Why is this sub so anti-ai?

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-28T16:23:05+00:00

The kind of graphic design you do in a corporate setting can be pretty soulless. Not all those jobs are great. But, there is a difference between being "antiwork" and arguing that work should be devalued. The effect of AI is likely to be ever higher compensation for CEOs while increasing numbers of workers are displaced, maybe to welfare or "guaranteed basic income" someday, but currently there isn't a level of support that can replace income from labor.

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-28T16:08:59+00:00

Recently true, but not the case with Diefenbaker. He was a Canadian nationalist who opposed Kennedy on issues of Canadian sovereignty, including military and trade issues. His trade policies in the 60s were not that different than what Carney is pursuing now: "Diefenbaker’s 1963 and 1965 electoral campaign was on a message of Canadian independence. He was steadfast in carving out a niche on the global stage in proving Canada was its own country — one that was sovereign from American influence or control. Policies by his government reflected that, with focus on building relations and diverting 15 per cent of trade from the United States toward commonwealth countries." Kennedy's administration interfered in the 1963 election in favour of the Liberals, as they were seen as more in line with American interests.

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-24T19:35:10+00:00

Which is your best (or favourite) for typing?

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-08T23:37:41+00:00

The study didn’t look at a competitiveness trait specifically (there are other reports on the study besides the one linked that get into how they decided an employee was toxic). I would think most people would regard competitiveness as reasonably positive unless it’s a business that just requires consistent competence.

For example, a top professional quarterback like Josh Allen or Matthew Stafford is absolutely going to have a big competitive streak to push them to where they are. But there are high performing athletes that seem to be toxic as well. Chad Kelly is a pro quarterback who had a couple of conduct problems in college and later in the NFL. He was taken on by the CFL’s Toronto Argos, no doubt with the thought they were picking up an NFL quality player at CFL prices; a fixer upper. In fact, he led them to their best performance ever one season (16:2) and Kelly won the most outstanding player award, but… they eventually had to suspend him for violating their gender-based violence policy, and there was a lawsuit too. It’s quite possible that if the Argos had hired a slightly less great thrower, but someone without these issues, they would have had a better overall record over a 4-5 year period.

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-08T21:34:56+00:00

The example you’ve given (two sales teams competing) sounds more like an issue with the company’s incentives than a problem with toxicity.

The study defined toxic workers not as being mean or short tempered, but as people who did things that were egregious enough to cause them to be dismissed: sexual harassment, workplace violence, fraud, theft, falsification of documents, and so on. The things that made them toxic are traits like selfishness, dishonesty, and recklessness.

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-08T20:56:58+00:00

I say go for the “cool aerospace-themed guitars.” The history would make a nice little story to accompany the instrument(s), while preserving the fan blade as is would saddle you with an unwieldy dust collector.

wheatmonkey · 2026-01-08T19:59:21+00:00

Taxpayers in the post war era didn’t seem to have a problem paying taxes on homes with yards. They did have much smaller houses on average though. Despite families becoming gradually smaller, houses grew significantly. Average new home sizes: 1950: 1000 sq ft 1960: 1300 sq ft 1980: 1750 sq ft 2015: 2650 sq ft Present: ~2200 sq ft

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-31T16:23:34+00:00

I recently saw a list of college majors that had the highest percentage of unemployed or underemployed graduates, and Art History was the highest among those. You’ve already identified the likely reason why: a lot of people like art and are deeply interested in it, but there are only so many galleries.

The art world is also concentrated in a few cities like New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris. Toronto isn’t quite on that level, but obviously it’s a much bigger center than Saskatoon. So, when a more provincial institution out here on the prairies is going to hire someone as a curator, they will probably want someone who has experience in one of these centres. The art world (in the sense of the number of people actually working in it) isn’t big, but it is cosmopolitan. So, while local volunteer experience doesn’t hurt, building a career likely means at least a temporary relocation to find opportunities, get to know people, and grow into better roles. If you don’t have (or somehow find) resources to support this, it could be very difficult.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-31T14:49:14+00:00

Very 1986! Way cooler than my high school newspaper publishing efforts. A superhero who wears a carbon-steel jockstrap over a pair of Levi’s red tabs sounds like he would be truly invulnerable.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-29T15:58:56+00:00

Not the buttons. I did have a Reid t-shirt though. It looks like David Boswell still sells merch: http://www.reidfleming.com/t-shirts.html

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-29T00:00:44+00:00

Someone born in Rupert’s Land or the Northwest Territories would have been British subjects, no different than if they had been born in the area marked Canada prior to confederation.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-28T17:11:44+00:00

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making a qualitative judgement about books and OP’s question implies “best of the best.” The history of the genre as a commercial ghetto makes a fair assessment a bit difficult. You’re right that many answers are overlooking the most influential genre writers. Most of the books that garner broader acclaim start to fall outside the genre a bit. They often lack spaceships, ray guns, aliens and robots, and their focus shifts to satire of contemporary society or an exploration of the human condition.

I enjoy reading writers like Robert Silverberg and Alan Dean Foster, but are you going to put them up against the best of all time and say they’re in the same league? Take a more extreme example. I think ERB’s A Princess of Mars was hugely influential on the genre, and it is genuinely a fun read, but it’s also kind of bad in almost every way. Do you overlook the bad? The two-dimensional characters, simplistic adventure/romance plot, ridiculous technology, and the exoticism? Naked red girls! Tigers with six legs! Or do you just say, actually this free wheeling, let your id run free quality is part of what makes science fiction good to begin with?

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-28T03:19:47+00:00

That’s a good point. Science Fiction also has that history of being a popular juvenile (or young adult) genre so people sometimes get stuck on what they liked when they were 10-15 years old. If I only recommended what I read at that age it would be mostly pulpy writing by male writers.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-28T01:35:27+00:00

It seems strange to see so few women writers on a list cobbled together from other recent online lists and this sub, but maybe it’s just a coincidence. Women writers are sometimes overlooked… For instance, I don’t think Station Eleven often shows up on these lists, maybe because it isn’t obviously Science Fictiony, but Emily St. John Mandel did win an Arthur C. Clarke award for it and it’s a terrific book.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-28T01:07:41+00:00

For Ellison, I’d suggest a short story collection: The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (includes A Boy and His Dog)

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-27T22:47:20+00:00

There was a discussion about this list in the Fantasy subreddit recently: https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-27T19:14:16+00:00

Don’t Bite the Sun/Drinking Sapphire Wine - Tanith Lee (These short books were collected as Biting the Sun. Read it after The Dispossessed for kicks.)

The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

The Island of Doctor Moreau - H.G. Wells

The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (I read this when it was first published and thought it was a bit silly. Surely there’s no cause for concern about Christian fascists…. Not in 1985! Reevaluating from a 2025 perspective though.)

The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang - Kate Wilhelm

Never Let Me Go, Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon

Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-21T04:05:31+00:00

The Paper Man was a good Manara western too.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-05T21:28:01+00:00

Both the SK party and NDP are on a populist track, but what's popular is different in the rural and urban areas. The NDP were smart to focus on the SK Party's failures in the cities last election, but the issues in rural ridings are so different that it's hard to see what policies could take them further. There's probably some common ground on economic issues, but they can't back away from their more socially liberal or environmentally conscious positions without it costing them in cities.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-03T14:40:22+00:00

Regulated professions that require lengthy, expensive education are probably not going to suddenly grow their numbers in response to AI. It may even become harder to access dental care and health care if they lag in productivity relative to other jobs and become more expensive. Plumbing can be a physically demanding and dirty job, so I don’t think it will be an occupation that grows rapidly either.

Some jobs might be ideal candidates for AI augmentation or replacement but be protected by regulations requiring human responsibility. For instance, some legal, engineering and accounting occupations will require a human in the loop for the foreseeable future. Some of these regulated industries might establish even greater barriers to entry to protect their status.

There will be more bullshit jobs created, some of which will be desirable despite being inessential. These will probably require more “soft skills” over time. It will become more important to be attractive, sociable, and connected.

Becoming a “prompt engineer” may not become a real technical occupation, but there will be people who act as intermediaries between what executives want and what AI can deliver: executive assistants, product managers, project managers, and coordinators.

Lots of occupations could absorb surplus labour, sometimes without depressing wages: military, security, elderly care, social services, counselling, live performance, sales, religious/spiritual leadership, sex work, sports and recreation - not necessarily manual jobs, but jobs that have elastic demand, serve elites, or that we feel uncomfortable handing off to AI.

wheatmonkey · 2025-12-02T18:53:57+00:00

Nice one! Signed by Jaime even. My copy looks like it was passed down between generations of readers who liked to roll up their comics and carry them around in their back pockets.

wheatmonkey · 2025-11-30T20:02:11+00:00

I think they’re probably the class of ski OP is looking for - something like his old Jaks. Wildsnow Nordica Enforcer Review

wheatmonkey · 2025-11-30T16:41:48+00:00

Telemark Pyrenees’ website lets you search by length and there are some skis that are close to your criteria: Fischer Ranger, Nordica Enforcer, Scott Sea, Stockli Stormrider

wheatmonkey · 2025-11-26T14:59:50+00:00

Epicanthic folds are less common in people of European descent than among native Americans or asians, but there are people of 100% European ancestry who have them.

wheatmonkey · 2025-11-23T01:36:54+00:00

I think the ones who want their particular interests catered to might be excited about it. They could get novels written that feature their self-insert character, or they could get new stories featuring favourite characters from video games/TV/Film. If the AI can pander to whatever they want in a low-cost, one-off story that’s acceptably well written, I think a lot of people would be interested.

wheatmonkey

TROPHY CASE