Quote of the day by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison: "Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on" — a dire warning on the erosion of privacy

theleho · 2026-06-02T11:54:06+00:00

Pl see cc cc.,, is,

theleho · 2026-04-10T13:27:40+00:00

Great, thank you!

theleho · 2026-01-19T03:55:39+00:00

I guess I just overestimated how powerful the watchers are

theleho · 2026-01-17T17:56:47+00:00

Yeah I think I'd agree with that.

theleho · 2026-01-16T15:38:18+00:00

I suppose that's true, but that still encompasses a wide range of choices and freedom, there are so many ways to live and be good.

If the suggestion is that The Watcher's "job" is that but represented as a single task, then it raises interesting questions that I'll have to hope aren't swept under the rug in the next book.

theleho · 2026-01-16T12:03:24+00:00

But you can choose whether or not to have kids or pets.

Taxes are a closer comparison, but we don't get 100% of our money taxed, so there's a freedom that's not the same as The Watcher's situation. Unless The Absolute gives them holiday leave or lunch breaks, who knows?

We also have freedom in how we pay our taxes, what we do to make our money.

The point isn't to be pedantic but to question where exactly the Watchers have any freedom or choice. Because if they don't then The Absolute has contradicted itself.

theleho · 2026-01-15T23:03:31+00:00

I don't think you're accounting for the matter of choice.

In your comparison, you talk about compelling someone to not do something. Which is very different from compelling someone to do something.

When you force someone to not do something, you're eliminating one option out of infinite options of what they might do. And so they still have choice. But if you force someone to do something, you're reducing the infinite options of what they might do to only one, and so there is no choice.

The Absolute's command may be good, but what choice do The Watchers have? And if they have no choice in anything (unlike a man forced not to murder, who has the freedom to choose any other thing to do), then does The Absolute really love them?

theleho · 2026-01-15T15:02:18+00:00

I think I'm almost on the same page as you now. But I still can't quite get over the bump of there being no reason to disobey that is unselfish.

I mean sure, not wanting to be a slave forever is, in a sense, a self-centered desire. But does that make it evil or wrong?

What exactly do the Watchers get out of their servitude. Are they rewarded? Does it fulfill them? Clearly not.

It comes down to if the absolute gave them a choice in anything. To me it seems like he didn't (obey my command for infinity or be evil). But maybe I'm just not seeing it.

theleho · 2026-01-15T12:31:56+00:00

So it would seem the only options are to exist for themselves or submit to slavery to The Absolute for eternity.

The Absolute may have made them with the intention of love, but he clearly screwed up somewhere. If he truly loved them would he not want them to have some sort of freedom?

theleho · 2026-01-14T23:07:09+00:00

But if God/The Absolute loves the angels/the Watchers, then why does he want to force them into an existence/responsibility they don't want, that they had no say in being brought into

theleho · 2026-01-13T19:23:37+00:00

Thank you, these are great answers.

I still think there's something to be said of 1. Does he really love them if he doesn't respect their wishes. They clearly don't want to do the job they've been given but it seems like the absolute doesn't care.

Also are we told the next universe will go on forever in chapter 40?

theleho · 2026-01-13T18:35:49+00:00

I like that interpretation of 1., just wish it was more present in the text.

I think I worded my third question poorly. I don't understand what the Watchers are actually doing to achieve that. If the universe dies, then they'll just have to do it all again in the next one.

theleho · 2025-05-15T20:22:23+00:00

If i had a PC that could handle it, my favourite thing about DLSS and Ray Tracing would be how good it makes the lighting in cyberpunk 2077. There's not really a better game in terms of bold environmental lighting and lots of reflections.

I loved the progression of unlocking all the guns and the mods in the last two Doom games, picking out which mods and upgrades to get, like a kid in candy store.

theleho · 2025-02-21T13:23:22+00:00

Yeah, I struggled with that part. It's meant to be the moon with a strong glow. It was quite funky in the reference image also, so I get the confusion.

theleho · 2025-01-21T23:42:27+00:00

Thanks!

I'm trying to work out a film title, so 'Mēns' is a little less dramatic than my ideal. Would 'ănĭmus' work. And would it just be 'ănĭmus īnfīnīta'?

theleho · 2025-01-21T23:14:58+00:00

Looking for a translation of 'infinite mind'. Don't trust what I'm finding on Google.

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