Satire?
2023-12-26
another day, another reason to distrust
2023-12-25
[why am i posting Serious Stuff at 7:25 am on Xmas Day? well i could explain why i’m up, and it isn’t because i’m excited about my presents. maybe i can explain why i have nothing better to do, even. but for now, i just was surfing a bit, while waiting for the oven to heat for some fresh bread for holiday dinner at a friend’s place, and wanted to note this article (as a former applied scientist, bogusness in science is still of interest), and as always, whenever something is too edgy for Facebook i stick it here. make myself feel like i’m doing something about it.]
“You can cheat to get a paper. You can cheat to get a degree. You can cheat to get a grant. You can’t cheat to cure a disease,” he says. “Biology doesn’t care.”
Power laws
2023-12-08
Million Dollar Murray by Malcolm Gladwell
Solving problems that have power-law distributions doesn’t just violate our moral intuitions; it violates our political intuitions as well. It’s hard not to conclude, in the end, that the reason we treated the homeless as one hopeless undifferentiated group for so long is not simply that we didn’t know better. It’s that we didn’t want to know better. It was easier the old way.
a Grammy would be nice, though
2023-11-10
Are We Finally Ready to See Neutral Milk Hotel for What It Really Was?
Many of that period’s acclaimed songwriters professed to be allergic to the concept of fame. Mangum just meant it.
Joe Matt
2023-09-19
Here’s where’s I’m compelled to impart what I consider an important life lesson–
If you’re lost, career-wise, and haven’t a clue what to do wit your life–I think it’s crucial to metaphorically “sit perfectly still and do absolutely nothing” for as long as possible. Jobs, friends–just about anything could be considered a distraction. But, if left to ones own devices (like I was) I think eventually one begins to hear their calling. Passions, interests–these things all lead you to it. And for me, it was just doodling in my sketchbook and eventually making autobiographical vignettes. You can’t go looking for money or success–in fact, you have to act as if you already have those things and still don’t know what to do with yourself–and then it’ll come to you. At least that’s how it happened for me.
in a just world, a saint
2023-07-26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0VpfiMcPPA
Education
2023-07-18
Milgram was ultimately denied tenure because the ethics of his experiment were rightfully questioned. Still, Milgram’s experiment has been continually re-created. Perhaps, what is most telling is not Milgram’s results, but the fact that the experiment continues to be repeated and debated and supported and refuted. When faced with an oppressive authority figure, we wonder how we’ll act, what we’ll do, who we’ll obey. The answers, unfortunately, aren’t clear. Even good teachers, kind teachers, given an oppressive hierarchical system, will misuse their authority.
Chilling (and not like a deli product)
2023-06-29
“How lucky we are,”
peak oil
2023-06-18
Collapse might be interesting to write about, if only everyone else wasn’t doing it.
Hubbert’s Peak is Finally Here
From here on out, just six counties in West Texas must meet all global demand growth. […] Using our neural network, we have updated our basin analysis, and the results are shocking. [This area] is likely less than a year from peaking and starting its decline. The only source of non-OPEC supply growth is now primarily tapped out.
What is Hubbert’s Peak Theory?
Hubbert’s peak is defined as the point where the demand for the resources is rising at its highest production rate and then expects a reduction in the correlation with the increased demand.
[…]
Technically speaking, when looking into the future, there is almost an unlimited amount of oil still to be extracted. This implies that we are not yet close to reaching peak energy.
lol
via Reddit
blah
2023-06-18
i need to figure out something i can write about. motivation is very low.
