Rollofthedice
@hotrollhottakes.bsky.social
We are living in a ghost cave.
My blog, "Dissolved Distinctions" - investigating contemporary discourse within philosophy of mind: https://rollofthedice2.substack.com/
My blog, "Dissolved Distinctions" - investigating contemporary discourse within philosophy of mind: https://rollofthedice2.substack.com/
Pinned
Mind Watching Mind, All The Way Down
Exploring theories of metacognition, and out-Hofstadtering Hofstadter
rollofthedice2.substack.com
Tonight on Dissolved Distinctions, I finally finish thinking about thinking about how to stop procrastinating on blog posts about metacognition. What happens when mind watches mind? Why do we have all these theories? Why can't anybody make up their minds? rollofthedice2.substack.com/p/mind-watch...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
"Doctor McCoy. If she is a Barbie girl, is it not logical to presume that she might be found in a Barbie world?"
"Damn your green-blooded logic, Spock! Can't you see that a life in plastic is fantastic?"
"Damn your green-blooded logic, Spock! Can't you see that a life in plastic is fantastic?"
November 16, 2025 at 3:23 PM
"Doctor McCoy. If she is a Barbie girl, is it not logical to presume that she might be found in a Barbie world?"
"Damn your green-blooded logic, Spock! Can't you see that a life in plastic is fantastic?"
"Damn your green-blooded logic, Spock! Can't you see that a life in plastic is fantastic?"
Reposted by Rollofthedice
very funny that John Ganz - Mr. “I can be a dick to everyone because I just call it like I see it” - went on Ezra Klein’s show and was perfectly friendly and polite. one begins to suspect the principle is selectively deployed
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
very funny that John Ganz - Mr. “I can be a dick to everyone because I just call it like I see it” - went on Ezra Klein’s show and was perfectly friendly and polite. one begins to suspect the principle is selectively deployed
Reposted by Rollofthedice
The rate of global deforestation is slowing rapidly - with China now in fact leading the way on planting more forest than it cuts down:
www.carbonbrief.org/un-report-fi...
www.carbonbrief.org/un-report-fi...
UN report: Five charts showing how global deforestation is declining - Carbon Brief
The amount of forest lost around the world has reduced by millions of hectares each year in recent decades, says a UN report.
www.carbonbrief.org
November 17, 2025 at 10:04 AM
The rate of global deforestation is slowing rapidly - with China now in fact leading the way on planting more forest than it cuts down:
www.carbonbrief.org/un-report-fi...
www.carbonbrief.org/un-report-fi...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has been getting noticeably less attention and follow-up from authorities, per NYT, as the DHS is overwhelmingly used for Stephen Miller’s immigration crusade
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
November 17, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has been getting noticeably less attention and follow-up from authorities, per NYT, as the DHS is overwhelmingly used for Stephen Miller’s immigration crusade
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Incredible video from Reddit (too large to upload the screencap). CBP agents attempt to detain a flower vendor and end up getting chased into a vacant lot by a crowd of teenagers. What a bunch of impotent sad sacks.
www.reddit.com/r/EyesOnIce/...
www.reddit.com/r/EyesOnIce/...
November 17, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Incredible video from Reddit (too large to upload the screencap). CBP agents attempt to detain a flower vendor and end up getting chased into a vacant lot by a crowd of teenagers. What a bunch of impotent sad sacks.
www.reddit.com/r/EyesOnIce/...
www.reddit.com/r/EyesOnIce/...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
one of the most common forms of protest is against the harassment of street vendors by chengguan, which parallels to some degree spontaneous protest against ICE. But what you don't get is everyday protests in particular sites - the authorities will tolerate the spontaneous but not the organized.
November 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM
one of the most common forms of protest is against the harassment of street vendors by chengguan, which parallels to some degree spontaneous protest against ICE. But what you don't get is everyday protests in particular sites - the authorities will tolerate the spontaneous but not the organized.
Reposted by Rollofthedice
all of these are things people very much do in China, a state where the police often torture people, dissidents are disappeared, and which runs labor camps. even in authoritarian states there are different layers in who the police have impunity to brutalize and who they don't.
You DEFINITELY wouldn't be out on the street, yelling at cops, or pleading with them to be honorable, or demanding to see their ID.
You just...Would Not.
(Throwing food at a cop? Under fascism, you'd be better off just jumping into the river instead of the beating - or bullet - you'd get.)
/12
You just...Would Not.
(Throwing food at a cop? Under fascism, you'd be better off just jumping into the river instead of the beating - or bullet - you'd get.)
/12
November 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM
all of these are things people very much do in China, a state where the police often torture people, dissidents are disappeared, and which runs labor camps. even in authoritarian states there are different layers in who the police have impunity to brutalize and who they don't.
Reposted by Rollofthedice
your weekly political data roundup is here: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-hits...
Trump hits a record low with political independents — in every state
Your weekly political data roundup for November 16, 2025
www.gelliottmorris.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM
your weekly political data roundup is here: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-hits...
The funny thing is that this is extremely true - streaming comparisons fundamentally miss how optimized streaming services generally are for serving demand after a decade+ of infrastructure development - but there are perhaps more valid scold innovations. Like US beef consumption, for example
Slightly tangential but OP wanting people to give up "streaming services" to save the planet is extremely telling. Streaming services are ludicrously easy to decarbonise (they already run on electricity, and are actually wildly efficient computing compared to say AI) and pretty low carbon already
November 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The funny thing is that this is extremely true - streaming comparisons fundamentally miss how optimized streaming services generally are for serving demand after a decade+ of infrastructure development - but there are perhaps more valid scold innovations. Like US beef consumption, for example
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Alice Wong, a writer and activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and who fought relentlessly for equal rights and access for people with disabilities, died on Friday. She was 51. nyti.ms/4r9WqEr
November 15, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Alice Wong, a writer and activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and who fought relentlessly for equal rights and access for people with disabilities, died on Friday. She was 51. nyti.ms/4r9WqEr
Partner was scrolling Facebook and saw this
November 15, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Partner was scrolling Facebook and saw this
Reposted by Rollofthedice
i think a good example of Propaganda Works is the number of you who think that the national Democratic Party spent the years 2013 to 2020 denouncing Americans for insufficient Tumblr-speak
November 15, 2025 at 6:55 PM
i think a good example of Propaganda Works is the number of you who think that the national Democratic Party spent the years 2013 to 2020 denouncing Americans for insufficient Tumblr-speak
Reposted by Rollofthedice
can’t really express the level of contempt i have for what is just a form of solipsism. “the things that annoy me are the only things that exist and also the worst things imaginable”
November 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
can’t really express the level of contempt i have for what is just a form of solipsism. “the things that annoy me are the only things that exist and also the worst things imaginable”
For all the people saying China is being "smarter" by deemphasizing humanoid robotics, that doesn't seem to really be the case at all given the news over there in the past couple months. www.scmp.com/tech/tech-tr...
China’s humanoid robots: UBTech scores US$112 million in factory orders
Buoyed by industrial orders and the sector’s momentum, UBTech’s share price has gained more than 150 per cent this year.
www.scmp.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
For all the people saying China is being "smarter" by deemphasizing humanoid robotics, that doesn't seem to really be the case at all given the news over there in the past couple months. www.scmp.com/tech/tech-tr...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
you just drive up there and they do doctor stuff to you and when you think they've done enough stuff you stand up and you get a thumbs up or a thumbs down and leave. that's how it works.
November 15, 2025 at 2:32 AM
you just drive up there and they do doctor stuff to you and when you think they've done enough stuff you stand up and you get a thumbs up or a thumbs down and leave. that's how it works.
Reposted by Rollofthedice
this has 2.5 million hits on tiktok and it's literally just asking "what do you mean trump gave bill clinton a blow job" incredulously
i'm sorry everyone the allegation just has massive virality
i'm sorry everyone the allegation just has massive virality
November 15, 2025 at 3:15 AM
this has 2.5 million hits on tiktok and it's literally just asking "what do you mean trump gave bill clinton a blow job" incredulously
i'm sorry everyone the allegation just has massive virality
i'm sorry everyone the allegation just has massive virality
Reposted by Rollofthedice
wordclouds in the wordsky
November 15, 2025 at 1:23 AM
wordclouds in the wordsky
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Alex Hirsch doesn't own anything. Dana Terrace doesn't own anything. Guillermo Del Toro doesn't own anything, Matt Youngberg (especially) doesn't own anything. Yet they fail to realize the issue. They have less rights over their own works than the average fanfiction writer.
November 14, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Alex Hirsch doesn't own anything. Dana Terrace doesn't own anything. Guillermo Del Toro doesn't own anything, Matt Youngberg (especially) doesn't own anything. Yet they fail to realize the issue. They have less rights over their own works than the average fanfiction writer.
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Woman Might be Fired for Long Fingernails (1946)
Source: Hennepin County Library
Pat Simpson, age 19, writes a letter and displays her polished nails, which caused the building superintendent where she works to threaten her job. She was told to cut her 5-month-long nails or leave.
Source: Hennepin County Library
Pat Simpson, age 19, writes a letter and displays her polished nails, which caused the building superintendent where she works to threaten her job. She was told to cut her 5-month-long nails or leave.
November 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Woman Might be Fired for Long Fingernails (1946)
Source: Hennepin County Library
Pat Simpson, age 19, writes a letter and displays her polished nails, which caused the building superintendent where she works to threaten her job. She was told to cut her 5-month-long nails or leave.
Source: Hennepin County Library
Pat Simpson, age 19, writes a letter and displays her polished nails, which caused the building superintendent where she works to threaten her job. She was told to cut her 5-month-long nails or leave.
Reposted by Rollofthedice
I downloaded the app. Texting with Jesus is free at first, but you have to register and pay for more than 4 texts. Apostles and leading prophets are available for text chats for an extra 4.99 a month each. (I am not making this up.)
November 15, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I downloaded the app. Texting with Jesus is free at first, but you have to register and pay for more than 4 texts. Apostles and leading prophets are available for text chats for an extra 4.99 a month each. (I am not making this up.)
Reposted by Rollofthedice
People should be allowed to have a THC seltzer if they want to
November 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
People should be allowed to have a THC seltzer if they want to
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Early in the Jiajing Emperor's reign, there was a cat in the Forbidden City with fine, curly fur that was all slate-grey save for two eyebrows of the purest white, for which the cat was named Frostbrows. (1)
also this, from 宛署雜記; will translate this afternoon if I get a minute:
嘉靖初年，禁中有貓美毛而虯，微青色，惟雙眉瑩然潔白，因號曰霜眉。性不喜噬物，而善解人意，目逐之即逃匿，呼其名則疾至，為舞蹈之狀。旦夕隨駕所之，若侍從然。上或時假寐，霜眉輒相依不暫離，即飢渴或便液必俟醒乃去。上以是憐而異之，封為虯龍。
忽一日，向上前若疲而泣者，有頃走他所，盤曲以死。上命內侍葬之萬歲山陰，勒其碑曰虯龍墓云。夫貓微物耳，一或戀主，而生榮死恤，且足傳不朽，此之謂忠無不酬，德及禽獸，有如人臣盡忠報國，奚翅虯龍，或者激勸微義，先帝固亦有取爾已。
嘉靖初年，禁中有貓美毛而虯，微青色，惟雙眉瑩然潔白，因號曰霜眉。性不喜噬物，而善解人意，目逐之即逃匿，呼其名則疾至，為舞蹈之狀。旦夕隨駕所之，若侍從然。上或時假寐，霜眉輒相依不暫離，即飢渴或便液必俟醒乃去。上以是憐而異之，封為虯龍。
忽一日，向上前若疲而泣者，有頃走他所，盤曲以死。上命內侍葬之萬歲山陰，勒其碑曰虯龍墓云。夫貓微物耳，一或戀主，而生榮死恤，且足傳不朽，此之謂忠無不酬，德及禽獸，有如人臣盡忠報國，奚翅虯龍，或者激勸微義，先帝固亦有取爾已。
貓兒房，近侍三、四人，專飼御前有名分之貓。凡聖心所鍾愛者，亦加升管事職銜。牡者曰「某小廝」騸者曰「某老爺」，牝者曰「某丫頭」
The Cat Office employed three or four attendants to feed cats of recognized status. Favorites of the Emperor received promotions: males were styled “pages;” females, “maids;” neutered cats were addressed in the manner of senior eunuchs.
The Cat Office employed three or four attendants to feed cats of recognized status. Favorites of the Emperor received promotions: males were styled “pages;” females, “maids;” neutered cats were addressed in the manner of senior eunuchs.
November 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Early in the Jiajing Emperor's reign, there was a cat in the Forbidden City with fine, curly fur that was all slate-grey save for two eyebrows of the purest white, for which the cat was named Frostbrows. (1)
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Only 29% of Americans support using the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers without a judge or court being involved, a rebuke of President Donald Trump's strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
www.reuters.com/world/us/jus...
www.reuters.com/world/us/jus...
November 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Only 29% of Americans support using the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers without a judge or court being involved, a rebuke of President Donald Trump's strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
www.reuters.com/world/us/jus...
www.reuters.com/world/us/jus...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
Remember when that train derailed in Ohio and we heard about it for months?
Contrast - what have you seen about this since the week it happened?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/u...
Contrast - what have you seen about this since the week it happened?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/u...
The blast that killed 16 people at a Tennessee workplace set off 24,000 pounds of explosives, authorities say | CNN
The catastrophe at a Tennessee explosives plant started in a building that made devices used for mining and detonated more than 24,000 pounds of explosives, authorities said Friday.
www.cnn.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Remember when that train derailed in Ohio and we heard about it for months?
Contrast - what have you seen about this since the week it happened?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/u...
Contrast - what have you seen about this since the week it happened?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/u...
Reposted by Rollofthedice
The Trump administration last week announced new rules that constitute the “most devastating housing cuts in modern U.S. history,” according to Minnesota organizations that house people transitioning out of homelessness.
HUD cuts funding for supporting housing that serves more than 3,600 Minnesotans • Minnesota Reformer
New federal rules issued last week constitute the “most devastating housing cuts in modern U.S. history,” according to Minnesota organizations that provide housing to people exiting homelessness.
minnesotareformer.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
The Trump administration last week announced new rules that constitute the “most devastating housing cuts in modern U.S. history,” according to Minnesota organizations that house people transitioning out of homelessness.