cynar

@cynar@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨send thoughts and peer review⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  There’s some evidence that mammals never lost the ability. Unfortunately, our scarring response is massively faster and locks wounds down.

  A few years back, they engineered mice to lack a gene, to find out what it did. Initially, someone got in trouble for not properly marking the modified mice (via holes in their ears). They later discovered the holes healed completely, including regenerating fur etc.

  Unfortunately, it also makes recovery from larger wounds difficult, since without a scarring response they don’t close quickly.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nuclear energy enjoyers vindicated again after the rise in oil and gas prices.⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Combustion engines will likely have a place for a long time. Large equipment just doesn’t do well on battery power. They can’t get the required runtime. Also, in places where they are used, electrical power is often limited.

  Hydrocarbons are an excellent way of storing energy. We will also need to overproduce renewables, to keep grids stable. Synthetic hydrocarbons could be a good solution to both issues. Currently, they are nowhere close to competing with fossil fuels, but that will change in time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Call off King's US state visit over Iran war, urge Lib Dems⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Likely true.

  I can still hope that there are some people with a bit of integrity, willing to rattle the cages, when they can.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Call off King's US state visit over Iran war, urge Lib Dems⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s easy to prove he shared the files. It’s harder to prove (legal proof) that he raped children. It’s akin to Al Capone being convicted of tax fraud.

  I’m personally hoping it’s a “shake the tree” charge. By going after a royal, they will hopefully unnerve others with similar material in the files. They can then potentially use plea deals on those to go after the bigger fish.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How to I prove to someone that the U.S. moon landing wasn't staged?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It perplexed me quite a lot. I think it was the only way he could mentally maintain his worldview.

  Dealing with that mindset is exhausting. I try and keep an open mind. Unfortunately it’s possible to have it so open your brain falls out.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How to I prove to someone that the U.S. moon landing wasn't staged?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I lost a good friend a similar way. He insisted there was a global conspiracy to suppress “free energy” (over unity generators), among other things.

  My background allowed me to personally prove some of his arguments wrong from almost first principles. He then accused me of personally being part of the conspiracy. At that point I concluded he was a lost cause and parted ways.

  Most of his “evidence” was in YouTube videos. I went through a couple. It mostly had the build-up, explanation, consequences, and conclusions. It missed any actual evidence. It’s amazing how someone can fill 2 hours with nothing of substance.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The energy to spontaneously create a planet is vastly more than a brain. Then again, with the weird maths of infinities, it might play out.

  Though to recreate the full illusion would require something closer to the big bang itself.

  It’s well into the “here he dragons” realms of science however. Speculating well beyond reliable evidence.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Our best ideas on the big bang put the universe as huge, but finite in space. (Way bigger than the observable universe) The question is time. If time is infinite then Boltzmann brains win.

  Matter has a finite life, energy differentials run out. Stars run out of fuel. Black holes evaporate. Even protons eventually fall apart to energy. Then there is endless emptiness.

  That emptiness would be finite in space, but infinite in time. Without that last boundary, weird things happen to maths.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  When the results are inseparable, then complexity is the only element, it doesn’t prove anything, but it does bias.

  Also, most gods don’t fall into this debate. Most gods would be quite happy interfering. This is (in principle) distinguishable from the null. It was aimed primarily at the simulation hypothesis. A perfect simulation is indistinguishable from a base reality.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stubborn, maybe, but if it ain't broke⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s also a local maxima trap. To shift to chewing, they would have to change both bite behaviour, and teeth structure. The intermediate stage is a lot worse than either style.

  Even if chewing was the better option, it’s inaccessible from the crocs current method.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not 3 points, but 4.

  Atheist==>Theist Agnostic==>gnostic

  There are agnostic atheists and agnostic theists.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If things are not all equal, then we can slice off a section of the axiom, and start dissecting it, via science. The axiom only applies if things are exactly equal.

  E.g. Gravity wave detectors have found oddities, just above the noise floor. These are likely equipment artifacts. They are also consistent with us being in a simulation, and us touching close to the resolution limit. If true (quite unlikely) then it would prove the axiom false.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The logic is that the universe of big bang matter has a limited lifespan. This sets a hard limit on the number of humans via “normal” means.

  Boltzmann brains are due to a quirk of quantum mechanics. Matter can come into existence spontaneously. The rate is proportional to the amount (technically the energy content). Given enough time and space, something that would fit the definition of human could spontaneously appear. The odds of this are unbelievably long, but, so long as it’s finitely large, in a true infinite universe it will happen an infinite number of times. It’s a bit of infinity Vs very large number weirdness.

  End result is that there will be a large but finite number of “normal” humans, but an infinite number of Boltzmann brain humans. Therefore, the chances of being an actual “normal” human is effectively infinitesimal.

  Agreed about it not mattering, day to day. It’s one of those things that is of interest to theoretical physicists, since it might tell us something interesting about the nature of our universe.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s more reasonable via Occam’s razor (more complexity is less reasonable, when everything else is equal). However it is still just a belief axiom. You have to assume 1 holds.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You say that, but, if the universe has an infinite lifespan (as current models suggest) then we would almost certainly be Boltzmann brains. (There would be an infinite amount of Boltzmann brains, but only a finite number of humans)

  I personally believe I am not, and the universe actually exists, rather than a sensory/memory ghost.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s useful to understand the mechanisms, it helps you to understand both what it can do, and its limitations. E.g. they can only mirror the parts they see or talk about. The parts of yourself that you hide away will be lost from their imperfect model.

  For more info, it generally falls under “mirror neurons”. They help us empathise with others. E.g. when we smile, certain mirror neurons start firing. When we see someone smile, the same ones fire. We feel the appropriate emotions because of this. They also fire preemptively. E.g. when you hear your mother yelling about the mess, even though you’ve lived alone for a decade.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s an assumption, not an extrapolation. Assumptions, without evidence are beliefs.

  We assume several unprovable axioms to allow science to function. A lot of work has also been done to collapse them down to the core minimum. What is left is still built on belief.

  The fact that the results are useful back validates those beliefs. It doesn’t prove them however.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Belief in a null is a lot more reasonable than belief in something so powerful it can pretend to be a null.

  Belief that I am not in a Truman show like environment is a lot more reasonable (without evidence) than belief that I am in a Truman show, and they are doing a perfect job.

  That doesn’t mean I don’t try disproving the null hypothesis.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I think consciousness is more than just our neurons, it’s an active waveform riding and guided by them.

  Unfortunately, I don’t think it survives death. Without the underlying structure, it collapses to noise.

  Interestingly, our brains have special circuits, design to emulate others. In effect, our consciousness imprints onto theirs. It’s not the full pattern, and imperfect, but a part of us lives on in the consciousness of everyone who knows us.

  Like ripples in a pond. The water of the initial wave is no longer involved, but it has passed to others.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The belief would be that your senses aren’t being actively deceived. Also, that you’re not a Boltzmann brain hallucinating in the void.

  I personally believe all the axioms of science apply. It’s still fun to poke at them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨big facts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s actually a really REALLY fat cable. We spend our entire time inside it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨No u 🫵⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The point is that the reasonable null hypothesis is flat. It’s the starting point, before you apply the scientific methods.

  It’s quite simple to disprove that however, particularly if you have access to an ocean, or large body of water.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The sun is a deadly laser...⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The other option is a “barbeque roll” a favourite of sci-fi starships, from authors who have done some homework.

  You’re basically trying to balance half way up a waterfall.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The sun is a deadly laser...⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It also needs something that can form complex molecules. The lightest element we know of that can form these is carbon. That didn’t appear in reasonable quantities until the first stars exploded.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do you ever feel guilty for trying to sign up for government assistance programs?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I will say, as a tax payer, if you are eligible for them, FUCKING TAKE THEM! Take every ¢ you can make reasonable use of!

  I pay into the pool to provide a safety net to everyone. I’ve bounced off it myself, when I was younger. I want to know that it is doing its job for those that need it.

  Proviso, I’m based in the UK. I’m quite sure a lot of tax payers, world wide, feel the same and would also give you “permission”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nope, not visiting that⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  You can easily cross calculate between various, inertial frames of reference. The problem is that earth isn’t sitting still in an inertial frame. We spin around the sun, and we orbit the center of our galaxy. We also get nudged about by the pull of other stars.

  Tracking a time jump (or technically a time-space jump) would be easy, if you just wanted to be within the solar system. With measurements the earth-moon gap would not be too hard. Hitting a surface exactly would be another story. Miss by a meter and your cut in half by a wall or floor.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Legal action over 'unfair' Steam game store prices given go ahead⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I thought that only applied to steam keys?

  You can sell your game for whatever you want elsewhere, but if you want them to be able to install via steam, you can’t undercut steam itself.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do old people still remember their childhood? Do people just start losing their memories and their sense of self as they get older?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Various studies have shown this to be true. When you access memories, they become malleable. The brain makes various minor updates and repairs. It fixes holes, where bits have been forgotten, and pulls in new data, that wasn’t known at the time.

  The core of the memory is often intact, it’s generally self referencing, and fairly stable. It’s the small details around it that can shift.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'm about to get fired. How do I make sure my next job is a better place to work?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s true, but they are also not likely to take you on either. They are part of the 95%+ that will not be interested.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'm about to get fired. How do I make sure my next job is a better place to work?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  A thing to note is that staff tend not to leave good companies. That means they recruit FAR less than you would expect.

  A useful method would be to make a list of all the companies you can find that seem to both be going fine, but not obviously recruiting.

  Getting your foot in the door with them is the hard part. First thing is to check if you have any contacts there. Ex-coworkers, or people who are friends with a staff member. If so, try and leverage that contact to get your C.V. to them. Failing that, a polite phonecall to HR or the boss (depending on the company), with a follow up email is the best bet.

  This method still has a 95%+ failure rate. The aim is to get your C.V. in front of the right person when they need a role filled, but haven’t started the recruitment process yet.