Viewing profile — throwaway82388

Peerless stylist of his generation, a serious thinker, and somehow managed to be fun alongside all of that. I haven’t kept up with his novels since Yellow Dog, but could recommend …

Whether the acting party is a friend or an enemy distinguishes the guilty from the blameless. Anything can be rationalized post facto. It’s the bedrock principle of contemporary po…

I’m fairly certain that I’ve yet to visit an upper middle class household without a high end gas range, albeit hooded. Surely this disproportionally affects the foodies and amateur…

Plenty of think tanks and NGOs are on it. Google “personal carbon quota”

Vibe shift is just another term for a change in elite aspirant opinion. The vibe is localized to highly trend conscious social and professional milieus. These scenes are often rega…

I think I understand your larger point, but whatever corrections or amendments need to be made to the myth of Jobs, the idea that he was in any way average shouldn’t be one.

I was politically conscious for his presidency (and a few more before it), and you make a good point or two, but I’d take issue with this characterization of the Bush years. His pr…

I’d describe Trump and Musk as similarly adapted to the attention economy. But it is a similarity of style, as you said, and not necessarily politics. While Bush II was far from th…

There are only two sides in the culture war. Any free-thinking criticism of one side places you in or aligns you with the opposition. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” In…

There are a few responses people have found useful to misdirect and shut down conversation around this topic. Nothing burger, and the claim that it was about revenge porn, are stro…

It does depend on the details. In special fields, like medical software, regulation might alter the market—although code even there is often revealed to be of poor quality. But of …

Anyone who has doubts has to look at the price. It’s free for now, and will be cheap enough when openai starts monetizing. Price wins over quality. It’s demonstrated time and time …

That stereotypical insecure sportscar owner is certainly real. But not every one of them is insecure. Some just feel like they’ve won and deserve the spoils. And of course there ar…

A few weeks ago, no one would have predicted a major Google service going down before Twitter.

The question about cars is largely one of personality. Who drives bland cars? People who feel social pressure to not stand out, possibly who feel powerless, or who appreciate anony…

I enjoyed the observations in this essay, but I missed the answer to the question in the title. I have a few thoughts in that direction. Neutral colors like greige are fitting for …

Google seems to be holding back due to AI safety concerns, and the problems inherent in doing anything at Google scale. I’m curious to see if potential market competition will chan…

I enjoy Rao’s writing, but he has a tendency to overindulge the occasional (and not particularly funny) mean-spirited joke, as well as over-stuffing his essays with half-formed ide…