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Your view of self-defense is exactly the same as mine. I should have been clearer.
Borderline cases should be addressed by fully informed juries, as to their right to acquit if they think the law or a conviction would be unjust. Unfortunately, prosecutors are allowed to dismiss jurors who won't be sheep.
We'll have to disagree on the last point, though I'd admit that some conquerors came out ahead. But those days seem long gone; it's mostly about mutual destruction and the waste of capital now.
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The amazing thing about ChatGPT's answer is that it 100% correct. Japan was the only country on the receiving end of nuclear weapons. Here's the immediate and longer term aftermath:
Immediate Resolution of Conflicts: The number of US troops killed invading Japan went from an estimated 100,000 to a known 0. President Truman considered this carefully before ordering the bombs be used. Japan's estimated deaths for an invasion were also 100,000 vs. actual deaths of around 100,000. So the first part is correct, an estimated 100,000 people were saved by using these two bombs.
Resource Redistribution: The rebuilding of Hiroshima and Nagasaki involved huge amounts of resource redistribution by both Japan and the United States.
Technological Advancement: From the end of WWII to the Japanese financial meltdown in the mid-1990s, Japan led the world in technological advancements.
Now, I don't agree with the final "If I were in charge" statement, but the three items listed for using nuclear weapons are all demonstrably true in the one instance where they were used.
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François Chollet
Deep Learning with Python
Picking a loss function
Imagine a stupid, omnipotent AI trained via SGD with this poorly chosen objective function: “maximizing the average well-being of all humans alive.” To make its job easier, this AI might choose to kill all humans except a few and focus on the well-being of the remaining ones — because average well-being isn’t affected by how many humans are left. That might not be what you intended!
Just remember that all neural networks you build will be just as ruthless in lowering their loss function - so choose the objective wisely, or you’ll have to face unintended side effects.
Deep Learning with Python[^]
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The objective 'maximise human happiness' could go horribly wrong too.
That could result in humans being battery farmed to maximise the population. How often have people said 'the happiest day of my life is when my son was born'
Nothing in 'maximise human happiness' says there can not be pain, misery and suffering too.
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How would you consider / know what happiness is, if there were no pain, misery and / or suffering?
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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RainHat wrote: Nothing in 'maximise human happiness' says there can not be pain, misery and suffering too.
Especially when one group's happiness is done at the expense of another's. Now that can lead to scary thoughts. See humankind's history.
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Wow, just wow.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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I've never been a fan of "Best N" lists, as they tend to be hugely subjective, but they're at least a good starting point for a To Be Read list: 75 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time - What Is The Best Science Fiction Book Ever Written?[^] (sadly, I've only read about 30 of them - probably a few more, but I can't remember all the plot, and it's been decades, so I didn't count a few classics).
And on that note, I have my semi-regular question - any recent novels like Niven's Known Space stuff out there anymore?
TTFN - Kent
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I don't like saying this, but I hated "Project Hail Mary" so much.
Also, if you liked 1984, have a look at 2084 by Boualem Sansal.
It's as oppressive as 1984 in a different way.
CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair
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Interesting - what didn't you like about it? Too similar to The Martian? The banter?
TTFN - Kent
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plot armor.
I was more interested on what was happening on earth.
CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair
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I mean, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is classic, and laugh out loud funny.
I've reread them many times as a child, and as an adult, and I don't even like sci-fi!
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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I agree. Adams had a way with words.
I recommend one of his lesser known books, "Last Chance To See" , 1990.
It's a slow but eye opening documentary.
Also recommend Kurt Vonnegut's
"Cat's Cradle",
"Breakfast of Champions" and
"Sirens of Titan"
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Did not read the book but saw the movie "Solaris" directed by Tarkovski which was impressive, maybe when I'm retired I will read the book
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and very very slow
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Yes, definitely not a movie for impatient people, best enjoyed with a stiff drink
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Tarkovsky himself was not very pleased with the film either, this is what I found on IMDB:
Quote: This was the most widely seen of Andrei Tarkovsky's films outside of the Soviet Union. However, Tarkovsky himself reportedly considered it the least favorite of the films he directed. Not being a fan of the science fiction genre (which he criticized for its "comic book trappings and vulgar commercialism"), he was nevertheless persuaded to propose this adaptation of the eponymous and popular sci-fi novel 'Solaris' to appease the Soviet censors
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Scott Jucha, The Silver Ships "Anomaly detected," Tara's dulcet voice announced.
The Silver Ships is the first of a 20-book series. There are two other series, The Pyreans and Gate Ghosts that add another 18 books (4 for The Pyreans and 14 Gate Ghosts).
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20 books since 2015? Busy busy. Thank you, will look into it.
TTFN - Kent
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38 books. Jucha releases one every quarter or so. Here's the reading order:
Books 1-15 of Silver Ships - stop before reading Alliance
The Pyreans (all four books)
Books 16-20 of Silver Ships
Gate Ghosts in order
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Kent Sharkey wrote: any recent novels like Niven's Known Space stuff out there anymore? Can't tell as I do not recognise that one, so I suppose I didn't read it.
Have you read "Limit" by Frank Schätzing?
EDIT: I agree with some of the comments, it looks like quite biased. I miss some good books in there.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
modified 15-Jul-24 17:13pm.
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1300 pages? That's way past the limit!
Oh wait, only 1200 pages in English . Added to my TBR, thank you.
TTFN - Kent
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"The Year's Best Science Fiction" Editor Gardner Dozois
Short stories.
Maybe 20 books in the series
Alas there will be no more.
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I really liked Crighton's Prey.
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Have you read David Weber's Honon Harrington series? I liked it a lot.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
The shortest horror story: On Error Resume Next
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