ismail · HackerTrans

Death of the nation state?

I have not done much multi-agent development. Trying to understand what problem this solves, surely one can spin up multiple terminal tabs?

ismail

4 ay öncediscuss

Same here. While this looks like it would be beneficial , soon as I saw that all data gets sent to the cloud, It was a blocker.

I have another app that tracks all my usage (time ) at an application. Window level, but I purchased it because it saves locally.

ismail

4 ay öncediscuss

My first as well, getting drivers working on *nix I. The mid 90’s.. was always a fun challenge.

Also had the issue with modem, paging through the manual figured out the initialisation string

AT&FX1

ismail

4 ay öncediscuss

Also no inversion on who started the war.

ismail

4 ay öncediscuss

Agree with most of what he says. Fundamentally, we are relational and moral beings.

In Africa there is the concept of Ubuntu "I am because we are". Identity and personhood arises within community, rather than being constructed indivudually.

I think we need to differentiate between self-help in the modern sense, and viewing the self as a continuous process of engaging in meaningful activities, within community, with purpose that helps cultivate virtue. i.e "Becoming"

When self-help is treated as only individual optimisation, without any ultimate end it risk becoming self-referential.

Philosopher Charles Taylor describes a similar shift with modernity that he calls "Disengaged reason" [0]. Where reason is disconnected from moral frameworks, that once helped orient us.

The deeper issue may be Self-help/Improvement that is often not contained within these larger frameworks of meaning, that answer:

To what ultimate end?

[0] https://www.academia.edu/26548899/Disciplinarity_and_Islamic...

previously discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46743214

also here:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ismaildhorat_a-new-world-does...

ismail

4 ay öncediscuss

Thanks for sharing. I was trying to build something similar , mostly for myself to get an overview of papers. think I was being too specific which gave inconsistent results. Will check for the detailed prompt but it was basically: extract key concepts, arguments and theories and then build visualisations and simulations. Sometimes it seems being too directive can be detrimental

ismail

5 ay öncediscuss

Does anyone have their original pebble, that is working? Mine is long gone.

ismail

6 ay öncediscuss

Here is my insight: VALUATION is not the same as VALUE CREATION.

Put another way, the ability to accumulate resources, is not a reliable indicator of the "good" being created in the world.

When the quantitative metric of "Money" is used a a proxy for value creation, it creates serious and dangerous side effects.

This is a fundamental failure mode of modern capitalism.

Capitalism requires ethical discipline. Without it, we get runaway resource accumulation, that rationalises actions and strategies (externalisation, extraction, optimisation-at-all-costs) which cause more harm than good.

The techno-optimists (See e/acc/Marc Andreessen)[0], frame progress as intrinsically good.

I believe a more prudent approach is needed, one that is wise and looks at business from the perspective of:

STEWARDSHIP & BALANCE,

rather than

RESOURCE ACCUMULATION & PROGRESS.

While I do not disagree with all he says, and do not think technological progress is bad, you will notice there is no mention of ethics in the entire manifesto other than as an "enemy".

Philosopher Charles Taylor argues that a defining feature of modernity is the rise of what he calls “disengaged reason” [1]:

  > Contrary to a Platonic understanding of reason where a meaningful order exists in the cosmos and in the soul that serves as a source for the highest good for reason to discover and conform to, disengaged reason "is no longer defined in terms of a vision of order in the cosmos" (Taylor 1989, 20). This disengagement allows reason to look at the world from an 'autonomous' viewpoint, leading to the abandonment of all 'horizons' > or frameworks "within which we know where we stand, and what meanings things have for us" (Taylor 1989, 29), thus rendering any inquiry to be independent of an overarching telos.

This idea is captured bluntly in this video (paraphrasing)[2]:

  > The great innovation with modernity was to convince people that money is *GOD*. With the enlightenment *MONEY* replaced *GOD* for a lot of people

In a sense, a lot of people in the modern world treat money itself as "The Sacred"

This is not to say I am arguing that money, profit and competition are morally wrong, but rather the way it is packaged. It is often elevated to the ultimate end (telos), rather than the means.

The fundamental category error is making the assumption that:

VALUATION (or Money in the bank) = Value Creation (For The Greater Good)

As you have rightly pointed out, the "It started here, now it's worth $xB" is an indication of this worldview, where the telos itself is "MONEY"

[0] https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/

[1] https://www.academia.edu/26548899/Disciplinarity_and_Islamic...

[2] https://youtu.be/B5FtHagng8c?t=249

ismail

9 ay öncediscuss

Nah , most people are by default looking for something more meaningful than increasing profits. It’s modernity that’s created a society of profit at all cost, which has to be unlearned.

ismail

10 ay öncediscuss

learning typically follows a specific path.

1. Unconsciously incompetent

2. Consciously incompetent

3. Consciously competent

4. Unconsciously competent

The challenge with AI, it will give you “good enough” output, without feedback loops you never move to 2,3,4 and assume you are doing ok. Hence it stunts learning. So juniors or inexperienced stay inexperienced, without knowing what they don’t know.

You have to Use it as an expert thinking partner. Tell it to ask you questions & not give you the answer.

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