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bashmelek commented on We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness   newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/defo10
phendrenad2 · 25 days ago
I wouldn't worry about AI solving loneliness any time soon. AI right now feels empty, like a facade with no depth. AI will tell you what it thinks you want to hear, but it can't remember a conversation you had last week (and even if it sticks a summary of your conversations into the pre-prompt, it has no sense of importance and will probably overwrite your darkest secret with your favorite cocktail recipe if it runs out of space).

This "hollowness" is something I intimately understand as someone who used to play hundreds of hours of single-player RPG games. You can make-believe that this world is real, and it works for awhile, but you eventually exhaust this willpower and the lack of real depth eventually crashes into your world. Then I turn off the games and go walk around the mall, just to see humans doing human things again. I feel remarkably better after that.

Maybe we need AI as matchmaker and Master of Ceremonies, introducing people to each other and hyping them up to actually engage with one another.

bashmelek · 25 days ago
I really appreciate your last point. An AI that can improve one’s social skills, má good matches, facilitate human connection and relationships, could be great
bashmelek commented on I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains    · Posted by u/cesargstn
danudey · a month ago
> I buy a domain name → I code for 3 all-nighters → I lose interest → I start again.

That's ADHD for you.

A former coworker of mine lamented this - "I start so many projects or hobbies, but just when I feel like I've learned a lot I lose interest". I had to point out to him that his hobby isn't - whatever, sheep shearing or book bindery or underwater basket weaving - but rather his hobby is learning things. That's a common thing for ADHD people, absorbing all you can in a rapid amount of time, devoting every minute of thought to something, and then suddenly completely forgetting it exists until you get the domain renewal notice.

At least you (seem to) have (some degree of) acceptance of the circumstance and recognize the benefits of this behavior rather than just focusing on the drawbacks; too many people have this behavior and think it's a personal failing, when really they just have a different hobby than they think they have.

bashmelek · a month ago
I do like learning things, but I wish I could retain better. Abandoning hobbies has set me back in that way, making it harder to pick up more advanced interests. It feels like lost time. I have needed to restart instruments and various maths several times. Perhaps a proper system based on spaced repetition could help, but organization is a hurdle
bashmelek commented on What's going on with gene therapies?   nehalslearnings.substack.... · Posted by u/nehal96
condiment · a month ago
To summarize, the problem with gene therapy is simply that it's extremely expensive and the list of qualified clients is extremely small. That's because these therapies have been necessarily targeted towards ultra-rare and assuredly fatal diseases.

That approach developed the technologies, but what if a mass market approach is what is required to create the economies of scale we need to actually benefit from this science long-term? Consider a cure for the common cold. All of the technology exists. We can take a tissue or fluid sample and extract viral genomes, comparing against a database of over 100k viruses. We can develop MRNA vaccines that target specific viral proteins. We can do both of these things using current technology in a timeframe of less than a day.

To me this is the next great leap. Gene therapy is less a technology problem than it is an infrastructure problem, and rare diseases cannot support the infrastructure. But there are plenty of wealthy people who would pay $10k, maybe even $50k, out of pocket to cancel a cold. Rare diseases bootstrapped the tech, common diseases can scale it, and once scaled, everyone benefits.

bashmelek · a month ago
I have been curious if it would be possible to create a business around pet-genetics as a means to improve the underlying technology without having to be overly concerned about the human factor…granted there will still be ethical restraints of a sort
bashmelek commented on Inside the box: Everything I did with an Arduino starter kit   lopespm.com/hardware/2025... · Posted by u/lopespm
poulpy123 · a month ago
I had a look at the document of the kit, and it's like the one I have: it doesn't even explain what is a current and a tension, or what is the relation between resistance, tension and current, althought it is the basic of the basic of electronics

The fact that the author uses the word heterojunction that is at the same time not useful at the first level for a beginner and not used or explained in the document shows that he was either already knowledgeable or spent a lot of time with other ressources to learn.

I'm not saying that these kits are bad, or that nowaday you cannot do many great thing with just an arduino and plug and play components, but they don't teach electronics.

bashmelek · a month ago
The official arduino starter kit teaches some beginner level information, but it is very rudimentary. It is really hard to penetrate the next level of electronics—electronic engineers will stress the importance of precise calculations where previously I was just used to putting together whatever components I had from a kit, with few caveats.

It was not until I tried buying extra transistors that I realized I didn’t understand anything—-and this was after taking the Georgia Tech introduction to electronics free online course. Suddenly there were data sheets and graphs, and not to mention prices. The Build Your PCB course I found myself similarly in over my head, as it felt geared towards EE’s. But I learned about KiCAD. Maybe I will give Ben Eater another try

bashmelek commented on How “The Great Gatsby” took over high school   newyorker.com/books/page-... · Posted by u/pseudolus
dbspin · 3 months ago
> What good is introducing a book that is not relatable in the slightest?

To expand the window of relatability, another word for this is imagination.

bashmelek · 3 months ago
I think maybe it isn’t all or nothing here. Reading about something outside of one’s familiarity can really expand what is relatable to a student, with the help of an instructor to fill in context and use things to which the student can relate to help them grasp the ideas in the text.
bashmelek commented on Librarians are dangerous   bradmontague.substack.com... · Posted by u/mooreds
jadar · 4 months ago
The tragedy of the modern library is that no one has the attention span for good books. Libraries are getting rid of the classics to make room for new books, the majority of which are not worth the paper they’re printed on. We would do well to heed C.S. Lewis’ call to read more old books for every new book that we read.
bashmelek · 4 months ago
I respect what libraries do, yet the past few times I went to my local library I couldn’t find anything I was looking for—and these were well regarded and well known books. I get that they want to stock things people read, but I am a person who wants older books, and I think part of the library’s responsibility should include such books.
bashmelek commented on Why is Good Friday called Good Friday?   historyextra.com/period/g... · Posted by u/vitoc
dfxm12 · 4 months ago
I don't think it is odd at all. In a choice between "our religion can't gain the membership to survive" vs "ok, we can bend the structure of our religion a little to make it more palatable for this huge amount of people", I think the choice is obvious.

You might find it odd that Christians think they came up with Easter (or Christmas, or the Epiphany...) though.

bashmelek · 4 months ago
A lot of these things come from folk practices that the Church would permit but then direct towards something acceptable.
bashmelek commented on The Mensa Reading List for Grades 9-12   onepercentrule.substack.c... · Posted by u/drcwpl
StefanBatory · 5 months ago
Looking at the list, I wish that they included more non-Anglosphere authors. Skimming at it, it does seem a tad Anglo-centric with that.
bashmelek · 5 months ago
The cultural canon in the USA will lean towards that. I will say that, if we are to suggest more global reading, concrete examples are always welcome! I would of course recommend Journey to the West. Even among the Four Great Classical Novels it has huge lasting influence
bashmelek commented on Jumping Spiders   digital.tnconservationist... · Posted by u/rolph
bashmelek · 5 months ago
I used to see these in Florida a lot when I was a kid. What happened?
bashmelek commented on The blissful Zen of a good side project   joshcollinsworth.com/blog... · Posted by u/ingve
candiddevmike · 5 months ago
I feel this in my bones. Side projects are so cathartic and saved my sanity at $DAYJOB. I don't care that I can't implement things the way I want, or how everything is spaghetti, or how much tech debt has piled up, my side projects is a blissful world that I invented. It gives me the "I am Jack's crap codebase" fight club zen at work.
bashmelek · 5 months ago
Yeah. There is something about carving out the image of your own mind and getting absorbed deep inside it. I will write from scratch much more than I need if it strikes me, break whatever rule I want, give names that only make sense to me. It is a sanctuary

u/bashmelek

KarmaCake day211January 9, 2020View Original