tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4766507436077472811..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Seasteading: Some Problems on the way to Castle SovereignDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36708569508819527242016-04-23T01:39:32.704-07:002016-04-23T01:39:32.704-07:00Waw. You're always attacked by the deniers. (I...Waw. You're always attacked by the deniers. (I think some plutocrats are afraid of you)<br />As always, the rich who take for themselves the vast regions of the seas.<br />Humm. world government. They talk a lot about it on the internet, but no one's fault that the plutocrats. Everyone say's a conspiracy of the Illuminati! (Plutocracy masks confuse effectively 99% of the world population of sheep) Yeah, I suspected that the WG (plutocrats States) will be a problem for everyone.<br />That mentions the curious coincidence that the cities in the sea because he was investigating about that yesterday. (Telepathy?)<br />I guess that move huge numbers of people to the sea will bring more problems of ocean pollution. But there is no way on the path to the stars. Human, and we pollute almost all rivers. Imagine that the sea is doomed unless the asteroid mining down the costs of space travel. (Space mining companies require many families living permanently in asteroids and large factories to be built in space)<br />Sorry for the bad translation. (It's the fault of google translator)Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33238341091481810682016-04-23T01:33:55.828-07:002016-04-23T01:33:55.828-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27726514384980891552016-04-22T08:28:50.376-07:002016-04-22T08:28:50.376-07:00«7- But let's return to the SeaSteads that sta...«7- But let's return to the SeaSteads that start de novo, on some submerged sea mount or patch of open sea. Here's a crucial question.<br /><br />If you reject the democracies, then will you call them for help, when an armed gang comes to simply take over your sovereign land, by right of conquest? Perhaps with the fig leaf excuse of a "revolution" of the proletariat of sub minimum wage servants? Or else rationalizing that strength, cunning and will are the only righteous justifications required? (Ayn Rand personally repudiated violence; but those who espouse her core principle don't always agree with that part.) A Sea State of refugees is the least of many sources of such danger.»<br /><br />They better have an effective army and navy,... <b>permanently on call</b>. What you have here is very wealthy people in an isolated enclave in international waters. It might be worth attacking only for the technological infrastructure (yes, even just to strip out the copper and so forth). If they don't have a very strong defensive force or if they do not contract out the services of the defensive forces of a nearby nation (again, <b>permanently on call</b>) powerful enough to spare the manpower (such as the United States), this scheme is simply untenable. Pirates will come and they will take it down. The question is not if but when. Place this anywhere between the horn of Africa and the South China Sea and it will be taken down even before all the residents have moved in. Place it anywhere else and it will take just a little longer.cosmicaughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06590208806454056248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30377603587770717822014-01-19T13:11:55.234-08:002014-01-19T13:11:55.234-08:00I'm puzzled by all this talk of "castes&q...I'm puzzled by all this talk of "castes", the "monied" caste, etc. There's a deeply cynical set of assumptions framing this essay -- assumptions that grant no recognition of the actual motives of libertarians who'd be interested in a seasteading project.<br /><br />Some people have principles and ideals. Actually, lots of people do. They can be animated by those principles and ideals. Libertarian ideas are not known to be exclusively interesting to those who are extremely productive -- in fact, there are far more libertarians in the "professional caste" than in the Forbes Richest 100, probably even on a proportional basis. I know many libertarians who are quite poor.<br /><br />And the caste fetish and many of the economic assumptions in the essay are simply false -- descriptively, empirically false. The US has far too much economic mobility to label it as a caste system. Look to India, or even Latin America -- almost anywhere in the world has a much more class-conscious culture than the US. In Mexico, my ancestral homeland, they really care about who your father is, what he does. They define you by your parentage, will look down on you if your father was a farmer, no matter your accomplishments or degrees. Can you imagine anyone in Silicon Valley caring about what your father did? Can you imagine Americans looking down on someone because their parents are farmers? Obviously this caste business is nonsense.<br /><br />The democracies are not "advanced", not if you've kept up with your economic education, and know about public choice theory, rent-seeking, and other dysfunctions that a bunch of people at the University of Chicago won Nobel Prizes for discovering. The fantasy swipe about people working for less than minimum wage is silly. Minimum wages are extremely dumb and harmful when you model it long-term and look at the full picture, like any price control (see Venezuela). But they're also beside the point. A free country project, whether at sea, or in Honduras (see the Free City project) is not going to be known for its low wages. There is science here that you should know. We can plot a regression of standard of living on economic freedom. We know what economic freedom does, and we know that a free country will be quite prosperous, over time much more prosperous than a mess like the USA. If you want to look at hints, look at Singapore and Hong Kong, but imagine something better, even more prosperous, a place that legalizes drugs and gay marriage in addition to keeping your money. The oligarchic nonsense is silly at this point -- to characterize free markets that way flies in the face of a century of empirical and theoretical evidence.Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27933337524980100382012-11-27T18:24:21.257-08:002012-11-27T18:24:21.257-08:00I am a long time member of TSI. The community was ...I am a long time member of TSI. The community was always made up of two obvious factions; Wealthy tax evaders whose goal was to buy and sell things that no nation on Earth would allow and those who simply enjoyed the mechanical, biological and other puzzles inherent in the idea. The first group jumped ship <i>en masse </i> not long ago for a more direct route to "freedom". They bought land in S. America where they can do whatever horrible thing they are planing to do.<br />This suits the rest of us just fine.<br />We have seasoned seadogs, well trained naval engineers and a community of highly creative madmen. We are also, as a man, irrationally dedicated to the idea.<br />We don't imagine a carbon fiber casino. We are more the bamboo coated in acrylic resin bunch.<br />Some interesting facts:<br />A few spots in the oceans get almost no storms. <br />There are ways that the relentless energies of the open ocean can be converted to building materials. <br />Some spots in the oceans are thick with plastic waste; sweet reusable plastic. <br />There are a thousand problems in seasteading and a million solutions.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19135614484218032012011-12-13T09:20:40.920-08:002011-12-13T09:20:40.920-08:00"A place of self-exile for sex-offenders? ......"A place of self-exile for sex-offenders? ..... Hey, these things will resonate with public opinion"<br /><br />Personally I suspect the public will prefer tax exiles. Not pushing it either way - I'm sure there are 3rd world women and children who would hire out to be guest workers there but I suspect, whatever the legalities, the public would be more riled by the former.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90062380649186159032011-09-18T15:56:26.181-07:002011-09-18T15:56:26.181-07:00There were some attempts at sea colonization, Seal...There were some attempts at sea colonization, Sealand, begun in 1967 being perhaps the most successful. <br />It can be argued that the only good produced, in sea colonies, suitable for foreign exchange has been special jurisdictional status, but this seems to offer some possibilities of economic sustainablity.<br /><br />A consistent theme of the posts seems to be either rampant over or under estimation of the challenges of permanent life at sea, mostly made by people who have no factual basis for knowing.<br /><br />Take water, for example: shipping it from land is deemed expensive, distillation and reverse osmosis are still more so, but a method of obtaining water quite common on land is neglected: gathering rainwater; some ocean locations have two meters of rainfall a month.Andrew Bonifacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274976423329384477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43325262216517446892011-09-14T15:58:45.197-07:002011-09-14T15:58:45.197-07:00Oh, by the way if you would like to apply for a po...Oh, by the way if you would like to apply for a posting at the Montana Sanctuary. Check out my site:<br />http://www.trunity.net/MonSanc/articles/view/138088/?topic=19325<br /><br />Several hot tubs are waiting.Dirkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08219374285346818365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44885358190583192012011-09-14T15:52:51.693-07:002011-09-14T15:52:51.693-07:00O.K. what about a Humaforming plan for the endange...O.K. what about a Humaforming plan for the endangered middle class - and, well, nearly everyone else in the U.S.. And how about something that can save us during the Singularity (of even more concentrated wealth to the super rich): Sanctuaries are one-structure, Luxor-like cities built in rural areas (now losing population and being bought by corporations for more monopolistic exploitation). The sanctuaries are nonprofit entities and are generally funded by rich dot.com guys or newly formed or existing religious entities (Scientology are you listening?). Any unemployed folk can come to the sanctuaries where they get room and board for free - however, they must work in the fields and engage in continuous education, some of which takes place in the communal shop. All Sanctuarians will be tested for aptitude as they are guided in their education. They also can not reproduce while in the Sanctuary - think Garden of Eden. If they leave the sanctuary, they must donate 10 percent of their income back to the sanctuary. They will also have profit directed to their account for any profitable ideas they develop while at the sanctuary. However, no money will be required in the sanctuary. So let me enumerate the benefits here: First, we will reduce the number of job seekers - increasing wages for the others. The Black Plague did this in Europe, so of course a natural or planned pandemic can have similar benefits. Second, social unrest will be decreased. If enough people are unemployed for a long enough time, one must assume a significant increase in crime and eventual civil strife. Now as a matter of fact we do have a rapidly growing, proto-sanctuary system in the U.S. called prisons and because of their corporate influence they are really growing well. (And just think how they will be growing in the future with all the new black market drug criminals and civil strife!) In these proto-sanctuaries, inmates can work for pennies finally taking outsourced jobs back from India and China - well its the same for the new sanctuaries. Sanctuaries can help peacefully usher in the Singularity - and like Plato's Republic, there is no reason, like the Republic, they can't engage in positive eugenics. Note that China has more geniuses than we have population in the U.S. and that Asia has an average I.Q. of 105. Studies indicate (big surprise) that nations with superior I.Q. can economically out perform nations with inferior I.Q. (read I.Q and Global Inequality). Let me conclude my thoughts by offering my profound thanks to Plato and his unparalleled Republic. Yes, the road to singularity will be interesting, but with Plato's assistance how can we not endeavor to persevere?Dirkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08219374285346818365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31142019531394697992011-09-03T14:00:24.913-07:002011-09-03T14:00:24.913-07:00If "these are smart fellows and they can see ...If "these are smart fellows and they can see what you cannot" is not a classic appeal to authority fallacy, it's pretty darn close. Plenty of the folks poking holes in this plan are "smart fellows", and as has already been mentioned, being a "smart fellow" does not mean that one understands every field perfectly simply by virtue of being smart.mythagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07138471078836187498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78097290211998206522011-09-02T21:46:40.294-07:002011-09-02T21:46:40.294-07:00I go far enough to say that it's "childis...I go far enough to say that it's "childish" writing, or the writing of a child's story, but not necessarily "lazy". Youth culture today deliberately mistrusts adults and adult institutions. Stories which speak to that and show the journeyman triumphing over institutionalism is just a normal offering, any more. <br /><br />And, David, the last HP movie didn't sufficiently convey: The kids were evacuated. Only adults and headstrong, disobedient teens stayed to fight. <br /><br />The movie also fails to completely capture one of Rowling's main points, namely, that sacrificial love is the "greatest magical power." Yeah, that makes it a powerfully Christian story, seen from one point of view.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91979340375531345012011-09-02T20:09:01.271-07:002011-09-02T20:09:01.271-07:00btw... onward...btw... onward...David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81697830492358504072011-09-02T20:08:43.624-07:002011-09-02T20:08:43.624-07:00It's a sub-set of my essay on "the idiot ...It's a sub-set of my essay on "the idiot plot"... above all, civilization must never be portrayed as functional! Because it's hard to put your hero in endless mindless jeopardy when she can dial 911 and get help from skilled professionals. <br /><br />The best and most memorable films create such jeopardy DESPITE assuming a decent civilization. Ransom... The Fugitive... But most Hwood types don't want to work that hard.<br /><br />Hence, ALL films preach our civilization can't work. Righty perspective, or leftist. All are propelled to rant that "it can't ever work."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79335159950525903532011-09-02T17:22:59.346-07:002011-09-02T17:22:59.346-07:00Rob,
Re: Why don't fictional children go to th...Rob,<br />Re: Why don't fictional children go to the authorities?<br /><i>"'Cause there'd be no story of exceptional and individual derring-do if they did."</i><br /><br />I disagree. I think it is just lazy writing. Plenty of authors have made their characters' attempts to reach authorities the adventure. But there should be an external reason, not just "we can't tell the grownups!"<br /><br />Jacob,<br />Hell, Startide had about six different levels of "children trying to warn/get-help-from adults."Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11794929237148041532011-09-02T17:13:58.840-07:002011-09-02T17:13:58.840-07:00Yudkowsky thus satirizes the ridiculously childish...Yudkowsky thus satirizes the ridiculously childish system of impulsive wielding of authority on Rowling's universe. <br /><br />In fact, Yudkowsky's scene shows some subtlety at work. Snape publicly punishes Hermione but as part of saving face, since he and the rest of the teachers are now going to clamp down at last and stop all the bullying. That's the subtext.<br /><br />While I'm at it... just saw the final Potter film. My son earnestly despises HP... though like me he is able to sit and enjoy a flick on its own premises. But Rowling's HP is so DUMB! And the institutions of Magical Britain are so immature and weak.<br /><br />When Hogwarts is standing up against all the death eaters... where are the kids' parents? All the aurors who went into hiding when the Ministry of Magic fell? This was their chance to rise up! To retake the ministry, while Tom Riddle was busy. Or to strike from behind, if only to save their own children!<br /><br />Dumber than dumble and frankly - authorially - inexcusable.<br /><br />I did like the moment when HP calls V "Tom"... as an equal. That felt right. Perfect. But the wand stuff was lame and the Resurrection Stone stuff was simply insipid. And the magic hat stole the magic sword out of Gringots.... how? Wha??????<br /><br />Look, I am used to being in a civilization with base tastes. Why is Rocky Horror a cult classic - when all but two of the songs are dull dull dull dull dull and the characters and plot are insanely yawnworthy? Ever see PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE? Now that rocked!<br /><br />Otoh, while I dislike Tolkien's message, I respect him deeply. He came by it honestly and LOTR deserves its place in our epic consciousness... the way I thought Star Wars was going to, when I left the theater, after first seeing The Empire Strikes Back.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9412833296095024552011-09-02T15:32:31.076-07:002011-09-02T15:32:31.076-07:00Amusingly, though, the authority made it still loo...Amusingly, though, the authority made it still look like it was Potter behind everything and there was no authority involved.<br /><br />Even stranger, nobody is bothered by the fact that there was already an authority on the scene: Snape. And he was the one making the situation what it was! He even gets to turn around and give authority-style discipline to Hermione.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63806843258816596072011-09-02T14:51:33.327-07:002011-09-02T14:51:33.327-07:00In my YA novel SKY HORIZON the hero does the “unth...In my YA novel SKY HORIZON the hero does the “unthinkable” and reports the existence of the alien that the teens are passing around, “protecting” from authities. He makes sure news cameras record the officials taking the creature so that all subsequent events are open. He’s shunned as a traitor.<br /><br />In the Harry Potter remake, Harry is portrayed as a brilliant and good but insufferably arrogant young putz.. His contempt for the adult authorities is well-based... Rowling’s Magical Britain is an insane place, run by horrid, immature cretins, at-best.... still, the consistency of HP’s rationalizations for going his own way is a personal arrogance that may be partly intended and may be partly imbedded in the author.<br /><br />Note though that the great “victory” does consist of making the authorities finally do their job. A job that Rowling neglects to have them do.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72581869868064121302011-09-02T14:15:55.722-07:002011-09-02T14:15:55.722-07:00I'm not entirely sure about there being no sto...I'm not entirely sure about there being no story without action or an attempt at traditional responsibility. <br /><br />Consider the unique Angels and Demons. It is a story in which the heroes accomplish absolutely nothing that wouldn't have happened without their presence. Another relevant example is Startide Rising. In it, the children spend the story trying to share information but are unable to because the villains working to prevent it.<br /><br />One thing of my favorite parts about HP:MOR is how Harry resolved Book 2 by telling the teachers. Yes, it turned out that wouldn't have been a story there, but still it was the right thing to do.<br /><br />Frankly HP:MOR Harry has recently been an idiot, but he is a child with limited experience.Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03773076186367856200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40706924085161083642011-09-02T13:35:49.921-07:002011-09-02T13:35:49.921-07:00why in novels do the heros (hero-children especial...<em>why in novels do the heros (hero-children especially) not go to the authorities? Why don't they do the 'adult' thing and act as if their civilization works?</em><br /><br />'Cause there'd be no story of exceptional and individual derring-do if they did.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10802402344584970762011-09-02T13:23:34.038-07:002011-09-02T13:23:34.038-07:00Actually, I have a reason for this in my own web-n...Actually, I have a reason for this in my own web-novel "Stalking the Wolf" - the teenagers involved are breaking the law by being vigilantes and thus have no adult figures to go to. (Though one "adult" does seek them out... I qualify that "adult" as she's also an illegal vigilante which doesn't seem like a very adult thing to do, but I realized she's got a death wish in any event. Interestingly, she doesn't like other people getting hurt and does try to talk them out of being vigilantes.)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35578872714151114432011-09-02T13:14:35.842-07:002011-09-02T13:14:35.842-07:00I wonder if our esteemed host might read the lates...I wonder if our esteemed host might read the latest Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality chapters and weigh in on them?<br /><br />I ask because the author actually touches on a theme that has irked Dr. Brin in the past: why in novels do the heros (hero-children especially) not go to the authorities? Why don't they do the 'adult' thing and act as if their civilization works?<br /><br /><i>Non est salvatori salvator,<br />neque defensori dominus,<br />nec pater nec mater,<br />nihil supernum.</i><br />- Godric Gryffindor,<br />1202 C.E.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71114356219441301992011-09-02T12:37:40.342-07:002011-09-02T12:37:40.342-07:00Robert:
Of course, I'm still not entirely sur...Robert:<br /><i><br />Of course, I'm still not entirely sure how hydrogen-fueled cars are better than battery or biodiesel cars,...<br /></i><br /><br />My admittedly-amateur understanding is that when you burn hydrogen for fuel, the "exhaust" is plain water, so it eliminates the problem of poison emissions. I'm guessing that it also helps that no carbon is being put out into the atmosphere.<br /><br />The problem is that plain hydrogen isn't available all by itself. You have to engage in some sort of process to separate it out of water or other substances, and depending on what process you use to do THAT, you might just be moving the polluting up the supply chain rather than eliminating it.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14745088888732220832011-09-02T11:33:15.561-07:002011-09-02T11:33:15.561-07:00And here's an article that... if accurate... m...And here's an article that... if accurate... means that we may have an effective and inexpensive method of starting up hydrogen production for a hydrogen economy (for use in fuel).<br /><br />http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/58191-new-alloy-could-split-water-to-make-fuel<br /><br />http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/58191-new-<br />alloy-could-split-water-to-make-fuel<br /><br />Of course, I'm still not entirely sure how hydrogen-fueled cars are better than battery or biodiesel cars, but should this work it should jump start a lot of hydrogen-based technologies (just by allowing an inexpensive and easily-produced form of hydrogen to exist).<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64711843958389231982011-09-02T06:32:49.825-07:002011-09-02T06:32:49.825-07:00A couple more interesting science-based articles:
...A couple more interesting science-based articles:<br /><br />The Mars Rover has discovered rocks that suggests conditions were conducive for life on Mars at one time: <br /><br />http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20110902/207664_mars-rover-mars-rover-water-mars-water-opportunity-mars-rover-nasa.htm<br /><br />http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20110902/207664_mars-rover-<br />mars-rover-water-mars-water-opportunity-mars-rover-nasa.htm<br /><br />Also, here's another article on space debris and on a German satellite that could be used to try and eliminate some of the debris:<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14763668<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89957873159814262812011-09-01T11:10:00.445-07:002011-09-01T11:10:00.445-07:00A topical spoof from The Onion:
PayPal Founder To...A topical spoof from <i>The Onion</i>:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/paypal-founder-to-create-island,21205/" rel="nofollow">PayPal Founder To Create Island</a><br /><br />"Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, is putting $1.25 million of his own money toward the creation of artificial libertarian island-nations. Here are some of the features the islands will include:"<br /><br /> * Large monument paying tribute to Bob Barr and his heroic 0.4 percent of the popular vote in the 2008 presidential election<br /> * Annual contest to see which island-dweller can best hijack a normal conversation with a tirade about the corrupt U.S. tax code<br /> * Huge pile of free guns right in the middle of each island<br /> * Canning operation free from restrictive boiling and acidity-regulation rules<br /> * Penn and Teller, every Thursday night<br /> * Large ceremonial nonfunctioning national debt clock that just reads "0"<br /> * A swimmin' hole<br /> * Emergency blue-light phones that connect directly to the Cato Institute<br /> * A bunch of Republicans anyway<br /> * Occasional arbitrary tax on the population just to give them something to get riled up about, which, for many libertarians, is their sole reason for existingStefan Joneshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/noreply@blogger.com