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superswordfishon Re-reading Kahneman's “Thinking, Fast and Slow”

The arrogance is deep: The book repeats "this is true...you have no choice...this is you" and such, but that isn't true at all! The studies, assuming they're trustworthy, prove things about people in general, and the conclusions are useful if you're a public speaker or work in marketing. But what's dangerous is the suggestion that these things are true in the small, true for the individual. That's why the conclusions are less interesting, less useful than the author suggests. But it's written like typical popular science, with each chapter ending with pithy application of the knowledge, usually presented in the small (usage examples such as "I did X because of the availibility heuristic").

I checked out a copy based on Alan Kay's recommendation and returned it after getting about half-way through, realizing it was typical pop-science sophistry.

superswordfishon Felony – An open-source PGP keychain

It doesn't even sound cool to me. "Felony" is an ugly word, meaning aside.

superswordfishon Dark side of a Valley software engineer

Ten days per quarter, or forty days per year, in few-day shots at a time. That amounts to a monthly shift, and is just frequent/heavy enough to have a real impact on your personal life. No doubt the "extra" pay (let's be real, you'll never be in the inner circle if you forgo the duty) is barely enough to be noticeable.

superswordfishon Eggs Don’t Cause Heart Attacks – Sugar Does

Cooking doesn't destroy fiber, it just softens it. As opposed to pulp-free fruit juice, from which all fiber is removed, and is unhealthy. Even if tomato sauce were the equivalent of fruit juice, you'd usually have it with pasta, bread, etc. which all have fiber as well.

superswordfishon Eggs Don’t Cause Heart Attacks – Sugar Does

> Is it not possible that perhaps government regulation and the elimination/reduction of corn subsidies could be reasonable steps to take?

Absolutely! And that's the thrust of my comment: A huge contributor to these issues is suspiciously left out.

superswordfishon Eggs Don’t Cause Heart Attacks – Sugar Does

Comparing calorie-dense food like Oreos to tomato sauce seems a bit disingenuous. Especially when the sugar in tomatoes is regular fructose and provokes no insulin response.

superswordfishon Eggs Don’t Cause Heart Attacks – Sugar Does

> Most of us don’t know that a serving of tomato sauce has more sugar than a serving of Oreo cookies

Most store-bought jar sauce has sugar in it (and tastes gross). You can absolutely make sauce that doesn't have sugar in it, and some of the nicer jar sauces are that way also.

> or that fruit yogurt has more sugar than a Coke

Again, maybe if it's Dannon, but you can also buy plain yogurt and put fruit in it. Sweeten to taste.

> or that most breakfast cereals — even those made with whole grain — are 75 percent sugar

Maybe Post/General Mills sugar cereals, but again it's not that hard to find cereal with low sugar content.

This article argues that the problem is solved with regulation, but a lot of what we eat is influenced by government subsidy (i.e. corn/corn syrup), which makes many of the unhealthiest foods inexpensive. The article makes it sound like all processed food is loaded with sugar and that grocery shopping is dangerous. That may be true of "food deserts" but it isn't generally true.

The nutrition facts are already there. If somebody can't be bothered to see that whatever they are eating has 30g of sugar per serving, what can you really do about it?

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

Pardon my lack of familiarity with "the literature" and its standard age groups. Good of you to immediately dismiss the data as "massaged." I couldn't even view your study.

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

You're free to make your own decision. I'm not about to pack heat every day for some bogeyman. The few times I've felt threatened, it's been trivial to remove myself from the situation. Awareness and caution can go a long way.

And no, I'm not here to advocate taking your guns away. Just trying to suggest that there are certain downsides to always carrying a lethal weapon, and that given our mostly secure society, people might view it as antisocial.

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~rhuef/courses/Notes5321-6321/t...

The risk is far greater when there's a gun around, especially for children. Also it's a bit disingenuous to compare death figures with self-defense incidents where the outcome may have been simple property theft. Injury would be more appropriate, and even that fails as a comparison.

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

There's a difference between owning a gun and carrying a Glock 22 at all times. It's sad that people imagine themselves in some action film surrounded by violent criminals out for their blood. I take it that where you live there is no police force and that you and your family are always isolated from bystanders who could help, witnesses who would discourage an attack on your family, etc. You've chosen to live in a failed state with your large family, it seems.

Statistically, it's far more likely that one of your children will kill themselves, or a friend, or each other, with your gun than it is that it will be helpful for self-defense. This is going to be a bigger deal as your kids get older.

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

Health-wise? Sure. But you may be less anxious due to the novelty of your new diet and the conviction that it's healthy, reinforced by the trendiness of "paleo" diets. You should be at least a little suspicious of the powerful placebo effect before jumping to bizarre theories.

superswordfishon As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs

> I agree that there is a linear correlation between carbs and anxiety.

That's a rather specific thing to agree about.

superswordfishon Thoughts on the sociology of Brexit

I added that to my comment a moment after submitting because it was important. Parent was probably already reading/replying at that time.

superswordfishon Thoughts on the sociology of Brexit

I added that to my comment a moment after submitting because it was important. Parent was probably already reading/replying at that time.

superswordfishon Thoughts on the sociology of Brexit

No, fear is your invention here. I speak Spanish. It doesn't make these protests any less nonsensical. They want to be able to remain in the country illegally so they can do what exactly? Be Mexican nationalists? There's a great place to do that already.

superswordfishon Thoughts on the sociology of Brexit

And of course your comment was instantly downvoted. This referendum, and the globalist reactions to it, have been a real eye-opener for me at least. I'm not about to vote for a Donald Trump (sorry), but it seriously raises the alarm about the Clintons, Obamas, Ryans, and Romneys in the USA.

Viewed with a critical eye, is the "Dream Act" about human rights? Or is it about cheap labor? We see things like TPP which are anti-worker on their face. Who is truly pro-labor anymore? Look at Clinton's record and indifference, who is the real war-hawk? Why are the anti-Trump people chanting in Spanish and waving Mexican flags, beating people up? Trump frightens me, but his enemies are quite clearly not my friends.

Are "Leave" voters more likely to be uneducated because they're stupid? Or because they're getting shafted? Are Trump supporters more likely to be uneducated white men because they're all stupid bigots? Or because they're too getting shafted?

Lining up policies, on Trump's side you have plenty of terrible ideas many of which seem like reflexive jabs. Many of them seem unconstitutional. But on Clinton's side, you have actionable, legal, and sinister ideas that will perpetuate a status quo that is getting worse by the day for the middle and lower class.

I cannot in good conscience support either side, but I'd be lying if I said I don't secretly prefer Trump and his ideas right now, just slightly.

superswordfishon My God, it's full of yaks

This involves compromises on battery life.

superswordfishon The British are Googling what the E.U. is, hours after voting to leave it

I forget the exact amount (it's likely changed), but CA is one state that is subsidizing the rest of the country. It was somewhere in the ballpark of $0.20 received for every $1.00 given.

superswordfishon UK votes to leave EU

That... isn't how any of this works. The reason you're negotiating in the first place is because each side is holding chips. If the weaker side had to give in to the stronger's every demand, it would not be called negotiation.

superswordfishon The British are Googling what the E.U. is, hours after voting to leave it

Agreed, those with hazardous occupations should be disenfranchised.

superswordfishon UK votes to leave EU

That's right, you should abuse the hell out of whatever small edge you've got, so that negotiations promptly end.

superswordfishon A Building Boom in Boston?

"pussy", as you used it, is a noun. I don't even know why I'm continuing this idiotic debate, the point is that it's offensive. You can deny that as much as you want, it makes no difference.

superswordfishon A Building Boom in Boston?

Oh lord, you can't even identify the parts of speech correctly. Anyway, those imply that women are cowardly and whiny, and it's sexist. Now you're aware.

superswordfishon A Building Boom in Boston?

What is this, a frat house? "Pussy"? "Bitch"? You do understand that's sexist, right?

superswordfishon California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

Definitely. CA prisons are some of the worst in the nation, which is why the state was ordered to release prisoners to reduce crowding. But Texas has a death penalty with teeth, hard labor, corporal punishment, and equally poor prison conditions (less crowded and less of a gang problem, but way worse weather which you're mostly not sheltered from). The south in general is a terrible place to fall afoul of the law, and probably either Texas or Louisiana claims the trophy.

superswordfishon California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

Perhaps I'm alone in deriving small comfort in the knowledge that even if I were framed or otherwise unjustly convicted for the most atrocious of crimes, this would not be my fate (though the federal government showed in MA, for instance, with the Boston Marathon bomber, that they will override humane state law; you're never truly safe in the US). The knowledge that a gross miscarriage of justice could land me in "hell on earth" was troubling in CA (death row in TX and CA are quite different beasts on the other hand).

superswordfishon California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

The death penalty, and heavy incarceration with atrocious conditions.

superswordfishon California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

You're absolutely right. A better example of the former would be somebody building a basic CRUD app but describing it in brutal detail, throwing around as many words that buzz to the speaker as possible (REST, API, Bootstrap, etc.). Of course there's nothing wrong with that but it's boring as hell to overhear. A better description would be that in primary tech markets, the conversations tend to go much deeper and into areas that others would consider esoteric.

superswordfishon California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents

In neither of those places. It's something I've observed living and working in both, however, and it's one of the main things I miss.