Here is a list of all my public writings and videos (from before February 2025).
lsusr
Karma: 18,371
I like the original title [NSFW] The Subspace Jhana better too. I wrote the entire post with that title in mind. This version loses the original’s elegance.
[Note to future readers: This post went through many different titles. Some of these comments are out-of-date.]
Why then does it make sense to subsidize exports? That’s the core of the question I’m trying to answer. Because paying money to subsidize exports costs a government money, which puts upward pressure on domestic real interest rates.
Thank you for the kind words and the corrections. I have fixed the errors you pointed out.
I think different people are using the word “free” to mean slightly different things, and that the distinctions about which words we use to describe things in this case is confusing, but unimportant. The same goes for the stuff about cashing in payments.
Yeah, this is all macroeconomics 101. I wrote this because macroeconomics 101 is counter-intuitive. When I originally saved macroeconomics 101 into my brain, I was basically just memorizing a set of conclusions. This post is me going into those cached thoughts, ripping them up, and replacing them with better ones.
The core question I’m trying to answer is “Why do countries subsidize exports? Derive the answer from first principles.”
One of the things I like about your comments is how much common ground we have, despite you writing in Vajrayana and me reading in Zen. It’s just a different finger pointing at the same Moon.
I think you’re correct. I have modified my original post to classify subspace as a mushin, instead of as a jhana. Jhana is characterized by stability of attention, which is not characteristic of subspace. Mushin is characterized by the absence of self-originated willful volition, which is absolutely descriptive of subspace.
Meanwhile, Ikkyū (1394-1481):
Stilted koans and convoluted answers are all monks have,
Pandering endlessly to officials and rich patrons.
Good friends of the Dharma, so proud, let me tell you,
A brothel girl in gold brocade is worth more than any of you[1]
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Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyū, translated by John Stevens, pages 75-76, White Pine Press, 2003, via Wikipedia.
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The way I look at things, there are multiple dimensions from which a form of meditation can be BDSM-y. For example, metta meditation involves lots of oxytocin,
Somewhere in the multiverse, the keisaku and the spanking crop are called by the same name.
[NSFW] The Fuzzy Handcuffs of Liberation
It doesn’t work at that small of a scale. More generally, this principle doesn’t work on any scale too small to support an international industrial economy. It wouldn’t even work for trade between different tribes of farmers. This is a phenomenon that you only see at very large scales of human behavior. You need massive coordination failures colliding with each other for these ideas to kick in.
Export Surplusses
I will clarify my position: I’m not going to bet with you on any subject whatsoever, regardless of the odds. I take bets very seriously, and require as a prerequisite that I and the other person are on the same page regarding lots of peripheral details regarding bets. I feel that you and I have different implicit understandings of how bets should work. This has nothing to do with the criminal justice system, and everything to do with precision of language.
I’m not taking your bet. There are many reasons for this, but a sufficient dealbreaker is that I only place bets with legibly unambiguous resolution criteria. Your proposal fails to meet my standards in that dimension. I feel that betting with you carries a significant likelyhood that you and I have a disagreement about who won the bet. That makes this bet a non-starter.
Supply and Demand
Moral Hazard
Memetics
Test of the Bene Gesserit
First of all, welcome.
What questions go ultimately goes down to personal opinions, so here are my personal opinions:
General questions you’re comfortable with the public seeing can go here. Questions usually don’t require much back-and-forth. If yours do, then you can make a note of that to set expectations properly.
Intercom should be used for questions that must be answered by a moderator. Moderator bandwidth is limited relative to user bandwidth, so err on the side of asking the community instead of asking moderators. (The moderators here are super helpful and friendly, and I try hard not to abuse their time.)
Discord (which I don’t personally use) is for private-ish conversations you don’t want the Internet seeing.
I find it’s useful to clearly distinguish between two kinds of materialism: materialistic values vs materialist philosophy. They’re two different things that confusingly share the same name.
First of all, thank you for the correction. Legalization occurred in 2012, and the statutory maximum penalty for selling marijuana[1] is four years in prison.
That said, your specific bet that sounds messy to adjudicate. Consider this example:
A father and son from Seattle were each sentenced today [February 13, 2024] to 30 months in prison for their scheme to violate the state’s marijuana production regulations and produce and sell marijuana on the black market, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.
They’re in prison for selling marijuana without following the established regulations. (Firearms were involved, but it’s unclear me if they’re officially part of the charges for which the two went to prison.) Does that count? You may say no, but I feel your stated resolution criteria leaves room for interpretation.
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At least, the one particular version I looked up.
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Pro: We get a second Australia.
Con: We get a second Australia.
+1 to Taleb’s Extremistan vs Mediocristan model