madeofmeat

28 ms·

1.
by madeofmeat 4y ago
Sure, the view that volition is an illusion is not self-contradictory. And I get that this is a very useful view, because it lets us set aside "conscious inner experiences" and just analyze the mind as a deterministic machine with
2.
by madeofmeat 4y ago
"Consciousness is an illusion" I take the word "illusion" to mean, some type of experience which misleads one about reality. And "consciousness" to mean, the experience of having experiences. So I parse this c
3.
by madeofmeat 5y ago
"Everyone" doesn't vote all-red or all-blue. 30% vote all red, 30% all blue, and 40% stay home because there is never a sensible centrist candidate. Each of the 30% active voters then get mistaken for 50% of citizens.
4.
by madeofmeat 6y ago
They have a public domain English translation free at gutenberg.org
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by madeofmeat 7y ago
A municipal government doesn't have a way to impact anything China does. They're stuck between either doing ineffective things like drinking straw bans, or just admitting their helplessness. On the national politics level it&#x27
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by madeofmeat 8y ago
The Pinkertons have been corporate mercenaries for the railroad corporations in western genre novels, since I was old enough to read. The only new thing here is it's a top-selling video game instead of a dime novel.
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by madeofmeat 8y ago
> we cannot enforce decentralization Sure we can, it's called antitrust law.
8.
by madeofmeat 8y ago
They wouldn't, and that was intended. It's obvious this law would restrict economic development, but the Hebrews made that tradeoff for social stability. The main feature of the Jubilee law was that land could not be permanently s
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by madeofmeat 8y ago
Simple, they just stamp their hooves the right number of times.
10.
by madeofmeat 8y ago
But trade was a tiny percentage of either country's economy: these countries had total annual exports something close to 5% of their GDPs. In contrast, for example the USA now exports about 20% of its GDP; China, about 35%. Also, indu
11.
by madeofmeat 8y ago
Population density of Taiwan: 650/square km. Canada: 4/square km. Naturally there will be huge differences in what is cost-effective for these two very different countries.
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by madeofmeat 8y ago
Seconding "A Fire Upon the Deep": a fast-paced, high-stakes action adventure in a zany, 5th Element-esque space opera universe. Explores the idea of strong AI in a unique and interesting way.