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Too Clever by Half

epsilontheory.com

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Re: Too Clever by Half

#241

Post by Noumenon72 »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #16

This is unrelated, but they mention The Great Financial Crisis which made me remember the Recession of my youth. It devastated my family. My father was in construction. That market seriously ebbs. I remember a faint feeling I had back then: resentment towards families who happened to be in industries that weren’t hit. Not because I thought it was unfair that we were hit, I just resented that they didn’t even have to…

It actually is unfair. The Fed's means of control over the economy is interest rates. This affects construction more than most other industries. So construction workers get thrown out of work so the rest of us can have a smooth ride.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#242

Post by xapata »

jv22222 wrote: post #215
jjoonathan wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Riiiight, which is why many/most people drive the speed limit.

Well, that's not a great example because people drive the speed that everyone else drives at, so the "rules" are implied because we're all doing it. All this other stuff is about people looking for specific optimizations or ways to game the system that most people don't do.

You define "rule" differently than the people you are conversing with.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#243

Post by oldandtired »

rlonstein wrote: post #132
oldandtired wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Talking with a friend recently about how "wild" our pet dogs are. In the local area, dogs get out at night and form packs that hunt calves and lambs and simply kill them and leave the bodies. There is a good business in hunting feral cats and dogs that were pets and have been left to fend for themselves in the wild because they were no longer wanted.

It's changed as the demographics shifted and the county urbanized but thirty years ago the local sheriff still issued deputy animal control papers to hunters, farmers, woodsmen, etc. who reported dog packs. There are fewer farms, greater housing density, more posted land, revised laws, and different attitudes toward animal control (generally, better) but the problem still occasionally comes up. Feral dogs aren't just…

The dogs I referred to are not feral as such. They are pets to someone. It is when they get together in packs that their behaviour goes wild. The owners are often unaware that their dogs have wandered about and partaken in killing of stock.

It is also applicable to cats.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#244

Post by crb912 »

pjmorris wrote: post #86
erikpukinskis wrote: post #16

This is unrelated, but they mention The Great Financial Crisis which made me remember the Recession of my youth. It devastated my family. My father was in construction. That market seriously ebbs. I remember a faint feeling I had back then: resentment towards families who happened to be in industries that weren’t hit. Not because I thought it was unfair that we were hit, I just resented that they didn’t even have to…

Reminds me of what I've heard called a Czech fable: A poor farmer whose livestock is a single dairy cow goes to the field one morning to milk the cow and discovers that she's dead. He falls to his knees and looks skyward, shaking his fists and cursing God for his misfortune. Suddenly a voice is heard from the heavens: "Your cries have reached me, my son. Tell me what you would like me to do." The farmer gazes upward…

I was moved by the Czench fable.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#246

Post by blattimwind »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #218
blattimwind wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe try to figure out how to make the work fun? You need discipline, not fun. Schools largely fail at teaching discipline, let alone self-discipline.

People working just by sheer discipline tend to produce mediocre work. The best results come from people who are passionate about what they do.

We're talking about university here - if you need to rely on feeling passionate about every single course you take, and you actually do, then you're one in a million.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#247

Post by pjmorris »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #16

This is unrelated, but they mention The Great Financial Crisis which made me remember the Recession of my youth. It devastated my family. My father was in construction. That market seriously ebbs. I remember a faint feeling I had back then: resentment towards families who happened to be in industries that weren’t hit. Not because I thought it was unfair that we were hit, I just resented that they didn’t even have to…

I'm intrigued by your phrase 'securitize those families.' What do you have in mind?

Re: Too Clever by Half

#248

Post by internetman55 »

80386 wrote: post #43

When I was in school, there were the people who seemed smart and the people who seemed like they worked hard. The people who seemed smart won the minigames. They got good grades with little effort. But somehow, they ended up with no institutional support -- in fact, the school hated them. Eventually one of the teachers (who was visibly insecure about her own intelligence and competence) cooked up a nonsense pretext t…

People hate their superiors unfortunately. This is why I think rich/high IQ parents need to put their kids around other rich/high IQ kids: proles/low IQs will tear your children apart out of jealousy, possibly leading to mental disorders and drug addictions

Re: Too Clever by Half

#249

Post by tclancy »

fhood wrote: post #166
csomar wrote: post #129

Okay. Let's slow down here: The OP says. >> And they’re not that smart. I’d put our barn cat up against a raccoon any day on any sort of cognitive test. We think raccoons are clever because they have those anthropomorphic paws and those cute little masks and even a Marvel superhero with its own toy line, but please. Raccoons are takers, not schemers. From Wikipedia >> Zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam described raccoons…

I am a big fan of raccoons as well. I think they are hilarious. They are just smart enough to seem stupid if that makes any sense.

I think one's feelings on racoons vary by where you live. Here in the semi-suburban New Hampshire they're not much of an issue: if you have a decent trash can you'll never know they are there. I imagine a owning a farm would color one's perspective, especially based on the author's suggestion that they kill more than they need.

I'm fairly neutral on coyotes but we've never lost an animal to them. I like their haughtiness, though I can get the same from the fox that lives around here somewhere without as much worry about what she might do to our pets.

It's really just the bear paw print that worries me.

Re: Too Clever by Half

#250

Post by tclancy »

internetman55 wrote: post #248
80386 wrote: post #43

When I was in school, there were the people who seemed smart and the people who seemed like they worked hard. The people who seemed smart won the minigames. They got good grades with little effort. But somehow, they ended up with no institutional support -- in fact, the school hated them. Eventually one of the teachers (who was visibly insecure about her own intelligence and competence) cooked up a nonsense pretext t…

People hate their superiors unfortunately. This is why I think rich/high IQ parents need to put their kids around other rich/high IQ kids: proles/low IQs will tear your children apart out of jealousy, possibly leading to mental disorders and drug addictions

That does not seem like a recipe for a solid society. And suggesting the poor are the cause of the rich's mental problems & substance abuse is . . . well, it's something.
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