431–440 of 593 posts
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>I don't care what replaces it What if the replacement is worse?
Such a system is not possible.
1. Don't like tempting fate.
2. Am very aware of the limits of my imagination. 15 years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to predict Facebook having the sorts of downsides that are now glaring.
I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…
> They said they couldn't override the software - which I don't believe at all. This is why I'm worried by - no, I hate - the automation of bureaucracy, governmental and business alike. Software is giving bureaucrats the perfect escape hatch. "I'm sorry, but The System won't let me". The System won't let a low-level clerk fix the mistake some algorithm made. You escalate to the manager, but The System won't let them…
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If they still end up charging 15% for doing the same thing automated there hasn't been any meaningful economic progress. There's just concentration of wealth. If they can cut that 15% to 1% and this field ends up being competitive then sure. But, they're probably going for a monopoly play here.
It doesn't matter if they're trying to go for a monopoly play here. Competitors would arise and there wouldn't be any inherent monopoly dynamics left. So of course the percentage will be cut. That's how competition works.
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The purpose of the medallions, in theory, is to improve the chances that the average cab driver can make a living wage. Can the average Uber driver live a middle class income from this “gig”? > When accounting for the ride-sharing company’s commissions and fees, vehicle expenses and a modest health insurance package, Uber drivers end up earning just $9.21 in hourly wages, according to a new study from the Economic Po…
> The purpose of the medallions, in theory, is to improve the chances that the average cab driver can make a living wage The problem with that is that there is a supply of cab drivers and demand for cabs that drives the price. If you put in a medallion system, the price of the medallion will be bid up such that the cab driver's wage is in line with the market wage. You can't just wave a magic wand and set prices with…
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Basing your retirement plan around the continuing artificial scarcity of taxi medallions is not smart . The city has no obligation to keep the medallions scarce; their value can drop to zero overnight due to changing regulations (or a drop in demand for taxi services, e.g. because a better public transportation system was implemented) and they won't owe you a dime. You'd be far better off working with Uber instead an…
Medallions don't come out of thin air. It's the cities that provide them. The cities want this, because taxis are meant to be a component of the city transportation system. They're not there to compete with public transit, they're there to augment it - to service the needs that a bus or a train can't. A medallion comes with a requirement to fulfill those needs, as the city sees fit. The relationship between public ma…
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Humanity is the sickness. Only through software and bureaucracy can humans cure their ailment and achieve the proper goals. It's 2021, get with the times.
I am far more concerned about software automating what used to be left to human judgement. AI will judge us just the same, just faster and with no way to appeal to common sense.
And on an extremely serious note, I am utterly terrified how many people treat, "Well the AI/algorithm says xyz, it must be true. Got to believe the math/data." I'm not kidding, that's my fear. People blindly follow the almighty algorithms. It's just another form of religion and worship. And even more seriousness, atheists are fantastic at rationalizing their blind dogmatic worship over algorithms.
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Humanity is the sickness. Only through software and bureaucracy can humans cure their ailment and achieve the proper goals. It's 2021, get with the times.
Humanity is fine but we’ve tolerated cancers that have gained control of the brain and are running the show.