volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
@watson@freeatlantis.com I mean, they may have just reelected Biden by making the GOP look so incompetent.
Yeah, traitor sounds about right.
@lamp elixir is a type of programming language called a functional one, and while functional languages are a little different from more common ones, they have some big theoretical advantages.
If programmers can wrap their heads around them :)
In theory, VERY briefly, functional languages write safer code that's inherently tailored to scale across multiple CPUs and cores, which make them pretty interesting for the multi-core processing we have today.
But functional programming languages face a chicken and egg problem where they're not popular, so people don't learn them, so they're not popular.
@grrlscientist@mstdn.social
That description gets it a bit backwards.
It's not that companies could score billions but that should the lower court's ruling stand a whole lot of us would be hosed, as we would be taxed on "income" that we never received.
It's not about companies scoring but about a law trying to make me and you pay taxes on money we don't have, arguably in violation of the Constitution which is supposed to protect us from exactly that.
@NewsDesk far right and Democratic.
The small sliver of the Republican party would have no influence at all without the Democratic caucus voting with them.
I think you have that backwards since Threads would be part of Fediverse becoming more mainstream.
Threads would give a lot more people involvement in Fediverse.
@petersuber I think this gets the causation backwards.
Book bans occur BECAUSE people distrust the expertise of the folks proposing to use their expertise to choose books.
It's a symptom, not a cause.
Educators need to realize this and work with their public to rehabilitate trust. Otherwise they'll just see the sour relationship continue.
@watson@freeatlantis.com or maybe he simply figured hardliners in his party would give him the boot soon enough, so he might as well not bother getting too settled?
And he would have been right.
That seems like a much more reasonable explanation.
@manton McCarthy pushed to give Democrats more of a say in the legislative process, though.
It's not about saving McCarthy. It's about deciding whether they want to have a functioning legislative chamber, and the Democrats decided against it.
Whether that's good or bad is up to the voter, but they need to hold their representatives accountable for that decision.
@mnutty you say the House has been unable to put together budgetary legislation, but that's not true. Here's just one list of the legislation they've been moving on.
But in the end, if Congress doesn't fund an executive agency that's literally because they haven't found the agency to have presented a compelling case for funding.
@watson@freeatlantis.com yeah historic consequence as he helps get Democrats re-elected as Republicans are shown to be clowns.
Although I'm pretty sure that's not what he was aiming for.
@lovelylovely I mean those claims have largely been discredited by now.
I don't know why anybody would continue to promote them other than blind ignorance or outright political dishonesty trying to promote personal causes.
Either way, it's pretty antisocial, and not convincing to anyone who is informed.
It just plays into division in the country.
@charlotteclymer you say hardest way possible, but I'm really getting the impression that McCarthy really enjoys this ending.
He came out ahead. He made his escape from an impossible situation having been speaker and made a fool of the idiots who were such a thorn in his side.
Pelosi did have it easy. She was speaker when the majority was held by a party that was suspiciously okay with toeing lines and following the crowd, which stands in start contrast to Republicans, but that doesn't really say much about the two different speakers.
Anyway, good on McCarthy. It looks like he did what he set out to do and now the House has to deal with the result of this chaos bourne of collaboration between Democrats and Republican extremists.
We get the government we vote for.
Meh the party generally rejects these assholes but had to tolerate them because the majority was so slim.
But the assholes certainly don't represent the whole party that is largely sick of them and has been for a long time.
@fraying meh. I'd say either is sufficient: one doesn't have to assume a lot about technology to think little of humans.
@kwheaton you're still missing how it was designed AND how it works today.
The House represents population, representing the majority of people. The Senate represents states, representing the majority of states.
BOTH work to counter the tyranny of the minority, as without the Senate the House would have minorities of states able to take control while without the House the Senate would have minorities of populations taking control.
Both chambers were set up **and continue to operate today** as checks against tyranny of minority.
But like you yourself highlighted, the point is that no, the Senate doesn't favor any states. It has equal representation of all states, exactly as it's supposed to in order to avoid tyranny of the minority of states.
Makes perfect sense today as ever.
@jimlil well, FWIW, I do see a lot of that even though you don't.
Different feeds and subscriptions, I suppose.
But if it matters, then FYI, there is a lot of that on this platform at least in some webs.
One problem is that people who take that position seem vocal about actively excluding new people, pushing for instance bans and such.
@watson@freeatlantis.com the Congressional Record debunks this claim.
Yes, a lot was done. It makes no sense to deny that when we can see it with our own eyes.
@watson@freeatlantis.com and so there are serious questions being raised about Gaetz's honesty when he makes these charges.
He's not exactly a guy who invites people to believe his claims.
The vast majority of members voting against continuing were Democrats, so for better or worse, it was really thanks for them.
Had they not supported Gaetz the far right lawmakers would have no influence in the Congress.
@radhakrishnan@mas.to well no.
He was ousted by 216 members who decided they'd rather shut down the chamber, for better or worse.
A member like Gaetz doesn't have such authority under our system.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
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