TIL si se peuda. Yes we can.
Conversation
Ex-LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wrapping it up after some speeches by an oil guy and prez of Cal State Bakersfield (which apparently leads nation on student social mobility)
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He’s bookending with punches at opening Vince Fong and oil guy talking points with Dem talking points on climate etc. I think I just witnessed “politics” properly for the first time ever.
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All these people are very seasoned high-halo-effect speakers. They enunciate, modulate, pause, land their punches with clean timing etc. All the reverse of tech events where 90% do none of the above. We mumble and talk too fast etc.
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But there’s a certain…hard-to-trust vibe. They sound as confident about shaky talking points as they do about solid ones. That’s what it means to be too confident and polished. Hedgehog style. I’ll take foxy mumbling superforecaster types who wear doubts on sleeve.
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It’s a “doubt monotone” — the epistemic equivalent of speaking in a vocal monotone. Everything is equally certain.
Also low bit-rate. Tech event speakers tend to pack in 10x raw info per minute with low redundancy. But these guys know to repeat and reinforce.
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Villaraigosa is now infrastructure czar for CA. This panel of mayors loves HSR as flagship infrastructure.
I have recently acquired big doubts on HSR. If I was up on stage I’d be a ball of mumbling doubts and nuances.
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After some tense queuing for lunch the panelist was moderating on ‘building a sustainable energy future’ started a bit late and was a bit rushed for time, but a raucous time was had by all
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Took rare jacket selfie to send to my mom
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