2021-11-27
Readings
This feels like it should’ve been obvious, but an analysis of what would happen if Sagittarius A* were removed (I wonder if we’d see a black hole in that location, migrated or formed, soon after were this to occur):
How do butterfly wings grow? Cool imaging efforts to answer that: https://scitechdaily.com/peeking-into-a-chrysalis-incredible-videos-capture-butterfly-wings-forming-during-metamorphosis/
Twin studies on vegetarianism; I’d assume that it’s primarily behavioural (recalling my own adjustment to a no-meat diet). I wonder if the measured effects amount to a likelihood to make the decision, a likelihood of being able to stick with it (strength of cravings), or something less clear. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/202111/genes-may-have-big-influence-vegetarianism?fbclid=IwAR1bZ4vrCg58MSrnlfc-_8nzw48XPvskbZ-d8PPOMCGFIIobxn6ZFr5ERI8
I think this is an important analysis of the problems of anti-MSM narratives; so far every time I’ve had an extended conversation with an anti-MSM person they confuse news and commentary sides of companies, their examples don’t fit whatever data they dig up, and things boil down to baseless impressions they have. The conclusion I’ve reached is that anti-MSM feels good to them, not that they have good reasons for such conclusions. https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/andrew-sullivan-and-the-narrative
Studies of how cell bundles turn into tissue with specific shapes. This potentially has a number of interesting applications further down the line: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-11-tissue-mechanobiology-robotic-micromanipulation.html
Sea Lions (and some other creatures) have very precise control over their whiskers. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-sea-lion-whiskers-human-fingertips.html
Unprompted Thoughts
There may be an unavoidable tension between things that are necessary of modern court systems and the moral intuitions of the general public, particularly populists whom I regard as at least civics-deficient but often barbarians. Namely that there is a natural dissatisfaction with the limited scope of judgement the law uses, because it’s focusing on rules rather than narrative. This seems perpetual and exploitable, particularly if civics is not taught well or at all. It’s a natural seam line for pluralist democracy that anyone can stick a chisel into. To placate such urges, empty promises of "doing something" are used, sometimes paired with honest and occasionally useful reforms.
Thoughts on the understanding that force sits beneath all our layers of civilisation, and that we should be both proud that we’ve moved away from raw force (made it predictable, more just, and added a lot of softer things around it), and realise that “initiation of violence” (a common libertarian line is to explicitly denounce this) is just more PR of this sort because property is at root based on power, whether it be individual or state power.
Recently noticed the word “ensconced” in a sentence, and wondered if I actually had the definition right; looked it up and my notion (wrapped, sheathed) is not what the dictionary gave but was compatible enough with most imaginable sentences. Thinking about it, I imagine it was a mix of “does it work in sentence” combined with etymology (specifically, the slightly obscure term for a kind of wall lamp) that got me there. And so it is with a lot of the parts of our (wide-term) worldview. There are probably lighter contributors as well - things that “sound right” based on really complex sound aesthetics (for example, I commonly misremember etymology as entymology because the latter sounds better to me). If I were taken by aliens and mined for information about humanity, they’d get a view of a lot of things, but a certain percentage of things would be non-mainstream conclusions.
Can civilizations get lonely? Many aspects of human psychology have a counterpart in groups of humans - jealousy, pride, depression. My understanding is that loneliness is driven by human social urges, serving a function of keeping people organised in tribes where their fitness is higher than being alone in the EEA. Are tribes more fit around other tribes? Perhaps to some degree with some natural threat. And perhaps in a competitive sense in that tribes that are friendly with neighbours can pool resources and knowledge, although the possibility of direct competition and conflict may produce weakness against many threats, from more distant tribes to some other natural threats.
Current Events
There was a tragedy in Wisconsin where a violent serial offender drove a car through a parade. While some less responsible voices (somehow) are talking about this as a racism issue, this may set back efforts to reduce bail as part of reform efforts. I think the right answer is to treat violent or sexual crime differently from other sorts, and I hope things will land on a solution of that kind. https://www.npr.org/2021/11/25/1059019616/theres-a-backlash-brewing-against-bail-reform-after-the-parade-tragedy-in-waukes
Parliamentary systems sometimes have strange happenings with minority governments; Magdalena Andersson’s (of Sweden) fell apart a few hours after her appointment after a budget vote failed: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59400539
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio Highway Patrol troopers are all to wear bodycams soon. I see this as an effective step to reduce abuse. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/11/all-ohio-state-highway-patrol-troopers-to-wear-body-cameras-by-next-may.html
A new covid variant has been observed - Omicron (B.11.529). It has been named a variant of concern, meaning there are worries that it may be more infectious. It’s currently being studied to determine if existing vaccines are less effective against it (likely, and worrying). Countries across the world are limiting travel.
It’s both Thanksgiving season and Redistricting season, as well as the beginning of the end of 2021, which was better than 2020, but not as good as many of us had hoped.
Reviewlets
Wuyi da hong pao (tea) - Got this as a gift from a family member looking up the world’s best teas. Amazing aroma and a very nice tea. It also loses surprisingly little with resteeps, a rarity in teas. One of my other favourites, a cinnamon-spiced rooibos chai, loses all of its cinnamon flavouring in the first steep, tasting like normal rooibos in subsequent steeps. Not this.
The Plane Effect (game) - I played this a few weeks ago; it’s interestingly weird, but the game is ultimately too linear and too shallow, with some really frustrating bits, to hold my attention. Looked promising though.
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep (game) - Many, many years late, but this was recently rereleased (not polished at all) to make hype for its upcoming sequel. It was one of the most silly and enjoyable parts of the Borderlands 2 DLC, with a lot of replay value. Nowadays dealing with the dated engine might be a bear, but it’s still worth it for those who haven’t seen it.
Reverse Designs by Patrick Holleman (book series) - This series will change the way you think about games, giving a general framework that I’ll call “learn and do” to how people enjoy playing (most) games. I don’t think it’s entirely general, but it comes close. He walks you through a lot of the nuances of his framework. Start with one about a game you’ve played, but if you’ve played many, the Super Mario World one is particularly worthwhile.
Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle (book) - This is classic fantasy, a modern take on Dante’s Inferno with a character-centric sci-fi sensibility. Very creative, amusingly judge-y although not quite in the classic Christian way. Since my first read I’ve re-read this every few years. It has a sequel that’s less engaging but if you like the first it’s probably worth at least one go through that as well.
Amusements
Hug research is amusing, although I suspect an important part of it is not to overthink hugs. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-factors-impact-degree-pleasure-derived.html
Similar in flavour, some discussion of the physics of snapping fingers: https://www.popsci.com/science/finger-snapping-physics/
For those of you who have not played Final Fantasy 6, this will look like a strange opera (and demonstration of well-suited Japanese is for operatic performance). For those that have, it’s very cool to see a real orchestra taking on a reproduction of the in-game opera:
Documentary of the ideas that went into the creation of Mr Bean:
Recent Music
Bethesda released all the music from their recent Deathloop as a very long Youtube video. Many good tracks.
Lagwagon’s “Laymens Terms”, and the separate acoustic version by the songwriter Joey Cape, together are an example of how good punk music often is when given an acoustic version.
Eric Idle’s “Fuck the FCC” is a fun, lighthearted song illustrating the musical wit he brought to Monty Python. The “Galaxy Song” is also particularly worthwhile, later getting a revised version with a Stephen Hawking cameo.
MC Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit” is from an era where some bands made music videos that were essentially short movies. Worth looking that one up (James Brown cameo), but the song is also a great earworm.
Basshunter - “Boten Anna” - This was briefly a hit in the geek community over a decade ago.