481–490 of 567 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reason war may be coming is because the West is falling apart. The US is isolating itself and bullying its allies. Alternative powers wanting to do something expansive never had a better moment in time to do so. There was no war forthcoming between an integrated West and any other power. War is coming because there no longer is a West.
now that the adults are back in charge, we should be good for a few more years at least.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the big issue that came along when stable households (mom/dad taking care of you) were replaced by fentanyl and TikTok. Moral character is something that has to be taught, it doesn't just come out on its own. If your parents don't do it properly, you'll be just another cog in the soulless machine to which human life is of no value.
The real issue is that corporate incentives don't prioritize morality
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet there are boundaries on which weapons we can and cannot develop: Nuclear, Chemical, Biological etc.
Indeed. Usually weapons are banned if the damage is high and indiscriminate while the military usefulness is low. There is at this moment little evidence that autonomous weapons will cause more collateral damage than artillery shells and regular air strikes. The military usefulness on other other hand seems to be very high and increasing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A vague “stuff is happening behind closed doors” isn’t enough of a reason to build AI weapons. If you shared a specific weapon that could only be countered with AI weapons, that might make me feel differently. But right now I can’t imagine a reason we’d need or want robots to decide who to kill. When people talk about AI being dangerous, or possibly bringing about the end of the world, I usually disagree. But AI weap…
How about 30k drones come from a shipping vessel in the port of Los Angeles that start shooting at random people? To insert a human into the loop (somehow rapidly wake up, move, log hundreds of people in to make the kill/nokill decision per target) would be accepting way more casualties. What if some of the 30k drones were manned? The timeframes of battles are drastically reduced with the latest technology to where h…
It's going to happen.
I initially thought that this was an announcement for a new pledge and thought, "they're going to forget about this the moment it's convenient." Then I read the article and realized, "Oh, it's already convenient." Google is a megacorp, and while megacorps aren't fundamentally "evil" (for some definitions of evil), they are fundamentally unconcerned with goodness or morality, and any appearance that they are is purely…
They’re not evil, they’re amoral and are designed to maximize profits for their investors. Evil is subjective.
Seems it would be informative to many of the people posting on this thread.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The bait-and-switch model is absolutely amazing as well. Start by offering a service covered with ads. Then add paid tier to get rid of ads. Next add tier with payment and ads. And finally add ads back to every possible tier. Not to forget about keeping them in content all the time.
To quote the email from Hulu that recently dropped into my inbox: > We are clarifying that, as we continue to increase the breadth and depth of the content we make available to you, circumstances may require that certain titles and types of content include ads, even in our 'no ads' or 'ad free' subscription tiers. So at this point they aren't even bothering to rename the tier from "ad free" even as they put ads in it…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm also on the 39% marginal income tax rate in New Zealand. That income tax rate isn't the problem. Keeping $60K out of every $100K extra salary I make is plenty of motivation to work harder to make the extra $100K... especially because the taxes paid aren't burned, they mostly go to things I care about. The income tax rate isn't all that relevant to the costs and benefits of starting a company, so I don't understan…
> Keeping $60K out of every $100K extra salary I make is plenty of motivation to work harder That's good that it motivates you. It doesn't motivate me any more. I'm not interested in "investing" more time for the reasons I have said. > the taxes paid aren't burned, they mostly go to things I care about. I'm pleased for you. I'd like to put more money towards things I care about. > The income tax rate isn't all that r…
I find it hard to understand how $60K means no motivation but $100K would be highly motivating.
> I'd like to put more money towards things I care about.
You said later that you care about the public health system and helping the elderly. That's where a large percentage of our taxes go.
> Huh? Dividends are income. Or are you talking about the non-monetary rewards of owning a business?
No, I'm talking about selling all or part of the business. I agree with you that it's a problem our businesses often sell out to overseas interests who hollow out the company. But the general pattern of making most of your money by selling shares in the business is completely normal worldwide.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're taking about pre-Clinton consumerism. That system is dead. It used to dictate that the company who could offer the best value deserved to take over most of the market. That's old thinking. Now we have servitization. Now the business who can most efficiently offer value deserves the entire market. Basically, iterate until you're the only one left standing and then never "sell" anything but licenses ever again.
The bait-and-switch model is absolutely amazing as well. Start by offering a service covered with ads. Then add paid tier to get rid of ads. Next add tier with payment and ads. And finally add ads back to every possible tier. Not to forget about keeping them in content all the time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How about 30k drones come from a shipping vessel in the port of Los Angeles that start shooting at random people? To insert a human into the loop (somehow rapidly wake up, move, log hundreds of people in to make the kill/nokill decision per target) would be accepting way more casualties. What if some of the 30k drones were manned? The timeframes of battles are drastically reduced with the latest technology to where h…
How about 30k drones come from a shipping vessel in the port of Los Angeles that start shooting at random people? It's going to happen.