Open Thread

Open Thread #423: Misc.

Aaron "Sleazy" Elias

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102 thoughts on “Open Thread #423: Misc.”

  1. Doom: The Dark Ages is unplayble on PC unless you have an RTX capable card due to ray tracing being a fixed parameter. I used to think that RTX was kind of a gimmicky lighting feature for those who could afford it, but now it’s appearing that developers want to default to it to save development time as it cuts down on the need to factor in baked lighting. Gone are the days of optimization.

    Reply

    1. In hindsight, ray-tracing turned out to be quite a scam. The promise was realistic lighting but compared to baked lighting, the difference was never really that compelling. I recall Digital Foundry videos where they zoomed in really closely and jerked each other off about more realistic reflections in a puddle or the surface of a car. Now, however, developers simply externalize the cost, i.e. they do not want to bother with traditional lighting techniques anymore because you can simply buy a fancy graphics card. It is quite sobering.

    2. “I recall Digital Foundry videos where they zoomed in really closely and jerked each other off about more realistic reflections in a puddle or the surface of a car.”

      Lol. I still let their weekly streams play in the background from time to time as I’m doing chores, but they do have awful takes sometimes. A classic example is the Stellar Blade character design controversy where he (Alex?) bitched about the playable character not matching reality (she had a model) and being archaic design. Has your opinion of DF changed over the years? Also, they are apparently owned by IGN now but don’t quote me on that.

      With regards to the new Doom, player counts on Steam at launch are 1/3 the total of Doom: Eternal. This is presumably because of the RTX situation. So much for saving development costs and expecting the consumer to eat the costs. I wonder how this will fair for consoles when it costs $900 for a PS5, which is 5 year old tech at this point.

    3. I no longer follow Digital Foundry. The main reason is that there were a few of their videos where they seemed quite biased towards the PS5. I did not recall seeing a note that I was watching an advertisement, though. On a more general note, unlike the hot chick in Stellar Blade, it is Digital Foundry who seem like a relic from a bygone era. Graphics have long reached the point where they are good enough. People spend most of their time playing games that are over a decade old, e.g. Minecraft, Counter Strike, PUBG, League of Legends, or GTA V. Another big title is Fortnite, which is eight years old. The success of the Nintendo Switch also underscores that graphics are no longer seen as that big of an issue. This is no longer the 1990s or early 2000s. Probably the PS4 is the inflection point at which graphics unquestionably stopped being an issue. Even Sony itself had to adjust to that by keeping the PS4 alive as a huge chunk of their userbase, a staggering 49 million, does not move on. In the past, in contrast, the previous generation of a console was basically dead within a year of the release of the next iteration.

    4. Just listened to the Synthetic Man review. The new Doom sucks anyways. There are egregiously generic FromSoft gameplay elements shoved into the game. The developers really seem to have taken the route of least resistance in all regards, such as with the above example and with the RTX situation. The difficulty sliders even make the game apparently feel as if the creators were not confident in their ability to craft a balanced campaign. We’re talking difficulty tweaks which are game breaking: https://youtu.be/Sbs5TxTKMVI

    5. Another example of lack of optimization in modern games with the Silent Hill 2 remake mod known as “Sunny Hills”. It basically removes all the fog and clouds. The fog was originally implemented to hide the fact that the devs needed to have the terrain aggressively pop-in and out to accommodate the weaker hardware at the time. I’m not entirely sure why they couldn’t also factor this into the remake considering that it certainly does have performance stability issues. However, I kind of get why developers would rather not have to deal with this sort of stuff anymore: https://youtu.be/YmfxZAGo3dM

      The Dead Space remake is another really badly optimized PC port. In the original, when your character interacts with a door it initiates a loading sequence. It’s almost like waiting for an elevator door to open in real life. It was a perfectly fine solution, and reminiscent of RE1’s door animation except much less jarring. This attempt to make the game seamless seemed to be executed well enough on consoles, but when the game was dropped presumably due to being a commercial failure any chance of an adequate PC port went with it.

    6. “However, I kind of get why developers would rather not have to deal with this sort of stuff anymore…”

      Another example would be shadows. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that in big sprawling dynamic worlds that developers would prefer to not have to draw in individual shadows. I don’t even know if that’s possible when you account for the time of day consistently shifting. I guess you could pre-render shadows for static objects to cut down on consumption of processing power, but it’s way more convenient to just automate shadows (and apparently lighting/reflections now too).

      With a game like Silent Hill, though, the times of day are static so you would technically have an easier time optimizing the game. It seems that with every leap in technology developers just end up adding more “noise” into their games in an attempt to appear “next gen”, instead of just having a game that look good enough but automates certain parameters like shadows/lighting etc. for the purpose of pushing out these titles faster without compromising performance.

    7. Yes, exactly. You wonder if developers just go through a checkbox, without anyone in charge who could look at a game holistically and decide if certain decisions make any sense. This mindset could not have gotten a foothold earlier, up to around the mid-2010s or so. Today, CPUs and GPUs are so powerful that developers can chose to just not care anymore.

    8. In other news, Expedition 33, a game that dares to implement turn based combat in a modern RPG, is getting rave reviews. There’s something to be said about limitations in gaming (Baldur’s Gate). A game like Tears of the Kingdom, which grants you seemingly endless possibilities, falls short simply because doing anything other than the optimal strategy (attach rocket to shield, launch into the air, use bullet time while falling and fuse your strongest items to your arrows until your gigantic stamina bar runs out—repeat) just ends up feeling convoluted in the end.

      Speaking of RPGs, it’s a shame the amount of artistic uniqueness we’ve lost in modern game. The static backgrounds in old RPGs used to be painstakingly hand tailored to fit the scene. Now just about everything is pulling from Unreal Engine. No hand drawn shadows or textures anywhere to be found. The best you might get are scanned-in assets.

    9. Related is the problem that a lot of games that were developed with Unreal Engine look similar and even have a similar feel. This was already a problem with Unreal Engine 3, which was in its prime during the PS3/X360 generation. A lot of games had shiny textures, and similar lag. Today, graphics still look samey, loading times are bad, and the input lag has apparently gotten worse. I have not played many Unreal Engine 4 games, but I was not overly impressed. Samurai Shodown (2019) is a good example. In contrast, Capcom’s RE engine is really impressive, a least on a low to mid-spec laptop like mine.

    10. I had a really good experience with the RE engine on the Deck. I could get a stable 60 fps on pretty high specs without dlss on RE2, for example. RE3 was a bit more mixed but still pretty solid, but RE4 definitely needed upscaling to get a stable 40 and handheld or a small monitor was a must for decent image quality. Going forward I wonder if the RE Engine will continue to be so user friendly. Rumors that they’re going forward an open world format with RE9 would lead me to believe not so much, but another remake title like Code Veronica could perhaps be much less demanding. I have not really had much interest in Monster Hunter.

  2. Aaron what are you doing diet and health/fitness wise these days? Is it a big part of your lifestyle?

    Reply

    1. My diet is quite unchanged. I avoid sweets and processed foods and eat plenty of red meat. As I am pretty busy, fitness is taking a bit of a backseat, but I have a home gym in my basement. For compensation, I also walk or take the stairs whenever it makes sense, so compared to most people with a sedentary lifestyle, I am probably still more active than the average. My weight is stable. Also, I hardly ever compromise on sleep, which surely also makes a difference.

  3. Hey Aaron, i had your meditation, but ive moved so many times, ive no idea where it is.

    Regarding upping the length of your meditation, should your mind be totally clear for the duration of the session before upping the time? What if a thought enters your mind, but you flush it within a few seconds?

    Reply

    1. It is probably a high bar if you only want to increase the time of your meditation sessions if you manage to keep a clear mind all the time. Arguably, it is more practical to extend the amount of time if you realize that you could easily keep going, for instance because you are able to quickly return to a state with a clear mind.

    2. Sleazy,
      I have also meditated. But I notice that I struggle to sit longer than 30 minutes because my legs are tired. I could change positions but this break the calm state that I have. I don’t know how to continue to sit longer, and it is a shame because sometimes I enter a very pleasant state.

      I also wish to ask once you have done with meditation, what should you do to prolong that state of peace and calmness, because after five minutes, that state start dissipating.

      Do you meditate while walking? How do you integrate sitting meditation with walking meditation?

      Zen masters insist that we are mindful all the times, including during meals and works.

    3. I would not say that I am “mindful” at all times, but probably for at least 80% of my waking hours. The simple answer is to keep working on it.

    4. In your forum, you used to say that you could sit for 4 hours straight. Does this imply that you do not change position at all?

    6. Monks are as legendary fit as they are probably because they needed it in order to help them reach the highest level of Meditation, so they were raised with that foundation. I’ve met some folks that could literally Meditate and stay still for half a day. Jesus, I can’t even imagine it.

    7. @CQV, keep experimenting with different positions. Lotus didn’t work for me (knees didn’t like it).

      I did a retreat through dharma.org. One good thing about that was they had every possible option for positions.

      I spent the first 3 days experimenting constantly.

      I eventually found that a meditation bench on a cushion, with a cushion on top of the meditation bench, with cushions under my knees and ankle joints would allow me to sit indefinitely.

      Keep playing with it

  4. Aaron, we talked about keyboards in the past. I need a solid midrange recommendation for a macbook. I definitely need one with a number pad block for programming tablature (ex: https://files.catbox.moe/n6lxvg.png).

    The problem with not having a numpad is with programming a ‘10’, for example. There is a slight delay, but you when press a 1 you must insert the 0 quick enough or the 1 gets erased and the input gets replaced with a 0 instead of a resulting in a 10. It’s definitely doable this way but requires either a fast hand or two hands which is annoying while hold an instrument. It’s much easier to extend your right hand and just slap the required 0 with your thumb real quick.

    Reply

    1. You can attach a regular Windows keyboard to a Macbook, so there are a lot of options. I have bought a few keyboards over the years but I am not that tuned-in when it comes to recent developments. Among full-size keyboards I can recommend the Ducky One as well as the Apple Magic Keyboard. The Apple keyboard I own is several years old and no longer available, and I do not know how well the new revision of it compares to it. Keyboards I would consider if I were to replace my current ones are the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro and the Wooting two.

    2. Awesome. I just went and ordered a used apple magic full size bluetooth keyboard on ebay for less than $50 after shipping from a reputable seller.

    1. This is AI-fueled fiction but we are undoubtedly moving towards a future of hyper-realistic companion dolls.

    1. I am still pretty busy but I have written down outlines of a few posts recently, and I hope to find some more time for writing in the near future.

    2. Aaron,
      I wanted to book you again for a consultation. Should I wait until you are less busy with work and travel?

    3. This is fine. You can go ahead. My workload is already getting more manageable. In fact, I expect to publish my next article later today.

  7. I dont know where else to comment on this, so I will drop it here. I recently went to a tire shop in a town where I had not been for a couple years, and went to greet the manager, who I used to have a very good relationship with.

    To my shock the guys tell me he passed away a little over 2 years ago, at the age of 55 and otherwise healty. He suddenly developed a very aggresive cancer out of nowhere and died within 4 months of being diagnosed. I brought up the vaxx, and everyone nodded in agreement. Another one for my list, I suppose.

    Reply

  8. The vaxx is now officially linked to myocarditis and pericarditis:
    https://archive.ph/FsLj1
    I am not sure how to square this with half a decade of the authorities telling me that the vaxx is safe and effective, but I am sure this does not mean anything anyway. Go get your booster shots!

    Reply

    1. I have not used Baidu yet, primarily because my knowledge of Mandarin is effectively zero. I know about a handful of phrases, nothing more.

    2. How many languages can you converse in? Was wondering how you communicate when you’re in Scandinavia.

    3. I speak German and English. My Swedish is serviceable, my French rudimentary.

    1. Nikola was pretty dashing in his young photos. I think I recall him bashing relationships with women. I feel that when you’re at a certain level of intelligence coupled with high ambition you generally denounce women in some form to focus on your work. Even Carl Jung didn’t always stick around with his wife.

    1. This is amusing. I have recently gotten Grok to provide edgier answers. It did not lead to meaningfully better results, and I was repeatedly reminded by Grok that this was just some kind of role play and not at all serious. One would think that a true test of the abilities of AI is to list a few women you would consider stroke-worthy if you were into that kind of unnatural activity and tell it to recommend similar ones. This was obviously done purely for research purposes. I was rather amused when Grok first claimed that some of the women I mentioned, some with rather sizeable online presences, did not really exist, and thus recommended some plain to unattractive women on YouTube.

    2. That’s pretty wild. I wouldn’t be surprised if on the flip side it was easily able to offer the names of hundreds of male influencers and actors with roided out cartoonish proportions. I mean sure, they do exist, but you know. Unless there is some crazy conspiracy where these particular super hot women are actually AI generated and we don’t know about it lol.

  12. https://www.reddit.com/r/Studium/comments/1kze7e7/gro%C3%9Fer_anstieg_indischer_studenten_an_deutschen/

    In recent years, German universities have seen a significant increase in the number of international students, particularly from India. This development follows policies by the past federal government (often referred to as the “traffic light coalition” – SPD, Greens, and FDP), which have actively promoted Germany as a destination for higher education, especially in STEM fields. Many Indian students are taking advantage of the opportunity to study in Germany, often without tuition fees.

    While the internationalization of higher education is generally seen as a positive trend, some German students have expressed frustration. Concerns range from increased competition in computer science programs, language barriers in group projects, and cultural misunderstandings, to overcrowded student housing.

    The situation has sparked debate online and in university circles: How can German universities better integrate international students while also addressing the concerns of local students? Is more support needed on both sides?

    Reply

    1. Whenever I read about “both sides”, I cannot help but think of AI attempting to provide a “fair and balanced” answer, which just so happens to be identical with the extremist-leftist position, i.e. mainstream-media opinion. On a side note, Computer Science graduates are facing a really rough labor market. Moments ago I came across an article according to which Computer Science and Computer Engineering graduates in the United States do really well in the unemployment competition, securing positions seven and three in the top ten of least employable majors.

    2. @Aaron “Sleazy” Elias

      Chat GPT is unfortunately politically over-correct to the point of gagging.

      Why are our German traitor parties trying to flood the country with as many foreigners as possible?

    3. @Aaron I have to wonder how many “day in the life” grrlcoders are still showing up in those unemployment statistics. Also, given we’re to the point where Ivy League universities admit people who literally cannot read or do algebra, as long as they check the right boxes, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn they’ve turned out thousands of comp sci/engineering graduates who have never written a single line of code.

    4. This is correct. However, the engineering job market has been cooling quite significantly. This is also reflected in salary statistics. These days, salaries are stagnant and sometimes even declining. Of course, it is not easy for an employer to lower your salary. However, new joiners may get paid less than their colleagues at the same level. A few years ago, a big issue was that new joiners made more than the existing staff, which only increased turnover. Back then people were happily quitting jobs without an offer in hand. It is incredible in hindsight how hot the job market used to be.

  13. Aaron, may I ask if you’ve ever had problems with phlegm and trying to Meditate while having it?

    I’ve had persistent phlegm for a huge part of my life. All I can do for the moment is medicate for it. we’re hoping to visit the doc again so he can hopefully prescribe me something that gets rid of it for good. (He’s actually told me he might prescribe me some sort of steroid for it…Looks I’ll actually get my chance to legally get on that stuff if this continues, and for a legitimate reason. Hopefully I can finally return to the gym should that time come. I have a shoulder problem at the moment) I feel it’s one of the barriers/challenges I have to deal with when tackling Meditation. That constant urge to need to clear the throat.

    I asked Aaron, but anyone else here with relevant knowledge/experience are also free to chime in.

    Reply

    1. I never had this problem, but it certainly sounds like an issue you should address. Also, your doctor is surely referring to corticosteroids, not anabolic steroids, so better not get your hopes up with regards to getting massive gains in the gym.

    2. Continuing on the subject of Meditation, the last time I was consistent with it (I managed to reach 30 mins), I started being able to see “Phosphenes” with my eyes open staring at my wall. Colors you normally only see under closed eyelids or during the Hypnagogic state when you’re close to falling asleep. Just to be clear, I was sitting with no chair back when this started happening, not lying down.

      Does this sound like progress to you? From what I’ve read in other places, if that happens to you, it means you have reached a relaxed state. I have no idea if this is what you’d call “Access Concentration” just yet, though.

    3. I have no idea. Also, you live in a much sunnier part of the world than I do, so I could only speculate. This could have an effect as well. In any case, I have never had such an experience.

    4. So I’ve come across an experience you personally haven’t had. Interesting. or maybe you just don’t remember. After all, this experience I’ve had thus far definitely pales in comparison to the Meditative States (Jhanas) you’ve experienced and you’ve been doing this for over 2 decades.

      Speaking of the states and revisiting that section of your book, I was definitely experiencing “Clarity” (Illuminatus called this stage “Access Concentration”) during the moments I was seeing the phosphenes. Absolutely no thoughts were running across my mind. I cannot tell how long I spent in this stage, but I think it was at least a few minutes if not longer.

      If/when I reengage the practice again, perhaps I should consider keeping a Meditation journal to record and detail my experiences, similar to a dream journal.

      I definitely want to experience the higher level Meditative states and not just clarity. Hopefully this unusual experience is a good sign for me that I’m capable of getting there.

      Hopefully my phlegm right now won’t keep me from that.

  15. I had an argument with someone a day or two ago regarding the topic of weight loss. He was one of those folks who says that it’s all a matter of “willpower/mindset” and that your surroundings, situation, society, etc. aren’t a valid explanation for being overweight, etc.

    I hunched immediately that this is one of those people for whom being lean comes very natural. Lo and behold, my suspicions are confirmed with just a 2 minute look into his commenting history. One of his comments admitting that he’s been low body fat all his life. I’m willing to hunch as well that he got into fitness not for fat loss, but for muscle building from Day 1. (which he’s done a decent job of admittedly based on his pfp. As far as I can tell he’s an MMA athlete. too bad, we could have gotten along…)

    I sarcastically told him “wow, all the obese people in the world need to do is change their mindset, and obesity will disappear from the face of the earth. r/thanksimcured” (which he couldn’t respond to) followed by “Further dialogue between the two of us won’t yield further productivity. May you realize the fortune you were blessed with”. I pretty much just ignored his unhelpful response after. (BTW, I did this BEFORE I took a brief look at his comment history, confirming that I had him pegged)

    Alek doesn’t seem to hang around here anymore, but I really thank you man. In the past, I would have allowed this dude to gaslight me into believing that it’s all my fault (I mean, obviously there is fault on my part, but it’s definitely not true that it’s all on me. Imagine we place the same standards on drug addicts to change by themselves and without help/changing their environment). But honestly, my success at losing 85 lbs by moving away from my father’s place, and then regaining a lot (but thankfully not all) of that weight back when I was forced to return, confirms this life experience.

    I pretty much made my dad insecure again by mentioning wanting to live elsewhere one day. To think that I once took his words so seriously, and now he just looks like a buffoon to me. I really hope I successfully get outta here one day.

    Reply

    1. According to one of the commenters the in game model has already looked like this. The Ciri from the teaser was apparently a CGI trailer developed by a third party company. Still, I’m not a thousand percent optimistic about any modern triple A releases.

    2. It is always convenient to blame a third-party This is not believable as there is quality control, i.e. they get a spec and there is some back-and-forth. It is not plausible that this supposed third-party just decides to make Siri ugly and CDPR releases the trailer as is. The new model seems to be an improvement but there some work left to be done.

  17. In any case, it appears that the new tech demo is misleading. People are expecting a game that will look and run as shown, but it’s highly likely that the so-called in game sections are little more than cinematic videos disguised as gameplay.

    Reply

  18. The little Mii avatars on the Switch 2 are supposedly now going to be genderless, giving you the option to choose a “style” instead of simply a boy or girl. Dear Nintendo, you’re already 5-10 years late (as usual) for the shit show.

    Reply

    1. The Switch 2 seems to be off to a very good start, but the same was true for the Wii U. In all seriousness, I think the console will sell well, albeit I cannot see them repeat the numbers the Switch made. The entire console space is quite uninteresting for me these days and I do not get the sense that there is any “hype” around the Switch 2 or the PS5, let alone the current Xbox, whatever it may be called. Gaming is pretty much a commodity at this point.

    2. I agree S2 will probably sell just fine, though not as well as its predecessor. It will probably be hard to get one at launch. I also do not anticipate that Nintendo will have anything super interesting first-party wise as well. All their third-party stuff will be playable elsewhere (like Steam more than likely). The same can pretty much be said of Sony and Microsoft.

    3. To my surprise, S2 is pretty well stock and is not selling out. Is this due to lack of demand or an abundance of supply in anticipation of scalpers etc.?

    4. I did not expect this. Well, the price tag is substantial and Nintendo does not have a good track record with following up on a hit product. Even the SNES was a comparative flop, compared to the NES. The Wii did extremely well, the Wii U was a total disaster. Similarly, the Nintendo 3DS fell far short of reaching the level of success of the Nintendo DS.

    5. Some reviews of the console are claiming that the device is more uncomfortable than S1 due to its increased size and inattention to ergonomic design.

      In other gaming news, I’d really like to just see a new Resident Evil trailer at this Summer Game event thing today.

    6. Don’t know what to think of RE9 so far: https://youtu.be/3CcNErRwmTU

      The female character has psychic abilities or something, and they were showing Raccoon City and the police department from RE2 after the nuke strike. No gameplay. But the announcer Jeff K. mentioned something about “cinematic action” which doesn’t sit right.

    7. In the worst case, this will be a Sony-style third-person game. Capcom has, once again, a very good track record, so I would be surprised if they put out a dud. Also, the female character we see in this trailer is very attractive, so this indicates that DEI influences have been quelled to some extent. Of course, there is still a brotha this woman reports to.

      I really wonder how big the black fan base of the Resident Evil franchise is. It must be minuscule. I just asked Grok to help me out (“impossible to answer”), and it quickly diverted into telling me about “black representation” in this franchise, and even this was a bit of a stretch. Look at this crap: “Some characters’ racial backgrounds (e.g., Ada Wong, who is Chinese American) may not fit neatly into a “Black” category, and minor characters may not have clearly defined racial identities.” Note that Grok capitalizes “black” but not “white” when talking about race, but please be assured that there is no inbuilt bias in the answers it provides.

    8. I thought the female FBI agent was really attractive, too. Not in a hypersexual type of way, if that makes sense. Almost like the top end of cute, or the type of girl you would ideally want to have cook and clean your home. I guess sort of the girl next door type.

      My assumption is that the gameplay will be really fragmented, and you will navigate different events through trying to solve some kind of mystery via the girl next door’s psychic abilities. Either through the eyes of the psychic or through other characters, as if you’re reliving a moment in time as it supposedly happened through that specific person. Hence why we see snippets of Raccoon City right after the events of RE 2&3s.

      The original RE2 had a black character named Marvin that makes a noticeable appearance in the remake. This isn’t anything new for the series at least. DC and the surrounding areas (I’m thinking FBI) also have tons of blacks in them. I’m actually in a town with close to 50% blacks right now. Also, with diversity hiring in government positions such as the FBI this scenario seems pretty plausible funnily enough.

    10. That’s great! There are a lot of ideas in gaming worse than having a sexy female avatar.

    12. Apparently the Nintendo Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console at launch in history. They had plenty of stock, yet still sold out in some places. A big issue I see is that the Switch 2 has only one differentiator over a Steam Deck, i.e. the ability to play Nintendo games, and a good argument can be made that this company has been playing it very safe recently.

    13. It has a bigger higher res screen too, and its upscaling technology easily accommodates it, not to mention docked mode. It doesn’t have anywhere near the library of games as a Deck though. Mark_MSX seems to think that the screen size was a mistake, however.

    14. I just thought about the sell factor a bit and realized that it’s probably pretty bad for the consumer. Nintendo played it safe with the console, essentially putting out a switch pro with exclusives. However, the 1984 factor has been dialed up to 11 with the new terms and agreements (bricked systems), the online cartridge swapping feature; and just the fact that they pushed for $80 games as well as $20-30 patch updates for games you already “own”, and people seemingly refusing to push back on that and going ahead and getting the console is concerning. There’s no reason not to expect a $100+ edition of GTA at all.

  19. Apparently Elon and Donnie are feuding. Elon is mad about EV mandates, and even recently made the bold claim on X that the reason the Epstein Files have not been released is due to the fact that Trump is in them. Just now, scrolling through Elon’s feed, he is on a warpath. Someone get this man some ketamine.

    Reply

    1. In physics there is the thought experiment of having an unstoppable force hitting an immovable object. Here, we can witness, basically in real-time, what happens when the richest man in the world decides to pick a fight with the most powerful man in the world. Trump clearly won the first round, by pulling EV subsidies. Musk, though, has started talking about forming a third political party. He has the money and the reach, and is very experienced with building large, successful organizations. I may be missing something, but a political party seems like a simpler operation than SpaceX.

    3. Looks like Musk folded and deleted the tweet. Personally, I think this makes the guy look extremely impulsive and it makes me wonder why.

    4. I find it plausible that Musk is just a front used by rich investors who want to remain in the background, comparable to how USAID and the CIA use front organizations for subverting foreign regimes or smuggling drugs. It is hard to believe that someone so erratic can not only set up one multi-billion dollar company after another but also manage them simultaneously. Meanwhile, he has time to father over a dozen children, mingle with Hollywood celebs, smoke weed with Joe Rogan seemingly every other week, hang out on X 24×7 and sink countless hours into video games. This does not add up.

    5. >Personally, I think this makes the guy look extremely impulsive and it makes me wonder why.

      I’m pretty sure his previous actions should have clearly demonstrated that already.

      It’s just a different world I guess when you’re that rich. The shit you can get away with that us mere mortals can only dream of. lol.

    7. “I find it plausible that Musk is just a front used by rich investors who want to remain in the background…”

      This all makes much more sense for sure. I mean, I barely have time to work 36 hours a week and get much music written and recorded afterwards . I pretty much have to cut video games out and limit resistance training due to recovery demands. There are videos of the guy looking high on presumably ketamine or some other drugs out in public as well. You’d think we’d all be successful entrepreneurs if it were seemingly so easy to manifest.

  20. @Sleazy

    I just wana ask you Sleazy if it is meaningful to compare the difficulty of two different disciplines. Between Math and History. I think Math is the hardest of all disciplines because it is the most rigorous, logical and the most abstract science out there. Much harder than Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and far more abstract than Philosophy.

    Do you think is true?

    Reply

    1. I know you didn’t ask me, but my personal observation is that some people and their brains are better wired for certain activities than others. So I think the question of “which discipline is harder?” is, while not totally subjective, it is to some degree. Much like beauty/attractiveness is partially (but not totally) subjective.

      I’d be curious if Aaron has a different take though.

    2. Well, you obviously need a far higher IQ to make it through a degree in Mathematics than History. This does not mean that there were no historians with genius-level IQs, of course. Some branches of Philosophy are very abstract, so it is no surprise that Philosophy students are among the most intelligent on campus, not much below Physics and Mathematics students. There are even studies on this topic. The dumbest people are in Education, by the way, which leads to the humorous outcome that professors in this field, before DEI wrecked everything, could be expected to be dumber than basically any incoming student of any other discipline at a reasonably selective university.

  21. What do u guys think about the rioting in Los Angeles by illegals and their supporters?

    Usually this type of thing wakes Americans up and only strengthens the pro-enforcement side.

    Reply

    1. I’ve overheard some of the latin folk on the East Coast being very sympathetic towards the rioters. They even believe that ICE, because of tiktok propaganda, is running through basically every American city right now deporting hardworking and legal residents that happen to be hispanic. Probably a bunch of Karens do to. I don’t know what the overall net effect will be on public perception, but where I’m living right now a ton of historical Civil War statues and such were taken down (https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035004639/virginia-ready-to-remove-massive-robert-e-lee-statue-following-a-year-of-lawsuit), or vandalized and torn down then replaced with slavery monuments. A lot of white people have spoken ill about this, though I’m sure there are plenty of Karens.

    3. The optics of the Mexican insurrection are not great. The mental gymnastics of the Left will not convincingly cover this, and there also has not been decade-long indoctrination either. Trump is not sitting around idly, so let us see how this unfolds. I could think of some ways a rightwing lunatic president could use these “peaceful protests” to really crack down on illegal immigration.

    4. To add insult to injury, I just read that after the 130 year old Robert E. Lee bronze statue was taken and down and donated to a black history museum, it was later melted down and repurposed into black people art. What exactly Idk, but don’t really care. This is what demographic shifts will always lead to, hostility towards white culture. I’m not even saying I blame the blacks for wanting it gone, but I do blame the whites for lying down and being conquered.

    5. @GoodLookingAndSleazy
      If you asked me those rioters are rookies compared to the Rodney King Riots in 1992. Them black folks know how to destroy their own communities. Perhaps, Trump should have summon the Roof Koreans instead of the National Guard. I’m not sure if you are aware, but the band Sublime wrote a song about the 1992 riots in LA.

    9. @Chris

      Yeah, the 92 riots had a profound impact on me. Some people say the “OJ verdict” shocked them and changed their lives Pfffffft. It was already right in front of you. Those Koreans were really badasses. Some of them fought in Vietnam on our side. I also remember that Sublime song. It’s the only one I didn’t like on that album lol.

      About the Mexican flags…. They displayed them in 2007 demonstrations and the protected “lilly white” types were aghast at the Mexican nationalism. I chuckled and thought to myself, “you guys don’t know too many Chicanos, do you “

    10. @GoodLookingAndSleazy

      The new generation has no idea that LA has gone through this and the type of activities before. And when the first amendment right of peacefully assembly has been overstepped it gives law enforcement and the federal government agencies ability to step in.

      The majority of America is witnessing Los Angeles once again make a mockery of itself with its politicians and its citizens not obeying law and order.

    11. @GoodLookingAndSleazy

      “Some people say the “OJ verdict” shocked them and changed their lives Pfffffft.”

      On a related note, the OJ Simpson case did have a cultural impact on society how men are viewed in dating and relationships. It led to false accusations in men, and it vilified them just for being men. It paved the road for women ruining a man’s life with one lie, the judicial system always believed women, and men were now considered guilty until proven innocent. Not much has changed except that things have gotten worse for men. And men are unfairly accused of misconduct especially with the legal system.

    1. I have a hard time believing that this game was not intended to be a crass, racially insensitive joke. Well, the Overton window seems to be shifting quite a bit.

  23. Aaron, you may enjoy this long format stream discussing the fallout of Musk and Trump and the author’s opinion on why the Epstein Files will never be released. Devon Stack rambles a bit but I never mind it because I’m usually doing something tedious like cleaning when I listen to streams. He is definitely more gifted and concise in video format (he’s been demonetized for years).

    Some main points of stream include:

    • How scripted and tailored information gets trickled down, as well as from who and to whom it is prioritized for reporting purposes.

    • How influencers are incentivized and where the funding comes from as well as how it is appropriated.

    • The real reason the Epstein Files won’t get released and how the conservative rhetoric of “if Trump were indicated in the files the dems would have released it” is misleading. Spoiler: The reason is lots of Jews on the list.

    • Goes through some objective evidence as to why Trump is most likely in the files including his 20 year relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, as well as Trump’s lifelong historical involvement with Jewish gangsters and criminals.

    https://odysee.com/@Blackpilled:b/magabrain:e

    Reply

    1. I would edit the last point to include Israeli secret service agents, of which Epstein is accused of being. However, definitely a gangster and criminal still yet by my estimation.

  24. Apparently most of the IRGC key leadership has been dealt with, either dead or mortally wounded. Does this mean the Israeli military is extremely efficient and effective? Could the US have done the same thing themselves (avoiding the fact that Israel is an extension of the US or vice versa). Of course, the logistics are better in regards to Israel having closer proximity to Iran than say the US to Afghanistan. Of course, we’ve still yet to see this completely play out. Maybe they can simultaneously conquer Iran and dilute the West with Islamic refugees at the same time.

    Reply

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