Hacker News: against_epistem

New comment by against_epistem in "Suffering as a Feature"

against_epistem — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 16:02:07 +0000

Most HN users are (I presume) well off people with comfy jobs and good savings. It's very hard for some people to cope with the idea that in economic success most/lots/much is due to luck: natural abilities, where one was born, when/how/why one enters the market, what disasters/opportunities befall them etc. It's not easy to admit that maybe the positions we have in life are actually not justified after all.

New comment by against_epistem in "AlpineBSD"

against_epistem — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:44:04 +0000

I can respect this. Looks like AI auditing code is fine and I can't imagine why auditing would ever be a con. As for the lack of reasons given I guess they leave that for the users which seems completely fine to me. If you are chimping out over not getting a justification then you should probably do some soul-searching.

New comment by against_epistem in "Award-winning AI literature"

against_epistem — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:43:23 +0000

You seem to be conflating "intrinsically appreciable" and "intrinsically deducible". We can and do appreciate artworks because of their extrinsic qualities such as its historical background, the works that preceded and succeeded it, meanings given by author etc. So the "potential for appreciation" is indeed higher for human beings with this web of interconnections. The vacuum example doesn't do much since it strips the very thing that gives the artwork its extrinsic meanings that we appreciate. When we step out of the vacuum the balance changes and the works are not equal anymore and I can hardly understand why we would insist on living in the vacuum when we clearly do not.

To your point that this is merely reactionary attitude on the emergence of AI, people have and do still value hand-made crafts such as carpentry over mass-produced furniture.