RandomNick (u/RandomNick)

RandomNick commented on You Feel Like Shit youfeellikeshit.com/... · Posted by u/saaspirant

sundvor · 4 years ago

So not likely to see this one then?

Did you use your squat rack in the last 24 hours?

No: Go do some lifting.

(That's a sure fire way to lift my spirits.)

RandomNick · 4 years ago

I wish I could upvote this more than once. For me nothing else I have ever found is nearly as effective as lifting.

RandomNick commented on Rent control isn’t working in Sweden bbc.com/news/business-583... · Posted by u/ZeljkoS

kiklion · 4 years ago

Isn’t rent control, as a means of addressing housing affordability, one of the things that nearly every economist agrees doesn’t work?

If you want to use rent control as a means to ensure individuals of various levels of wealth intermingle… then there is a conversation to be had. But it completely fails to make housing more affordable overall.

RandomNick · 4 years ago

It's basic economic principle: Price ceiilngs, like rent control, cause a shortage of supply. Price floors, cause surpluses in supply.

Everything else is just nonsensical hand-waving people use in an attempt to justify why various schemes they favor are not working yet again.

RandomNick commented on Tesla fire kills man because door handles wouldn’t open, lawsuit alleges (2019) washingtonpost.com/busine... · Posted by u/mardiyah

orangepanda · 5 years ago

> what prevented the first responder from breaking a window?

First responders werent paramedics or firefighters. You'd expect a random bystander to risk their life breaking into a flaming car?

RandomNick · 5 years ago

According to the article it wasn't just random bystanders, it was a police officer.

"But Awan survived the crash, and he could have escaped the smoke and fire, too, Grossman said — if only the police officer who arrived on the scene could have opened the car’s doors."

RandomNick commented on Ethics in Strategy Gaming, Part 1: Panzer General filfre.net/2020/11/ethics... · Posted by u/doppp

mcguire · 5 years ago

I'm interested in your ethical position here.

Is there anything short of mass murder which you would feel morally opposed to? (And if not, why that? I mean, if you are only concerned with harmful effects, killing on a large scale has gotten us where we are now, right?)

Is potential, practical, harmful effects the right dividing line? Is it a clear line; is there any issue you are unsure about? Would raising a toast, or a statue, to Stalin in the Ukraine raise some qualms, even though the act itself would hurt no one?

RandomNick · 5 years ago

I am morally opposed to a lot of things. First and foremost, violence that is not in self-defense. So that covers wars, genocide, mass conscription, and taxation. Basically the modern state in general. But that is real life I'm talking about, which has nothing to do with what goes on within the confines of a video game. I'll go back to the original quote:

"For your actions in Panzer General will also lead to the deaths of millions, at only one more degree of remove at best."

Your actions, or the actions of anyone else in Panzer General will not lead to a single death, let alone millions. It makes no difference to anyone else but the person who is playing the game. If you enjoy playing the game, then great, have at it. If playing as a German General makes you uncomfortable then that's fine too. I really don't see any ethical issue here at all.

RandomNick commented on Ethics in Strategy Gaming, Part 1: Panzer General filfre.net/2020/11/ethics... · Posted by u/doppp

AnIdiotOnTheNet · 5 years ago

I feel like you have taken that argument out of context. This appears just before it:

"What sorts of subject matter are appropriate for a game? Before you rush to answer, ask yourself how you would feel about, say, a version of Transport Tycoon where you have to move Jews from the cities where they live to the concentration camps where they will die."

If one feels completely comfortable with that, then the argument afterward can be disregarded. However, the author makes that argument on the assumption that you will feel uncomfortable with the above (as I'm sure a lot of us would) and posits that Panzer General should make you equally uncomfortable.

Further, I think it is unwise to brush aside any argument that the nature of the media we consume does not affect how we interact with the real world without consideration. Just because it turns out that old 90s arguments about DOOM turning us all into violent murderers was wrong doesn't mean that there aren't effects that might be harmful.

RandomNick · 5 years ago

That previous section doesn't alter the context and doesn't change the fact that nothing I or the author or any other player does in a game like this leads to a single death, let alone millions.

If the author is uncomfortable taking on the role of a "German general goose-stepping and kowtowing to his Führer" then he should feel equally uncomfortable acting as a Soviet general goose-stepping for a dictator who imprisoned, tortured and starved millions of his own citizens. Or for that matter the U.S. or Britain. Forget anything based on ancient Greece or Rome as well. Might as well stick to Farmville or Mario Kart if you're going to continue down that road.

"Further, I think it is unwise to brush aside any argument that the nature of the media we consume does not affect how we interact with the real world without consideration. Just because it turns out that old 90s arguments about DOOM turning us all into violent murderers was wrong doesn't mean that there aren't effects that might be harmful."

I did not brush it aside, I read the entire rambling article, most of which had very little to do with any potential harmful effects and gave it a lot more consideration than it truly deserved. It was in no way compelling, nor did it contain any real insights. I stand by my earlier statement, he is really overthinking this.

RandomNick commented on Ethics in Strategy Gaming, Part 1: Panzer General filfre.net/2020/11/ethics... · Posted by u/doppp

RandomNick · 5 years ago

"For your actions in Panzer General will also lead to the deaths of millions, at only one more degree of remove at best."

No, my actions won't lead to a single death, no matter how many degrees you move away. It's just moving bits around in a computer.

"Or am I hopelessly overthinking it? Is Panzer General just a piece of harmless entertainment that happens to play with a subset of the stuff of history?"

The answer is an emphatic yes, you are really overthinking this.

RandomNick commented on Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic reuters.com/article/us-he... · Posted by u/rbanffy

ndespres · 5 years ago

I think a lot of these folks underestimate what it takes to hunt an elk, field dress it, bring it back to their vehicle, and put away 300 lbs of meat. Even if you borrow a gun as one person interviewed here would, you need a truck, knives, a bone saw, camouflage, maybe a tree stand, and a large freezer, among other things. It is reasonable to hunt for food, but it's not reasonable for your typical "hospital manager" to go out in the woods and take his first shot at a large animal.

Lots of people from NYC suburbs and Long Island head up into the nearest forest every hunting season and accidentally shoot each other, maim animals and don't have the stamina to chase them to complete the kill, etc.

If you're concerned about food shortages, it would be much easier to raise a few backyard chickens or rabbits if you have the small amount of space required for it. Much less likelihood of a gun accident that way too.

If you're set on going out in the woods for a "mental cleanse" and to kill an animal, you could do worse than starting with a read of Jackson Landers' excellent Beginners Guide to Hunting Deer for Food (https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Hunting-Deer-Storey/d...).

RandomNick · 5 years ago

I had the same thought. That guy sounds like it's as simple as walking into the woods and shooting an elk. I don't think he has any idea how difficult it can be.

RandomNick commented on Hedy Lamarr en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hed... · Posted by u/boshomi

RandomNick · 6 years ago

That's Hedley!

RandomNick commented on Show HN: Create font in your own handwriting style copymonkey.xyz/... · Posted by u/swechha1605

RandomNick · 6 years ago

Why would I want a font that nobody but me can read?

RandomNick commented on Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? · Posted by u/apitman

RandomNick · 7 years ago

The Ethics of Liberty by Murray Rothbard