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Don't Become the Machine

armeet.bearblog.dev

131–140 of 157 posts

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#131
post #54
post #3

> I think hustle-culture and the vision being pushed on my timeline is a corrupted one. A satirical video which I think captures some of the frustration: "The Hustle" by Krazam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U > Machine Head - Derek Hobbs 1995 For anyone else a little nerd-sniped, the ASCII art head is 54,505 bytes, My original motive was something like: "If this were a PNG it would have only taken a muc…

A very un-scientific screen grab and saving as a GIF gives me 604kB at 990×1000 pixels, but this does include color fringing at the edges of each letter and I'd be inclined to treat this as a 1 BPP image.

I bet somebody in the biz has a pipeline for running different algorithms/formats/compressions, and applying different metrics for "would these look about the same to a human on a certain screen at a certain distance."

> 1 BPP

Yeah, the different ASCII characters might be best modeled/analogized as local dithering.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#132
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should understand what this is in response to, though. The commenter advocates opacity for the sake of not being treated like a machine. The ideal solution is for people to not treat you like a machine, but things aren’t always ideal.

But what's a better way to be seen as machine than to become an opaque black box? And unpredictable black box isn't seen as somehow not a machine; it's seen as a broken machine.

[deleted]

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#133
post #131
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very un-scientific screen grab and saving as a GIF gives me 604kB at 990×1000 pixels, but this does include color fringing at the edges of each letter and I'd be inclined to treat this as a 1 BPP image.

I bet somebody in the biz has a pipeline for running different algorithms/formats/compressions, and applying different metrics for "would these look about the same to a human on a certain screen at a certain distance." > 1 BPP Yeah, the different ASCII characters might be best modeled/analogized as local dithering.

AA-lib is alive and kicking (I think): https://aa-project.sourceforge.net/

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#134
post #25

This is something that hit me during my master thesis the first time: I was entirely free to choose my work time, work mode. Since the prof was very hands-off too, only the result after 6 months mattered. That was quite the weird time. But it taught me some pieces about work-life balance and choosing what is 'enough work', as well as giving your brain time off, or time on something else to work through more complex t…

I totally failed on the balancing part, was working on the thesis like a runaway diesel engine. I could sleep and step away from the word processor window but it kind of consumed my thoughts at all times. Towards the end stress started to spill over to the physical domain and it took about 4 months after the submission and thesis defense (no snakes fortunately) for symptoms to subside.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#136

I play tennis twice a week and I inline skate twice a week (weather pending) and yesterday I commuted to and from work on inlines (first time I've done it, won't be the last, but won't be often). Having such hobbies plus a couple of kids (now teenagers so they're somewhat less demanding of my time) means I just don't have the time to do extra hours if I'm going to get enough sleep. And if I don't get enough sleep the…

>I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life. it's interesting how relative this statement is. For a lot of people, being able to lead a rich life means you're already rich; if you're not worrying about money every day (and i mean literally checking your bank account before going to the grocery store), you are rich.

This is, unfortunately, accurate.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#137
I am lucky that most of my career happened before linkedin/X, so I never developed the urge or the instinct to broadcast my supposed successes to my network's timelines.

In my 20s, I wasn't immune to the need to promote myself: everyone in our team was supposed to write up his/her achievements each week and we would discuss these write-ups at our weekly meeting. I would use that opportunity to blow my own horn. I hope, however, I never crossed over into cringe-land like you see now.

Now I just program for fun: I don't do it on anyone else's schedule or to promote myself, because I don't expect to be paid.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#138
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do accept people for who they are. If this is what they want, and they enjoy it, then whatever. You do you, but you're not obliged to accept someone for who they are if who they are is a brainless wastoid. I recommend minimizing the time wasted on zombies in favor of seeking out people who still value their brains.

Depending on how you categorize people into being a "brainless wastoid", that could potentially shrink some people's interactions with other humans to literal 0... I see this type of sentiment reflected all over the internet as well, avoiding people because they don't fit whatever type of mold, I think this type of mentality is terrible. Not saying you gotta go out and find someone who has 14 hours of screen on time…

> avoiding people because they don't fit whatever type of mold

You are the average of the people you spend your time with. To spend time with thoughtless people is to drag yourself down.

> bordering on dehumanization

No, this isn't dehumanization at all. I'm well aware of the self-destruction that humans are capable of.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#139
A quote shared by a close friend and mentor -

Apparently an elderly Irish musician said this as he was tuni g his instrument - "I've learnt that the secret to being happy is to not get personally involved in your own life."

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#140
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on how you categorize people into being a "brainless wastoid", that could potentially shrink some people's interactions with other humans to literal 0... I see this type of sentiment reflected all over the internet as well, avoiding people because they don't fit whatever type of mold, I think this type of mentality is terrible. Not saying you gotta go out and find someone who has 14 hours of screen on time…

> avoiding people because they don't fit whatever type of mold You are the average of the people you spend your time with. To spend time with thoughtless people is to drag yourself down. > bordering on dehumanization No, this isn't dehumanization at all. I'm well aware of the self-destruction that humans are capable of.

the term "brainless wastoid" doesnt come across as dehumanization to you? thats strange. I think we are okay with taking people without brain activity off life support, so it certainly screams dehumanization to me.

> You are the average of the people you spend your time with. To spend time with thoughtless people is to drag yourself down.

this is a popular thing to say, that PROBABLY shouldn't be taken THIS literally, if i spend time with an idiot relative on a holiday, am i suddenly a dumber person? Is it suddenly your obligation to avoid certain gatherings because you know some of the people there aren't gonna meet your minimum standards of intelligence? If your child ends up not really being all that smart.. just hard abandon them? How literal should this statement be taken?

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