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Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

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Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#211

Post by giantg2 »

throwawaylala1 wrote: post #188
giantg2 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A little hustle pays dividends long term." Only if you're lucky too. Hustle by itself means nothing.

You're not wrong, but there is a large spectrum of success out there. It's not like you get only "one shot, one opportunity" (Eminem) or nothing. Yes there's also a spectrum of the work/reward ratio and sometimes it's skewed in a crappy way. For some people it's too easy and for some people it's too hard Point is that reaching upper middle class and higher is totally feasible no matter your walk of life as long as yo…

"Point is that reaching upper middle class and higher is totally feasible no matter your walk of life as long as you keep the hustle going."

It's also unlikely, even just looking at it statistically.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#212

Post by Viliam1234 »

infamouscow wrote: post #110

Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity[1]. The theory being stupidity is a moral failing rather than an intellectual one. I'm still wrapping my head around the implications of this. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc

The word "stupidity" is confusing, as people use it to refer to different things.

1) People can do stupid things, because they are mentally incapacitated, either permanently (e.g. mental retardation) or temporarily (e.g. drunkness, tiredness). There is nothing they can do about it, so it is morally neutral. In case of drunkness, the moral failure could be getting drunk, especially if you know it will result in you doing stupid things.

2) Willful (and often joyful) irrationality. This is the kind that Bonhoeffer points to, I think. I agree that it is a moral failure, but for many people "morality" simply means "what my friends approve of"; so if they get irrational together with their friends and in the same way, they see no moral problem in doing so, and their friends would agree.

3) People can also do stupid things simply because they are misinformed, either by mistake, or by being manipulated. That again is morally neutral. If it was a mistake, and they get feedback that they are wrong, now they have a moral choice: either start thinking and stop doing stupid things, or double down (which now makes it willful irrationality).

Yes, from this perspective, many people are immoral. Note that even a group that seems "homogenously stupid" from outside can still contain all three kinds of members; some members are willfully irrational, others only made the mistake of trusting the former.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#213

Post by pasabagi »

Viliam1234 wrote: post #190
pasabagi wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Religion is a private matter you practice however you please as long as you harm noone I think the chinese make this argument in Xinjiang much more convincingly, after all, unlike the french, they do not have large, bell-ringing churches and cathedrals in the centers of literally every settlement, all of which are blazoned with symbols of the faith. It's also the argument they make in Germany, where you're not allo…

> I can say for certain that every muslim woman, whether they wear the headscarf or not, is oppressed by having this choice taken out of their hands. Game theory is complicated. Sometimes having a choice taken away from you is good for you... for example if it is a choice you never really wanted to take, but your environment would punish you for avoiding it voluntarily. When the choice is taken away, the punishment w…

Alternatively, literally every white woman I know has told me they find the pressure to appear presentable, to look in a certain way, oppressive and stressful. We live in a society that makes it easy for men to oppress women, in public or in private. Tackling domestic violence, exclusion of women from public spaces, women's wages, would make it much easier for women pressured by families or husbands to take the freedoms that are actually important to them, which may or may not include choices about head wear.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#214

Post by binbag »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #129
binbag wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it a bit tragic that my comment is being downvoted. Maybe the downvoters think I should be relaxed about my government breaking national and international laws?

Perhaps you could elaborate on the specific laws being broken? HN is international, so not everyone knows about or is as focused on the issues you care about.

No problem. They created new national laws for covid 19 enforcing lockdowns etc and then were photographed repeatedly breaking them, and eventually the prime minister was fined by police. On the international front, the same government negotiated with the EU and signed an agreement relating to Brexit and the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. They have now, a short time later, decided to unilaterally change the contract, breaking international law. The EU are now taking the UK to court.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#215

Post by pqs »

Viliam1234 wrote: post #210
jnash wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously they don't fear divine judgement. In other words, it is evidence that a large percentage of Catholic clergy simply doesn't believe in God. There are websites out there dedicated to religious clergy who doesn't believe in God but has no choice but to continue spreading BS.

> religious clergy who doesn't believe in God but has no choice In what sense they don't have a choice? Catholic church won't kill you if you quit. First, you can leave the religion entirely, then they have no power over you. Second, you can quit your job while staying in the church (as Pope Benedict did), and I think you probably can quit priesthood... but if even you couldn't, quitting the religion is always the Pl…

You are right. They do have a choice.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#216

Post by the_only_law »

gaws wrote: post #195
Giorgi wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was on Reddit, was not it? I got banned from a sub just because of having opinion that contradicted OP, when I asked which rule did I broke, My account was suspended on whole Reddit... I have been member since Digg exodus and never had any problem till that day. Unfortunately Reddit is ruled by moronic mods who can perma-ban your account, and admins can't be bothered. If your opinion is not in line, your IP is goi…

> your IP is going to get blacklisted This is easily circumvented by resetting your router and starting fresh with an account. Who cares about "karma" anyway? > so either you are extremely left wing, or you are out. Or don't participate in political/culture war subreddits that encourage idiots on two sides to sling text feces at each other all day.

> Who cares about "karma" anyway?

Until you can't post in your favorite subreddit because it has a minimum threshold.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#217

Post by gaws »

the_only_law wrote: post #216
gaws wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> your IP is going to get blacklisted This is easily circumvented by resetting your router and starting fresh with an account. Who cares about "karma" anyway? > so either you are extremely left wing, or you are out. Or don't participate in political/culture war subreddits that encourage idiots on two sides to sling text feces at each other all day.

> Who cares about "karma" anyway? Until you can't post in your favorite subreddit because it has a minimum threshold.

Which one?

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#218

Post by the_only_law »

gaws wrote: post #217
the_only_law wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who cares about "karma" anyway? Until you can't post in your favorite subreddit because it has a minimum threshold.

Which one?

I haven't used reddit in a while, but it wasn't uncommon to make a throwaway for some additional level of psueo-anonimty, authoring a post, submitting and then instantly getting a message saying you don't have enough karma.

Iirc it's more common in large subreddits, or really anything that has a decent amount of traffic and a somewhat organized moderation approach.

Re: Ask HN: What has melted your brain recently?

#219

Post by starwind »

rsyring wrote: post #13

Age. I turned 40 and realized I probably wasn't on the upswing of life anymore. I've developed a small but weighty sense of "time is running out" that I didn't have before. I want that to be a motivator to do good and meaningful things and not a growing sense of foreboding. That necessitates contemplation of life, faith, priorities, etc.

I'm early-30s and found out this week that the tendonitis in my foot that the doctor swore would clear up "in a month or two" with ice, ibuprofen, and stretching, is actually arthritis. My hair's getting a little thin too. Feeling like I'm past my peak really isn't sitting well with me
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