Self Observer

@elonmusk Elon Musk deserves the Nobel Prize for preserving freedom of speech.

What is going on? My followers are going up, but they are mostly bots that have been following me for the last couple of days. How many @adrianDittmann are following me, and the real one is nowhere to be found?

I don’t know what made you think I was triggered. I was genuinely enjoying the conversation and even gave credit to your high-level observations and the whole thread (after all, I liked the entire 11-tweet thread.) That doesn’t really come across as triggered. That said, saying “sorry to trigger you” isn’t the best way to continue a constructive dialogue. It assumes my disagreement comes from emotional reaction rather than a real difference in how we assess risks and priorities. It lightly pathologizes the other person’s view instead of engaging with the actual points (like optimism vs. concrete mitigation projects). But anyway… On AI and robotics, I’ve thought about this for a long time. I believe one of the biggest long-term threats isn’t the technology itself, but the potential loss of meaning once most jobs disappear and people can have almost anything they want. You’ve probably heard the idea that Earth could become like a playground for gods who already have everything and are trying to escape boredom. We might end up in a similar situation, where simulations or other forms of recreation become necessary to give life purpose. I’m not trying to convince you though, you have your view, I have mine. I don’t have the time or energy right now to debate every point in detail or dig up sources for everything. I’ll just give a general overview of where I see our thinking diverging. You claimed to view the capitalism-to-communism spectrum as something we should stay closer to the capitalism side, yet the thread consistently frames capitalism (especially its “broken” or unregulated form) as the central problem. Wealth inequality is presented as a key driver of low Western birth rates, authoritarians are said to emerge from capitalism’s remnants, and fear of communism is described as a distraction from real issues. This approach tends to downplay or reframe cultural and ideological threats, such as woke ideology, communism itself, or large-scale immigration from intolerant societies, which I see as more central drivers (except maybe nuclear weapons). You say you’re not pessimistic, but the overall tone of the thread leans heavily negative, with repeated statements that there are “no mitigating actions” or that treaties/agreements are meaningless. It focuses on worst-case scenarios while giving less weight to existing efforts and partial progress. I feel like whatever I find or say probably wouldn’t carry much weight in your worldview anyway, though I could be mistaken. As I said, I don’t have the time right now to debate every point in detail. On birth rates specifically, I agree urbanization plays a role globally. In the West, though, I see it as multifactorial: cultural shifts toward individualism, changing gender roles and life priorities, high costs of housing and raising children, etc. It’s also a well-established pattern that wealthier and more developed societies tend to have lower fertility rates. I don’t claim to have the full solution, but I’m quite sure unlimited immigration from highly intolerant societies isn’t it. Your worldview is coherent and shows high-level thinking, but it comes across to me as filtered through a pessimistic and anti-capitalist lens. I believe capitalism (combined with new technologies used responsibly) is more likely to lead us toward abundance. We’ve both done our thought experiments. It’s fine to disagree on these big questions in a civilized way -that’s kind of the point of free speech and open discussion. No hard feelings.

@Selfobserver It's important to say I don't share my views bc I think I'm 'right'... I share them to challenge and be challenged and, ideally, for others to prove me 'wrong' bc that's a form of personal progress that I enjoy.

You're doing mostly reasonable high-level observations with supporting evidence on many fields. I would not debate everything. I already told you my position in many of these. I will just say that you are a lot pessimistic regarding mitigation of the dangers, which are mostly overhyped. From everything the most imminent threat is nuclear weapons. AI is yet to prove if it is such a big danger or a big opportunity. I bet that it will lead, coupled with robotics, to abundance. Communist or other authoritarian ideologies pose a big danger especially if they get coupled with AI surveillance technology. But yes I prefer to be overly optimistic, trying to be proactive on perceived threats and being called naive than live the more "miserable" existence of a pessimist. Life is fatal anyway to everyone.

What about the reverse effect for cognitive ability? Maybe nothing is free; there are trade-offs (e.g., higher medical risks at advanced maternal age but potential cognitive upsides). This is from the following paper: The reversing association between advanced maternal age and child cognitive ability: evidence from three UK birth cohorts ( Goisis et al., 2017).

@LisaBritton Odds of optimal pregnancy, delivery, and newborn outcomes by maternal age. 40 isn’t ideal.

I’m so happy for Anne and others. But I’m very concerned with the framing of how more women are having babies in their 40s. I’m worried it’s going to influence more women to put off family forever as if it’ll be easy when there are very real consequences. If they’re going to promote this, we should also inform women of the health risks to her and baby and let women know the biological clock is real and some doors close. That’s why I wrote this piece for Evie: eviemagazine.com/post/40-is-not…

@GeneralMCNews "Progressives" are the stagnant of all.

BREAKING: New York is pausing the construction of new data centers for up to a year, making it the first U.S. state to impose a statewide moratorium of its kind.

@PicturesFoIder They are repairing the pool because of vandalism, not renovation issues.

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being drained again The pool is undergoing another round of repairs after recent renovation issues, including algae blooms and peeling surface material, with crews also removing debris left from the July 4 celebrations

When I tried meditation, I had my best chess results: 1st place in a very important tournament for me. I thought it was really helpful, but unfortunately I stopped doing it. It seemed to me like too much hard work to keep up with it, so I stopped. I'm not proud of that is stopped. But I'm not a super GM, GM, or even an IM, so what do I know about such things?

Did any of you try meditation? Did you notice any positive effect?

I will add/clarify: Low birth rates are a danger because uncontrolled immigration from intolerant societies would take over the Western world and destroy the values that make a society civil. Even if the anthropogenic contribution is as large as climate alarmists claim, the problem will solve itself with advancements in technology, such as solar panels, batteries, and electric cars, given enough time. The corrective path should not be worse than the problem itself. Authoritarians love such half-truths to impose their iron fist upon societies.

Climate: I don't really perceive any imminent threat. The anthropogenic contribution is exaggerated, driven in part by funding and policy incentives. Nuclear weapons are a serious threat. There are serious initiatives like the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which is supported by nearly 100 states as parties. AI dangers are exaggerated anyway, in my opinion, but there are many regulatory initiatives to mitigate the risks. Even though I am more concerned about those than the AI danger itself, as authoritarianism always finds a way to creep in. There are far worse dangers, like uncontrolled immigration, woke ideology, and communism. Those are the fronts we should concentrate on, or else we are doomed to fail.

"The man of DUTY will in the end have to do his duty also to the DEVIL." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (EXECUTED by the Nazis in 1945)

@pippopotamus When optimism is not coupled with action against perceived threats, it's naivety. When optimism is coupled with action against perceived threats, then life and results would be better.

@Selfobserver When does optimism become naivety?

Whatever communists promised, capitalism can deliver. Communism, on the other hand, is a self-defeating theory that produces inverse consequences on a massive scale.

@WaddyBean67 @BasilTheGreat The guy who is always crying whenever I see him? I am not a football fan, so I rarely notice him. 😅

@Selfobserver @BasilTheGreat Is that a fear of Ronaldo? 😄

Islam has no place in society.

@jk_rowling Transgender ideology is not threatening feminism. People threaten feminism.

Islam doesn't kill people. People kill people.

Highly intelligent people often overthink because they naturally see more possibilities, risks, and outcomes than most people.

@ML_Philosophy The problem is that there's danger in any path, and a really smart person might get paralyzed. The solution is, as Magnus Carlsen put it, "The optimal state is somewhere between optimistic and delusionally optimistic."

@LibertyCappy Property taxation is like renting your property.

What is?

This might be a valid claim, but I think this is what would lead us to abundance. We see the same path, but we see that it leads us to different destinations. Time will tell and test our hypotheses. But I am optimistic. History shows tech waves (like personal computing) often decentralize after initial consolidation.

@Selfobserver The perfect exemplar of ultimate corruption is the innovation in computing that is on the verge of handing power to the self interest of the few who will control AI and manufacture of robots... once enthroned choice & competition will be gone.

Literally true

@pippopotamus Resources aren't truly scarce; it's the means to access and utilize them that lag. Capitalism channels self-interest into innovation; see how rapidly private enterprise advances computing power. Corruption of any ideology is always a problem, though.

@Selfobserver No ideology is practically pure &all are corrupted, this is a commonality an it wd be a good starting point as we enter this stage of environmental breakdown with resources stretched to extremes: we must reexamine the weaknesses allowing for the corruption capitalism.