Silverback_VII (u/Silverback_VII)

Silverback_VII commented on 99-year old trucking company Yellow shuts down, putting 30k out of work cnn.com/2023/07/31/busine... · Posted by u/DamnInteresting

Buttons840 · 2 years ago

Why are industries dominated by large unprofitable companies? I was told the way to succeed was to offer goods and services that people want, make a profit and grow the company; this was a key benefit of the free market and ensured consumers had access to many good choices and it was all stable and sustainable. Instead unprofitable companies dominate, not because they succeeded in the market, but because they received favor from the wealthy.

I'd like an economic system where the companies that offer the best goods and service at the right price grow and succeed. I've heard this is how capitalism is supposed to work, but more and more it seems the key to success is currying favor with the wealthy and capturing a market through external means.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

>Why are industries dominated by large unprofitable companies?

The logic is quite simple: by undercutting your competition, you aim to quickly drive others out of business and secure a monopoly. Once in such a position, making a profit becomes much easier.

Silverback_VII commented on Before he was the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski was a mind-control test subject washingtonpost.com/histor... · Posted by u/whitepaint

blumomo · 2 years ago

People have been called out and framed „Conspiracy Theorists“ (CT) for saying, years ago, that those government programs are one of the causes of amok runs in the US, repeatedly killing innocent people, i.e. in schools.

Is it now allowed to talk openly about MKUltra, CIA involvement and amok runs? Or do CTs still need to hide, even after media outlets like Washing Post write about that, conforming its existence?

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

I would argue that there is a significant difference between Ted Kaczynski and the numerous conspiracy theorists out there. A quick read through his works, most notably his latest piece, "Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How," will quickly reveal the careful, rational approach he applies to his arguments.

Conspiracy theorists often fail to comprehend that secret agencies can naturally emerge in modern societies. A society without such agencies would be at the mercy of those societies that do have them.

What if, for instance, China successfully develops a mind control program and your country does not?

Asserting that the CIA is "bad", without considering larger societal trends and developments, is overly simplistic.

Ted Kaczynski would not engage in such emotional judgments. Here's an example of his reasoning concerning the evolution of modern societies: https://en.wikialpha.org/wiki/Self-propagating_system

Silverback_VII commented on Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across life course (2006) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1... · Posted by u/tosh

deofoo · 2 years ago

The impact of culture is another critical data-point. For example, in some cultures, elders are viewed as being kind, wise and important while in others, grumpy and useless.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

In primitive cultures, reaching old age could be seen as an achievement, given the difficulty of surviving without a healthcare system. In most modern societies, however, aging isn't as challenging and elderly individuals are often "locked away" in retirement homes. In other words, they essentially disappear, living a life of a ghost. Moreover, what kind of wisdom would you expect from someone who spent their years merely waiting for the day of their retirement?

Silverback_VII commented on U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs news.gallup.com/poll/5057... · Posted by u/harambae

mc32 · 2 years ago

I think it's complex and hard to breakdown. Modern life may have something to do with it, but it certainly isn't more difficult to live today than it was during the great economic depression. Additionally, the internet should tell us that If you live in the US you are way better off than people in places like Ukraine, Mexico, Argentina, Uganda, etc. Now, if they are comparing themselves to the Kardashians or erroneously to pretend-rich Social media personalities, that's on them.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

I think how easy life is has little to do with psychological wellbeing. If life is very hard but you are doing great relative to others you will feel good. Furthermore, a more demanding life often generates a deeper sense of purpose and meaning.

Silverback_VII commented on U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs news.gallup.com/poll/5057... · Posted by u/harambae

GiorgioG · 2 years ago

In the last few years inflation has hurt the fuck out of all but the richest Americans. Financial stress leads to depression. Add both political parties are constantly telling us the other side is ruining everything and it's just piling it on. A recession is here/coming.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

I suspect it has less to do with specific parameters of modern society and more with the general experience of living in it. It's a rat race that, for many, lacks any meaning. another point to consider is the psychological difference between being a big fish in a small pond as opposed to being a small fish in a very large one. With the Internet, we now have the means to compare ourselves with everyone else, and our minds can quickly reach the conclusion that who we are and what we have is simply not good enough. From there, it's an easy slide into a downward spiral.

Silverback_VII commented on Students are increasingly refusing to go to school usatoday.com/in-depth/new... · Posted by u/amichail

zx8080 · 2 years ago

What the hell are they doing to pupils at schools in the US?! I mean, literally, how are the US schools differ from the other countries ones?

Please share something, as it's not clear at all for those non-US citizens.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

This is not a problem specific to the United States. It's everywhere and is called the Prussian education system.

You can read more about the dark side of the system here: https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Problem_of_Schooling especially the 100 bad habits learned at school

Silverback_VII commented on Lately I've been using timers daily github.com/madprops/blog/... · Posted by u/Sujeto

Barrin92 · 2 years ago

I don't know if it's a purely modern thing but quietness is I think straight up perceived as uncomfortable by a lot of people now. Had a conversation recently with someone saying that they can't have a meal without having something on in the background, and in conversations too people are very hung up about avoiding silence.

it's really underdiscussed how averse people seem to just contemplation.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

>it's really underdiscussed how averse people seem to just contemplation.

Another observation I've made is that the more time people spend consuming information, the more they feel compelled to talk. It's as if humans are programmed to share the information they've gathered. I'm certain that in the past, people eagerly listened if you had new information, but these days, everyone is constantly collecting new information. It seems like everyone wants to share/talk, yet no one wants to listen.

Silverback_VII commented on The EU AI act is coming, this time for real probably wolfhf.medium.com/the-eu-... · Posted by u/FionnMc

bjornsing · 2 years ago

EU and Putin together would be unstoppable…?

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

Yes, indeed, that's also why the United States takes all measures to make it nearly impossible.

Silverback_VII commented on The EU AI act is coming, this time for real probably wolfhf.medium.com/the-eu-... · Posted by u/FionnMc

roenxi · 2 years ago

In theory I probably do agree with the bill as presented in the article, there are 2 reservations that should be bought up.

Firstly, the EU has a history of crippling their native tech industry to the general detriment of the EU. It is quite possible that this will end up being one more nail in the coffin.

Secondly, they're fighting economics on this one. AI seems to be cheap and accessible. In practice controlling the things that this article discusses is probably going to be impossible. It is like banning communism or nazi-ism - we'd do it if it was possible. It isn't. Attempts to ban the idea just make the whole situation worse. It is well nigh impossible to ban modes of thinking, and AI appears to be one of those.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

>the EU has a history of crippling their native tech industry to the general detriment of the EU. It is quite possible that this will end up being one more nail in the coffin.

The primary factor is brain drain. As many experts in geopolitics suggest, the European Union, in collaboration with Russia, could potentially rival, if not surpass, the United States in terms of power. However, it appears they are content to be pawns on the larger chessboard.

Silverback_VII commented on Agile soccer skills for a bipedal robot with deep reinforcement learning twitter.com/haarnoja/stat... · Posted by u/throw310822

yowzadave · 2 years ago

Without realizing this was a quote from the Simpsons, I read this totally seriously and accepted it as a scarily plausible scenario for the future: a competition for the first power to achieve dominance in the field of robotic war. And once the winning robot army has liquidated their competition, the war can be effectively over—no need for any human lives to be lost…just to surrender to the superior technological force.

Silverback_VII · 2 years ago

> no need for any human lives to be lost…

This assumes that human lives will be more valuable than war robots. However, humans may be used as cannon fodder to distract enemy robots from targeting valuable equipment.