desertraven

Hmm yes, but what exactly is a neighbourhood in this context? Can an ant comprehend our neighbourhoods? Can it perceive or even conceive of them? It may be that we are looking in the wrong place entirely. What does another million years in the evolution of intelligence yield? What of the physics? Perhaps Dyson Structures are just what our limited imaginations can conjure of an advanced civilisation.

It's all a bit airy-fairy I know, but having come such a long way in a mere thousand years - I feel like the ideas we have of super-intelligent beings may be primitive.

Hmm looks interesting, thanks. The only issue is they don't support AUS numbers

Thanks for the info. Does the phone need to be plugged in? Turned on? Or enabling the setting is sufficient?

Just so I'm clear, this isn't just using iMessage, but it will actually bill my provider when messaging in the mac app?

Haha thanks for broadening my horizons - had no idea what a Horta is.

I'm not sure of examples, hence the question, but I feel like if you remove life as we know it, there is still so much complexity in the universe. I wonder if intelligence can rise out of processes outside of a brain.

This definition for Wikipedia seems apt: "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses"

I’ve read that in espionage, open source companies are disrupted from the inside. Is an open source, non trackable device with future potential to replace the current situation worth that level of action? Pure speculation!

Location: Australia Remote: yes Willing to relocate: no, but happy to travel with some regularity. Technologies: JS/TS, React, Redux, GraphQL, NextJS, HTML, CSS, Tailwind, Hasura, SQL Email: admin@patrickflynn.com.au

Full disclosure: I’ve never been employed or worked in a large team despite programming since I was a kid. I typically do freelancing, but have been working on the same product for 2 years now. Looking to use my skills elsewhere and learn from others in the process. I don’t maintain much of a portfolio, but I do love assignments, so happy to showcase skill by building something.

I suppose that's an advantage of having such an old phone, you can take risks without expensive consequences. In saying that, once you've done it once the risk is low with the right precautions (outlined in the online guides).

I have a similar outlook, in that I'll upgrade when forced. Even now I sometimes encounter apps that won't run on the phone, but they're yet to be so essential to warrant an upgrade.

I actually did it myself with instructions online. The screen is a bit of a pain because everything sits on top of the screen, so every component need to be removed and then reinstalled on the new screen. Battery is only 10 minutes.

As for how much, I think $20 for battery, $50 for screen (iirc)

I have had my iPhone 6S for six years now, and it’s still going strong. I’ve replaced the battery a couple of times and the screen more than a couple. I can do everything I need with it, and it’s the perfect size. So I have no desire to upgrade until I must.

I too am a little confused. Might be helpful to remember that we will all soon be forgotten whether we reproduce or not.

Is there any special setup to get Manjaro/Arch working on the Pinephone?

I tend to agree with you. In saying that, I wouldn't mind an extra 100 years. If we could invent a mechanism to avoid concentrated power/resources [1], I think humanity would be better off; for if we can mostly agree that "with age comes wisdom", we would surely be collectively wiser.

[1] - The mechanism to avoid concentrated power is a drop in for many other things. For example, I believe if societal structures could effectively optimise for ethical behaviour, individuals would be less likely to crave for power lust and greed.

Let us assume you/us/we reach an all-knowing state? Then what? There would be no further step needed, nor desired. For if that's the end goal, then once we have arrived, there would be no further wanting to act upon. Else it isn't the end goal - ceasing to exist seems like a compelling next step.

We act like we know, because it's comforting to do so. Naturally we fall into patterns where we can exert control, feel we have a sense of autonomy, and have things occur with predictability.

As an avid supporter of science, I think you're quick to rely upon it. If it holds all the answers, they won't be unfolding in our meagre lifespans. What I consider greater than science, is experience. Whatever you actually experience cannot be explained away, it is the ground truth. Whether you're experiencing illusion, delusion, or confusion - they are themselves experiences and it cannot be denied that you're having them.

You find everything hollow and lacking because you're looking for meaning and purpose over there, not here. The great thing about the 'here' is it's about as solid as anything can be, and you need not seek anything more than it. It's not going anywhere, and you're welcome at any time to turn your mind upon itself. It is here that contentment, acceptance, timelessness and beauty exist. And when one is content, questions such as yours tend not to arise.

Your experience is the landscape which everything arises. Absolutely everything. Sure, there seems to be a thriving physical world beyond the bounds, and independent of, you. Though without the 'you' to experience it, it's meaningless.

You're never going to get the answers you seek. So stop seeking.

Enjoy each moment. Easier said than done right? Minds are akin to rafts on the open sea, being thrust this way and that. Sitting upon, and identifying with a torrent of thoughts. We identify with these thoughts and they carry us to and fro.

When is that last time you noticed a thought arise? For surely they do. And when is the last time you observed a thought arise, and chose not to identify with it? Thoughts are not you, for you can stand aside and watch them appear and dissipate.

Make a point of sitting back and getting comfy in the cinema of your experience. What will your next thought be? Wait and see. There will surely be one.

Did it carry you away? Do it again. You will start to see thoughts arise all of their own, and you can simply watch them. The tendency is to BE the thought, and this need not be.

The space that is left to experience in the absence of thought will ease the doubts and fear that assail your mind. For these too are the realm of thought identification.

You write well. Very inspiring.

Thanks for your response!

In the case of conversation, I feel as though being lost is counter to a equanimous and relaxed conversation. For example, I may disagree with with the other party, and become overbearing. Or I may feel uncomfortable, a mind racing, and unable to relax into a conversation. These I recognise in hindsight, but not in the moment.

Programming may be harder to articulate, perhaps posture is analogous? Maintaining good posture while being lost in programming. Or being mindful of my shortcomings as a programmer while typing.

Though being “lost” in an activity does resonate with me, and appear as a positive. So I wonder if there are different strains of “lostness”. Some helpful, and others not.

A man lost in a moment of road rage is surely not doing right. Nor is one who neglects or doesn’t value the needs of a loved one in the moment.

How do you view these different forms of being lost?

I like Making Sense with Sam Harris. He’s not afraid to challenge guests, or take controversial stands on topics (eg. We don’t have free will) and overall a breath of fresh air in a chaotic world.

I think the more fundamental reason I enjoy listening to him is his search for truth and his upstanding ethics. He genuinely wants a world where there is less suffering, and I’m glad he’s taking others along for the ride.

I love this. It'd be great to see further exploration of this theme. It could impact not just programming, but our ability to create and share ideas.

Obviously text is the most powerful and intuitive means of programming, but I wonder if it's the best? Perhaps more generally, is language as we know it really the best way to convey meaning?

I've no idea on such topics. My curiosity has just been roused by this ambitious project.

I don’t know. However, I exist, and presumably you do too.

There was a time when we didn’t exist, then suddenly - life.

Should that happen again, I should hope that the experience is peaceful (as much so as possible).

And it is for this reason that we should treat every living (and potentially non living) being with kindness and consideration. A bug, a dog, a plant, a fellow human.

We don’t know what’s next, if anything. But it’s true that we came into being in a world not of our choosing. If that happens again, I hope it isn’t a misery.

Life didn’t have to be this good. The world we inhibit didn’t have to be so ordered. It could have resembled an extensive misery.

We must treat all beings who move in this realm as we would like ourselves to be treated moving through another.

I’m somewhat hopeful that even if something like a “hell” exists, so does this reality. And while it’s not perfect, there is always hope that while existence in one realm may end, we may move to a more tranquil one.

My preference would be that we die and nothing. Like a deep, dreamless sleep. But the fact we have emerged with the gift of experience from seemingly nothing, doesn’t bode well for a continuation of nothingness.

Thank you for elaborating! Regarding your last question, I never had the clarity of mind to arrive at such a simple question that encapsulates universal wellbeing and freedom.

Do you think it's okay to do good to someone against their will?

Assuming the mechanism was there to objectively validate what is good, I'd say yes. People come into existence, and much of their experience is against their will. So what's a little more helplessness, especially in the pursuit of their own wellbeing.

Very true. Do you think there is a role for humanity to self-improve the UX? Whether with sufficient technology or collective will? I've heard the idea of culture as an operating system of sorts (a spin on being a product of your environment I suppose). Could the UX be improved with the right culture?

On a bit of a tangent here - is there a brain architecture where a consistently good (and lucid/clear) experience is guaranteed? Is such an experience within to reach of humankind?

True, I should have used the comment space more liberally.

By UX of the human brain, I mean the experience of being a human.

Your example of rationality is a great one, let's assume an ideal human being is one who optimises for rationality. Why isn't rationality innate in being human? I'm sure to a degree it is, but I think you'd agree that the world could be a little more rational, and perhaps even you yourself could be (I certainly could be).

To speak further to my experience, there's things I rationally know I should or shouldn't do. But I don't act accordingly always (or often - depending on my mindset).

I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds the endeavour of making rational changes difficult? And rationality is just one aspect of 'human-brain UX'.

Regarding pair programming - I'm a self-taught freelancer based in a remote area (not many local devs). How might I bring about the benefits of pair-programming or even mentorship in a remote context? Mentor As A Service? Sounds a little lame to be honest.

I feel similarly. Though this has come about after years of yearning for a special life.

Eventually I let go of that, and found life much more peaceful and less strained.

Admittedly of late, it’s creeping back somewhat (old habits I suppose), but nothing like it was.

This was a hard read, and admittedly I didn’t finish it. I feel a little dumb.

I’m hoping someone smarter than myself can momentarily stoop down to my level and clear things up.

I wonder, must one strive to understand the mathematics of ethics to make ethical decisions? Am I able to optimise my decisions for universal wellbeing without being able to mathematically reason upon it?

Something I’m equally ill-equipped at is being present - aware of my real-time inclinations, motivations, and subsequent actions. As a result, I often make decisions which oppose ethical optimisation (or my understanding of it)

If I were to choose between the ability to mathematically reason on ethical matters, or to have the awareness to actually make (potentially misguided) ethical decisions, I’d choose the latter every time.

Is that wrong?

Wow! Seems it was user error, since I just updated it and it’s fixed. Thanks so much.

I wish I could update my parent comment. Although this interaction speaks for itself I think. Thanks for a great product!

Slightly off topic: I really like the idea of Matrix/Element, but I’ve found I can’t rely on it.

In three instances, I’ve had a long-running chats stop working completely and simply not load. All history/media inaccessible. Just a loading spinner. This is Element on iOS.

I wish it were more dependable, because things like this would excite me much more.

Yes, IndexedDB.