Live data from Hacker News

Too Clever by Half

epsilontheory.com

61–70 of 261 posts

Re: Too Clever by Half

#61
post #14

I really enjoyed this article. Summary Coyotes are too clever because they know that people shaking jars full of coins can’t hurt them. Thus the animal control patrol has to get called and when they don’t shoo, the animal control person who loves animals has to shoot the coyote. Coyotes are winning the mini-game of each human interaction, but they are losing the meta-game of what society will do if coyotes aren’t sca…

I'd just like to point out that the article connotes multiple ideas using the plot summarised by this comment; hence this is not really a summary of the whole article.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#62
post #42

>> When the dog gets close to the wire, the receiver starts to beep, and when the dog gets all the way to the “fence” boundary, the receiver generates a small electric zap. I know, I know … it’s negative reinforcement and it’s a shock collar and all that. Don’t care. It’s fantastic for us and our dogs. That's disgusting.

I had the same initial reaction but then again I don't have a dog nor do I have a large enough estate to ever need such a device anyway. Clearly I don't have the data to weigh in on this issue. That being said if you consider that having dogs in a very large outdoors environment with a colar that zaps them (after warning them) if they stray too far is abuse, then isn't keeping the same dog in a small cramped urban fl…

For what it's worth, my folks have an actual physical fence but it is just insufficient. The dog would always figure out a way through or under or over it. The shock collar is also not perfect but far more effective.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#63

PayPal was one of the few financial innovators to dodge animal control. They were first and they were fast.

They were the friendly coyotes that managed to invent something that did not threaten the state.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#64
post #59

The most relevant take away from this article (for me) is how the coyotes (crypto and currency experts) invented Bitcoins, raccoons over leveraged it out of dumb greed (investors) and the state took notice and acted out of sheer desperation to not lose control and once again rendered the invention useless by gaining more control than before (the part that is currently in its early stages right now). Update: I think t…

Of course, bitcoin's own limitations would've prevented it's widespread use, with or without the over-speculation (lack of throughput and excessive energy consumption).

Re: Too Clever by Half

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High-five, fellow "burned by needing to do real work in university" high schooler :(

I'm quite proud of the range of results I got in maths at University - I tried the "no study" approach in first year and got burned badly . Fortunately we didn't have the uncivilized GPA system here so my first year indiscretions had no impact on my final degree.

GPA has no impact on your final degree in the US either. You complete the same coursework and get the same degree as the person with a perfect GPA.

The only real exception is if you’re screwing up so bad that they kick you out, in which case you don’t get the degree because you don’t complete the coursework.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#66

>> When the dog gets close to the wire, the receiver starts to beep, and when the dog gets all the way to the “fence” boundary, the receiver generates a small electric zap. I know, I know … it’s negative reinforcement and it’s a shock collar and all that. Don’t care. It’s fantastic for us and our dogs. That's disgusting.

How would you keep a dog from straying into the wild and getting injured? These are pets and not wild animals able to survive in the bush on their own.

Are you saying that most people who have dogs in farms use invisible wires to keep them safe?

Because I'm in the position to know that this is not the case. My partner's father has a farm with animals, including dogs. The farm has a fence and the dogs can roam freely inside it.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#67
post #62
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same initial reaction but then again I don't have a dog nor do I have a large enough estate to ever need such a device anyway. Clearly I don't have the data to weigh in on this issue. That being said if you consider that having dogs in a very large outdoors environment with a colar that zaps them (after warning them) if they stray too far is abuse, then isn't keeping the same dog in a small cramped urban fl…

For what it's worth, my folks have an actual physical fence but it is just insufficient. The dog would always figure out a way through or under or over it. The shock collar is also not perfect but far more effective.

One thing that's far more effective is tying the dog up to a pole and never letting it roam free.

Is there an objection to handling a dog in this manner?

Re: Too Clever by Half

#68

>> When the dog gets close to the wire, the receiver starts to beep, and when the dog gets all the way to the “fence” boundary, the receiver generates a small electric zap. I know, I know … it’s negative reinforcement and it’s a shock collar and all that. Don’t care. It’s fantastic for us and our dogs. That's disgusting.

Do you know what's worse? Your dog straying out of the farm and getting eaten by a bear. Or run over by a truck

Oh it's for the dog's own good? Well in that case you can lock it up in a pen so it can't get out, or the bears come in. That will keep it safe.

Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Re: Too Clever by Half

#69
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If BLM and the feminists are right, the coin is undervalued. What is the probability that they are right?

Feminist here. I have a plan : we will make money by paying a significant percentage of western government officials in the new "poor coin".

Interesting thing is feminism is also winning skirmishes but loosing the metagame. Unless having less children but with more disorders born in fractured families is the goal. Something to ponder.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#70
post #4

The only issue with his metaphor is that coyotes have been doing very well at the meta game. At the time of European contact there were no coyotes anywhere near Connecticut. Lewis and Clark didn't encounter them until they hit the great plains. Actually only a few decades ago there were no coyotes near the eastern US. But coyotes are clever and they've learned to adapt and live in close proximity to humans. And as we…

But the biggest winner in the meta-game is the coyote’s domesticated cousin: the dog. They are the darlings of the human world. If earth was imploding and we had to leave for another inhabitable planet, I bet there would be a few dogs and cats aboard those spaceships. Not so sure there would be room for coyotes. Caring for dogs is now a many billion dollars industry and growing. Dogs might be dumber than coyotes but they’ve totally won the meta-game by being thoroughly domesticated (though one can argue at a cost to their dignity and independence). There is an obvious analogy here.
Post reply on HN