I went to college to be an economist. Why did I walk away?
Scientific hypothesis: p → q. If p → ¬q, then the hypothesis isn't true.
Economic hypothesis: p → q. If p → ¬q, then you're an idiot who doesn't understand how the world works and you need to die in a fire..
Hence: ¬economist
#economics
Posts by Curtis "Ovid" Poe
It's a sensitive topic, but I'm aware that some of the people who read what I write are—to be delicate—not autistic.
Even if you are not autistic, don't let the uneducated opinion of others get you down. You're as wonderful as anyone else.
#autism
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrkh...
Woke up from a weird dream where every Trump voter was fired and the only jobs they could take are the ones immigrants used to have. Dream logic is usually broken, but often beautiful.
The US government's flood insurance program now over $22 billion in debt due to flood-related claims over the past two decades. They're capped out at $30 billion, so we're about to hit the limit and then a new political firestorm will follow the floods.
A Tweet where Melanie D'Arrigo is pointing out that a Fox infographic, even though Fox Business likely intended to criticize the "socialist model," the comparison actually makes the socialist model seem more supportive of average citizens (e.g., housing, transit, public services), while the capitalist model prioritizes developers, policing, and private enterprise.
Do you want a revolt of the proletariat? Because this is how you get a revolt of the proletariat.
#8647
AI alignment is the idea that we want AI aligned with human values so that it doesn't do bad things.
The problem is that AI *is* aligned with human values and therefore does bad things.
#AI #GenAI #OpenAI #ChatGPT #Anthropic #Claude #Google #Gemini
Republicans ask "is this efficient?"
Democrats ask "is this fair?"
Politicians ask "will I get caught?"
I wrote the above years ago. The last line should now be, "who's gonna stop me?"
I once attended a talk on "natural" interfaces which make doing the "right" thing natural. For example, a brass plate on a door requires you to push it. I realized that I could become rich by designing a condom which could never be put on incorrectly in the dark.
Sadly, my idea involved a tack.
People love timeless stories, but only if they're written in the language of our time.
When I reread, again, John Davidson's "Thirty Bob a Week," the greatest poem ever written, I'm sad that it's so inaccessible to modern readers. So I fixed it.
#writing #poetry
curtispoe.org/blog/thirty-...
The image features a series of four panels showing a person applying clown makeup, transitioning from a colorful clown face to a more neutral appearance. Each panel is accompanied by thought-provoking questions about understanding differing perspectives and reclaiming one's humanity despite disagreements. 1. What if I stopped demonizing those I disagree with? 2. What if I tried to understand why they feel differently? 3. What if they don't try to understand me? 4. I'll still be reclaiming my humanity.
My personal journey.
People sometimes wonder what it was like for Germans as the Nazis ascended to power. Now they know.
Added bonus with the current administration: they're also learning what the fall of Rome was like.
absolute insanity as Mike Waltz suggests Jeffrey Goldberg somehow deliberately hacked his way into the Signal group
Elon Musk is on the verge of tears as he contemplates his imploding empire.
After Musk shared a tweet suggesting Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is involved in organized crime, Slim canceled his business groups investments with Starlink, redirecting further business dealings to Europa and China. That's about $30B lost from one tweet.
www.msn.com/en-us/techno...
Europe needs to stop dithering and support Ukraine. That means troops, if necessary.
After seeing Zelenskyy get ambushed in the White House, Europe needs to realize that the US cannot be trusted any more.
#Ukraine #EU #Europe #Trump #Putin
curtispoe.org/blog/europe-...
People have again been contacting me about how to escape the hellhole that the US is becoming. Here's how to move abroad:
Skilled workers: curtispoe.org/blog/getting...
Unskilled workers: curtispoe.org/blog/young-p...
I've lived in numerous countries and have written on this issue for years.
It's a shame that Albert Einstein's younger brother, Frank, was so eclipsed by his older brother's fame.
Frank Einstein was an accomplished body builder.
A memo listing all of the clubs eliminated by USMA.
The United States Military Academy has just eliminated all Cadet clubs and activities for POC. Most of these have existed for decades like the Society of Black Engineers. They were there when I was a Cadet in 1987. All of the religious ones remain. This isn’t DEI. It’s white Christian Nationalism.
Evidence, please. Many countries with universal health care invest heavily in research (e.g., Germany, the UK, France, and Japan). Here in France, we have amazing medical schools. Cuba has some of the best doctors in the world.
Those countries aren't focusing solely on profiting off suffering.
I get awfully tired of delivery people coming to our house. Seems that somehow, two houses on our street have been assigned the *same* number, with nothing to distinguish them. I could make a small fortune signing for our neighbor's packages and selling them.
You've heard of Project 2025. You wondered what it was. Now people are saying it's happening.
But the project is huge and hard to read, so try it in comic form: stopproject2025comic.org
It's horrifying.
#Project2025 #Trump #SOSAmerica
We need a movie about an mad pseudo-scientist trying to wipe out New York city by homeopathically poisoning the water supply.
Well, that's the end of my multi-year run on Twitter.
A comic featuring two cartoon rabbits discussing how one rabbit managed to clean a blood-stained shirt so well. Seems the rabbit who cleaned it has heavy menstrual flow and is used to cleaning bloodstains from her sheets. She's embarrassed, so she brightly exclaims, "I KILL PEOPLE."
Via @cuteosphere.bsky.social
Can't find the link here, but the original was via Twitter and I'm not linking there.
A web form (in French), insisting I enter six digit code they're sending to my email. I've tried multiple times, but they're not emailing that code.
Needing to check some data for my insurance, but my insurance web site won't let me in unless I type in the six digit code they're emailing me.
Except their system is not sending any email. Technology sucks, but implementation of technology sucks even harder.
The image shows a child peacefully sleeping on a bed, wrapped in a white blanket. Beside them, there is a large, colorful pile of stuffed animals stacked high on the other side of the bed.
Several years ago, my wife was in an accident and had to sleep downstairs, so our daughter wanted to sleep in "mama's place." I covered my daughter with stuffed animals as a joke.
Later, as I went upstairs, I found my daughter left a gift for me on my side of the bed. ❤️
A surgeon was interrupted during the middle of surgery by #UnitedHealthcare, demanding to know if the patient really needed to stay overnight. www.newsweek.com/doctor-says-...
As this continues, Luigi Mangione's folk hero status grows. See also: curtispoe.org/blog/the-new...
"When they send people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
And then the first Europeans landed on American soil.
Thanks to camera placement, we no longer make eye contact with people on video calls. I suspect there are many people who prefer this.
What long term impact will this have as this behavior gets normalized?