scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/4cw2l0.md

## [D] Friday Off-Topic Thread

* Author: u/AutoModerator *
* URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/4cw2l0/d_friday_offtopic_thread/
* Score: 15

* Created: 2016-04-01T15:05:39

### Post:

Welcome to the Friday Off-Topic Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!


### Comments:

> **u/None** [+11]  (13 hours later)
> 
> [deleted]

>> **u/TennisMaster2** [+14]  (15 hours later)
>> 
>> > *If a viable solution is posted before 12:01AM Pacific Time (8:01AM UTC) on Saturday, Dec 13th, 2003, the story will continue to Ch. 121.*
>> 
>> > *Otherwise you will get a shorter and sadder ending.*
>> 
>> I refresh the page.  Same message.  I trace my ethernet cable back to the router in case this is some belated April Fools joke and I'm connected to my son's network.  Still plugged in - still my router.  I check the gap under the door to my son's room just in case - no blue light.  I put my ear to the gap - no humming of the computer fan.  Not a prank, then.  I return and refresh the page.  Same message.
>> 
>> Darn.
>> 
>> __________________________________________
>> 
>> I stop by the book store on the way to work to see if the author published in print as well.  Nothing - either he's an unknown or using a nom de plume.
>> 
>> __________________________________________
>> 
>> I lounge at my desk station pretending to ponder the reports arrayed before me, twirling a pen in my off hand.  My solution.  My solution to the final exam.  What's being examined?  Story comprehension... ability to solve the Iraq war... JKR style magic, since Hussein has a wand?  Maybe, if Bush will die and be resurrected in three weeks time.  So, Saddam is a wizard, JKR style magic is real, and Bush will die and his corpse perfectly revivified by  necromancers.  Hmm... Saddam who?  Maybe it's not Hussein.  Maybe it's just some wizard named Saddam.  And could resurrect mean... no, that's a stretch.  Necromancy it is, then.
>> 
>> So I need to take a Saddam and have him while naked and holding his wand face the cardinal direction from which Bush et al. approach - whenever that may be.  Where to find a wizard named Saddam?
>> 
>> __________________________________________________
>> 
>> *Ding-dong*. 
>> 
>> Oh, that'll be them!  I change into my lead-lined hazmat suit and answer the door.  "Hello!  You'll be the Obliviators, then?"
>> 
>> They look confused, but realization and determination soon replaces their confusion.  "Sir, we're just going to have to ask you some questions about your editorial in the weekend edition, then we'll be on our way."
>> 
>> I affect a moue of confusion, myself.  "I'm sorry, I don't quit- ah!  Of course.  I forgot you think I'm a muggle.  Haha - what a cock up that would be, eh?"  I try to chuckle when I realize verbalizing the onomatopoeia 'Haha' isn't a convincing way to pretend at laughter.
>> 
>> "Yeah, listen, I'm actually muggleborn, Hogwarts class of '82 - my wife didn't take too kindly to the whole magic thing, and I agreed to put my wand in a locker while I warm her up to it a bit.  I don't know where the magical area here is, even, haha."  Darn - chuckle more, chuckle more... they're buying it, keep chuckl- okay too much, stop chuckling.
>> 
>> One relaxes his hand.  "Happens to the best of us.  My cousin moved to Germany; had the same thing happen to him.  Made for a rough first few years.  You're newly married?"
>> 
>> "No, will be a decade next year."  They're chuckling, now!  Chuckle at their pace, not too fast, not too little - damn I'm good at chuckling.  "Anyway, sorry to bother you and all, but do you know a wizard named Saddam?"
>> 
>> The silent one looks to his partner and back, then nods.
>> 
>> "Great!  If you wouldn't mind telling him to stop by any time in the next three weeks, I'd really appreciate it.  I heard a prophecy that very clearly indicated he will die unless he does some rather silly things at a specific time."
>> 
>> "We'll be sure to pass along the message, sir.  Have a good day, now, and if you need to contact us again, just head down to Ivers and Mounipe; there's a cobbled alley there.  Head in to the dentist's to the alley's left."
>> 
>> "Thank you, and I'll remember that, thank you.  Ivers and Mounipe, dentist to cobbled alley's left.  No more editorials for me."
>> 
>> I close the door.
>> 
>> ____________________________________________________
>> 
>> "Now turn... three degrees clockwise, Saddam!  No, that's four!  No, that's two!  That's four again!  There you go.  Just stay like that for a couple hours.  I'll make us some tea."
>> 
>> ___________________________________________________
>> 
>> > *... faced Bush and company for three hours after the news reported zombie Bush was in committee with his generals.*
>> 
>> There.  Submit.

>>> **u/TennisMaster2** [+2]  (a day later)
>>> 
>>> [Complaint to expel sadness.](#s "  People like this story more than my contest entry; screw dignity, I'm pouting anyway.")

>>>> **u/Soothsilver** [+1]  (3 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> Sorry... Could you link to your contest entry?

>>>>> **u/TennisMaster2** [+2]  (3 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> I think doing so is against the contest rules.  It's in the green Biweekly Challenge thread for precognition; you can find the thread stickied at the top of the /r/rational subreddit landing page.
>>>>> 
>>>>> No need to apologize!  Posting that comment got rid of all my sadness, which is why I did it: low cost solution to needless emotional distress.

> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+18]  (12 minutes later)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o

>> **u/rhaps0dy4** [+1]  (a day later)
>> 
>> I'm from the west coast
>> I each french toast
>> and I'm cooool

> **u/alexanderwales** [+13]  *Time flies like an arrow* (8 hours later)
> 
> *Batman v Superman* is such a fart of a movie. My least favorite parts:
> 
> * Dream sequences all over the place.
> * Batman indiscriminately killing people with a machine gun.
> * Enormous plot holes.
> * Unclear motivations from most of the central characters.
> * Conflict that could have been cleared up by just talking about things for five seconds.
> * Conflict that gets resolved in stupid ways.
> * Interesting questions that get abandoned in favor of giant setpiece battles.
> * Extremely poor tie-ins to future movies.
> * Lois Lane saying, "Superman is many things, but he's not a killer". *Holy shit, are you fucking kidding me, he publicly killed Zod in the only other movie in this continuity.* He's a killer in the sense that he's killed someone, and he's a killer in the sense that he's proven himself capable of killing if there's a need for it. She is never called on this. I would accept this at a bad retcon if *B v S* didn't have the events of *Man of Steel* so central to it's piss-poor plot. It's not a retcon, it's just stupid.
> 
> I didn't go into the movie having high hopes, but it failed to live up to even my lowered standards. And I suppose in that way it was bad enough to be entertaining. Also, it had some good cinematography, so I guess that's nice.

>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+29]  (8 hours later)
>> 
>> Dear Hollywood: please just fuckin' adapt The Metropolitan Man.

>> **u/Roxolan** [+5]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (12 hours later)
>> 
>> In case you missed it in last week's thread: I couldn't get all the nonsense out of my head, so I ended up writing [a long list of all the ways the characters' actions make no sense](http://pastebin.com/ukQ752Y7). If you like nitpicking dumb movies to death, you're in luck. 
>> 
>> (SPOILERS, obviously.)
>> 
>> > I suppose in that way it was bad enough to be entertaining
>> 
>> So yeah, I fully agree with this.

>>> **u/rebel_vain** [+3]  (18 hours later)
>>> 
>>> I think you misunderstood several parts of the plot.
>>> 
>>> Lex Luthor didn't want to kill Superman because he was scary powerful. He had an ideological dislike of the idea of a "godlike", all-powerful being, and wanted to prove to the world that he was "either not all good, or not all-powerful". This is stupid, but he behaves reasonably in pursuit of this goal.
>>> 
>>> Superman does not have super-speed in this setting. I can see how you might have missed this in Man of Steel, but they explicitly had a scene where he wasn't fast enough to stop an explosion.
>>> 
>>> *Batman* was the one who argued that Superman was too powerful to be allowed, a threat to everyone, etc. He has several scenes where he talks about his fear that Superman will snap, including an extended nightmare sequence.
>>> 
>>> Superman was looking for (following?) Batman because he didn't like him, not looking for Kryptonite (he has no idea it exists.)
>>> 
>>> Not a good idea to wield Kryptonite melee weapons near the guy who can vaporize/crush them. Better to depower him first. Not sure why he made a melee weapon in the first place, though, instead of say, a gun - maybe he doesn't like guns? Obvious explanation, but never established, plus he uses actual guns.
>>> 
>>> The time travel makes no sense and will never be referenced again, probably.
>>> 
>>> This film has a bunch of actual plot holes, obviously, but I wouldn't say the characters are incoherent, and I enjoyed it.

>>>> **u/Roxolan** [+3]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> Those are mostly fair points.
>>>> 
>>>> > Superman was looking for (following?) Batman because he didn't like him, not looking for Kryptonite
>>>> 
>>>> That was my guess, but it's awfully clumsy. Like "we need a scene where Batman steals the kryptonite, oh and also a scene where Batman and Superman have an early tussle, and oh god will you look at the runtime, let's make it the same scene. Oh and Batman is going to need that kryptonite, so we'll have to spend a quick shot to undo the outcome of that fight."
>>>> 
>>>> > Not a good idea to wield Kryptonite melee weapons near the guy who can vaporize/crush them.
>>>> 
>>>> Lots of things would be a better idea than leaving the weapon in a fairly distant location and hoping for the best.

>>>> **u/alexanderwales** [+2]  *Time flies like an arrow* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> This post was removed by Automoderator because your account is too new; I've manually approved it for you.

>>> **u/Faust91x** [+1]  *Iteration X* (21 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Wow so it was that bad. Honestly the comic the movie's based on is also highly criticized due to Superman and Batman's confrontation not making any sense. It didn't have Luthor there as far as I know but DC needed to accelerate the formation of the Justice League to compete with Marvel's Civil War.
>>> 
>>> If you ever do a review on Civil War I'd be happy to read it. I hope it makes more sense than Batman vs Superman.

>>>> **u/MugaSofer** [+3]  (3 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> I might do a similar review for *Civil War*. I have a nasty feeling it's going to be really quite bad (while still having good moments, given the beloved characters and such.)
>>>> 
>>>> The central conflict stems from Iron Man, who has spent his films running his own personal military interventions and vigorously defending his right to do so from the government, fighting Captain America, a man empowered by the government using secret government science because he was such an incredible patriot, who has worked for the government almost continuously since that day (his childhood dream,) and whose only break with the government has been because he (correctly) felt SHIELD weren't receiving sufficient oversight ... except Iron Man is fighting to make superheroes work for the government, and Captain America is fighting to let them do whatever the hell they like. Also, much like the comics, Iron Man's side is clearly correct but Cap's side will clearly be treated by the narrative as the "heroes"* (and, unlike the comic, will probably win.)
>>>> 
>>>> This does not seem conductive to a character-driven narrative.
>>>> 
>>>> \*[EDIT: this was an accident in the comic, according to the authors. Iron Man was *supposed* to be a hero going too far in a good cause, not the villain. There's a reason the comic isn't exactly well-liked.]

>>>>> **u/Faust91x** [+2]  *Iteration X* (3 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Agreed. Not to mention that Cap's side seems terribly unbalanced and given the stakes on this conflict, I would expect the government to be backing Iron Man all steps of the war instead of just letting them "duke it out" and accept the winner's proposal.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I mean even if Cap wins, why don't they just shoot them? They're all humans mostly.

>>>> **u/Roxolan** [+2]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (22 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> I will be happy to write one if it bothers me as much, but I don't expect they will. Compared to the modern crop of superhero movies, BvS is *exceptionally* bad. Green Lantern is the only one in the same league, and that one was more because of poor decisions than plot holes.

>> **u/VanPeer** [+3]  *The shard made me do it* (10 hours later)
>> 
>> I *loved* it. But then, I'm not in it for the *rationality* but for the *emotion*. The music and atmosphere were so poignant and dark, and, I thought, superbly portrayed Batman's angst and despair. So refreshing compared to "feel good" Hollywood cliches.
>> 
>> Does the plot make *sense* ? No. There is no rational universe in which Luthor can take the mother of an invincible demigod (with ultra-fast reflexes) hostage and not die instantly.
>> 
>> But none of this reduced my enjoyment even a little.

>>> **u/None** [+1]  (5 days later)
>>> 
>>> > The music and atmosphere were so poignant and dark, and, I thought, superbly portrayed Batman's angst and despair. So refreshing compared to "feel good" Hollywood cliches.
>>> 
>>> Are we watching the same Hollywood cliches?  DC cinema universe just adores going full grimderp.

>> **u/SvalbardCaretaker** [+2]  *Mouse Army* (14 hours later)
>> 
>> I get that you just want to vent, but... If you are surprised that some random Hollywood Blockbuster was not a good movie, you really need to update your priors! 
>> 
>> Which movie of the last five years was good?

>>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+5]  (22 hours later)
>>> 
>>> There's only one movie of The Last Five Years.

>>> **u/Roxolan** [+4]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (22 hours later)
>>> 
>>> The recent crop of Hollywood superheroes movies (and I guess you can put Star Wars in the same bucket) have mostly been quite fun. Definitely not rational, but not the naked absurdity of BvS. And they make it up with good action scenes and/or good banter. 
>>> 
>>> Man of Steel was a warning sign, but still, one could reasonably hope DC would get better rather than worse.

>>> **u/alexanderwales** [+2]  *Time flies like an arrow* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> I wasn't surprised that it was bad, I was surprised that it was *that* bad.

> **u/Enasni_** [+9]  (an hour later)
> 
> Reverse Munchkinism!
> 
> How fast and how thoroughly could you destroy the world with the machine described in [All Paths to Happiness](https://physicsnapkins.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/all-paths-to-happiness/)?

>> **u/Roxolan** [+9]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (12 hours later)
>> 
>> Generate a random DNA sequence. Find a company that will print it for you (I'm pretty sure they exist; you can always use the machine as a search engine here). Lock yourself in with canned food and news access. Wait a month to see if a pandemic has destroyed civilisation.
>> 
>> This is slower than AGI, but *much* safer than anything that involves interacting with random computer files.
>> 
>> (Safer as in "the file that gets shared by the machine is probably the one you actually want".)

>>> **u/hoja_nasredin** [+1]  *Dai-Gurren Brigade* (22 hours later)
>>> 
>>> If you want I can pass you the Ebola sequence.

>> **u/Chronophilia** [+6]  *sci-fi ≠ futurology* (8 hours later)
>> 
>> Well, I can't think of anything that would work. So I guess: get a few kilobytes of English text, read it, and return a rating on a scale of 0-1000 of how plausible a way of destroying the world it would be. This includes doing any research necessary unless such research might prevent me from using the machine.
>> 
>> Is that meta enough?

>> **u/Frommerman** [+8]  (3 hours later)
>> 
>> Use the machine to become a highly effective US military officer. Get assigned to NORAD. Use the machine to find nuclear codes. Launch the US's nuclear arsenal.

>>> **u/Enasni_** [+13]  (5 hours later)
>>> 
>>> 7/10 for thoroughness of destruction; enough to eliminate all future value at least
>>> 
>>> 1/10 for expedience; would take 10-20 years following standard career paths
>>> 
>>> 3/10 for creativity; nukes? meh, you can do better

>> **u/IdolfHatler** [+2]  (5 hours later)
>> 
>> Was it ever specified how ties are resolved?
>> 
>> A good start would something like this:
>> 
>> - Fork enough times to create a 1 GB large file and rename it to .exe.
>> - Run the exe on a computer connected to the internet, but not connected to the machine.
>> - If nothing has stopped you from entering 0 after a month do it. Then use get a replacement program from the best universe.
>> 
>> This guarantees that you will get an AI that is smart enough to figure out how to stop you from entering 0 into the machine and instead enter a larger number. It does not however filter for an especially malicious AI.

>>> **u/Frommerman** [+5]  (6 hours later)
>>> 
>>> It's more likely that it sets up a series of circumstances where you die for reasons unrelated to the AI in that month. Freak bus accident, that sort of thing. I'd make a shorter wait period to decrease the likelihood that mere bad luck, rather than a malicious AI, was what killed you.
>>> 
>>> Edit: Also, do you really think 1gb is enough space to hold a seed program which unfolds into a paperclipper in only a month? I know we like to pretend things are that easy here, but I've never been convinced that such a seed program would be that small.

>>>> **u/IdolfHatler** [+1]  (6 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Then who would put in a large number?

>>>>> **u/Gurkenglas** [+2]  (14 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Whatever AI happens to actually take over the universe in the next few infinity years, and has the largest amount of negentropy left over to type digits, *and* likes what its universe number says.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Even most AIs who would like to do this won't end up doing it because they know another AI can type in a larger number.
>>>>> 
>>>>> And so we made an AI that was actually friendly, and all that CEV shit worked, and it still ended up killing us all and tiling the unvierse with computronium because it needed to enter the highest number.

>>>>>> **u/FuguofAnotherWorld** [+1]  *Roll the Dice on Fate* (a day later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Highly unlikely. Far more likely the people cleaning up your apartment, inheriting your stuff, or otherwise gaining access to the device who might happen to push the button in the *long* period of time you're theorising.

>>>>>>> **u/Gurkenglas** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Right, but they're not going to be entering large numbers so they're irrelevant. Unless they read the instruction manuals and hand this thing with the long number of digits to someone important.

>>>>>>>> **u/FuguofAnotherWorld** [+1]  *Roll the Dice on Fate* (a day later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Even with that complexity penalty, I still don't see it being less likely than the machine sitting un-pressed for the amount of time required for an AI to come into effect.

>>>>>>>>> **u/Gurkenglas** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Likelihood doesn't matter. As long as the outcome that leads to maximal digits typed in has at least one timeline's worth of probability, that's the one that's going to come out.

>>>> **u/IdolfHatler** [+1]  (7 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> A program written by humans: No way!
>>>> 
>>>> However I certainly think that an AI exists with Kolmogorov Complexity within 1GB. I certainly think that a 1GB program exists, which can do this within a month by using all the resources available on the internet.

>>>> **u/Roxolan** [+1]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (10 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> > Also, do you really think 1gb is enough space to hold a seed program which unfolds into a paperclipper in only a month?
>>>> 
>>>> There is some amount of force multiplier here. Maybe you can't get Clippy in 1GB, but one of the outputs will be a chatbot that's really effective at convincing you to talk to *this* guy and hire *that* guy who just happens to have amazing AI programming potential, and one thing leading to another, eventually someone writes a 20TB Clippy. 
>>>> 
>>>> (The other you's will not get to use that Clippy to destroy the world though, for reasons I leave as an exercise to the reader.)

>>> **u/Chronophilia** [+0]  *sci-fi ≠ futurology* (8 hours later)
>>> 
>>> >Was it ever specified how ties are resolved?
>>> 
>>> At random, I think.

>> **u/Frommerman** [+1]  (6 hours later)
>> 
>> Use the machine to make a career as a genius inventor, producing massive advances in all fields. Then, use the machine to find a way to make a massive device for producing a constant stream of EMPs, hopefully strong enough to negate Earth's magnetic field. Convince people that this is going to be the greatest advance yet, enough power to fuel all of humanity for the forseeable future. Radiological destruction rains down from space as the ionosphere breaks down.

>>> **u/Roxolan** [+2]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (16 hours later)
>>> 
>>> > Use the machine to make a career as a genius inventor, producing massive advances in all fields
>>> 
>>> Even disregarding all the issues related to getting information out of the machine, this doesn't work for more than *maybe* one invention. 
>>> 
>>> If you don't have a credible background, don't do any research, can't answer any technical question, and lots of people have reasons to pay close attention to you, how long do you think it'll take until someone puts two and two together? And that's when powerful people find *some* way to get you to spill the beans.

>>>> **u/Quillwraith** [+2]  *Red King Consolidated* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> There might be a few possible innovations that are obvious in retrospect, and easy to understand even if they're unlikely to be discovered by normal means. It would still look suspicious if you came up with more than a very few, though.
>>>> 
>>>> Edit: removed an unnecessary phrase.

> **u/None** [+10]  (4 hours later)
> 
> APRIL 1, POST THEOLOGY.

>> **u/ToaKraka** [+15]  *https://i.imgur.com/OQGHleQ.png* (6 hours later)
>> 
>> One great result of playing *[Crusader Kings 2](http://www.reddit.com/r/CrusaderKings)* was that I learned about the hilarious multiplicity of interpretations of various religions. The Historical Immersion Project mod, for example, recognizes literally *fourteen* separate varieties of Christianity:  
>> \- [Catholic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church)  
>> \- - [Cathar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism): The God of the Old Testament actually was Satan  
>> \- - [Fraticelli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraticelli): Churchmen should shun worldly possessions and temporal power  
>> \- - [Waldensian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldensians): Ditto  
>> \- - [Lollard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lollardy): Ditto  
>> \- [Orthodox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church): The Bishop of Rome is only one among several equal Pentarchs, not the sole leader of Christianity  
>> \- - [Bogomilist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogomilism): Satan created the material world  
>> \- - [Paulician](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulicianism): Ditto  
>> \- - [Monothelite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monothelitism): Jesus had only one will (as opposed to two, mortal and divine, like his natures)  
>> \- - [Iconoclast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Iconoclasm): Religious icons are idols and should not be used in worship  
>> \- [Miaphysite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miaphysitism): Jesus had only one nature (as opposed to two, divine and mortal)  
>> \- - [Monophysite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monophysitism): The single nature of Jesus was entirely divine (as opposed to a mixture of divine and mortal)  
>> \- [Nestorian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorianism): Jesus had two separate natures, mortal and divine  
>> \- - [Messalian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euchites): Perfection can be attained solely through prayer (rather than through the church)

>>> **u/tomtan** [+7]  (9 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Not that I'm religious in any way but the Cathar interpretation kind of makes more sense. The god of the old testament was a rather wrathful jealous god compared to the new testament. Hard to reconcile both.

>>>> **u/stringless** [+1]  *Rebel Alliance* (15 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Read (or read about) *Apocryphon of John*.

>>> **u/BadGoyWithAGun** [+4]  (18 hours later)
>>> 
>>> And that's before you even get to the Lutheran heresy and many of its modern and postmodern offshoots. Think about that the next time you see someone accusing Christians of "failing to think for themselves", "blindly following existing power structures", or similar denunciations.

>>> **u/MugaSofer** [+1]  (3 days later)
>>> 
>>> >- - Bogomilist: Satan created the material world
>>> 
>>> How very Gnostic.

>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+5]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> Got a work of theological fiction on the roster for when I quit being depressed and start making things again.  It's after Sanity Falls, though, /u/Transfuturist.

>>> **u/Transfuturist** [+4]  *Carthago delenda est.* (12 hours later)
>>> 
>>> *quietly gets hype*

>> **u/ulyssessword** [+5]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> /r/unsong

> **u/Faust91x** [+5]  *Iteration X* (2 hours later)
> 
> Been working on the thesis, got to read some of the SpikeProp algorithm for supervised learning but still have been unable to grasp temporal spike encoding or find much data on it.
> 
> Now unrelated to that topic, this week I was wondering on the limits of superintelligence or how a character with it may still be limited by the lack of resources and the physical world limitations to achieve any result.
> 
> Giving the example between getting Flash's speed force and Lex Luthor's intelligence, which would be better? I argue that even if Luthor got the means to harness the speedforce, it could be limited by being too expensive to be affordable perhaps requiring exotic materials or beyond the technology of our era, take several years to develop it or just being deemed impossible.
> 
> Meanwhile Flash speed would allow to directly break those physical limitations and a character with it would thus be able to achieve a greater intelligence by using the timespan required by the character with superintelligence on iterative methods and enhancing his brain. He would be limited by the perspectives and flexibility of his mind but may be able to reach superintelligence iteratively.
> 
> This thought came from the search for limitations on the capabilities of a genius rational character on a story. Its said that sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, but can it really break the laws of nature? I think it could only find a way around them and be limited by the costs and resources required to achieve the same effects.
> 
> Thoughts?

>> **u/MugaSofer** [+2]  (3 days later)
>> 
>> Depends on which Luthor and which Flash. 
>> 
>> As you say, several DC characters have successfully harnessed the Speedforce using handwavium (mostly Batman and Flash villains), so sufficient intellect might be enough to get you both with a bit of prep time. It all depends on the setting.
>> 
>> On the other hand, quite a few versions of Flash have considerable mental enhancements; the current one [can use his "speed mind" to accurately simulate the universe several years into the future](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11115/111159554/3983771-3304356-bfr1.jpg) and [perform path-to-victory](http://imgur.com/a/C1fhN#3).
>> 
>> There's really no right answer here. But personally, I'd go with the Flash - Luthor's plans always fail, so whatever he has going on that lets him build death rays can't be that useful.

>>> **u/Faust91x** [+1]  *Iteration X* (3 days later)
>>> 
>>> Indeed. Not to mention that Luthor's superpowers are superintelligence and being rich. He requires quite the amount of resources to fund his experiments and technology in his crusade to beat the man of steel and in some incarnations he took years building his business.
>>> 
>>> An individual with Flash's power due to not being limited by physics could accumulate wealth faster by doing many jobs simultaneously (provided he also doesn't tire faster due to Speedforce) and, if amoral, can simply steal the things he needs.

> **u/hoja_nasredin** [+4]  *Dai-Gurren Brigade* (2 hours later)
> 
> I'm currently making a map for Practical Guide to evil.
> 
> Anyone here tried making maps/love maps/ want to disucss them? What are your favorite aspects/features/details of maps? ANy adivce for mine?
> 
> How do I make an Evil Map? Hwo do I transmit that dread feeling
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/UuQvurg.jpg

> **u/MugaSofer** [+5]  (6 hours later)
> 
> What does everyone think of Robin?

>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+7]  (8 hours later)
>> 
>> Hanson?  The Boy Wonder?  Thicke?  Brave Sir?  Of Berkeley?  Williams?  The American bird species?  The European bird species?

>>> **u/MugaSofer** [+3]  (8 hours later)
>>> 
>>> https://www.reddit.com/robin/
>>> 
>>> It's the latest Reddit April Fool's feature.

>>> **u/Transfuturist** [+3]  *Carthago delenda est.* (12 hours later)
>>> 
>>> You missed Hood.

>> **u/Rhamni** [+1]  *Aspiring author* (a day later)
>> 
>> My favourite aspect of the Button was the factionalism that arose. With Robin, everyone plays many times and with different people each time, so there is no factionalism. Very disappointed I couldn't take my place as the leader of a fascist hate faction this year.

> **u/traverseda** [+3]  *With dread but cautious optimism* (11 hours later)
> 
> So I've updated my resume, since I probably should start actually looking for a job.
> 
> http://traverseda.github.io/
> 
> It's still missing anything other then work history (You can see the full resume [here](https://github.com/traverseda/traverseda.github.io/blob/master/code/resume.yaml)).
> 
> I also can't for the life of me get the print preview to work in firefox, which sucks.

> **u/gabbalis** [+3]  (17 hours later)
> 
> So, I have a tendency to find a new 'favorite thing ever' once every few weeks. It's the novelty...
> 
> Anyway, this week, courtesy of steam sales, I found the point and click adventure game Deponia! (90% off this weekend)
> 
> You get to play as a classic point-and-click puzzle solving protagonist who is also a comically apathetic narcissist with anti-social tendencies! Plus the setting is great in general.

> **u/ToaKraka** [+4]  *https://i.imgur.com/OQGHleQ.png* (6 minutes later)
> 
> *Have you ever made any funny April Fool's jokes?*
> 
> I made three attempts in the last three years--but each was rather lackluster, in my opinion (I'm not a creative person), and I couldn't think of anything at all to do for this year.  
> \- [2015](http://i.imgur.com/DKLhgTA.png)  
> \- - This one (or maybe the discarded one at the bottom) probably is my favorite, in retrospect. (I'm nowadays rather less inclined to agree with the sentiment expressed in the footnote, though. See also r/tulpas.)  
> \- [2014](http://i.imgur.com/43F5wM3.png)  
> \- - I've mostly given up on the various multi-axis rating systems mentioned as being too finicky for significant usefulness. I still enjoy idly rating people from 1 to 5 (occasionally with half-points) on "hotness", though.  
> \- [2013](http://i.imgur.com/3VdXsGS.png)  
> \- - The hierarchical-pantheon system of codenames for what I then termed "friends and almost-friends" is a relic of the rather-confused few years before the final crystallization of [my "friendship" system](http://i.imgur.com/VCZSnwZ.png).  
> \- - The mentioned snippet of *Naruto* fanfiction can be read [here](http://i.imgur.com/Hto5ZDE.png). (Yes, I see that typo at the top...) It's the first of approximately three occasions on which I've gotten vaguely close to writing an entire story of reasonable length (the other two being the two long summaries on [my fanfiction.net profile](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4098737)).
> 
> ---
> 
> Each of the rather-ancient games *[Europa Universalis 2](https://www.gog.com/game/europa_universalis_ii)* and *[Victoria](https://www.gog.com/game/victoria_complete)* contains literally *dozens* of tracks of period-appropriate music, licensed from [Naxos](http://www.naxos.com). The files even still have their original ID numbers, so that you can look them up in the Naxos catalog and find the albums that include them. (More-recent [Paradox](http://www.reddit.com/r/paradoxplaza) games have less-voluminous (but still pretty good) original soundtracks composed by [Andreas Waldetoft](http://www.andreaswaldetoft.com).)
> 
> *[Age of Empires 2](http://store.steampowered.com/app/221380)* has a pretty fun soundtrack. I like the original game's ten tunes, as well as the first tune in the *The Age of Conquerors* expansion (included in the base version of the linked Steam re-release), but I have little liking for the other nine *Conquerors* tunes, and I've bothered to copy only six tracks from the *[Age of Mythology](http://store.steampowered.com/app/266840)* soundtrack out of the game folder.
> 
> The YouTuber [RagtimeDorianHenry](https://www.youtube.com/user/RagtimeDorianHenry) has uploaded literally thousands of [MIDI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI) transcriptions of old ragtime tunes.
> 
> ---
> 
> Mr. Yudkowsky sent [this email](http://i.imgur.com/WGmGQiZ.png) ([PDF with working links](https://www.dropbox.com/s/wi11t9k2yarhu21/2016-03-31.pdf)) through [the *HPMoR* mailing list](http://hpmor.com/notify), if you aren't subscribed to it.

>> **u/gabbalis** [+3]  (54 minutes later)
>> 
>> Nah. Well... I taped people's pencils to their desks once! That was very mildly humorous.
>> 
>> Oh, I also once hid the senior's collective project folder in a sub-folder for a day. Nobody was amused. I wound up in the disciplinary committee after that one.

>> **u/UltraRedSpectrum** [+3]  (an hour later)
>> 
>> Not something I did, but my sister once superglued a quarter to the floor at her high school. They had to remove part of the tile to get it off.

>> **u/Cariyaga** [+3]  *Kyubey did nothing wrong* (2 hours later)
>> 
>> The Age of Empires games are what got me interested in history as a kid. I think they're pretty darned neat.

>> **u/Chronophilia** [+3]  *sci-fi ≠ futurology* (9 hours later)
>> 
>> >The hierarchical-pantheon system of codenames for what I then termed "friends and almost-friends" is a relic of the rather-confused few years before the final crystallization of my "friendship" system
>> 
>> That system is certainly something; if it weren't for the timestamps on the screenshot, I'd think it was a surrealist April Fool's joke. Did you have much success with it?
>> 
>> Thanks for the e-mail. The links in the PDF don't work for me, not sure why.

>>> **u/ToaKraka** [+3]  *https://i.imgur.com/OQGHleQ.png* (9 hours later)
>>> 
>>> > That system is certainly something. Did you have much success with it?
>>> 
>>> I'm not sure I see how a system of codenames can experience success or failure. However, the system of friendship (without scarequotes) that I was using at the time was fairly successful. It essentially was the same as my later "friendship" system, but with three members (including me and the people who later would become "Friends" One and Two--then referred to as Demigoddess and Demigod) rather than two, and with no recordkeeping. (This method was made convenient by Facebook's "Group Messaging" feature, which allowed each conversation thread containing three or more people to be separate from the others as its own "Group Message".)  
>>> This arrangement collapsed after the person later known as "Friend" One temporarily (for several months) stopped responding, for unknown reasons. IIRC (my memory is fuzzy here), I continued interacting with "Friend" Two for some time before finally instituting the more-organized "friendship" system, into which One was inducted later on.

>>> **u/Gurkenglas** [+2]  (14 hours later)
>>> 
>>> It's relatively easy to edit timestamps, unless you mean image metadata, about which I'm not sure, but probably still easy.

>>>> **u/Chronophilia** [+3]  *sci-fi ≠ futurology* (21 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Of course it could be edited. Everything on the Internet could be a lie. But it's hard to make friends when you react to every personal revelation with distrust and paranoia - I'm willing to trust that /u/ToaKraka hasn't tampered with those screenshots just to deceive us.
>>>> 
>>>> As for image metadata - PNGs don't usually have that, the format supports it but it's rarely used and Imgur strips it anyway. It's more of a JPEG thing.

>>>> **u/FuguofAnotherWorld** [+1]  *Roll the Dice on Fate* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> He's been talking about this for a long time, so if it is a ruse it's not april fools based.

>> **u/ulyssessword** [+3]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> I put clear nail polish on some people's pencils once.  It lasted until they sharpened them.

>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+1]  (33 minutes later)
>> 
>> I honestly think the best April Fools joke I've ever made was in middle school when I turned all of the furniture in one of my classes upside down before anyone else got there.

>> **u/SvalbardCaretaker** [+1]  *Mouse Army* (23 minutes later)
>> 
>> Can I say I appreciate you doing this? I often get something out of it.

> **u/None** [+1]  (an hour later)
> 
> So, I want to start a new original fic, but I am having a hard time writing anything because...of well..lack of compellingness. Maybe I need to bounce some ideas off someone?
> 
> Also, I am unable to stick to any writing project for an extended period of time, which leads me to never finishing projects..

>> **u/VanPeer** [+2]  *The shard made me do it* (10 hours later)
>> 
>> Based on my experience with unfinished writing projects, I have found that it helps to think of each chapter as a *short story* even if it's not. That mindset gives a clear short term goal for your reward pathways to focus on, without getting overwhelmed by the unfinished novel, and also delivers a better product.

>> **u/Faust91x** [+1]  *Iteration X* (2 hours later)
>> 
>> I'm on the same boat although usually manage to overcome procastination by having a rough guideline of how I want the story to end and dividing it into small steps.
>> 
>> Then I usually write a rough chapter in one sitting and start fixing it iteratively or even publishing the rough draft as it is to get feedback. Of course the later is not recommended as you get some really low quality stories.

>>> **u/None** [+1]  (23 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Problem's not with procrastination but loss of interest.

> **u/FuguofAnotherWorld** [+1]  *Roll the Dice on Fate* (a day later)
> 
> The latest chapter of Chiaroscuro wasn't that great, was it? Oh well, I'm sure the one after will pick up a bit.

> **u/None** [+1]  (19 hours later)
> 
> [deleted]

>> **u/Roxolan** [+6]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (21 hours later)
>> 
>> Do we know *all* of this in advance? Because if we do, then we refuse its offer the first time (that is to say, we refuse the offer any time). But if we don't, you're really asking 
>> 
>> > How do we win against an entity who offers deals it can break but rewrites our brain to make us believe it can't?
>> 
>> And the answer is "we can't". There is no strategy that will reliably work in situations where we're wrong about reality. Garbage in, garbage out.

>>> **u/None** [+1]  (22 hours later)
>>> 
>>> [deleted]

>>>> **u/Roxolan** [+2]  *Head of antimemetiWalmart senior assistant manager* (23 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> > Meanwhile, it's not entirely garbage. We get a bit of information each iteration
>>>> 
>>>> If it is possible for entities to lie to us and make us believe the lie by force (or even without force, if we have no way to make an informed guess as to whether a statement is a lie or not), then no, we don't.
>>>> 
>>>> Like, say you devise a strategy A that works perfectly against a disutility ratchet X. Then I just introduce another entity Y that says the same things X says, but will, when confronted with strategy A, destroy the world.
>>>> 
>>>> When entities can lie about what they'll do, then no strategy is safe.

>> **u/TimTravel** [+2]  (a day later)
>> 
>> Simpler game: you have to choose A or B. If you choose B purely because it is second alphabetically, you win a million dollars. If you choose B for any other reason or if you choose A, you win nothing.

>>> **u/TennisMaster2** [+1]  (a day later)
>>> 
>>> And you don't get to know what the alphabet means, either.

---