unlike trepanation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning#Voluntary_trepanation

more in the comments

I already disliked the original [Harry Potter] for its lack of rationality as a child (how can they have magic and poverty at the same time?) so I loved the flip.

OK so does HPMOR solve poverty? (Q is rhetorical don't answer)

If you didn't like HP check out Grossman's The Magicians. A lot of graduating magicians there join non-profits or hedge funds.

but but but don't call it strawmanning!!!!

My real opponent lives in Canada. And no, you can't meet him.

just a peeve

here's a personal blogpost on LW entitled "Three types of AI risk: why (some) leftists are against (some) AI regulations" (by "sudo-nym" which I admit is a great nick)

First sentence

You may have seen factions of the left being opposed to current attempts to regulate the AI industry, despite the fact that they clearly also want to stop AI.

OK Mr Sudo-Nym, if that is your real name, imma gonna stop you right there

Which "factions"?

Are these factions actually in existence, or are they just Xhitter/Bluesky handles? If you're provide like, I dunno, sources, we could maybe evaluate this ourselves. It would also clarify whether these are US leftists as opposed to leftists in other countries which are in my experience a bit more attuned to both political realities and have a more theoretical foundation.

As it is it feels as if you're fighting windmills in your imagination.

Commenters point out that the "frontier labs" are actually raging capitalists so there's that.

Not only are they grade-school level awful, he totally misses the point of the original

https://gwern.net/doc/ai/nn/diffusion/imagen/2026-02-13-gwern-chatgpt-gemini3propreview-kimik2thinking-meme-tomgauldourblessedhomelandtheirbarbarouswastes-toolsforthoughtzettlekastenvsprocrastination.jpg

let's continue with the HP theme

One of the most underexplored aspects of Harry Potter's worldbuilding is the color of Lucius Malfoy's hair.

I think the advent of photography decimated a particular genre of painting - portraits, but it was still a tail-off. The middle classes could get photo portraits done but they were only B&W and small (a Daguerreotype is basically twice as big as a standard photo print) and still quite expensive. So if you wanted a big color portrait of a loved one, you still had to commission a painting. Same for landscapes.

LW is freaking out over the Russian plague leak/quarantine, but no-one else seems to be fazed. Sweden's health authority are chill https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/uppgifter-laboratorieanstalld-dod-efter-pestsmitta and to be honest, Russia has a functioning health system unlike the US badum-tish

I'm starting to believe that Sam Altman's reputation as a genius salesman is a bit overrated

Accept ‘bad things’ in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman

More disucssion about AI safety over at LGM

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/10/ai-safety

comments are a mix, some smart generalists incorrecting each other. I have not bothered to comment because I'm not an active part of the community, but I'll share here that Rofer's recommendations about safety we can apply now would presumably help us contain Robot Satan should it deign to be created. Lots of commenters don't really draw that conclusion. This is pointing out the yawning void between the intense interest among Rats to devise the perfect alignment and their disinterest at mitigating harms ocurring right now.

I think deep down these people think PR is unethical , because the world is always better if everyone tells the Truth, so having to massage the message is Bad. Same think for voter preferences - having to appeal to the average voter instead of only listening to the people who have read and internalized the Sequences feels deeply wrong and I really don't think these people have enough imagination or empathy to change that.

reminder that "censorship" is 90% advertisers and donors not wanting to get bad PR