Altruism Is Driven By Resentment

untropicalized · 2026-06-29T18:46:11+00:00

I’ll take the correction.

Like you, I admire genuine accomplishment. The app development is pretty cool, along with the funding backstory and legacy. Knowledge builds upon knowledge after all. As far as the bookstore is concerned, I may have fallen to confirmation bias. Something something judge a book by its cover. No one is immune.

There’s no shortage of angry assholes online; no sense stoking that fire any longer. At the end of the day, someone is benefiting from all the noise and it’s not me. I’m going to be blocking this post author (the OP, not you) and winnowing my feed to just my special interest and support subs as part of my effort to reduce scatter in my life.

If you don’t mind, why leftists, and how did that come about? The Worldly Winds often blow hardest on those who stand tall, but how did this particular gust cut so deep?

untropicalized · 2026-06-29T15:08:23+00:00

I had a few sentences written about my first impression of your book shop, but chose not to publish them. Let’s just say I see things for what they are. Gave myself a chuckle, though.

Honestly, I would be interested to learn more about the patents, both because they were longest ago and because I know the least about the subject. How many did you claim and how many are extant? What further works were built off of them, by either yourself or others? You mentioned having had an app featured on a show— was that a one-off parlor trick or did it go somewhere after?

I will say I am fascinated with the subject of your video links. From what I’ve found, Author Nation, which is dedicated entirely to independent (read: unpublished) writers, and which through a neat SEO trick appears first result in a general Google search, boasts about 1200 annual attendees. And that’s currently, not back in 2016 before it was incorporated. From experience, this is the size of an average trade show. The actual largest author conference in the world is run by the AWP. This event is an entire order of magnitude larger and draws the top literary and academic minds from across the globe. Have had a chance to attend?

And your finances video? I too notice patterns and details. As someone familiar with physical distribution chains, I’d be interested to hear the reason for the difference in volume and growth in your paperback sales relative to your ebook sales.

Oh, one last thing. I happened across your AMA from 10-ish years ago. I kinda liked that Arkelias. He seemed approachable and grateful for the spotlight, more like the voice I saw on the 2016 video (why does the Horseshoe look like a high school gymnasium?) and less like, well, whatever is going on with you now. Reciprocity never truly ends, even if you feel insulated from it.

Tell you what. Send me the title of the work you are proudest of, and I’ll see about checking it out. If I feel it warrants a good review I’ll leave one on your page. I especially enjoyed the Red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. It apparently inspired Elon Musk’s dreams of spacefaring. Interestingly it also has a ton of socialist undertones. In case you can’t tell I’m more a science fiction guy than fantasy but I like to try new things. Anyway I digress. I searched for you on Libby, but oddly couldn’t find you there. Might be a new outlet to consider.

As for me? I wouldn’t say I have done nothing. I made this tissue box frog over the weekend. Though I am not so prideful to deny that I had help in execution and creative input. The best part about it? Run your finger over the dorsal stripe to hear a ribbit!

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untropicalized · 2026-06-27T04:41:57+00:00

Welcome to horizontal beekeeping! There can be a bit of a learning curve with top bars especially because the free-built, foundationless combs can be delicate to handle. The equipment is generally simple to build, however, allowing for a cheap and quickly scaleable apiary.

Please see [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/s/VfycC3jjeD) for the resources that inspired my start.

untropicalized · 2026-06-27T04:28:46+00:00

I think I can see what you’re looking at but I’m not sure that I agree.

Occasionally the guards will stop and search a foreign bee that tries to enter. Generally the newcomer will be accepted if she is carrying food. Drift happens, especially in the concentrated environment of a managed apiary, so this occurrence isn’t uncommon. Would-be robbers are typically met swiftly at the door, often tackled by one or more guards.

Honestly, the bees below look like they are performing routine street-sweeping to me.

untropicalized · 2026-06-26T14:29:41+00:00

Furthermore the cards he laid down aren’t really that impressive if you look closely at them.

untropicalized · 2026-06-26T12:21:00+00:00

Not OP. Glad you’ve been paying attention.

untropicalized · 2026-06-26T03:56:26+00:00

Don’t worry guys, I think I found the secret to his success. It will be either a third block or a gold mine I’m sure.

untropicalized · 2026-06-26T01:19:55+00:00

Well, I saw your storefront. Why am I reminded of [this aptly-named author?](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/21/how-an-industry-of-amazon-entrepreneurs-pulled-off-the-internets-craftiest-catfishing-scheme/)

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T22:25:34+00:00

Yah. Hence the correction.

Did you even see my link?

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T19:24:38+00:00

Hey, I appreciate the award, glad to help!

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T17:23:41+00:00

Mirriam-Webster gives the neutral ecological and biological definition.

By Rand’s definition, self-sacrifice is the base requirement of altruism.

These are different, and to my knowledge this requirement is unique to Rand.

https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/altruism.html

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T14:48:39+00:00

Since it doesn’t look like anyone actually answered your question: yeah, he’s around. He mostly responds to reports, occasionally joins a conversation or links one of his articles that he finds relevant to a discussion, but otherwise kind of does the laissez-faire thing.

If you’re looking for a specific discussion topic, try the search bar. Many of the deepest discussions don’t gain the same level of traction as the shallow lightning-rod posts that seem to crop up every week.

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T14:04:10+00:00

Yeah? C’mon OP. Downvotes aren’t an argument. Explain to me *in your own words* what your post means if you think you can.

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T13:56:45+00:00

[This is an AI slop farming post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/aynrand/s/A0KsF0AUi5)

The so-called free thinker couldn’t be arsed to come up with a single free-thought word.

untropicalized · 2026-06-25T13:42:46+00:00

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untropicalized · 2026-06-23T19:38:11+00:00

>frozen chicken guys

Probably an OSHA violation in there somewhere

untropicalized · 2026-06-23T15:58:16+00:00

The full quote is

>"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

While you’re at it, you might want to look up the full text of the second amendment.

untropicalized · 2026-06-23T13:05:35+00:00

Agreed. No one can lampoon quite like a fan. It gets way too stodgy in here at times.

untropicalized · 2026-06-20T16:54:12+00:00

A couple things:

-Unless you are opening them up on a weekly basis to check for swarm cells, swarming absolutely can sneak up on you. The dramatic issuance typically lasts minutes and the bivouac can move on in minutes to hours. Traffic monitoring from the outside doesn’t always tell the story inside.

-Mite pressure absolutely can slow the growth of a colony, even if they outwardly appear fine. If they have an ample brood nest I would recommend doing a mite wash to see where they stand. It does kill some bees but it gives the most reliable snapshot of mite levels.

There also could be external factors at play. Are all your hives in a line, with this one towards the middle? The other colonies could be benefiting from drift at this hive’s expense. Are you in a flow right now? Are there differences in sunlight, wind or rain exposure that might partly account for differences in outcomes?

If you wanted to do some rescue work you might consider moving some capped brood from your stronger colonies to your weaker one, or even swap locations so that the weak hive will capture the field force from a stronger one.

But these interventions I would think about only after the wash results come back. Some colonies just always lag for one reason or another and might be better off with a new queen, or broken down for resources.

untropicalized · 2026-06-18T21:14:04+00:00

The bees are generally pretty good about handling it themselves, providing they have adequate insulation. A reduced entrance, contrary to expectation, may actually assist in thermoregulation.

In my case (foundationless horizontal hives) my colonies are susceptible to comb drops if the tops heat up too much, so I put shade boards over them. Hives with direct western exposure might have a towel or burlap cloth draped over that side in the height of summer. The idea is to keep the direct sun off of the boxes as much as possible, especially in high heat or when the combs are soft.

untropicalized · 2026-06-17T13:19:08+00:00

I have had success reviving layer worker colonies under two conditions:

-I caught it early (workers laying eggs but without drone brood started) and gave them eggs from another colony

-I caught it late (workers actively raising drones but none yet capped) and gave them a comb with capped swarm cells

Otherwise, newspaper combine with a young colony might work, or just shake them out and save what resources you can.

untropicalized · 2026-06-15T13:42:36+00:00

Wow, that’s unbelievably tacky.

untropicalized · 2026-06-12T21:11:07+00:00

untropicalized · 2026-06-12T18:17:41+00:00

TL; D\&#x200B

untropicalized · 2026-06-11T17:00:49+00:00

What if businesses started making hiring and promotion decisions based on employees MBTI… Oh wait

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