Hacker News: daseiner1

New comment by daseiner1 in "Psychoactive substances helped spur Andean civilization"

daseiner1 — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 02:41:41 +0000

i don't dispute that the "War on Drugs" was (is?) pretty much just a glorified jobs program for law enforcement but nevertheless some drugs are very bad. ironically enough alcohol, despite being the most readily available drug after caffeine, is probably the worst drug of all in terms of societal destruction.

New comment by daseiner1 in "iPhone Duo"

daseiner1 — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:55:05 +0000

i've been hearing this critique of new apple products for about two decades now and inevitably: - apple's product "does the same thing" as [device sold at 25% of the cost] AND - apple's product "does the thing" at a level of polish that's in an entirely different league from every competitor.

siri is the great exception here. jesus christ what a piece of shit

New comment by daseiner1 in "iPhone Duo"

daseiner1 — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:47:30 +0000

*Xiaomi

apple is always "late to the party" and regularly takes existing tech, polishes it to a high standard of UX, and introduces a new paradigm for consumer tech products. if xiaomi has ever done that please let me know.

not to mention that chinese consumer goods companies are largely siloed to the east anyways

New comment by daseiner1 in "AirPods 5"

daseiner1 — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:15:42 +0000

apple has been quite good at treating their "economy" products with the same level of respect as their premium ones, as far as I've experienced. the Neo is significantly more powerful than the Pro I bought four years ago and $100 cheaper, pre-inflation accounting. A brand like Apple introducing a highly-capable "discount" product goes against all common sensibilities for a company whose branding is anchored on prestige. Plus the extended support window for older devices vs. their competitors in the smartphone space.

New comment by daseiner1 in "To become a better writer, read as much as you can"

daseiner1 — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:38:41 +0000

holy hell I enjoy an acerbic takedown as much as the next guy but this is beyond the pale.

given that we do now live in a society with a universal right to vote the need for an educated populace esp. regarding matters of civil society is more important than ever.

You've also misinterpreted the parent comment as they wrote nothing about contemporary intelligence. They're instead referring to structural forces that negatively impact critical thinking. See: the glut of commentary from otherwise highly intelligent and accomplished people reporting their own ability to focus being negatively impacted by social media and short-form content.

Furthermore, this is why the old school shared media outlets (the whole "back when everybody watched Walter Cronkite every night" thing) was so valuable. Few of us have the time to consider the issues with any degree of nuance or accuracy. So it's a real problem when the collective "source of truth" is poisoned by a horde of uncertified, often anonymous, charlatans spewing outright lies and incendiary half-truths, distributed at scale via algorithms designed to divide and inflame.

disclaimer: i'm fiercely anti-democracy, esp. with universal suffrage, for the exact reasons you cited.

New comment by daseiner1 in "How little exercise can you get away with?"

daseiner1 — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 23:18:16 +0000

just raise interest rates to counteract, then

perhaps you meant inflammation

resistance training doesn't cause cancer though

New comment by daseiner1 in "How little exercise can you get away with?"

daseiner1 — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 23:17:37 +0000

walking, walking, walking, walking

having a well-rounded diet and getting an hour of walking in daily is like 90% of the way there for good health.

(actually, proper sleep is the #1 most important thing)

New comment by daseiner1 in "U.S. allows Anthropic to release Mythos AI to ‘trusted’ US organizations"

daseiner1 — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 10:26:27 +0000

famously friendly business environments europe & canada

lol

New comment by daseiner1 in "Anthropic confidentially submits draft S-1 to the SEC"

daseiner1 — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:16:46 +0000

corporate pursuit of monopoly is as sure a phenomenon as gravity

New comment by daseiner1 in "Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism"

daseiner1 — Tue, 19 May 2026 20:49:44 +0000

phil mickelson, easily the most famous left handed golfer, is right-handed but plays lefty because he would stand across from his dad and mirror his swing as a kid

New comment by daseiner1 in "Why is almost everyone right-handed? A new study connects it to bipedalism"

daseiner1 — Tue, 19 May 2026 20:48:56 +0000

fun fact: vs the US, golf stores in Canada carry more left-handed clubs because a right handed hockey player has their right hand higher on the stick which is the same orientation as the grip for left-handed golfers.

New comment by daseiner1 in "Mocked by a scandal sheet, Kierkegaard endured months of personal attacks"

daseiner1 — Tue, 19 May 2026 00:07:53 +0000

or the imprisonment of Galileo or the persecution of Socrates or the crucifixion of Christ or the legal charges against James Comey or even interpersonal dynamics in the corporate world. politically powerful insecure people swinging a stick at those who challenge them.

New comment by daseiner1 in "Mocked by a scandal sheet, Kierkegaard endured months of personal attacks"

daseiner1 — Tue, 19 May 2026 00:04:51 +0000

i’m convinced a significant number of that majority just thought it’d be cool as hell if lightning was in fact gods fighting, which i can respect. at that time: what’re they supposed to do with knowledge of lightning and electricity? might as well prefer the better story.

New comment by daseiner1 in "Mocked by a scandal sheet, Kierkegaard endured months of personal attacks"

daseiner1 — Tue, 19 May 2026 00:02:27 +0000

identical critique of democracy, just sub in “manipulation of voters“ for choice of readers”

(my comment is admittedly in poor form since I’m just redirecting to a hobby horse of mine)

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:53:17 +0000

at the risk of jumping the shark into full-on “woo woo”: what does it mean to “create ideas”? are ideas created or revealed? if ideas are created where do they come from? if ideas are revealed, then does that necessarily imply a determinism? if the robot devises a novel solution to a technical problem, isn’t that an idea? or is the robot’s solution actually the unavoidable result of the entire history of analytical thought? if the novel solution isn’t the creation of an idea, then what makes an idea an idea? if Michelangelo’s David was sculpted by an automaton, is it less beautiful? If so, why? If not, why not?

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:41:04 +0000

nicely done and well put. one of the better intros to the “hard problem” i’ve read, truly

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:02:06 +0000

even saying that our senses are "tied" together with/into our memory and emotions is expressing a dualism. that's the challenge and that's the gap to leap.

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 09:42:40 +0000

bingo

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 09:41:24 +0000

I don't have the energy at present to fully develop my thoughts but one thing I'll say is that in my view they did *not* see the same cat. It was the same collection of flesh & bone on four legs, certainly. But it is not the same cat.

Heidegger best revealed to me the limitations of supposedly "objective" thinking.

Heraclitus: "No man steps in the same river twice"

New comment by daseiner1 in "It is time to give up the dualism introduced by the debate on consciousness"

daseiner1 — Mon, 18 May 2026 09:27:33 +0000

Isn't what makes the experience of love special the experience of love? a robot can hold hands and kiss and bring flowers home far more efficiently than i can. is that what love is? A robot CAN write a poem about how the redness of a flower reminds them of their mother’s funeral. But the outward signal of grief is not evidence of an internal experience of it.