By most measures, such as number of humans killed in war or child mortality, human suffering in the modern era is less than it’s ever been. In the grand scheme of things, we have made the world a place with much more room for joy and love over the course of human civilisation.

Cool! What’s your take on the empirical method then, considering the relationship between reality and the subject?

Yes, it’s pretty important to me for mental hygiene and self-control.

But what do you mean it’s “a bigger deal than science”? Do you do science as well?

Thanks again. I’d like to restate my question: which China-critical sources do you consider credible? Any western ones? Is there any way I could present this argument to make you change your mind?

I’m having a hard time accepting that all western sources are propaganda. I’ve never had reason to doubt the sources I cited before, such as Amnesty International, in other cases they’ve been accurate. Are they only misleading on China?

The free media of my country, Denmark, reports the same facts based on their investigations, across the political spectrum and despite angering our government, which has close economic ties to China. How does that fit with these organizations and this media being government mouthpieces?

Thanks for the graph! Happy to see that. I’m very willing to investigate my perception of China. What China-critical sources do you consider credible? What arguments would convince you that China is a bad place?

My personal experiences are from the scientific community, where those who come from China are extremely critical of it, in a great part due to extreme surveillance, low individual freedom and low respect for human rights. But that’s just anecdotal.

My immediate (better sourced) concerns would be the Uyghurs, who don’t seem to enjoy being Chinese , the five million people working under modern slavery, the people of occupied Tibet, and generally anyone who doesn’t speak, dress or behave the way the state thinks they should.

I consider those credible sources, but I’d be happy to reconsider that if you have any good reasons to doubt them.

My argument is that while possibly lots of people in China think it’s a good place and are happy with the overall direction, lots of other people in China are being treated with a terrifying brutality that is impossible to justify if you believe in the values of universal human welfare and dignity.

I mean, China is bad. At least according to the Chinese.

mmmmm, no, very unwise

Ugh.

1. You can be a Swede and have a background or name from a different culture.

2. The gang he was leading was working in Sweden, i.e. a Swedish gang.

I somehow missed one of the middle episodes of the first season of House of Cards, and was very surprised at the boldness of having to piece together what had happened between episodes. Very demanding of the viewer.

I did realise my mistake immediately after though.

Why does AI use this beige background color?

I wonder why they have those rigid “sails”, do they function like regular sails?

Is RNG always bullshit?

Do you feel like that’s the case in Blue Prince?

To me, the RNG feels fundamental to the puzzling in Blue Prince, not something that could be removed to make a better game. And Blue Prince is undeniably an interesting game.

No, that sounds like a terrible game. How exactly is this relevant?

Well… A puzzle is a challenge. In Blue Prince, part of the challenge is that you need to engage with the clues you have available, not necessarily the clues you hoped for. Removing that challenge is to remove part of the puzzle.

You’re fully within your right to say that’s not your cup of tea, but I think it does contribute something meaningful to the puzzling.

While there is one main goal in front of you, all the shit they pile in front of you is more mystery, the solution of which will carry you closer to your goal.

It’s more like if Obra Dinn randomly had you play an Outer Wilds loop or Chants of Sennaar segment, with all the mysteries tying together.

Thanks for the long reply! To me, there is another element that RNG can add: the challenge of adapting. Think of x-com: you’re immediately told the odds that a shot will succeed, and have to decide whether to take that shot based on that chance and the consequences of it failing.

You know that on average things will work out fairly, but you have to be ready to push the successes without letting failure trip you up.

During most of the game, Blue Prince poses many different puzzles and riddles to you in parallel. If you focus on one thing you’ve had a eureka moment about, you’ll be frustrated with the lack of control, but if you approach the situation holistically, and pursue all puzzles at the same time based on what is available, it’s a very different experience. Your thought processes and realizations are shaped by the randomness of the day.

Furthermore there’s always an interesting strategy element of mitigating the chance by ensuring lots of redraws in different ways, upgrading rooms to serve several purposes, piling up resources between runs etc.

I do think it’s novel and interesting, though not necessarily the best idea in the world. To properly do the holistic approach I mention you need a massive infrastructure of photos and notes to keep track of all the clues you’re pursuing. I wish it had some kind of overview of found documents and clues, though I can see how that’s not so simple to implement for this game in particular.

Do you feel the same about other games that involve random chance, such as roguelikes and RPGs?

The Enigma of Amigara Fault

I guess there is some cultural nuance - my impression is that for some people, sexual exclusivity is understood as an impossible virtue which it is important to appear to uphold, but where breaking it is kind of like sneaking a cigarette after having quit.

Which doesn’t make them untrustworthy necessarily, they just have a different understanding of how big of a deal it is.

Interesting perspective. When you say any town, do you include places like Aarhus and Odense? If yes, what are the symptoms of the country dying there?

What small towns are you talking about specifically? There are definitely struggling places out there, in curious if we’re thinking of the same places.

Also what’s the issue with the prime minister drinking?

What was cool about Denmark 40 years ago?