Recent comments in /f/Futurology

SomeoneSomewhere1984 t1_jaefv24 wrote

Reply to comment by mhornberger in Either we're past the great filter, or ASI IS the great filter by Shoddy-Motor

>In the US, new houses are much larger than houses built in previous generations

If they sold those house to people of childbearing age, preferably earlier childbearing age, they would drastically increase the birth rate, but they don't. They only sell such house to people later in their careers who are out of, or at the very end of their child bearing years.

Of the people I know who have kids many of them are raising them in one-bedroom apartments the way our grandparents grew up. Talk about ways to ensure one and done.

>Plus we've allowed homeowners to restrict the building of density to protect their equity value.

This is highly effective way to suppress the birth rate. Don't create new living space, and people won't reproduce.

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Kopfballer t1_jaeeznp wrote

Reply to The European Hyperloop overtakes Elon Musk’s: 500 km of tunnels under Swiss soil by CelebrationDirect209

It is a great idea and all, but shouldn't we first use existing trains a lot more? There is so much untapped potential for much lower costs.

Hyperloops for passengers sound like a plan to replace domestic flights... which shouldn't exist in the first place. If you calculate in the time to get to the airport, security check, check-in, etc... it's faster to go by train in most cases, if train infrastructure became better, it would be even more in favor of rail.

So we don't have to replace domestic flights with hyperloops, just abolish them and use HSR?!

Actually I think the strength of Hyperloops could be freight transportation... iirc the Hamburg port wanted to build a prototype to ship containers from the port to outside the city very fast, which makes sense.

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smeezledeezle t1_jaeeobo wrote

Reply to Stop with the nonsense AI hate. You're all starting to sound like old farts. by Life_Is_Actually_VR

In what way are touch screens the same as advanced artificial intelligence systems? You talk about these things like they're the same.

For one, it took my mom way longer to figure out touch screens than Chat GPI. She still doesn't fully know how to use a computer, but can generate emails and copy for her business.

This is not just another technological advancement that the old geezers can't get behind because they just can't accept new things. This is a vastly unique advancement whose role in society depends greatly on how we view it, use it, control it.

It's also weird to me that you imagine that people complaining on the internet is in some way "cock blocking technological growth". We're not doing anything or even having a meaningful effect. The people working on these systems in their labs are going to do so irregardless of what you or I post in r/Futurology.

If what you really mean to complain about is the people threatening legal action due to theft of intellectual property, or one of the many other problems that has emerged from AI, then what I'm hearing is that you just want any and all dissent to be silenced, for everyone to admit they're wrong and dumb and that this is universally a good thing that they just don't understand. To that, I have to question if you really understand how either people or the technology work.

What would you say to the family of the person who was struck and killed by a self-driving car? To an underage girl having pornography generated of her and circulated on the internet? To someone who lost their job and can no longer support their family? That it doesn't matter? At that point, who is the technology actually meant to serve?

People complain about AI technology and the problems it creates because problems are worth thinking about and solving. Sometimes you need to be able to look at people's emotional reactions as symptomatic of real institutional and technological hurdles that are worth examining. If a person comes to you explaining that they're afraid and your emotional reaction is to make a post worded the way you worded yours, then I'd be scared not just of the technology but the people touting it too.

The effects of this are massive, and likely irreversible. It affects everyone, and for this technology there might not be a curve for testing, adaptation, integration, or analysis like there has been for other advancements. The future is not a singular, defined entity. Progress is not a religion to believe in blindly. We need to think and feel collaboratively.

People like you and me have one really important thing in common: we are largely powerless and uninformed. No matter how much we read about this, how enthusiastic or angry we get about AI, we are only working with maybe 1% of the real and crucial information that will determine the course of history, and we have even less power to direct it. I think that's worth some trepidation, even if our hesitations will be made obsolete. If you're so confident in your vision of the future, then I don't see what threat the dissenters have to it anyway.

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arjuna66671 t1_jaeblxh wrote

Reply to The European Hyperloop overtakes Elon Musk’s: 500 km of tunnels under Swiss soil by CelebrationDirect209

>before the end of this decade.

I am Swiss and I read that in the mid 90ties in some pop-science magazine already. As far as I know there are still no concrete plans for this. But mentioning Elmos hyperloop in the article as if it was a real thing already says it all. Don't forget guys, we'll be colonizing Mars "next year" lol.

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khamelean t1_jaeb8yf wrote

Reply to Popularization of Optimism by Electron_genius

The root cause is not the “algorithm”. People focusing on the negative news has been the norm for thousands of years. There is no easy fix, the best you can do is educate people that the news that is presented to them is a curated selection of the worst shit happening in the world, it is not representative of the average persons experience.

Narcissism, by its nature, is very loud and attention hungry.

Generosity, by its nature, is quiet and humble.

If you are only a passive participant in the media you consume, guess which you are going to see more of??

Take an active role in the media you consume and not only will you get better quality content, you will have a much better understanding of the world we live in.

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Kindred87 t1_jaeatmk wrote

Reply to Popularization of Optimism by Electron_genius

Information systems like social media and video platforms would need to deliberately deprioritize distressing content. The issue with this is that distressing content is more engaging due to neural weighting regarding potential threats (i.e. scary stuff), so the platforms that volunteer to do this will be outcompeted by those that don't.

Through that lens, regulation will be necessary to force an even playing field for all platforms competing in the space.

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