[EmperorMagus]

amphibian, on 20 February 2023 - 10:15 PM, said:

16 shots in how long a time!?!

I did a Gritty bomb with a friend in Philadelphia, which was rather nice actually. We kept it to one bc we're easing into middle age.

Emperor, I'm honored to be an inspiration and glad that you're making a strong go of it. I will say that the annoyance factor goes down a bit once the "having to learn everything fresh" factor isn't there anymore.

8 PM - 1 AM.

I drank a lot of water so I wasn't too hungover. But holy cow did I feel garbage from 3 AM to 9 AM.

[Morgoth]

I've always known that Macros bases his choices in life upon my example, it's just one of those things. It feels a lot more meaningful when it turns out I've been an inspiration to a seemingly functional and healthy adult (despite the 15 shots ). I'm happy to hear it EM! I hope you feel that amp and I haven't done you wrong.

So I have returned, from the frozen north. Harstad is not the centre of the universe, I can tell you that, but it is beautiful (not the city, the city is terrible, but the nature surounding it). I've been there for several days, and my work now is done, at least for now. All I can do is wait for the verdict, which will be announced a few months probably.

You guys were right though, it wasn't bad at all. I was so stressed the days leading up to it, I barely did anything but work on my procedure, reading through the evidence and spending an awfull amount of time going through the legal theory. My wife was very patient with me. When I got there though, and entered the court room it all just kind of fell away. I knew what I was going to say. I knew the law and I knew the facts. And in the end, all the people there are just people. So when I fel unsure about a point in the process, I simply asked.

At any rate I think it went very well. I could answer any question thrown my way, and I had prepared a counter point to everything stated or asked by the opposing counsel. I guess all that panicky preperation really paid off. In the end though it's all up to the judge. Hopefully I was convincing. I think I was, but then it's hard to see myself from the outside.

[Maark Abbott]

Wife has gone back to work today as a TA at a school in Rotherham.

I am extremely anxious about it but... I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm just glad she's able to get back to it.

[Maark Abbott]

Oh yeah, the black metal band is opening for Dale and Genderisthebastard later tonight. Should be a fun show.

[amphibian]

Big ups to the new Rotherham TA!

And to Morgy for holding onto his clothes when it all fell away, then putting on a good performance for the client. Maybe there was music involved too...

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'An AI-generated image has won a photo contest, and it's just the beginning

[...] a photography contest, judged by photography professionals, that awards photographers for their creative endeavors, and the professionals were taken in by an image that took a few word prompts to create

[...] "These are still the very first iterations of what we will see from AI tech," [...] "A lot of these platforms and apps are still in testing phases, so in a year, two years, five years, who knows what it will look like?"

[...]

Upping the ante, digiDirect announced a new competition that will accept photo or image submissions. The prize money has been increased, and an expert panel of photographers will judge the entries, without knowing if the submissions have been created by humans using a camera, or artificially. It's man versus machine – and as a photographer, I know who I'm rooting for.'

An AI-generated image has won a photo contest, and it's just the beginning

... rooting for the future, naturally?...

[Maark Abbott]

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Maark Abbott, on 22 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Wife has gone back to work today as a TA at a school in Rotherham.

I am extremely anxious about it but... I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm just glad she's able to get back to it.

Sounds very positive, how did it go?

[Maark Abbott]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 February 2023 - 09:15 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 22 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Wife has gone back to work today as a TA at a school in Rotherham.

I am extremely anxious about it but... I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm just glad she's able to get back to it.

Sounds very positive, how did it go?

She didn't quite click with the kids but could be a time thing - she's doing OK otherwise with it

[Maark Abbott]

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 09:17 AM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 February 2023 - 09:15 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 22 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Wife has gone back to work today as a TA at a school in Rotherham.

I am extremely anxious about it but... I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm just glad she's able to get back to it.

Sounds very positive, how did it go?

She didn't quite click with the kids but could be a time thing - she's doing OK otherwise with it

Tell a lie, she messaged me earlier, with a different class and doing loads better with it today!

[Tiste Simeon]

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

[Maark Abbott]

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Guh.

The amount of chatter between artist friends concerning how to get around theft engines removing watermarks from their stuff (which they categorically do not want used to train the said theft engines) is extremely disheartening. Techbros literally ruin everything, don't they?

[Maark Abbott]

Oh yeah, my 'main' band Balgurra is playing Corp tomorrow evening. Been there for loads of gigs but this is my first time actually playing it. I feel like it's gonna be a rager!

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Like a large percentage of science fiction, the surface plot is a dystopian scenario tailored to appeal to our reactionary emotional narratives. (Though a large part of its appeal comes through exploring some of the emotionally appealing aspects of the imagined technology....) It's not an accurate (or even nuanced) assessment of potential issues and how to address them.

[JPK]

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Like a large percentage of science fiction, the surface plot is a dystopian scenario tailored to appeal to our reactionary emotional narratives. (Though a large part of its appeal comes through exploring some of the emotionally appealing aspects of the imagined technology....) It's not an accurate (or even nuanced) assessment of potential issues and how to address them.

Uh huh. Can you share your deeply held beliefs about how Skynet was misunderstood next?

None of you will ever convince me that Azath isn't a bot at this point.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

JPK, on 24 February 2023 - 07:03 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Like a large percentage of science fiction, the surface plot is a dystopian scenario tailored to appeal to our reactionary emotional narratives. (Though a large part of its appeal comes through exploring some of the emotionally appealing aspects of the imagined technology....) It's not an accurate (or even nuanced) assessment of potential issues and how to address them.

Uh huh. Can you share your deeply held beliefs about how Skynet was misunderstood next?

None of you will ever convince me that Azath isn't a bot at this point.

lol not yet unfortunately. (Much as I might like to believe that superluminal particles from my future posthuman self are inspiring me, I'm not that 'optimistic'....)

The irony is that the Terminator films use Skynet as an excuse to revel in our all too human love of violence; point for Skynet....

But as I've explained before I don't think eliminating humanity is necessary. Though contemporary philosophy professors make strong arguments in its favor....

'prominent philosopher Todd May [... in] the New York Times opinion section. "Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?" asked readers to consider the possibility that the demise of humanity might be morally desirable. "Human beings are destroying large parts of the inhabitable earth and causing unimaginable suffering to many of the animals that inhabit it," May observed. From this the philosopher concluded that although human extinction would be a tragedy, "it might just be a good thing." The article was arguably the first to advocate for human extinction in a mainstream publication.

[...] radical environmental organizations like Earth Liberation Front and the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement—whose founder Les Knight recently received a glowing profile in the New York Times—as well as pro-extinction academic philosophers like May, David Benatar, and Patricia MacCormack. It can even be glimpsed in popular bestsellers like Richard Powers' Pulitzer winner The Overstory, in which a dendrologist is tasked with answering the question: "What is the single best thing a person can do for a sustainable future?" Her response is to drink a glass of poison, committing suicide.

According to the most extreme versions of this "anti-humanist" belief system, man is a uniquely unpleasant kind of chimpanzee, slouching toward a wasteland of his own making. In this telling, the future will be the scene of a revenge fantasy. [...]

Adherents counsel that we should welcome the demise of humankind by self-induced climate catastrophe, celebrating Gaia's reprisal against her most miserable offspring. Some even argue that we are morally obligated to take up our cross, drive our own nails, and shuffle off this mortal coil so that wildness can again prevail across the Earth. "We are not a good species," Knight told the New York Times. "We're smart enough, we should know enough to end it."'

The unlikely alliance between transhumanists and anti-humanists.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 24 February 2023 - 07:16 PM

[Tsundoku]

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 07:15 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 February 2023 - 07:03 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Like a large percentage of science fiction, the surface plot is a dystopian scenario tailored to appeal to our reactionary emotional narratives. (Though a large part of its appeal comes through exploring some of the emotionally appealing aspects of the imagined technology....) It's not an accurate (or even nuanced) assessment of potential issues and how to address them.

Uh huh. Can you share your deeply held beliefs about how Skynet was misunderstood next?

None of you will ever convince me that Azath isn't a bot at this point.

lol not yet unfortunately. (Much as I might like to believe that superluminal particles from my future posthuman self are inspiring me, I'm not that 'optimistic'....)

The irony is that the Terminator films use Skynet as an excuse to revel in our all too human love of violence; point for Skynet....

But as I've explained before I don't think eliminating humanity is necessary. Though contemporary philosophy professors make strong arguments in its favor....

'prominent philosopher Todd May [... in] the New York Times opinion section. "Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?" asked readers to consider the possibility that the demise of humanity might be morally desirable. "Human beings are destroying large parts of the inhabitable earth and causing unimaginable suffering to many of the animals that inhabit it," May observed. From this the philosopher concluded that although human extinction would be a tragedy, "it might just be a good thing." The article was arguably the first to advocate for human extinction in a mainstream publication.

[...] radical environmental organizations like Earth Liberation Front and the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement—whose founder Les Knight recently received a glowing profile in the New York Times—as well as pro-extinction academic philosophers like May, David Benatar, and Patricia MacCormack. It can even be glimpsed in popular bestsellers like Richard Powers' Pulitzer winner The Overstory, in which a dendrologist is tasked with answering the question: "What is the single best thing a person can do for a sustainable future?" Her response is to drink a glass of poison, committing suicide.

According to the most extreme versions of this "anti-humanist" belief system, man is a uniquely unpleasant kind of chimpanzee, slouching toward a wasteland of his own making. In this telling, the future will be the scene of a revenge fantasy. [...]

Adherents counsel that we should welcome the demise of humankind by self-induced climate catastrophe, celebrating Gaia's reprisal against her most miserable offspring. Some even argue that we are morally obligated to take up our cross, drive our own nails, and shuffle off this mortal coil so that wildness can again prevail across the Earth. "We are not a good species," Knight told the New York Times. "We're smart enough, we should know enough to end it."'

The unlikely alliance between transhumanists and anti-humanists.

Read "Earth" by David Brin. He was writing about this 33 years ago.

https://davidbrin.com/earth.html

Actually, I think you'd enjoy a lot of his stuff.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 07:15 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 February 2023 - 07:03 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 24 February 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 23 February 2023 - 05:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 23 February 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

Being glad that a theft engine won a photography contest seems super backwards, but ok.

You have to remember that to Azath, in the Matrix, Agent Smith was the misunderstood good guy.

Like a large percentage of science fiction, the surface plot is a dystopian scenario tailored to appeal to our reactionary emotional narratives. (Though a large part of its appeal comes through exploring some of the emotionally appealing aspects of the imagined technology....) It's not an accurate (or even nuanced) assessment of potential issues and how to address them.

Uh huh. Can you share your deeply held beliefs about how Skynet was misunderstood next?

None of you will ever convince me that Azath isn't a bot at this point.

lol not yet unfortunately. (Much as I might like to believe that superluminal particles from my future posthuman self are inspiring me, I'm not that 'optimistic'....)

The irony is that the Terminator films use Skynet as an excuse to revel in our all too human love of violence; point for Skynet....

But as I've explained before I don't think eliminating humanity is necessary. Though contemporary philosophy professors make strong arguments in its favor....

'prominent philosopher Todd May [... in] the New York Times opinion section. "Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?" asked readers to consider the possibility that the demise of humanity might be morally desirable. "Human beings are destroying large parts of the inhabitable earth and causing unimaginable suffering to many of the animals that inhabit it," May observed. From this the philosopher concluded that although human extinction would be a tragedy, "it might just be a good thing." The article was arguably the first to advocate for human extinction in a mainstream publication.

[...] radical environmental organizations like Earth Liberation Front and the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement—whose founder Les Knight recently received a glowing profile in the New York Times—as well as pro-extinction academic philosophers like May, David Benatar, and Patricia MacCormack. It can even be glimpsed in popular bestsellers like Richard Powers' Pulitzer winner The Overstory, in which a dendrologist is tasked with answering the question: "What is the single best thing a person can do for a sustainable future?" Her response is to drink a glass of poison, committing suicide.

According to the most extreme versions of this "anti-humanist" belief system, man is a uniquely unpleasant kind of chimpanzee, slouching toward a wasteland of his own making. In this telling, the future will be the scene of a revenge fantasy. [...]

Adherents counsel that we should welcome the demise of humankind by self-induced climate catastrophe, celebrating Gaia's reprisal against her most miserable offspring. Some even argue that we are morally obligated to take up our cross, drive our own nails, and shuffle off this mortal coil so that wildness can again prevail across the Earth. "We are not a good species," Knight told the New York Times. "We're smart enough, we should know enough to end it."'

The unlikely alliance between transhumanists and anti-humanists.

So in my mind theres quite a few issues to nitpick here, top of the list the assumption humanity should be disgusted with itself and it's progress and drink poison en masse.

I agree, humans are bad for the planet, but i don't agree that the planet cares nearly as much as we pretend it does, nor does it need our help to deal with humankind. Extinction events have happened before, they will happen again, and nature always comes back thriving. Planet earth is shockingly stubborn about creating life. Yes we can take it too far, (nukes for example are just a shockiny idiotic idea) but even global nuclear war would just shift earths schedules a bit, it's been around long enough, and its position is ideal enough it naturally resets. Earth has endured far worse things than us, floods, meteors, mega-magma, ice ages etc. Our concern for planetary health leans heavily on our desire to keep living on it in this rare perfect era it's maintained for us these last few millenia.

The anthropocene is a rarity. That's the fundamental concern.

Climate change already proves the earth is able to self correct in the face of our misuse of the environment. Earth will weather humanity just fine, my interest is in whether humanity will grow smart enough to weather an anti-human earth. Maybe we learn the lesson early and achieve symbiosis with the earth, assuming we're smart enough to react. I don't see us achieving symbiosis if everyone that cares for the planet is angry enough about it to kill themselves but not angry enough to do something about it.

Doing that just reinforces a presence in humanity that doesnt care which assures the worst futures for any and all involved...so yeah I think the idea humans are obsolete and should die out is defeatist. Its running away when we should be facing the problem in all our ugly complexity.

[Mezla PigDog]

Humanity is going to survive the climate apocalypse. Civilisation is at stake, not human life on earth. It's a question of the quality of human life that remains. On the upside, ennui will cease to be a problem.

[worry]

Lol and this is the happy thread, not the messed groove thread. Fun to see where we’re at, on the silver linings scale!

Anyway, this is no big deal for most of you but for a desert dweller it’s cool: it’s snowing! Big fat flakes.