Golden Corral snubbery
“I go to all-you can eat buffets for the expressed purpose of having nobody judge my ridiculous food combinations. If I want to mix mashed potatoes and apple sauce, it’s my God-given right, God damn it!” — Pixel, upon his…
I hate you because I care
Some time ago I wrote about how I thought that a logical consequence of understanding of evolution and the principle of equality was to murder everything that you could possibly murder. I was being facetious, but it made running over…
I want some GRold
Steve at Go Grue! has a wonderful reimagining of Newcomb’s paradox as a betting game. Steve is arguing my position fairly well, so I won’t comment, but I’m starting to think the error is in what a rational expectation is…
Schadenfreude is the greatest word in the English language
I used to hate Paris Hilton because I felt she was the embodiment of fame for fame’s sake. I never bothered seeing The Simple Life because it was advertised as championing the cause of the stupid blonde who was too…
Seventh Generation Insustainability
“Does the word ‘selection’ in Natural Selection imply a conscious agent?” Don’t be silly. Natural Selection is named that to contrast with Artificial Selection, which has gone on since agriculture developed or since the first tamed animals (whichever came first).…
Things not to ask in a job interview
“Judge a person by their questions rather than by their answers.” – Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet) Is it bad that the first time I read that quote I thought: “where is the bathroom?”
Oldcomb’s Paradox
This post made me think a bit about the Newcomb paradox. Newcomb’s paradox is basically a prisoner’s dilemma with a sci fi twist. The neat version: You’re in a room with two boxes. Box A contains $1,000, box B could…
One•a•day
While you’re waiting for me to figure out how MySQL databases work, I’ve decided to devote a half-hour daily to blog posting. The reason I’d refrained from doing as such is that 1. you’re the only person reading this (this…