I really like this framework. In particular, the interpretation of Job that goes with it. I may want to use them as part of this year's Less Wrong Solstice gathering, if that's okay with you.
How did it go? It seems like it would create some unsettling ambiguity in the "happy" ending.
Follow-up: I didn't experience anything outside of the typical Shakti effects for me (a feeling similar to a strong nicotine buzz); however, there are many variables to tweak before I declare it a wash. I'll continue to experiment and post the final results somewhere.
Why not here?
Crazy guy: Hey, June*! Do you know that my cabinets keep opening and closing by themselves?
June*: Well, do you believe in ghosts?
Crazy guy: Yes, I do!
June*: Maybe your place is haunted, and the ghosts just want to say hello.
Crazy guy, after thinking a while: No, I think it's just my schizophrenia.
They didn't anticipate what the Internet would become--because they weren't fucking insane...
Related: Stranger Than History.
They didn't anticipate what the Internet would become--because they weren't fucking insane...
"I just don't like to see you make a fool of yourself."
"Oh!" MacBride stopped, glared. "I just should be a strong, silent guy, huh? Well, listen to me, Harry. I've noticed that a strong, silent guy is usually that way because he don't know anything. I'm willing to beef around, talk my head off, make a fool of myself—if it'll get me anywhere."
Frederick Nebel, "Doors in the Dark"
"I just don't like to see you make a fool of yourself."
"Oh!" MacBride stopped, glared. "I just should be a strong, silent guy, huh? Well, listen to me, Harry. I've noticed that a strong, silent guy is usually that way because he don't know anything. I'm willing to beef around, talk my head off, make a fool of myself—if it'll get me anywhere."
Frederick Nebel, "Doors in the Dark"
Edit: Related: Say It Loud.
The movie wasn't very good, even by Marvel superhero movie standards. Did anyone understand Ultron's motivation? It seems like Ultron's logic was:
- humans are going to destroy the world
- ????????
- Therefore I will destroy the world.
Also, I was left wondering about whether Iron Man was going to be financially/criminally liable for the damages Ultron caused.
Bit late, but: IIRC the post-credits scene implies that Ultron was somehow really under Thanos' control, via the Infinity Stone Thanos originally gave to Loki (and/or its corruption/influence via Stark via Wanda Maximoff).
I suppose it might be giving the movie too much credit to argue that Ultron was at no point honestly explaining his plans, but instead saying whatever he expected would confuse and/or demoralize his enemies.
The question of liability is sort of alluded to in the latest movie, Civil War; though the short answer seems to be no.
In the end, the only real answer is always "it's all made up and what you see is what you get".
TV and Movies (Live Action) Thread
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., S03E18: "The Singularity". Aired April 26. The team wants to find a biologist whose work they need.
Simmons: He was asked to step down a month before for conducting irregular experiments.
Lincoln: "Irregular" meaning...?
Fitz: (grimly) He's a rumored transhumanist.
Coulson (who previously collected a set of trading cards commemorating, and later worked with, a man who was biologically augmented in the 1940s; worked with and against various members of an alien civilization whose advanced magic/technology allows them to live for thousands of years; ran, tried to have shut down, and later had his life saved by an advanced research project dedicated to reviving the clinically dead; fought a Hydra faction led by a man who'd uploaded his mind to a bank of computers in the 1970s; worked closely with a biologically and technologically upgraded cyborg; and has a prosthetic arm with super strength among its features): A what?
Simmons: People who believe in using science and technology to transcend our biological limitations. Their goal is...
Lincoln: Become more than human. Timely.
Fitz: Digital immortality, superintelligence...
Coulson: Okay. I'm glad everyone knows what it is.
(The episode goes on to portray "transhumanists" as sexy, stylish young people who meet in secret clubs to exchange illegal(?) enhancements. The biologist appears to enthusiastically join a villain who wants to end conflict by converting the world into his mind slaves.)
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From the comments:
There's no response to this from the author despite the passage of more than a year. Any thoughts?