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Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

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41–50 of 52 posts

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#41

Capability Based Security is essential to the continuation of a free and open internet, and democracy in the USA. Without it, nobody's computer is safe. Without that, we can't trust random sites on the internet, and get stuffed into walled gardens, and our privacy is mined for the profit of others. This is corrosive to democracy.

I'm unfamiliar with that term but I found some articles on it.

What's the best source of info on this topic?

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#42

Humans aren't nearly as intelligent as they've come to believe themselves to be. - PROT

Acting over time, I doubt there's any misinformation that human intelligence can't see through.

And if it did exist, it would be invisible.

But, yes, in the short run, we can all be duped into believing SOMETHING, given the right circumstances.

What rules can we follow to reduce the chances?

Maybe LIMIT how much we consume from volatile sources like news sites.

Maybe act slowly.

One thing I've found is that it also really pays to explore something fully when you don't understand it. Just because someone isn't explaining something well may not be sufficient to dismiss it.

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#43
post #22

Any election's outcome will be the same whether I vote or not. It can't be truer, but somehow people get really mad at me when I say it.

There is a third option, spoil your ballot. It's invalid then, yes, but it's a statistic that the election/party analysts will track.

Up to a certain threshold a spoiled ballot might be considered a mistake, but once over that threshold, it could me something more. For instance, that voters are not interested by the policies of any parties on the ballot.

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#45
"Put your oxygen mask first, before you help others."

Focus on yourself. Figure out what brings you joy. Follow it. Work hard. Don't complain. Be kind. And once you have something to share, offer it to everyone around you. Anonymously, unconditionally, shamelessly.

Many people seemed convinced that voting is a significant part of the solution. I disagree. Be the best version of yourself and then share that wealth with the ones around you.

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#46
post #43
post #22

Any election's outcome will be the same whether I vote or not. It can't be truer, but somehow people get really mad at me when I say it.

There is a third option, spoil your ballot. It's invalid then, yes, but it's a statistic that the election/party analysts will track. Up to a certain threshold a spoiled ballot might be considered a mistake, but once over that threshold, it could me something more. For instance, that voters are not interested by the policies of any parties on the ballot.

Sure, but there too my vote would never tip the scale either way.

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#47
post #8

All fiat money eventually succumbs to hyperinflation

Eventually is a long time :-) Which is why this is true. But I doubt there aren't any currencies around from 1000 AD that haven't suffered that fate.

They will all go, eventually, but how long for the current batch (USD, EUR, GBP, etc)?

A decade? 2? a century?

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any election's outcome will be the same whether I vote or not. Tied and one-vote margin elections are not at all unheard of.

This is only a concern with electoral systems that deny the losing group representation. Like winner-take-all. It wouldn't make any difference at all with proportional representation. And PR can even be implemented in the executive branch, as the Swiss have demonstrated.

> It wouldn't make any difference at all with proportional representation.

Yes, it would.

Any PR system is going to have thresholding, so there will be some number of votes that do not effect the outcome. (Majoritarian elections are just one-seat PR with the Droop quota, maximizing ineffective votes.)

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#49
It might otherwise have been interesting to contemplate, but now that I know it's Peter Thiel's famous question, I can't unsee it as a transparent attempt to gain my confidence by pretending to identify with me, sort of like when police interrogators try to act like the suspect's bro. It also seems to presuppose that I crave an opportunity to be heard and validated by anyone who will listen. If I'm not worried about alienating the questioner, my honest answer is "what crazy beliefs do you envision me holding and what gave you that impression about me?". If it's a high stakes situation, my answer is whatever I think the questioner endorses.

Re: Ask HN: What important truth do few people agree with you on?

#50
post #8

All fiat money eventually succumbs to hyperinflation

Eventually is a long time :-) Which is why this is true. But I doubt there aren't any currencies around from 1000 AD that haven't suffered that fate.

It's not true because of "eventually" it's true because of "fiat".

When an entity (e.g, the government) decrees (which, remember, is what the word "fiat" means) that some piece of paper or entry in a database is "money" is when the trouble starts.

I prefer my money to be a medium of exchange and account as well as a store of value that I can trust which, by implication, means it cannot be decreed to be so by some "authority".

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