January 18, 2007

Mecca Lecca Hi, Mecca Hiney Ho

Caliban Darklock wrote this in the early morning:

The debate on global warming is not about how to save the planet. It is about how to protect ourselves from the planet’s wrath. It is, in essence, a global discussion on how best to appease the mighty Earth-spirit so that it may not destroy us all.

Isn’t that a pretty stupid discussion to have in this day and age?

 

* Filed under: Global Warming, Philosophy
* 1 Comment

January 12, 2007

Becoming My Own Boss

Caliban Darklock wrote this in the early afternoon:

I took one of those quizzes, this one about which super villain you are. (H/T Least I Could Do.) Amusingly:

You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse
90%
Magneto
88%
Riddler
84%
Lex Luthor
80%
Dr. Doom
80%
Dark Phoenix
77%
Juggernaut
68%
Green Goblin
68%
Two-Face
68%
Venom
64%
The Joker
60%
Kingpin
54%
Mr. Freeze
42%
Mystique
36%
Catwoman
33%
Poison Ivy
30%
  You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

  How strange. A guy named Caliban takes the quiz, and turns out to be his supervillain mentor… 

* Filed under: Media, Philosophy
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January 9, 2007

Letter to Gamasutra

Caliban Darklock wrote this in the early morning:

On Gamasutra today, Alex St. John of WildTangent complains that Vista security is too difficult for casual game developers. I wrote this letter to the editors in response.

Excuse me?
Alex St. John specifically complains that it should be easier for children to download and install games without ESRB ratings, because they can already freely play non-downloaded web games without ratings, and now he can’t compete on the same playing field.

I don’t think many parents would appreciate that sentiment; the availability of games that we can’t control isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for not controlling the ones we can. The reality is that we, as parents, get to decide what our children download and install and play. If your business suffers as a result, maybe you’re in the wrong business to be targeting children.

When someone starts complaining about unfair competition, I believe the very least he can do is to compete. The industry and culture are changing. We have to change with them. That’s the only choice we have. 

Amusingly, I work with Vista at Microsoft, and I’ve got a resume in for consideration at WildTangent. Call it serendipity.

* Filed under: Business, Gaming, Microsoft, Security, Software
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January 3, 2007

Faith in Economics

Caliban Darklock wrote this in the early morning:

Before I get started on Russ Nelson’s latest post, I want to address the prior one.

The Libertarian Purity Test consists of sixty-four “yes” or “no” questions. If you answer “yes” to all of them, you get a perfect score. So a perfect score means nothing. Bryan Caplan, the author, has outright said that the test was just for fun.

I got a 110. The test was actually quite accurate in predicting that my score would increase over time, but I think any intelligent person tends to become more libertarian over time.

That aside, on to the question of faith in economics.

Economics is unique among the sciences in that it’s predictive power is completely and utterly useless in directing one’s actions. Economically, we can say that something will happen. Oh, dear; that sucks. What can we do to change it?

Well, nothing. It’s going to happen. No single entity can change that. The energy necessary to make the change can’t be exerted before it happens. Furthermore, that energy requires the concerted action of millions of consumers.

People hate that. They especially hate it when the prediction is right. And it’s the same kind of hatred they have for religious pronouncements: “God watches you and judges your life.” “That’s horrible! How do I stop it?!” “You don’t.”

In general, people hate the idea that they aren’t able to take charge of their own lives. The concept of things being beyond their control offends them on a deep level. This is precisely why people are always arguing with Scott Adams about free will. We like the idea of controlling our own destiny. (In the anime series Naruto, this concept is at the heart of the rivalry between Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. I shouldn’t know that. Damn Cartoon Network and their Naruto marathon on Sunday!)

Since economics reminds us that we can’t do so completely, there’s an inherent knee-jerk rejection of the field, just as there’s an inherent knee-jerk rejection of most religious pronouncements. Both religion and economics demand that we accept the futility of trying to alter reality.

 

* Filed under: Business, Economics, Philosophy, Religion
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