Posts

Comments

Comment by smigrodzki on Special Status Needs Special Support · 2009-05-05T15:41:47.225Z · LW · GW

When I think about the Bible, I feel the links to real life experiences activate, memories of being dragged to church by force, talking to people poisoned by it, thinking about the destruction it wrought and the danger it poses. If you squint really hard you can almost see a dark aura emanating from the pages. Lord of the Rings is by comparison just pleasant PG-13 fun, a bit too long-winded at times and perfectly innocuous.

Really, there is a difference between the Bible and LoTR.

Comment by smigrodzki on Special Status Needs Special Support · 2009-05-05T15:41:34.924Z · LW · GW

When I think about the Bible, I feel the links to real life experiences activate, memories of being dragged to church by force, talking to people poisoned by it, thinking about the destruction it wrought and the danger it poses. If you squint really hard you can almost see a dark aura emanating from the pages. Lord of the Rings is by comparison just pleasant PG-13 fun, a bit too long-winded at times and perfectly innocuous.

Really, there is a difference between the Bible and LoTR.

Comment by smigrodzki on The Tragedy of the Anticommons · 2009-03-18T04:03:15.138Z · LW · GW

The drug patent story is completely unbelievable, it's the type of yarn that an incompetent bureaucrat would spin to explain not making money for his company. Everybody in the biotech business would bend over backwards to increase the use of their IP - if you don't use it, the only people making money off it are IP lawyers. Everybody knows there are ways of circumventing any IP position, it's just a matter of time and money - bluffing in this game could mean you will be cut out of deals. There are strategic relationships, swaps, judicious use of trade secrets, and because money is to be made it is not too difficult to get multiple partners to work together, or at least not as difficult as when egos or tribal feelings are involved.