jonnathanson

27 ms·

1.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
See, what's interesting to me is that the grandparent comment describes "50 Shades" as ~8 hours of reading. The zero-sum argument assumes that reading time is some fixed value for all people. I don't remember how long it
2.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
Depth and breadth, in this case, are not opposite directions on a straight line. They are vectors that only appear oppositional when viewed under specific time constraints. The more prolific a reader you are, the more efficiently you read,
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
No, I'm not literally suggesting people have infinite time on their hands. Rather, what I'm suggesting is that time compresses when you're reading for pleasure. When you reach a certain "level," shall we say, you re
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
While I don't disagree with the author on his points, I find them premised on faulty logic. His thesis assumes that depth and breadth are zero-sum pursuits. I suppose they are if time and energy are limiting factors, but to those who r
5.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
This article is horseshit. I'm a professional writer, and I'll trust Oates and King over whoever this guy is. "Read widely" isn't some religious dictum. It's more of a religious calling. (Of sorts.) If you love
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
My god, this brings back some formative memories. Memories of AOHell. Memories of HappyHardcore, the self-styled hacker who claimed authorship of it. Memories of hanging out in Warez chat rooms, where everyone showed up in phished accounts
7.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
I think you're right, but I do like pishpash's solution of converting to currency value at the time of theft and then applying some sort of interest calculation. This divorces the damages of the theft from the hypothetical asset v
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
So essentially we set damages at t0 currency value of the milkshake, plus interest over N years. Seems reasonable. If milkshakes were illiquid, and could only be bought and sold every N years, that would seem to peg damages to asset value i
9.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
I'm inclined to agree under that assumption. [Edit: same!]
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
In the scenario I've presented, I think you're correct. This is because milkshakes are liquid (both literally and figuratively), and because they are replaceable. If we add the condition that milkshakes are not replaceable, does t
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Hypothetical problem... Let's imagine a universe in which milk is a rare commodity, and milkshakes are worth their weight in gold. In this world, right now in 2017, 1 milkshake trades for $100 USD. You have a milkshake, and I have a mi
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Atlantic salmon aren't "different" enough from the various Pacific salmon species to occupy their own niche in the Pacific Northwest. If the big ones are too big for you, there are also medium-sized species and smaller specie
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
I would be highly suspicious of anything calling itself "wild" and "Atlantic" in the same breath. There is almost no wild Atlantic salmon fishery left in the United States and Canada. It's all farm raised. Occasiona
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Right, but genetic diversity of the breeding population would be very low, making the population itself very fragile. And that's assuming the spawn survive their first season. (Most young salmon spawn do not survive, and those not nati
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
The conflict of interest (companies are also advertisers) is powerful, and it appears to be exerting a significant effect on the directional reliability of aggregate reviews for any company large enough to be a major advertiser. Companies c
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Coyotes never really went anywhere; in fact, they seem to thrive in the same marginal suburban and semi-wild niches that deer do. Coyotes don't generally prey on deer, however, and hence they're not a perfect substitute for the lo
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
They're not good markets, and even if they were, they fall far short of the Segway's original goals as a mass consumer product. There is a reason Segway is often used as a cautionary tale in product circles, and as as "What n
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Yes, hence why I use the term "ancestral wolves" and not simply "wolves," in the hopes of avoiding confusion. Many people assume dogs are simply some sort of captured/degenerated/infantilized versions of the mo
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
I'd highly recommend reading a book like "The Domestic Dog," which was recently updated with a new edition in 2017. It contains all of the latest science and anthropology around the origins of the human/dog relationship.
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
As barkingcat suggests, pretty much every country on the planet that has normalized diplomatic relations with China formally accepts the One China policy. This is part of China's chess strategy for forcing the world to accept its owner
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Taleb is a gifted statistician who often wanders out of his element to make broad, bold, but perfunctory claims about various subjects. You kind of have to take his work for what it is: the work of a really smart, but arrogant guy who likes
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Please point out where and how you believe I've been "poking fun at the system," or predicting its downfall, or in some broad way denouncing the US, as you seem to suggest I am doing? Critiquing an element of a system does no
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
(Warning: this post contains personal opinions and analysis, some of which might be deemed political.) There are really two classes of 'contract work' in the US. The first class is what I'd call skilled specialists. These are
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
"If plants were tested after production for indicators of plant health and labels could be put on vegetables indicating quality" It's a fine idea until Monsanto, et al., find a way to subvert the standards and bend them int
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Sorry if you were somehow offended by my considering the needs of those we rarely consider. You're more than welcome to read through my posting history and see that this is possibly the first time I have ever mentioned the subject on H
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
Interesting. The calculus is certainly different among billionaires (personal experience sample size = maybe 3 or 4, and no, sadly, I ain't one of 'em myself!). The billionaires I've met, who by and large own and don't r
27.
by jonnathanson 9y ago
Let's say I have a child with special needs, be it giftedness or disability. If I want to provide my child with decent care and quality of life in the SF Bay Area, a household income of $160k is going to make things very difficult. Not
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
I'd also imagine you are logging a lot more hours, facing more intense time pressures, and possibly flying some really irregular or odd-hours routes when you're flying cargo.
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
My gut tells me that calculus goes by the wayside when you're flying Bill Gates around the world, or even just flying your 'garden variety' billionaire and his/her family around the country. I could be totally wrong here
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by jonnathanson 9y ago
My experience tells me you're lowballing the crew salaries; your pilot alone draws at least $200k. You probably don't pay for the rest of the crew, but you do pay monthly fees for storage, private airstrip clearances, and ad hoc (

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