Posts by gadzooks

1. 2019-07-17 at 7 PM UTC in Need educational/non-fiction book suggestions and also help deciding
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   But that's when it comes to Locke's epistemological thought (Essay Concerning Human Understanding).
   
   For his political thought, I don't really have an opinion about how important/worthwhile his original writings are.
2. 2019-07-17 at 6:58 PM UTC in Need educational/non-fiction book suggestions and also help deciding
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   While John Locke's formulation of empiricism was an absolutely pivotal part of the great philosophical conversation, if I had to offer any personal recommendation regarding what to focus on if interested in the history of epistemological thought I would be more inclined to recommend some kind of book that is a tad broader in scope, but specific enough to focus on, say, a history of philosophical thought covering Locke, Descartes, and ultimately Kant.
   
   To kinda summarize it all into a nutshell, you have the historical tradition of rationalism started (essentially) with Plato and picked up by Descartes ~2 millenia later in France, and the historical tradition of empiricism started (essentially) with Aristotle and picked up by Locke ~2 millenia later in Britain.
   
   Kant then came along and synthesized the two into one single theory of human knowledge. Basically, instead of us being innate blank slates that learn from experience (Locke et al.) or "rational" entities entirely bestowed with all the faculties needed to understand everything using pure reason alone (Descartes et al.), we are born with fundamental conceptual categories that allow us to make sense of our experiences.
   
   I mean, if you wanna read Locke, go for it I guess, but as someone with a (hobbyist) scholarly interest in epistemology, and having read a fair bit into the topic (and also have a minor in philosophy as well), I would personally recommend going for secondary resources that give a broader scope and cover the historical developments leading up to Kant.
3. 2019-07-17 at 5:59 PM UTC in Huff Raid!!!!
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by Speedy Parker You didn't read the article or watch the video. They are not inhaling or injecting wasp spray. Cooks are using wasp spray to make a form of meth in an area of WV. Nobody is huffing raid.

   
   Fair enough, but let's reminisce anyway.
4. 2019-07-17 at 5:56 PM UTC in What do you think is beyond the universe?
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by Speedy Parker man is natural

   
   True, but you don't see other species' deliberately separating and combining other species' in order to actively influence the their phenotypic traits.
   
   It's not unreasonable to call what humans do when breeding animals for desired traits something different from what happens when they are left to their own device.
5. 2019-07-17 at 5:53 PM UTC in Huff Raid!!!!
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   A Totse classic becomes reality. What a time to be alive.
6. 2019-07-17 at 5:52 PM UTC in The Antichrist is artificial intelligence and the mark of the beast is BCI technology (Neuralink).
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by Ghost THEY CAN DRIVE CARS BUT ONLY WHEN WE INPUT THE ADDRESS. A REAL AI WOULD ALREADY KNOW WHERE TO GO

   
   I'm not arguing that we have reached AI yet. We have machine learning, and it doesn't engage (YET) in complex thought like determining its own destination when driving.
   
   So yeah, you're not wrong.
   
   The issue is what could potentially lie down the road. The author of that article you linked to was just a tad too confident in their position that "The idea that machines will uprise on their own volition and eradicate humanity holds no merit."
   
   Why completely and unilaterally dismiss the possibility so quickly out of hand?
   
   That's all I'm saying.
7. 2019-07-17 at 5:31 PM UTC in The Antichrist is artificial intelligence and the mark of the beast is BCI technology (Neuralink).
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by Ghost AI IS A BIG FAT LIE
   
   https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/why-a-i-is-a-big-fat-lie?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

   
   The point the author of that page is getting at is essentially valid, it's just that the threat doesn't necessarily have to come in Asimovian big-Hollywood-movie-robotic-army form, but can arise a lot more subtly.
   
   We are already allowing machine learning to make decisions in factory settings and allowing them to drive our cars (large industrial equipment and aircraft are not that far off).
   
   There are also examples of machines exhibiting acts of deception and fraud (i.e. cheating) during game play and so on.
   
   Bringing these technologies together would require absolutely nothing new beyond what is already available to us.
   
   I just think it's a good idea to just understand the potential risks of the technologies we're using.
8. 2019-07-17 at 5 PM UTC in This allure.
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by GGG There are no pros to women like this. A kind, sane(ish) woman will give you everything the crazy ones do and more.

   
   I mean, yeah, if the options are between:
   A) Crazy/unbalanced drug-dealing criminal chick that is into you.
   B) Well-adjusted, law-abiding chick that is into you.
   
   Then there's really no reason to even consider chick A.
   
   The problem is that gals from the second column aren't exactly bountifully present (at least, not in my life).
   
   So then it comes down to A, B, or single. If there's an A presenting itself, I may consider taking that over being single. It just comes down to how far they are into A territory vs B territory.
9. 2019-07-17 at 4:46 PM UTC in The Antichrist is artificial intelligence and the mark of the beast is BCI technology (Neuralink).
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   I'd say that ultimately, OP is right about something (perhaps in a broken clock kinda way).
   
   If you filter out all the conspiracy theory buzzwords and focus on the underlying idea that technology can be incredibly dangerous and pose serious existential threat to humanity - especially technology pertaining to emulating human cognitive processes, and also achieving interactions between machines and human brains - we all really should be scared.
   
   I'm not saying we need to take on any kind of Neo-Ludditism or anything like that. But we should devote a lot of our resources, research, policy-making, and attention to ensuring technology is not allowed to run amok, or be flagrantly abused.
10. 2019-07-17 at 4:42 PM UTC in The Antichrist is artificial intelligence and the mark of the beast is BCI technology (Neuralink).
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by aldra I'm still looking into it
    
    at the moment it requires a highly invasive procedure to get the electrodes to the right parts of the brain, but inevitably the data collected will allow high-resolution sensors to be tuned, opening the possibility of mind-scanning at range.

    
    I'm not 100% up-to-date on current BCI technology, but essentially, in theory, electrodes should be able to interact with machines in both I/O directions.
    
    The part that will need a lot of very complicated fine-tuning is translating neural patterns into meaningful data. They have made some pretty fascinating progress with magnetic neural imaging devices that can actually reconstruct vague visual representations of what a particular test subject is thinking.
    
    For example, they take brain images of visual pathways while participants are presented with handwritten letter characters:
    
    
11. 2019-07-17 at 4:42 PM UTC in The Antichrist is artificial intelligence and the mark of the beast is BCI technology (Neuralink).
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by Ghost we are nowhere close to AI

    
    It depends on how exactly one defines "artificial intelligence."
    
    

    Originally posted by Ghost Okay got any evidence of this AI existing? Skip logic is bullshit and you can always tell it's a robocall because they can't pass the Turing test

    
    If the Turing test is the gold standard for defining genuine AI (and some would argue that it is not since there really isn't a universal standard for this), then we may simply never achieve AI, since the Turing test has been considered by some to be, by definition, impossible to pass by any non-biological entity.
12. 2019-07-17 at 8:39 AM UTC in Who are the enemy?
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by Ghost #pluralgang

    
    That would be some next level shit if you find yourself with a gun to your back held by one of your own plurals.
13. 2019-07-17 at 8:37 AM UTC in Who are the enemy?
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by HTS

    
    Ok yeah I recognize that "Trust nobody not even yourself" now.
    
    For some reason I thought he was a Totsean or possibly Zokletian but couldn't quite put a username to the face. A tweet in 2014 doesn't really corroborate my initial guess though.
14. 2019-07-17 at 8:15 AM UTC in I despise being a member of a capitalistic society...
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by WellHung hi gadzooks. This place is less entertaining without you posting so frequently. Basically, I've missed you. r u ok?

    
    I'm good, for the most part. Staying at my mom's house while my apartment's being renovated. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this arrangement, so it's aight.
    
    I'd ask you the same but I get a pretty good general idea about your current situation from a variety of SG threads. Don't go and drown in any lakes any time soon. And, if you apply yourself towards your subsistence farming goal, your credit/debt issues will one day be entirely behind you.
15. 2019-07-17 at 8:08 AM UTC in I despise being a member of a capitalistic society...
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    
16. 2019-07-17 at 8:05 AM UTC in Who are the enemy?
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by HTS As a junkie, you're your own worst enemy.
    
    

    
    I'll never not like that pic.
    
    Who is that kid? I've seen this pic bouncing around on the Internet years.
17. 2019-07-17 at 7:58 AM UTC in Nike Flex Experience 8 Hombre Sale
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    weird flex but ok
18. 2019-07-17 at 7:49 AM UTC in Who are the enemy?
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by WellHung yea right. Once a heroin addict…always a heroin addict. No one ever beats it.

    
    December of 2014 was the last time I took any opiate/opioid whatsoever.
    
    I know it's not the norm, but it is demonstrably feasible with the right dedication.
19. 2019-07-17 at 6:24 AM UTC in I need help picking a new lunch box for work.
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
20. 2019-07-17 at 6:19 AM UTC in Small Boy Attacked in Shop by Pedophiles
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    That's St. Bagelcel.
    
    
    
    He is both revered by short men who have simply had enough, and reviled by women and white knights all throughout the Twittersphere.