Made a Fallen London meme yesterday: https://old.reddit.com/r/fallenlondon/comments/1f3bbn0/weve_been_reading_the_discordance_destiny_all/
Loiathal
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Software developer, designer, streamer. Mobile Security, Financial Tech. Ultimate Gamer tournament winner.
Me, pointing: "ska"
It's a decent little piece, although where buyers and sellers are concerned I'm pretty sure this increase in efficiency is just position. If restaurants were selling those tables and pocketing the cash instead of 3rd parties, that would be good for the restaurants!
I got a kick out of this piece and also the Nash equilibrium was invented (or at least named) in the 1950s.
Can I start a trend where engineers beg humanities guys to read history
https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/the-modern-curse-of-overoptimization
The Modern Curse of Overoptimization
I know a guy who used to make his living as an eBay reseller. That is, he’d find something on eBay that he thought was underpriced so long as the auction didn’t go above X dollars, buy it, then resell it for more than he paid for it Classic imports-exports, really, a digital junk shop. Eventually he got to the point where, with some items, he didn’t ever have physical possession of them; he had figured out a way to get them directly from whoever he bought an item from to the person he had sold the item to, while still collecting his bit of arbitrage along the way. This buying and selling of items on eBay, looking for deals, was sufficient to be his full-time job and pay for a mortgage. But the last time I saw him, a few years ago, he had gotten an ordinary office job. He told me that it had become too difficult to find value; potential sellers and buyers alike had access to too many tools that could reveal the “real” price of an item, and there was little delta to eke out. He’s not alone. If you
Dune is more interesting when it's about real prophets and messiahs than fake, as my friend Bill responded. Paul's visions lead them down dark roads, and they follow because he's the real deal.
But it starts out without him doing that-- the stillsuit scene with Kynes, for instance. And then he obtains nearly godly powers of foresight and uses them to lead his chosen people to victory, smashing everyone who sought to use him.
I get the point that Paul eventually deliberately leans into the myths that the Fremen believe, so that he can become their Lisan al-Gaib
Dune isn't about the dangers of "phony messiahs and false prophets"! Paul literally sees the future, more clearly than anyone else! He is a true messiah in every way that matters, regardless of how those legends came to be planted.
Another day, another writer I like badly misreading Dune: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/screw-you-guys-i-root-for-muaddib
Screw You Guys, I Root For Muad'Dib
It's Book Week! My very lame pretense for posting this during Book Week is that the Dune series is a book series, despite the fact that I'm clearly reacting to the recent movie. Sue me. Some spoilers follow. Let me say off the bat that I'm sure someone else has already written a piece like this. But let me say: yes, in the Dune universe I root for Paul Atreides, Muad’Dib, Usul, the Kwisatz Haderach, Lisan al-Gaib. Yes! I do! And I know it won't end well. I don't care! I root for him and I don't feel bad about it. Get your revenge, Paul! Use the Voice, king! Fuck the Harkonnens! Fuck the Emperor! Fuck the Great Houses! Seize your destiny!