I'll be at GDC next week, let me know if you want to meet up :)

Entire quote: www.platoscave.org/2021/10/bonh...

‘Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.

Bonhoeffer on Stupidity

Is everyone in the Netherlands riding electric bikes now?

Better question is: What alternatives are there? If the answer is either "crypto" or "none", then it's time to organize and put equivalent pressure on payment processors. Surely there are more people who play games than the small group of people who made this happen?

Not spicy at all. People who do this are actually just amateurs. Anyone who has actually worked hard on games for a long time knows that *any* game is incredibly difficult to make and respects the craft. People who do this are real losers.

I do think I might have lost the plot though. But I'm finding posting about posts here much more fun than posting.

Oh I'm sharing with a small group :) it might be an asshocial network though!

No but I like that name! And I love the idea of only posting here that the posts over there are the best posts. Man if you could see those posts!

Oh man I just made the funniest post on my own social network! There are some really quality posts there! No I won't share them!

vibe physics YouTube video by Angela Collier

I watched this (youtu.be/TMoz3gSXBcY?...) on the abuse of LLMs & 'vibe physics' by @acollierastro.bsky.social - well worth a watch! - and I was struck by how the back 15 minutes (the 'thought train') also summed up neatly what it has been like to be a public-facing historian, even before LLMs.1/

What are some viable alternatives?

And this is where we have ended up. Citizens United, Roe vs Wade, curbs on executive power, term limits on the supreme court, effective checks and balances that are written into law, they have done none of it. So I'll just keep working on ways to not have to rely on them with whatever means I have.

I will protest, vote, contribute money, but ultimately I have to rely on the Democratic party becoming as effective for their agenda as Trump as been for his. And I have about zero confidence that is going to happen. They have done almost nothing to fix the problems with the system during my life.

The difference is that I can build software and release it today. I have essentially zero influence over anything else in the world and unless I sonehow become a billionaire, I won't ever have it.

I think being pragmatic about what you decentralize is the way to make progress. If ones ideals prevent one from building something that would be a practical improvement for real people, those ideals needs to be reexamined. I think you can have decentralized delivery and keep bank regs.

Oh and when I say "the ideas are not bad". I mean that distributed systems are are good idea, not that crypto is. I don't actually see how you can have a banking system that has no regulation or controls at all. Building software for the benefit of people is the thing to do. "Web3" is not that.

So the purpose of web3 is scamming people.

"Web3" is a total failure from the perspective of people actually using it. I don't think that's because the ideas are bad, I think it's because the people implementing it on not focusing on it being useable and delivering something people need. "The purpose of a system is what it does".

Yeah we give away an insane amount of control and power just to get a web page and a download.

What if we had a distributed platform and people could use whatever payment process or they wanted? Then people could vote with their wallets for processors that did what they wanted.

A sign printed on white paper that says: "Please do not touch this area Thank you!"

Enjoy TV responsibly.

I'm not going to use the word binge in relation to watching TV. Or really in relation to anything. It's not a positive word, it doesn't conjure feelings of joy.

Art imitating life...

This has happened to me many times! My latest response was to buy a Steam Deck and play 86 games in a year. I might have overcompensated..

Higround Basecamp 75+ Keyboard - BLUR Shop the Apex Legends™ | Higround Performance Basecamp 65HE Keyboard - Pathfinder. Our signature 65% keyboard (dedicated arrow keys) with dye-sub PBT keycaps. Features hot-swappable switches, aluminum...

Could have a lot of fun at work with this: higround.co/products/hig...

Exactly. Like *all* the shit people said about being terrified of breaking the system or disrupting things is not restricting this administration in any way at all. We have to be bold to fix things!

In my experience of having had this conversation many times, it's much easier to convince someone who doesn't care about games that all hobbies are pointless than to convince them that games matter. It's also very funny when you achieve that goal :)

Only two options: 1. They're not arguing in good faith 2. They genuinely can't understand that their hobby is also completely pointless in the greater scheme of things.