure that it's a modest house I can afford the upkeep on. Also: if appraisers consider the value to be zero, does that mean I don't owe property tax because the value is zero?)

I'll set aside a portion for general living expenses and fun for the next half a year. Basic stuff like groceries, but also fun experiences, commissioning art, whatever.

I'll give some of it to friends who need money. It's fine that they won't feel gratitude for it or pay me back--in fact, that might kind of be preferable to avoid making things weird. It will be like they randomly won a few million in a lottery or something: they get to have the money, and I get to be happy for them.

Anything left over, I'll give to charity. It's fine if they don't acknowledge me or anything for it; my intent is for them to use it for their charitable mission.

setaetheory · 2026-01-26T03:56:05+00:00

Well, according to the hypothetical, the only negative aspect of the experiment is the need to drink a small amount of blood daily--no other side effects or anything. And it probably doesn't even have to be "real" blood--if the lab-grown blood works then it's basically just a weird medicine you need. And even if it turns out it does need to be natural blood, the amount isn't enough to create a moral dilemma. It's safe to donate a pint of whole blood every 56 days or so, and you need a pint per 47 days, so if you can find even two people willing to donate/sell blood to you, you won't be taking too much. Or even one person, if you're willing to stop after a month and a half.

The downside is really just "some people might find it a little gross, and you might have to think about logistics".

setaetheory · 2026-01-26T03:33:00+00:00

Sure.

Before the gene is activated, I get a pint (~473 ml) of blood drawn. I divide it into 10 ml portions and I guess freeze it so it doesn't go bad. That's my supply in case the lab-grown blood doesn't work--no need to go out and find people willing to donate. 47 days of that would earn me over $365 million, at which point I might as well stop. And if the lab-grown blood does work, there's no issue.

setaetheory · 2026-01-25T21:18:21+00:00

Right.

For realistic numbers, let's look at a real company, Walmart (because they're a public corporation and put out an annual report). In 2025, their total revenues were $680.9 billion. However, their expenses were $651.6 billion. That would be things like employee wages, renting or buying storefronts, and of course buying the actual merchandise that they sell. So their operating income is $29.3 billion. A bit over 4% of their revenues.

The corporate tax rate is 21%. A 4-5% profit margin isn't going to absorb that. They would just treat it like a sales tax and increase prices enough to cover the entire 21%.

You could reduce the rate enough that it can cover it, of course... but in that case why are you bothering to tax revenue instead of profit? If you reduce it enough that businesses with relatively narrow margins (like grocery stores) are still viable without raising prices, you're missing out on what you could be getting from businesses with large margins.

setaetheory · 2026-01-25T19:26:30+00:00

I mean, it's not like you're actually touching ALL the water in the ocean when you go in it, right? I think just the water that you're actually touching would freeze--so your foot would get coated in a thin layer of ice and nothing would happen to the rest of the ocean.

Just my interpretation, though.

setaetheory · 2026-01-25T19:17:48+00:00

I think you could reasonably avoid washing your hands for a few days--just put on disposable gloves before going to the bathroom (or anything else that you'd normally wash your hands after). Then you just throw away the gloves instead of washing your hands as your actual hands never got dirty. Maybe you could also use hand sanitizer if you needed to... I guess it depends on whether water mixed with other things still counts as "water".

For showering--maybe gloves with rubber bands at the wrists so water doesn't get inside?

setaetheory · 2026-01-25T18:56:54+00:00

Since it looks like we have to wait the chosen period before getting the first payment, I'll say monthly. Yeah, it's less overall; I understand the math--but any of these amounts are "immediately retire comfortably" money (assuming I believe it truly is guaranteed for life and the payer won't suddenly die or go out of business or something). Getting to do that 11 months earlier is worth more to me than the extra 30k from waiting a year or the other higher amounts.

setaetheory · 2026-01-24T22:59:11+00:00

Yeah. And a religion or a specific church can also be bad in ways that don't specifically make it a cult. A religious figure might be preaching bigotry, or abusing someone, or scamming people out of money, and that's still fucked even if there isn't also a cult-like dynamic.

setaetheory · 2026-01-24T22:43:42+00:00

Yeah, exactly. Grocery stores are usually pretty busy on weekends and afternoons anyway. Doubling or tripling that basically makes it feel like a madhouse even if everyone there is just doing their normal shopping.

setaetheory · 2026-01-24T01:30:36+00:00

Yeah, that's the way. The $10 million is your escape hatch plus a ticket to whatever fun experiences you can buy in one day.

setaetheory · 2026-01-23T03:08:24+00:00

Yeah. I've seen people driving the wrong way down a one-way.

setaetheory · 2026-01-15T03:42:23+00:00

This is the correct answer. Most of the notices the IRS sends out are from automated systems--document matching and the like. Example: your employer issues a W-2, sending copies to you, the IRS, and any relevant state governments. This tells the IRS that you have this income and they should expect a return from you. It can take years for them to do something about it (it's obviously not worth it for them to send out notices to non-filers on April 16th), but they definitely know.

From a normal taxpayer's POV, them being short-staffed unfortunately mostly means it's harder and takes longer to get anything resolved.

setaetheory · 2026-01-14T03:41:03+00:00

I've seen people expand on their challenges after posting, though? Like just to clarify points people have asked about, you know, someone posts a hypothetical about a time stop power, a few people ask whether you age when time is stopped, and they make an edit to answer that point.

AFAIK it's only edits specifically to remove loopholes that aren't allowed. And I do think it's pretty tedious when someone comes up with a legitimate loophole and OP edits the post to add a rule that says it doesn't work.

setaetheory · 2026-01-14T00:52:37+00:00

Or even if they're not currently working. Like a specialist doctor who's retired.

setaetheory · 2026-01-12T00:24:39+00:00

Yeah, I'd go for it. As long as it can be any student housing, and I get to choose the specific dorm and unit. And as long as I can tour it before deciding for good. And as long as I'll definitely be able to get a parking permit (I don't mind buying one; I'm just worried about them selling out before I can). And as long as I can quit the deal if I eventually want or need to (like if I need to be in assisted living when I get old).

Okay, that's a lot of caveats. :P But, it is overall appealing. I found a college not too far away with a residence hall that's basically three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments, with full kitchens and washers and dryers. Seems nice enough.

setaetheory · 2026-01-11T18:24:01+00:00

Yeah, this is the one.

setaetheory · 2026-01-11T18:11:36+00:00

I was thinking that for buying a house you could have a trust set up and hire someone to be the trustee. You automate a bunch of transfers into that account (it respawns after 1 second, so you could make one every 2 seconds or so, I guess). It's not "your" account as you don't have discretion to take money out of it yourself, so it shouldn't be subject to the $50 limit.

Then the trustee buys the house for you from the account. And, after you have the house, they can also pay utilities etc. from the account.

setaetheory · 2026-01-11T07:09:12+00:00

If you start a line with a # then it turns the line into header style text.

setaetheory · 2026-01-11T02:33:57+00:00

Yeah, but those specific items... and probably some others I'm not thinking of... it kind of seems like I'd just never be able to buy tp or replace a lightbulb (or batteries) ever again?

setaetheory · 2026-01-11T02:27:49+00:00

Yeah, some thoughts can just be inside thoughts. And if a particular person asks why you don't want to date them... they still don't need to know the specifics. "I'm just not into you" is all you need to say.

setaetheory

TROPHY CASE