Daniel Dvorkin @medigoth@qoto.org
Bioinformaticist / biostatistician, veteran USAF medic and Army infantryman, armchair paleontologist, occasional science fiction author, long-ago kickboxer, oldbat goth, vaccinated liberal patriot.
Joined Oct 2022
I guess they should have used better priors.
Sometimes I realize a lot of people I think of as being generally on my side, and vice versa, inhabit an entirely different moral universe than I do.
Really I've known this for a long time. Getting smacked in the face with it is still weird. #nocontextforyou
A big part of the problem, which I don't see acknowledged very often, is that #writers who create #antiheroes generally know exactly what they're doing.
They know a substantial part of their audience will identify with these characters. They know many fans will see the bad behavior as desirable, and while most won't have the guts to act that way in real life, some will. They know the awful things the characters do will make them appealing, not as cautionary tales or examinations of the ugly parts of the human psyche, but because they're "dark" and "gritty" and "edgy." They know over-the-top caricatures are one of the quickest ways to get lauded as "realistic" by audiences and critics.
And whether they know it or not, they're very often living out their own fantasies. Consider for example David #Mamet, who after decades of building a reputation as an unflinching observer of the worst excesses of #masculinity, has now shown that he desperately wants to be the protagonist of his own stories. He won't do it, of course, but he takes great satisfaction in imagining he could. There are many others, most lacking Mamet's fame but with the same Walter-Mitty-as-played-by-Christian-Bale nest of snakes in their heads.
Writers who are confronted with this accusation usually don't take it well. I get that, because I've been one of them. But if we're going to make a big deal about looking into the abyss, our own motivations are a good place to start.
https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/im-tired-of-anti-heroes
A story in two parts:
"Probably doesnt help that pharmaceutical companies are about as trustworthy as the national press in most countries. Nobody believes a word they say anymore due to hidden agendas and historic manipulation of information for corporate greed."
"well its either [Trump] or cackling Kamila and her merry band of men dressed as women in government so its just which is the lesser of two evils 🤔"
Both comments are from the same poster, in the same thread. You can probably guess the context. I've left grammar and spelling intact, because you know, I like to cite my sources accurately.
This is why I look side-eyed at people who claim to distruct #vaccines, or any #medications really, on the basis of #corporate malfeasance. Yes, #pharmaceutical companies tend toward greed and corruption. So do all companies. The bigger they get, the worse their behavior gets, and some pharmas are among the biggest corporations on the planet. Most aren't, BTW—small #biotechs betting everything they have on one or two possible treatments outnumber the Pfizers and Lillys about ten thousand to one. That being said, I do understand where the idea of drug development as a monolith comes from.
It's not why people go #antivax. I'd like to believe it was, because that would mean it might be possible to get through to them. I've learned better. Scratch anyone who uses the kind of vaguely leftish rhetoric in the first comment, on this particular topic, and there's a really good chance you'll find a right-wing loon. #NotAll as needed, but close enough. Most of the rest are lefties who seem determined to prove horseshoe theory.
And it *works*. Lots of mostly reasonable people will nod along with comments like the first, and never even see the second. If it gets posted at all—good propagandists are a lot smarter than this guy.
The effectiveness of this rhetoric is a big part of the reason why we currently have mass murderers in charge of our medical research system. They may kill you, and they will almost certainly kill at least a few people who matter to you. Do not forget.
TIL that back in July, I got a $12.85 #royalty check. That's for about a year's worth of sales.
Guess I'm not going to be retiring to live the fabulous life movies assure us #writers have after their Big Break. Scrimp and suffer and starve until ... ta da! You make that all-important sale and then you're rolling around cackling and naked on piles of cash.
Well, I grew up in a #writing household, so I've known for a long time that's not how it works. Once upon a time I had what I thought was a realistic hope of supporting myself on my writing income, but I gave up expecting it a long time ago—
—and this is the first writing money of *any* amount I've received in over twenty years. Feels like a win to me.
If you think having a #degree makes you a better person than people who don’t have a degree, fuck you.
If you think not having a degree makes you a better person than people who do have a degree, fuck you.
Both of these #attitudes are shit. One of them is currently a much bigger problem than the other.
"Mediocrity" is far too kind, but yes, all of this. I'll add that while #Hegseth's plans are terrible for a #military which is expected to #defend the nation, they're not bad for a military intended to be used *against* the nation. And I'm quite sure that's what he has in his sad excuse for a mind.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/hegseth-headlong-pursuit-academic-mediocrity-100000292.html
Incidentally, there are older versions still on #US #government websites that have the full text, e.g. <https://www.senate.gov/civics/resources/pdf/US_Constitution-Senate_Publication_103-21.pdf>. They're not just scum, they're *sloppy* scum. Which may be the only thing that can save us, really.
Every time I think the vastly misnamed #Republicans can't get any lower, they have to go and prove me wrong. They are now #censoring the #Constitution.
BTW, the pages aren't only missing from the direct links, e.g. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-9/ , they're also missing from the index of Article I, https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/ . There's no possible way this is a glitch.
The phrase "foreign and domestic" popped up in my head for some reason.
Making the impossible look effortless is the mark of a great #writer.
I guess I’m just a good writer.
Well, I’m all right.
"It's only #pedantry if you're right. Otherwise it's just sparkling fuckheadedness."
We've been hearing announcements about possible #artificial #blood for as long as I've been in #medicine and #research (over thirty years at this point) and none of them have ever panned out. Sooner or later, presumably, one of them will—and if this turns out to be it, great. But I'm not holding my breath.
Not posted for agreement, if you share from my post please leave my commentary intact, etc. This came up in a #fantasy and #sciencefiction writing group on Facebook. I disagree with it, but it's a worthy topic for discussion.
There's nothing magical about #numbers IMO: like any other part of #worldbuilding, they should be dropped into the story when they're useful and left out when they're not. Give the readers enough to understand the world, without multiple paragraphs of exposition or "as you know, Bob" dialog.
I live in #Colorado and spend as much time as possible in the #mountains. When people are talking about mountains—as the characters in my current work do a lot—they throw numbers around. #Elevation, map #distance, and time all matter a great deal when you're planning a hike. Since they're #explorers in a mostly unmapped world, they need all the information they can get. Qualitative details like #flora, #fauna, and #climate matter at least as much, so they talk about those too.
Number soup is boring, but as a seasoning rather than a main ingredient, numbers can really help add flavor. Readers who know mountains will recognize the way my characters talk, and those who don't will hopefully pick up on the authenticity. Anyone who wants to challenge my numbers at a con is welcome to do so, but I try to make sure they need to bring their A-game.
I understand that when it's time to pay up, he can be a real bastard.
When I am #dictator, everyone who makes a claim "according to #scientific #studies," or similar phrasing, will have one hour to produce their #citations. Those who fail to do so will be used as #study #subjects for whatever comes up.
And *yes*, this message is aimed at least as much at my leftie friends as my right-wing foes. I expect that kind of petty stupidity from them. You? Do better.
No matter who you are, or what else you have to say, if you refer to one of two major #US #political #parties as the "Democrat Party," you're a shmuck and I really don't care about your opinion. There are no exceptions to this rule.
This is very well done, like the rest of the #Dinosauria episodes. Great #animation, impeccable #paleontology—or history of paleontology, in this case—and a story about predator-prey conflict that doesn't end the way you expect. I recommend the entire series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH57rtnKCEM
The Crystal Palace #dinosaurs don't look like anything that's ever lived on Earth, but they do look like something that *could* have lived. In retrospect, they're a lot more believable than the upright tail-draggers that dominated #paleoart for most of the following century! So it's good to see them brought to life, even briefly. Somewhere in the #multiverse ...
Bioinformaticist / biostatistician, veteran USAF medic and Army infantryman, armchair paleontologist, occasional science fiction author, long-ago kickboxer, oldbat goth, vaccinated liberal patriot.
Joined Oct 2022
