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Dopamine Fracking

igerman.cc

431–440 of 446 posts

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#431
I love mountain biking, and part of it is the effort it requires to get to the high trails, fitness to do multiple laps, and the quiet of being in the forest.

But for the past 5-10y eMTBs became a thing and progressively became more affordable. And now you've got 200lbs gorillas zooming past you, digging into the trails with their heavy rigs, and a large number of people who'd never have paid for the effort of getting there without their ebikes.

Fracking that dopamine like there's no tomorrow.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#432

This has been happening in the real world for far longer. It's basically the experience of many modern cities, or even worse suburbs. Starbucks / Chipotle / Orange Theory / Target / Generic Brewery / Lime Scooter / Waymo / Subscribe N Save So much of modern life has been comodified to optimize for things that aren't necessarily what's inline with the users interests and certainly don't do anything for cultural robust…

> Starbucks / Chipotle / Orange Theory / Target / Generic Brewery / Lime Scooter / Waymo / Subscribe N Save I've never been to any one of these except Starbucks but only like a six times and Chitpole ONCE. I've also never been to Taco Bell. McDonalds I've been to thirty times. I don't think I'm alone? These places don't have that exaggerated pull that is often discussed in alarmist articles. I guess I just don't eat…

Same for me, but I stopped counting my McDonald's visits after 25...

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should it? Can I add you as a friend on HN? Can I become your follower? What are the social features that would make HN social media?

Talking to people

Then e-mail should also be considered social media. We need a better definition.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#434

I love this term - I think it beautifully describes the direction that at least, YouTube is heading towards. Take for example, this racket where a channel copies popular (non-kids) creators’ parody work, splits the screen in half with the content on left, adds a completely random DIY type video on the right half, and lo and behold its content for kids who are too young to know any better[1]. Another one: AI voiceover…

the only respectful youtubers are those that monetize off platform. Veritasium had a video a while back (that I can't find now) where he was walking around London saying the algo is requiring that he make longer videos. lo and behold, his videos are now 20+ mins when the main idea can be explained in 4 mins.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#435
post #299
post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take your point, but the other argument against scaling in this way doesn't rely on sentiment: it's unsustainable. I actually hate that word, but the point is that current production methods create (unpriced) environmental externalities. We're draining aquifers, exhausting topsoil, pouring fertilizer into rivers, using too much petroleum - and then throwing a massive portion of what we produce away. (And that's jus…

I look at this as a technical problem. We just aren't very good at this yet. We are, in fact, slowly getting better. Renewable energy was the largest category of new installed energy for the last few years at least, and that's a start. The question is whether we can get good at this fast enough to outrun ourselves. My issue with at least some of green ideology is that it's viewed as a moral problem. We are sinning by…

For things like strawberries and housing I think that you're right that this can be a technical problem.

But some things are inherently scarce. Not everyone can sit courtside at the NBA Finals. We can't all summit Everest. Celebrities don't have the capacity to give a personalized experience to every fan.

We can't all visit Venice at the same time. Maybe we can make more and better versions of the Venetian, but it's not the same thing.

Limiting these things to only a new aristocracy is absolutely gross. Allowing no one these experiences would also be doing a disservice to humanity. I think pursuing abundance where it is an option is the right thing to do. But I don't think we're close to any good solutions for the inherently scarce experiences.

Maybe some day there's a fair lottery system? Everyone gets a ration of limited and authentic experiences coupled with an abundance of commodities?

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with truffle mayo or truffle-based products. [1] People who grew up on the artificial flavor prefer it over the real one. I have quite a few in my circle of friends. You go to an Italian restaurant and you get plain pasta, panned in butter or olive oil and then someone comes with a real truffle and grates it in front you of over your dish until you tell them to stop. You pay for that amount. Unless you go to a r…

If the real thing doesn't taste like gasoline, I'd probably prefer the real thing. I find fake truffle disgustingly gasoline- or solvent-like.

It doesn’t. I also think the fake truffle tastes weirdly like gasoline, the real ones don’t at all.

They are dramatically more expensive, though. Last time I had it, I think I paid a $50 upcharge to have it added to my pasta. Might have been more, it’s been a couple years.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#437
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also grow extremely well in many climates across the northern US and are good at self-perpetuation. They're a fantastic balcony plant since their crawlers will hang down and offer fruit to a downstairs neighbor.

What if you are not from the northern US?

Perhaps there are other plants you can grow where ever you are?

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw an interesting comment from the marketing gent Rory Sutherland. He calls it metric driven isomorphism. In other words, by collecting the same demographic data and redesigning products, all companies in the market tend toward some boring center that addresses the main needs/wants but reduces differentiation.

Yeah, I mean, I've heard it called a lot of things, catering to the masses, least common denominator etc. It's really only a problem when it starts to consume so many resources in a given ecosphere that it pushes out everything else. It's like a Times Square effect, Times Square used to be an actual interesting place, now it's just the bastard child of commercialization. It's happening or has already happened in most…

> New Orleans

Unfortunate that we'll lose that one to the ocean in the next 10-50 years.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#439
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like how 95% of SUVs are basically just minivans with a slightly different body. You have to research to find one with a truck engine that can say, haul a travel trailer. Another one that comes to mind is shutters on windows. People like the look but they’re just planks of wood in the vast majority of cases now.

> People like the look [of shutters] but they’re just planks of wood in the vast majority of cases now. I'm confused, what are real window shutters then? Or do you mean the kind that are attached to the wall and don't actually close?

Most shutters are non functional vestigial architecture. People like the look, even though it has no non aesthetic purpose at this point. At least in the USA the vast majority of “shutters” are this way.

If you go to say, the Florida keys, you’ll obviously see real shutters, since they get hurricanes. Probably doesn’t need to be reiterated, but those shutters are fold out during the nice season (which is the “look” you see on a modern colonial style home) but if a storm is coming you you fold them in and latch them shut to protect your glass windows. I’d imagine part of it is also modern windows are more shatter resistant than older windows, so a much larger storm is required to blow out your windows without the shutters.

Canopy beds are similar (although canopy beds aren’t in style anymore). They served as a way to allow a king privacy in a large hall where courtiers and the court all slept in the same room (a bedroom being prohibitively expensive in medieval times) and to keep heat in before modern heating. Most canopy beds are just kind of nice looking but don’t serve to hold heat in to your sleeping area. We have walls and central heating so they’re largely anachronistic.

Re: Dopamine Fracking

#440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see people constantly make this argument, and honestly I think it’s BS. I grew up eating tomatoes from my grandparents garden, and I’ve lived and traveled all over the world. I’ve grown tomatoes, bought them from roadside farmer stands, bought them at grocery stores, and had them in everything from hole in the wall restaurants in developing countries to Michelin three star restaurants on multiple different continen…

Isn't the point that we don't grow the good varieties any longer because they don't survive freight? It doesn't matter if you bought the tomato seeds from Harrods and grew them in your lush orchard if they're the same lineage bred for shipping hardiness over all else.

Well, there's two issues really.

1. Store-bought tomatoes are nearly always bred for shippability and appearance over flavor 2. Store-bought tomatoes are picked when unripe, so they shelf-ripen during transit and at the store, which is highly inferior to ripening on the vine for flavor

For the first issue... you can buy heirloom tomato seeds at any major hardware or garden store in America.

For the second issue... even the typical tomato breeds will taste great if you grow them yourself and let them vine-ripen till they're ready to eat.

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