@joXn yes. i think that’s a great way to think about it. industrial policy to maintain and develop critical capabilities is a great idea, but the world is quite different than Alexander Hamilton’s.

@elbowspeak @paul (proof-of-work crypto is kind of a too-on-the-nose illustration of the elaborate-order-to-accelerate-entropy thesis. ht Tim Swanson for inspiring the connection.)

@gunchleoc for a moderately exorbitant fee, i am glad to attach a certificate of authenticity to a shipment.

I just made some shit up. Its authenticity has been confirmed.

if demons can be emergent from social affairs, perhaps angels can too.

@joXn ( i've written a bit on this https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/08/13/china-as-a-model/index.html )

This was weird, though now I get it.

scala> 1 << 32
val res3: Int = 1

scala> (1 << 24) << 8
val res4: Int = 0

“That people move from representing the presidency to representing banks is so normal that we forget the costs: the private job done with the savvy to outfox one’s former public-sector colleagues, the public job done gently to keep open doors.” #AnandGiridharadas https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/opinion/meaning-epstein-emails.html

“There is no equivalent concept for ‘you are foreclosing the entire future option space of human civilization by accelerating past the point where exploration is possible.’ The externality has no name because the framework for naming it doesn’t exist in economics or policy.” @elbowspeak

// i can’t help but think about the automobile and the built environment that supports and depends upon it. https://mastodon.social/@elbowspeak/116071945170678690

suppose there were an elixir you could drink and become a giant, but if you did it would be inevitable you would, wittingly or not, step on some people like ants. would it be ethical to drink it?

“buildings are a bit like intellectual property, which also lasts longer than the economic horizon of the businesses that produce it. The economic argument for rent regulation is a bit like the argument for limiting patents and copyrights to a finite period.” @jwmason https://www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/after-the-rent-freeze/

// this is a very brilliant piece

come spring the ice will melt.

i woke up today and found i was unable to verify my identity.

“Conservatives complain endlessly that ‘unelected bureaucrats’ have escaped the control of their democratically-elected masters and are implementing an agenda at odds with the wishes of the American people. Would this were so as far as NASA is concerned.” #FrancisFukuyama https://open.substack.com/pub/persuasion1/p/why-it-took-so-long-to-return-to

@admitsWrongIfProven@qoto.org i prefer taxation to eating bodies and drinking blood.

@admitsWrongIfProven@qoto.org i mean they might not, but we do!

the optimized life is not worth living. https://allpro.social/@thomas/116021092370100103

when Bezos bought The Post, he wanted to be respected among the professional managerial class. his goals have changed. he no longer wants the respect of educational professionals. he want subservience. so he is destroying The Post to show his middle finger.

if you become a client, my advisory will help ensure you place bets only on the highest quality numbers of the roulette wheel.

thinking of housing shortage in terms of raw numbers of homes is just stupid, because homes aren’t fungible. scatter 40 million new homes across the tundra of Alaska and you’ll do nothing to address housing miseries. build a neighborhood 50,000 people are excited to live in and you’ll do a lot more. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/04/us-housing-shortage-millions/