Bhagwad Park
@bhagwad.bsky.social
Toronto-based freelance writer with lots of free time :). Favorite authors: David Graeber, Nassim Taleb, Tom Holland and Niall Ferguson.
My follows and reposts needn't imply support either for the person, or the post.
Impolite people get blocked.
My follows and reposts needn't imply support either for the person, or the post.
Impolite people get blocked.
While I would certainly like to avoid pain, I'm not that hot on "joy". I'll settle for neither this, nor that. Just leave me in peace.
December 19, 2024 at 3:25 PM
While I would certainly like to avoid pain, I'm not that hot on "joy". I'll settle for neither this, nor that. Just leave me in peace.
Why would an AI ever bother with a sense of "self"? Our sense of self was constructed in response to evolutionary pressures of passing on our genes.
It makes no sense for artificial intelligence to have this, or care about its own life/death. Awareness and intelligence require none of this baggage.
It makes no sense for artificial intelligence to have this, or care about its own life/death. Awareness and intelligence require none of this baggage.
December 4, 2024 at 9:15 PM
Why would an AI ever bother with a sense of "self"? Our sense of self was constructed in response to evolutionary pressures of passing on our genes.
It makes no sense for artificial intelligence to have this, or care about its own life/death. Awareness and intelligence require none of this baggage.
It makes no sense for artificial intelligence to have this, or care about its own life/death. Awareness and intelligence require none of this baggage.
No free will means that things can't be any other way. You are where you should be. You are feeling what you should be feeling - like everyone else. Every particle of sand is exactly in the spot it needs to be - otherwise, the universe breaks.
Whatever happens couldn't have happened any other way.
Whatever happens couldn't have happened any other way.
December 3, 2024 at 1:54 PM
No free will means that things can't be any other way. You are where you should be. You are feeling what you should be feeling - like everyone else. Every particle of sand is exactly in the spot it needs to be - otherwise, the universe breaks.
Whatever happens couldn't have happened any other way.
Whatever happens couldn't have happened any other way.
If I were to read the "Asterisk" series from scratch today, not knowing anything, I would have started with the first book - and risked giving up on the whole thing, because the first one is pretty weird compared to the rest.
Maybe we shouldn't obsess with starting with the "first" of any series?
Maybe we shouldn't obsess with starting with the "first" of any series?
December 1, 2024 at 9:03 PM
If I were to read the "Asterisk" series from scratch today, not knowing anything, I would have started with the first book - and risked giving up on the whole thing, because the first one is pretty weird compared to the rest.
Maybe we shouldn't obsess with starting with the "first" of any series?
Maybe we shouldn't obsess with starting with the "first" of any series?
We interact with such a tiny slice of reality.
Temporally, our life is a pinprick in time compared to the past and future. Spatially, we're vanishingly small in this vast universe. And even for what we can access, our senses deceive us. We perceive almost nothing.
Our entire reality is fiction.
Temporally, our life is a pinprick in time compared to the past and future. Spatially, we're vanishingly small in this vast universe. And even for what we can access, our senses deceive us. We perceive almost nothing.
Our entire reality is fiction.
November 26, 2024 at 5:40 PM
We interact with such a tiny slice of reality.
Temporally, our life is a pinprick in time compared to the past and future. Spatially, we're vanishingly small in this vast universe. And even for what we can access, our senses deceive us. We perceive almost nothing.
Our entire reality is fiction.
Temporally, our life is a pinprick in time compared to the past and future. Spatially, we're vanishingly small in this vast universe. And even for what we can access, our senses deceive us. We perceive almost nothing.
Our entire reality is fiction.
I got into meditation as a means of exerting control over myself. Strangely, it's now morphed into an exercise in letting go. Strange, isn't it?
November 25, 2024 at 1:45 PM
I got into meditation as a means of exerting control over myself. Strangely, it's now morphed into an exercise in letting go. Strange, isn't it?
I don't have kids. But if I did, I think my parenting style would be best summed up as "Benign Negligence". My primary goal would be to not actively mess them up!
November 25, 2024 at 1:21 PM
I don't have kids. But if I did, I think my parenting style would be best summed up as "Benign Negligence". My primary goal would be to not actively mess them up!
Our continuous sense of self is primarily useful for long-term planning. You need assurance that "tomorrow's you" is the same as "today's you". Without that, we'll all just live for the moment and let "tomorrow's self" face the consequences!
November 22, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Our continuous sense of self is primarily useful for long-term planning. You need assurance that "tomorrow's you" is the same as "today's you". Without that, we'll all just live for the moment and let "tomorrow's self" face the consequences!
If we ever create sentient AI, our first challenge will be in preventing it from committing suicide.
People underestimate the burden of raw consciousness.
People underestimate the burden of raw consciousness.
January 3, 2024 at 4:17 PM
If we ever create sentient AI, our first challenge will be in preventing it from committing suicide.
People underestimate the burden of raw consciousness.
People underestimate the burden of raw consciousness.
In New York with family for Thanksgiving. The energy in this city is indescribable. Never feel anything like it. Neither London, Paris, Toronto, nor any other city matches it.
May be controversial, but New York really is the center of the world.
May be controversial, but New York really is the center of the world.
November 23, 2023 at 9:14 PM
In New York with family for Thanksgiving. The energy in this city is indescribable. Never feel anything like it. Neither London, Paris, Toronto, nor any other city matches it.
May be controversial, but New York really is the center of the world.
May be controversial, but New York really is the center of the world.
A comprehensive rebuttal of the "Dividends are Irrelevant" arguments:
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
Dividends are NOT Irrelevant: When a Stock Becomes an NFT
Here is why dividends are still relevant, despite the outcry of those proclaiming their irrelevance. Without dividends a stock is worthless.
www.bhagwad.com
October 18, 2023 at 2:59 AM
A comprehensive rebuttal of the "Dividends are Irrelevant" arguments:
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
I flat out don't care what a bunch of dead people did to other dead people, other than as an insight into human nature in general, or for historical curiosity.
If your great-grandfather stole my great-grandfather's land, it means nothing to me. That land is not "mine" in any way, shape or form.
If your great-grandfather stole my great-grandfather's land, it means nothing to me. That land is not "mine" in any way, shape or form.
October 11, 2023 at 6:36 PM
I flat out don't care what a bunch of dead people did to other dead people, other than as an insight into human nature in general, or for historical curiosity.
If your great-grandfather stole my great-grandfather's land, it means nothing to me. That land is not "mine" in any way, shape or form.
If your great-grandfather stole my great-grandfather's land, it means nothing to me. That land is not "mine" in any way, shape or form.
How the financial crisis in 2008 resulted in a massive wealth transfer to institutional investors.
October 10, 2023 at 6:42 PM
How the financial crisis in 2008 resulted in a massive wealth transfer to institutional investors.
I rented for 19 years, and then bought a house in cash. I refused to go into debt:
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
Bought my House in Cash: Fought the Fed for 19 Years
Here's how I bought my house in cash by refusing to take a mortgage. I rented for 19 years, fought the Fed...and won.
www.bhagwad.com
October 10, 2023 at 4:14 PM
I rented for 19 years, and then bought a house in cash. I refused to go into debt:
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
www.bhagwad.com/blog/2023/pe...
"Watch your inputs". Seeing the way AI trains on data, makes me realize how much we and our brains react to what we consume.
There's an old saying "You are what you eat". How much more true that is when talking about food for the brain?
There's an old saying "You are what you eat". How much more true that is when talking about food for the brain?
October 9, 2023 at 1:33 PM
"Watch your inputs". Seeing the way AI trains on data, makes me realize how much we and our brains react to what we consume.
There's an old saying "You are what you eat". How much more true that is when talking about food for the brain?
There's an old saying "You are what you eat". How much more true that is when talking about food for the brain?
What if you inherited a substantial portion of shares of a non-dividend paying company and couldn't sell them for whatever reason? (Delisted, legal reasons, whatever).
How would you extract value from those shares?
reddit.com/r/investing/...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
How would you extract value from those shares?
reddit.com/r/investing/...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
Can I Strongarm a Company into Paying me a Salary? : r/investing
reddit.com
October 8, 2023 at 9:03 PM
What if you inherited a substantial portion of shares of a non-dividend paying company and couldn't sell them for whatever reason? (Delisted, legal reasons, whatever).
How would you extract value from those shares?
reddit.com/r/investing/...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
How would you extract value from those shares?
reddit.com/r/investing/...
#invest #EconSky 📈📉
Pulled this wooden splinter from my hand!
October 8, 2023 at 5:20 PM
Pulled this wooden splinter from my hand!
Excited for the new "Lords of the Fallen" game! This might come as a surprise, but the first one was my initial introduction to the "Soulslike" genre. Since then, I've finished all Fromm Software Soulslike games other than Demon Souls.
So this will be a closing of the circle for me :)
So this will be a closing of the circle for me :)
October 8, 2023 at 4:22 AM
Excited for the new "Lords of the Fallen" game! This might come as a surprise, but the first one was my initial introduction to the "Soulslike" genre. Since then, I've finished all Fromm Software Soulslike games other than Demon Souls.
So this will be a closing of the circle for me :)
So this will be a closing of the circle for me :)
We don't question the narrative that if society breaks down, we'd all be at each other's throats. As if the state, with its laws, is the only thing keeping everyone in line.
But see what actually happened when 6 children were marooned on an island for over year in 1965.
Suck it, Walking Dead.
But see what actually happened when 6 children were marooned on an island for over year in 1965.
Suck it, Walking Dead.
October 7, 2023 at 8:12 PM
We don't question the narrative that if society breaks down, we'd all be at each other's throats. As if the state, with its laws, is the only thing keeping everyone in line.
But see what actually happened when 6 children were marooned on an island for over year in 1965.
Suck it, Walking Dead.
But see what actually happened when 6 children were marooned on an island for over year in 1965.
Suck it, Walking Dead.
It's a mistake to confuse a company with its stock. You can have a great company, but its stock can be dogshit. A company can have cashflow, but its stock might not pay dividends, and thus might not have cashflow.
It's a category error to think of stocks and companies as the same thing. 📉📈 #invest
It's a category error to think of stocks and companies as the same thing. 📉📈 #invest
October 7, 2023 at 3:19 PM
It's a mistake to confuse a company with its stock. You can have a great company, but its stock can be dogshit. A company can have cashflow, but its stock might not pay dividends, and thus might not have cashflow.
It's a category error to think of stocks and companies as the same thing. 📉📈 #invest
It's a category error to think of stocks and companies as the same thing. 📉📈 #invest
So if bonds are crashing and yields are rising, then SOMEONE must also benefit greatly. Specifically those to whom the money was lent.
Banks might be suffering, but the companies that hold those loans must be rejoicing! Shouldn't these two problems balance out for the stock market? 📉📈 #invest
Banks might be suffering, but the companies that hold those loans must be rejoicing! Shouldn't these two problems balance out for the stock market? 📉📈 #invest
October 7, 2023 at 1:37 AM
So if bonds are crashing and yields are rising, then SOMEONE must also benefit greatly. Specifically those to whom the money was lent.
Banks might be suffering, but the companies that hold those loans must be rejoicing! Shouldn't these two problems balance out for the stock market? 📉📈 #invest
Banks might be suffering, but the companies that hold those loans must be rejoicing! Shouldn't these two problems balance out for the stock market? 📉📈 #invest