• 「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」(he/him)@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    As I pondered at what I could possibly ask, I blurted out “Do I get time to think about this or do I have to ask it like… right now?”

    OH SHIT FUCK I DIDN’T MEAN TO ASK…

    “It doesn’t matter anymore, now you don’t.”

    And with that, I realized… I FUCKED UP…

  • magnue@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Have you ever had a dream that you, um, you had, your, you- you could, you’ll do, you- you wants, you, you could do so, you- you’ll do, you could- you, you want, you want him to do you so much you could do anything?

  • schnapsman@feddit.org
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    4 days ago

    What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      The omnipotent being in question may not enjoy this programmer’s ploy to wish for more wishes.

      It’s technically quite clever, but depending on who you’re asking, it could be dangerous route to take.

    • SanguinePar@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      2 - Q: What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element is the answer to that question?

      A: 1 - What is the two element set where the first element is the best possible question I could ask and the second element…

      • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
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        3 days ago

        While funny, this answer to the question is useless, thus making the question not actually be good, so the answer would have to be different. The only issue is it could lead to a paradox, where if the answer were to be useful the question would actually be good, possibly the best, which would mean it should’ve been the answer, etc.

    • AstralPath@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      I’d rephrase and ask "where is the most similarly advanced - relative to humans- intelligent life outside the solar system.

      I wanna weed out all the low hanging fruit and find folks we might have a chance of talking to at some point.

      • Keshara@piefed.blahaj.zone
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        5 days ago

        At that point, why go for ‘similarly advanced’? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to target intelligent life that has far outdone our own technologies?

        We would probably have a better chance at real communication with them too

    • jaycifer@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Why not “what specifically should scientists focus on to develop functional near or faster than light space travel?” Then people can just go check where the aliens are or are not!

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Might get stuck with a small payout.

      “What are the winning numbers for the next lottery drawing with a payout of over $500 million?”

      • jaycifer@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Not specific enough, what if the next $500 million dollar equivalent payout is in another country and you miss it? Maybe specify the next US Powerball over $500 million?

      • HeyJoe@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Why stop there? 1 billion please. It reaches this like 1 to 2 times a year now.

        Edit: just for clarification that becomes 477 million lump sum after taxes.

      • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        Might be different up here in Canada. But up here you can either ask for a random ticket, or you can fill in a card with the numbers that you want (lucky numbers, etc…)

          • CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            I sympathise, but the cliché is not strictly true. Nature is all about diversity. Just like humans have a certain ratio of “bad apples” born where someone is hard wired wrong, so do dogs, and likely all animals.

            Psychopathology is real. It would be a mistake to deny Nature it’s agency. There are people who belong in an institution. Dogs perhaps moreso.

            To your point, yes most problems are attributable to bad trainers, but even here there is something missing. Bad breeders - natural reproduction would select for fitness, and truly bad dogs would be limited to a small fraction of background instances. We have lots of people actively breeding killers with outsized agression and fear and ferocity, with hair triggers, on purpose. I’m not talking about guard dogs where fierce protective instincts are balanced with loyalty and bonding and intelligence. I mean literal psychokillers.

            I’m circling around Pit-Bulls and the like, but I need to be clear. The breed is fine. Some of my best friends are pit bulls. Diversity naturally makes most of them good dogs, just more context dependant and trainer demanding. I’m not talking about those. I’m only referring to a small subset that were overbred and the natural background level of freakshow.

            If you’ve only known pets from reputable breeders, accidental litters or the shelter rescues, understand that these select for the good dogs. If that’s all you know, you would have reason to doubt that bad dogs are possible.

  • Aeri@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    “What will be the official winning numbers, stated as five white-ball numbers in ascending order, followed by the Mega Ball and the Megaplier, for the Mega Millions drawing held on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time?”

  • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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    5 days ago

    Easy: How does subjective conscious experience arise from physical processes in the brain?

    • isyasad@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      The physical processes themselves are the so-called subjective conscious experience in a way that cannot be better described by an abstraction.
      There’s no such thing as a conscious experience without physical processes and no hard-line difference between different physical reactions that would differentiate consciousness and non-consciousness.

      • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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        4 days ago

        By consciousness I mean the fact of experience - that it feels like something to be. That things have qualia.

        It’s perfectly conceivable to imagine a human-like creature acting just like us and having a brain processing all that information, but it doesn’t feel like anything to be that creature. A philosophical zombie, so to speak.

        That’s what’s utterly mystical to me. How can physical processes inside the brain give rise to subjective experiences i.e. consciousness?

        • isyasad@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          What I imagine to be the “true” answer to the question is that “consciousness” isn’t really real, but if it’s thought of as a result of physical/chemical properties, then there’s no dividing line between what reactions count as consciousness (ie, a waterfall or tectonic plate could also be conscious).

          You can’t prove that you experience that sort of intangible experience and it can’t be measured or well-defined, so I’m personally inclined to not really believe in it at all.
          OR if we do accept that it’s a result of chemical reactions and we want to define it in terms of those, then there’s not a strong reason to differentiate a human experience from rocks or computers or waterfalls.
          I think people are inclined to think that such a thing exists because we have the abilities of memory and communication, but the concept itself I think is not very useful. Which is why I suspect that a magically True answer would say that the physicality of the brain itself is as close as you can get to that idea.

          • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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            3 days ago

            Well, there’s zero doubt whether I’m conscious myself. It’s the only thing in the entire universe that I’m absolutely sure cannot be an illusion, because the fact that it is like something to be me (whatever “me” is) is undeniable from my subjective perspective.

            But you’re right that I can’t make absolute statements about the conscious states of other people, animals, or even inanimate objects like rocks. I’m fairly certain that other humans are conscious too. This applies to animals as well, and it’s probably like something to be an insect. A rock, however? I’m not going to claim with absolute certainty that it’s not like anything to be a rock, but the thought of that is so incomprehensible that I don’t really waste much time even thinking about it.

    • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
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      4 days ago

      somebody will argue that consciousness was there first and the whole body + brain is actually kind of a dream …

      (not how i view it though. i have a different answer)

      my answer is that consciousness does not emanate from the brain at all, but from the fact that we are alive. in other words, i believe that consciousness is a property that many or all forms of life have evolved to have because/as long as it is advantageous to them. this view is called “existentialism” btw. things derive from the fact that we exist (as living beings).

      • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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        4 days ago

        I don’t think that’s existentialism. Existentialism is about the meaning of human existence, freedom, and authenticity - not about whether consciousness emerges from the brain or from being alive. Your view sounds more like a some form of panpsychism.