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Comment by iterativecode on [deleted post] 2021-02-19T03:45:13.785Z

China is nowhere near the power of America. A huge majority of their population are still peasants. Its power comes from the abuse and misery of the humans within it. 

China does not have the best poetry in the world, that is just your opinion.

China doesn't entangle religion with politics because all the people of culture were killed or fled to Taiwan. Communism banned it.

Based on the founding and core principles of capitalism, China fails, it succeeds at theft. Almost all their technology is stolen from the rest of the world.

You can get people to look at Chinese history all you want but no one will take you seriously if you sidestep the atrocities, that are even still happening. 

Comment by iterativecode on How do you assess the quality / reliability of a scientific study? · 2019-10-31T14:29:18.768Z · LW · GW

This is a great answer and should be taught to everyone.

Comment by iterativecode on The Technique Taboo · 2019-10-31T14:23:27.641Z · LW · GW

Most of the the examples you have listed are observations made by you and your conclusions are too far reaching, in my opinion. There are many reasons for an art group to decide improving general skills is off topic. Do art schools actively discourage skill improvement? What is discouraging exactly? What defines a skill and getting 'better ' in terms of art? What I think you have observed is a small human behaviour which results in a group wide phenomenon. An emergent behaviour from fundamental systems within the human mind.

The science behind the topic is limited, most of what we can do is observation and speculation. I think the best approach is identifying key behaviours through reduction. One key behaviour I observe is how we learn, it is our greatest strength, it is the ability to learn complex topics and actions. The majority of times we learn a new process and its intricate steps, we continue to reproduce those steps exactly without question. Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwwclyVYTkk

The video above demonstrates, regardless of the reason, that we usually copy almost every action when learning from others. For most steps within a majority of our processes we do them without question. Another great example of something we learn but don't often question is the SIN and COS functions within math. This can connect to what you observed, a teacher learned art a specific way and continues to propagate it that way. You come along and question it, but it is already the norm, you are met with resistance. This is the culture of a topic.

I believe that these problems will always exist as they are based on the nature of how are brains function. A solution would be to teach self awareness on this problem so individuals can catch it. I first thought of suggesting, that we should just teach openness to foreign ideas but that can lead to the same problem, where change and openness are an obsession that we don't question or oppose questioning.

Humans like patterns and sticking to them. We like consistency and predictability.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-31T12:56:43.755Z · LW · GW

I do not wish to further this discussion since it is off topic and you seem to not understand my point. That said I will give you a small response.


Obviously culture can repress and encourage certain opinions and facts. Just because there is law for free speech doesn't mean you can say anything you want without repercussions.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-31T12:24:41.231Z · LW · GW

Sorry, It should be what they censor. A good example is the game Fallout 3, the American company that created it decided to censor a quest relating to the use of nuclear weapons just for the Japanese version. Funny enough, Japanese gamers complained that the quest was removed and they moded it back in. More examples of censored content in western games: the swastika in Battlefield 5 and Hitler's moustache in Wolfenstein. Some things are allowed in 1 country and others aren't , clearly we are more sensitive about that part of history.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-30T18:00:28.722Z · LW · GW

I was talking for the average person, of course those groups exist but it doesn't mean everyone is comfortable stating the obvious in public. Western culture is sensitive about world war 2. Look at Japan you can go over there and mention the bombs and their war crimes and most won't care. We see this in comparing how the west vs east censor media such as games and movies. The ideas are public but most people are not willing to state them and risk their social lives.

Comment by iterativecode on How to Improve Your Sleep · 2019-10-29T12:40:48.337Z · LW · GW

Good answer, I think the whole topic needs to be explored more. World wide production would increase if we could understand sleeping better.

Comment by iterativecode on Why are people so bad at dating? · 2019-10-29T12:36:52.464Z · LW · GW

A simple answer here but the whole concept is rather new to the human species.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-29T12:27:11.134Z · LW · GW

You seem to be following my every comment. I hope you hold no bias against me, as that would not lead to a productive discussion. I don't understand the point of your comment, what exactly are you trying to express? Is it perhaps my articulation and word choice? Language and words are a bit more complicated than a definition, sometimes you understand through context. This comment isn't a science, by public I meant out in the open not anonymously on a small online forum.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-29T12:15:57.438Z · LW · GW

Let us review ideas and make comments without bias. Expressing that some ideas are so bad they cannot be stated is dangerous because we are ignoring them in favour of a bias.

Comment by iterativecode on We tend to forget complicated things · 2019-10-29T12:02:02.330Z · LW · GW

I should have better articulated my claim, complicated doesn't imply difficult. Sometimes there is a unique challenge to a concept, even if you have all the right tools. To answer your question, time, interest, dedication, learning material.

Comment by iterativecode on We tend to forget complicated things · 2019-10-24T12:38:01.667Z · LW · GW

In my experience learning something complicated isn't hard and I don't forget it easily if I am interested in the topic and have a use for it. I venture to guess most students don't particularly enjoy or have a use for all the complicated mathematics they learn. Thus, they forget it quickly because it never stimulated the mind.


Interest allows us to commit more memory and having a use helps us understand the topic as a tool that can be built upon and potentially used in other areas.

Comment by iterativecode on What economic gains are there in life extension treatments? · 2019-10-24T12:30:49.007Z · LW · GW

This is a great question because it leads to so many other interesting ideas. I think if such a discovery was made then a good majority of our societal constructs would have to be restructured. You expressed is quite well with your point on economic losses. I do believe it would level out and we would find more gains than losses; but it would require a substantial change in how we operate.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-24T12:19:52.154Z · LW · GW

To the victor goes the spoils, and that includes the text books. I think most would agree with this, although they wouldn't dare express it in public. That in itself brings up a large quantity of questions.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-24T12:14:57.092Z · LW · GW

I should have expressed that western philosophy may be a reason we view the idea as 'bad' on first glance. Further investigation of the comment reveals it is logically flawed but that initial negative feeling is a bias we cannot ignore. Is our own philosophy of enlightenment altering our perception? That is a question that comes to mind from the whole ordeal.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-23T18:59:01.360Z · LW · GW

I neither accept or deny the ideas presented but I do believe you are tapping into something greater. It seems most dislike your theory because it doesn't follow modern western philosophy.

Comment by iterativecode on Deleted · 2019-10-23T16:34:03.103Z · LW · GW

That is a dangerous opinion to hold. I believe there is value in all ideas, even if they are horrible to our own subjective views. Stuart has proposed something that may be ridiculous but ignoring it doesn't provide any insight to why it was proposed. You could easily springboard off of it and propose ideas such as:

It could be possible, very intelligent people whom disagree with the norm trap themselves in dark areas while searching for answers.