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arendjr

@ arendjr @programming.dev

Posts

43
Comments

288
Joined

2 yr. ago

Author, philosopher, programmer, entrepreneur, father and husband.
Philosophy of Balance | Substack | Fiction | Homepage

5mo ago

Anyone in tech confirm?
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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

That’s entirely a choice. I am connected to a local vegetable farm run by two farmers who grow their produce organically. They run a little circular business as they’re also connected to an educational/kid-friendly animal farm, they sponsor a public fruit path through their own work, and then they partner with local shops as well.
Me and my son go there almost every week to pick fresh veggies, and we just pay directly to the farmers. But yeah, the payment is digital…

5mo ago

We can be friends until the revolution

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

I’m not much of a conservative, so no need to try to bait me 😂

But if that was not your intention, carry on!

5mo ago

We can be friends until the revolution

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

See my other reply in the thread.

5mo ago

We can be friends until the revolution

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

I think I agree with you, I was merely trying to point out that not all conservatives are fascists. Thinking that way leads to a superiority complex in leftists that may ultimately turn themselves into fascists too.

5mo ago

We can be friends until the revolution

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Have you considered that if leftists are correct, conservatives are too, and that it’s merely a matter of perspective? It seems as though your consideration of libs being bothered may be a case of projection as it bothers you that other perspectives may be worthy of consideration as well.

5mo ago

Discord gets improvements for video on Linux PCs and Steam Deck

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

It may be a kind of Linux PC, but it’s not just a Linux PC. (Also not a fan of the American language…)

5mo ago

Thoughts?

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Sorry if I’m jumping on a tangent here, I may have been triggered 😅

I don’t really agree with the premise that it hasn’t happened yet. Not only are there few people with truly destructive tendencies, but I see most kids (regardless of gender) being raised quite nicely. Sure they may still do stupid stuff sometimes (who doesn’t?) but that doesn’t take away from them being nice overall.

In my mind, the biggest beef with humanity is apathy/nihilism. Some people truly believe their actions have no consequences or if they do they don’t care about them. To me, this is a failure in education and one I attribute to a lack of spiritual awareness. Indeed thinking and emoting are part of that as acts of our inner spirit.

This is the reason I started my Philosophy of Balance blog, hoping to inspire people to become more aware of themselves and their actions again.

5mo ago

Thoughts?

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Can’t we just teach them to be nice boys? Sometimes easier said than done, I know.

5mo ago

Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Ah yes, because we should condemn people over a statistic, even when the things they do may actually warrant some praise.

5mo ago

Linux traffic has grown 22.4% in PH this year

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

I don’t know if you already use Linux or not, but if you do you have a valid excuse for why you can’t help them with their impulse buy from HP. So if they want your help, they can take your suggestions for where to get a Linux computer, such as System76, Framework, and I think even some Dell models come with it preinstalled. There’s probably some I forgot, but the point is, those selling Linux machines are in a growth market that only seems to be accelerating. It should be only a matter of time before more players want a piece of that.

5mo ago

Every single time...

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Get a room 😂

5mo ago

Jolla Trying Again To Develop A New Sailfish OS Linux Smartphone

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Yeah, familiar with that experience 😅 Could be I end up disliking Sailfish for that exact reason, but if there’s a handful of good native apps that might mitigate quite a lot. Could also be I end up using it as a second phone, one with fewer distractions on it…

5mo ago

Jolla Trying Again To Develop A New Sailfish OS Linux Smartphone

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Presumably, it’s just that I can’t stand the Android UX personally, which is the main reason I’m on iOS. But if a good, open alternative comes along I’m willing to try…

5mo ago

Jolla Trying Again To Develop A New Sailfish OS Linux Smartphone

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

True, but aren’t there decent Android emulation layers for Linux available nowadays? Not sure how well-integrated into SailfishOS that is, but giving it a shot…

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

I can respect that. Appreciate your thoughtful responses!

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

That’s fair too. I mean, feelings are real, but they are part of a subjective reality that’s not measurable from an objective perspective. But that alone is sufficient to say that science cannot answer all questions, because scientific measurements are inherently limited to objective reality.

Of course there are those that say there must be a single objective reality from which all subjective experiences can be explained, but that’s a huge assumption.

Personally, I think it’s also a dimensional thing. Reality extends beyond the dimensions of time and space, this much has already been scientifically proven. Unless you somehow believe there is a finite limit on the number of dimensions, there will always be dimensions beyond our grasp that we cannot measure or understand (yet).

And bringing it back to the discussion of LLMs, they are inherently limited to a 4-dimensional reality. If those dimensions are sufficient to create consciousness, my position would be that it’s a very limited form of consciousness.

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

Yeah, I think I see where you’re coming from. It’s a fair point, and we need to be very careful not to loose sight of reality indeed.

The idea of the Universal God is very tolerant towards “fantasy” so far as it exists in the minds of people, yet it also prescribes to align such belief with a scientific understanding. So the thing I’m trying to say is: believe what you want to believe, and so long as it’s a rational and tolerant belief, it’s fine. But it does explicitly recognise there are limits to what science can do for us, so it provides the idea of Universal God as kind of a North Star for those in search, but then it doesn’t really prescribe what this Universal God must look like. I don’t see it as a religious god, but more a path towards a belief in something beyond ourselves.

In the book I also take effort to describe how this relates to Buddhism, Taoism, and Abrahamic religions, and attempt to show how they are all efforts to describe similar concepts, and whether we call this Nature, Tao, or God, doesn’t really matter in the end. So long as we don’t fall into nihilism and believe in something, I believe we can find common ground as a people.

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

This definition of consciousness essentially says that humans have souls and machines don't.

It does, yes. Fwiw, I don’t think it’s necessarily exclusive to humans though, animals and nature may play a role too.

It's unsatisfying because it just kicks the definition question down the road.

Sure, but I have an entire philosophy set up to answer the other questions further down the road too 😂 That may still sound unsatisfying, but feel free to follow along: https://philosophyofbalance.com/

It claims that none of our normal analysis and measurement tools apply to it.

I believe that to be true, yes.

That may be true, but if it is, how can anyone defend the claim that an AI does or does not have it?

In my view, machines and AI can never create consciousness, although it’s not ruled out they can become vessels for it. But the consciousness comes from outside the perspective of the machines.

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

https://philosophyofbalance.com/blog/free-will-you-better-believe-it/

5mo ago

Expecting a LLM to become conscious, is like expecting a painting to become alive

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arendjr @programming.dev 5mo ago

I think the reason we can’t define consciousness beyond intuitive or vague descriptions is because it exists outside the realm of physics and science altogether. This in itself makes some people very uncomfortable, because they don’t like thinking about or believing in things they cannot measure or control, but that doesn’t make it any less real.

But yeah, given that an LLM is very much measurable and exists within the physical realm, it’s relatively easy to argue that such technology cannot achieve conscious capability.