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12. On memory
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Here’s a spectrum of “memory” genres 1. Autobiography 2. Family history 3. Personal memoir 4. Subcultural history 5. Public life memoir 6. Participant history Prediction: All of it is in trouble. Our cultural memory processes are breaking.
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13. Traits of culture warriors
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3 traits I’ve noticed most often in people who get cripplingly invested in culture warring: - Lack of strong individual interests outside of group affiliations - Sense of humor restricted to amirite and mockery - Totalizing (hedgehog) aesthetics
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14. Uberrationality
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Can’t recall where I saw this (help?) but rideshare drivers typically don’t work longer during surge to maximize revenue while there’s more money to be made. They just work till they hit their daily income target and go home. I think I’ll call this uberrational economic behavior.
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15. Memetic r/K theory
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So... I’ve been trying to find supporting arguments for my intuition that even though death rate is far lower than Spanish Flu (2%) and European Black Death (25-30%), the civilizational damage is comparable. I’ve found a pretty good one...
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16. On Zoomblesse oblige
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Been thinking a lot about the API as a metaphor and the peace above vs the war below (both Covid and protests/riots/looting) API as storefront glass: read-only aspirational life API as great filter on social mobility API as defensive perimeter against viruses and violence
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17. On independent research
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I was briefly calling myself an independent researcher: somebody who self-funds spec R&D on their own ideas. In theory it’s something like indie-research : academic research :: blogging/self-publishing : traditional publishing. But the idea doesn’t really work.
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18. More on independent research
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Thinking about my thread this morning on why independent research is hard, and what it would take to make it possible, and whether it’s within the reach of private investors who ALL complain endlessly about how they have far too much capital and don’t know where to put it. twitter.com/vgr/status/119…
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19. On the perils of having an uncalibrated brain
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The longer I spend online, the more true this feels. A big consequence of social atomization is that increasing numbers of people lack a sense of how their thinking stacks up against others. They are either very impressed with themselves OR ridiculously underestimate themselves. twitter.com/vgr/status/126…
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20. Financial lensing effect
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Very large quantities of concentrated capital can bend truth rays and warp epistimology and ontology. There is a financial lending effect by which you can detect the presence of large cold masses of money that otherwise can’t be seen
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Replying to
They caused the big rally apparently
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(FT) - SoftBank is the “Nasdaq whale” that has bought billions of dollars’ worth of US equity derivatives in a move that stoked the fevered rally in big tech stocks before a sharp pullback on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. ft.com/content/75587a
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