This whole post just reads as a shallow attempt to justify odd behaviour and poor communication and try to disguise it as some argument against vanity (while ironically being quite vain as his tone comes off as high handed).
I wonder how many times he thought he knew better and it bite him in the arse? He did allude to it, but I suspect it far more often than he would be willing to admit.
> Car insurance: the last time I bought car insurance, I had to confirm three times that I only wanted coverage for damage I do to others with no coverage for damage to my own vehicle if I'm at fault. The insurance agent was unable to refrain from looking at me like I'm an idiot and was more incredulous each time they asked if I was really sure
This is typically more expensive as people that get third party insurance are usually newer (and younger drivers) so the insurance company will charge you more because their algorithm for determining cost will factor that in. So I don't doubt he was getting strange looks because it likely cost him more money and you don't get the obvious benefit of full comprehensive.
This and the laptop situation screams of "I made a strange request and didn't explain my motivations and then I wondered why I got strange looks".
It is just him communication poorly. Which isn't anything to brag about.
> On the flip side, the person I was living with at the time didn't want to wear the mask I got her since she found it too embarrassing to wear a mask when no one else was and become one of the early bay area covid cases, which gave her a case of long covid that floored her for months
The whole mask effectiveness isn't as straight forward as he thinks it is. His flatmate after the mixed messaging from the media probably thought it was a wash and decided to just fit in with everyone else and was unlucky as a result.
I have no idea why this guy is so popular. Whenever I read anything from him he seems completely unlikeable.
> People had enormous confidence that Newtonian physics was true UNTIL a better model proved to be more accurate (relativity). There is no problem with 100% consensus in science. There are still accepted methods to change the system when new ideas are actually better.
Newtonian Physics is a fine model as long as the speeds are not relativistic. Relativity was not the "replacement" and Relativity and Quantum Mechanics do not mesh at all.
If I am a Mechanical Engineer, I would not be applying Quantum Mechanics of Relativistic Theories. I would be applying classical theories.
> So has "humans cause climate change" gained trust over time, based on more and more evidence. It is the closest to truth we can be. It is perfectly plausible that a better theory may arise, but it's incredibly unlikely. We must accept it as fact until that time (which may happen centuries from now, or even never).
In the soviet union there was an idea of Lysenkoism was the accepted by it was politically expedient to do so. Those that didn't agree I would imagine had to leave the Soviet Union. In the same vain many people think that much of the agreement is politically motivated. I have no idea of how true that is. However telling people "well we all agree, shutup" will heighten suspicions not lower them.
That is an extreme example. However there was many times when many scientists all "agreed" because it was politically expedient or because other ideas were pushed out of the consensus due to various factors e.g. the Scablands is one such example:
Telling me that 99% of all scientists agree doesn't mean much when there is plenty of times where scientists in the past all agreed on the wrong thing.
I definitely think the climate is changing, but I am wrong to be suspicious when I am just told "well everyone agrees and shutup"?
> Because unlike relativity vs Newtonian physivs, math is not enough to show the validity of the process.
Neither is it for Relativity, Quantum Mechanics or Newtonian physics. People have verified the theories through experimentation.
No it wasn't. Mandates were enforced on flimsy evidence that they might work. It was simply security theatre. In some cases many have even admitted that it was done to make people "feel safe".
The Effectiveness (or lack thereof) of specifically the masks has been investigated in many settings with the flu many times before.
Page 44-47 of the PDF goes over in length masks used in a community setting. They specifically talk about compliance, what sort of mask was being worn and whether the mask was fitted and how that may have affected the results of various studies, transmission rates etc. Many studies found that people stopped complying after a certain amount of time, other found it varied on the culture.
What did we see with mask usage during COVID? Many people wore the same mask for days on end, or they put them in their pocket, or just stuck one of the passenger seat of their car (like my neighbour did). Some stopped bothering wearing the mask after a few weeks, and there was differences in compliance dependent on the culture.
A lot of this was known back in 2014.
You can find numerous other studies going back years now on the relative effectiveness of masks and different types of masks and the result for cloth masks (which the types that people were using) weren't great.
Are you telling me that all these medical professionals that had the ear of officials didn't know about any of this?
Is it okay for someone to be paid even though they do not perform their duties because they are protected by an organisation which has political power? I would say no.
However the people building stuff in new .NET are the same people building stuff in old .NET for the most part and you get all the same wonkyness just in .NET core.
As an ex-avid cyclist and have built quite a few bicycles. I've seen plenty of new chain mechanisms, new derailleurs, hub gears etc. and tbh all of them have the following problems:
* Shimano is ubiquitous. You can go into almost any bike shop and get something which is Shimano compatible.
* Most bike mechanics have Shimano spares on hand and know how to fix it.
* Shimano gear just works together for the most part, especially if it is the older 7 and 8 speed stuff.
* Shimano stuff is ridiculously reliable. I've seen bicycles that have gone for years without any proper maintenance and it keeps on working.
The current designs of the derailleurs are about 40 years old at this point (I know they have been around for over a century but the current designs have been around since the 90s) and I've seen many companies attempt to re-invent and it never heard of after a few years because the current stuff we have is relatively cheap and extremely good.
> I reckon within a decade the UK will find some way to rejoin the more important parts of the EU in-all-but-name, including (possibly!) even joining Schengen to alleviate all of the issues with labour shortages, tourism, and the rest - as well as seeking de-jure regulatory alignment - because the UK is really not the super-desirable market the Daily Express likes to believe it is.
Workers wages have been increasing since Brexit because they can't hire cheap labour from the continent. The Labour shortage will be solved as wages / salaries increase for those jobs and people reskill or move into those jobs as they become more desirable. The problem will solve itself in time. This is already happening. HGV drivers day rate has increased from something like £120 per day to £200.
Every short term disruption will be blown out of proportion unfortunately e.g such as the current fuel crisis, the media irresponsible reporting of the situation caused a panic. The actual shortages weren't severe at all. There would have been some disruption, not actual punch ups on petrol station forecourts.
> I also sincerely believe the UK will also likely rejoin the EU proper - probably within a generation from now: the age demographics of the leave and remain demographics are stark - it's even been said if the Brexit referendum were held 2 years later then remain would have won simply because enough members of older generations (which lean heavily Leave) would have died off.
It really depends. Most people once the result was decided was supportive of "just getting on with it" from polling I saw. Many people unfortunately have been sold the idea that the only thing that matters is cheap and easy travel, cheap labour and foreign investment and be damned with any other concerns that the older generations understood far better than the younger generation. As people get older their views change. When I was in my 30s I was very pro-EU and globalisation. Now I am quite against it.
UKIP went from having a 3% share of the vote in 2010 to 12-13% in 2015. People constantly downplay this to make it out as if it was only an internal Conservative party dispute. However there was growing pressure to have the referendum.
UKIP share of the vote had increased from 3% to 12% in 5 years and the Conservatives knew they were a threat and had to offer the referendum. It forced the Conservatives to address the issue.
> If anything, didn't Biden win by a larger margin against Bernie in 2020 than Hillary won against Bernie in 2016?
Bernie from my understanding had burned much of his base when he endorsed Hillary for the 2016 election. Also Hillary wasn't a great candidate.
That has happen. UKIP forced the Conservative Party in the UK to offer a referendum because their members were voting for UKIP (UKIPs voter share in 2015 hit about approximately 13% of the total vote). Whatever you may think of UKIP
1) That political party won't get any credit for it.
2) The policy will be implemented hardheartedly.
3) It may destroy your party if one or more of the major issues that the alternative party is implemented. As voters won't see any more need to vote as they have got what they wanted.
4) Thee political momentum will be lost for other reform / change.
5) The existing party duopoly will still exist.
To expand on the final point. I dislike all political parties (I am somewhat of a anarchist) and I don't believe in political solutions. However the Labour party in the UK immolating itself will hopefully end up with its destruction. Which will make space in the UK political landscape for new ideas, new people.
Some speculate that it may also lead to the destruction of the Conservative party. Peter Hitchens described both Labour and Conservative parties as two corpses that are propping the other up and if one collapses the other may as well. However I personally think that is a fantasy.
At people being harassed or even losing their livelihoods. Generally people who don't put themselves in the spotlight (and the scrutiny that comes with that) shouldn't end up facing disproportionate consequences of what tends to be a few moments of bad behaviour on camera.
I recently read about a story where a woman (who happened to be white) said to some black guys "you should go back to the hood" when some sort of argument occurred between them and her. Of course it was filmed and then she was doxxed because one of the guys filming had a social following on twitter and was a "influencer". From how I interpreted the interaction from the video it seemed she didn't even really know what she said and was just exchanging words after a disagreement. Of course she lost her job after her employer was found (and probably hounded) because she said something stupid in the heat of the moment. You can argue that she shouldn't have said that and maybe she shouldn't have. However her being doxxed, harassed and losing her job because of a mob is totally disproportionate to the wrong doing.
People get flustered, nervous and say things they don't mean or they don't really think through all the time. Especially in the heat of the moment. The same happens with jokes. Someone says something that they think is funny and goes down like a lead balloon. Sometimes is embarrassing (for all involved), cringe-worthy and awkward. In the past most of this was brushed off and forgotten about. Now if you happened to be filmed and it goes viral, people will harass you and possibly have you lose your livelihood over what at the end of the day is an dumb argument or a poor sense of humour.
It is best not to have a social media presence at all IMO.
You have to be moderately wealthy or live with a lot of land to be able to afford the space to work on cars in some parts of Europe (typically Northern Europe). I would have to rent out a separate space if I wanted to work on my car or vehicle with historical significance.
Also Governments tax old cars out of existence in some countries e.g. in Belgium IIRC I was being told by a friend that vehicles that are essentially deemed to old are made uneconomical to own because of increases in taxes. If you are rich this tax isn't particularly expensive. However if you aren't rich you are essentially forced to get a newer vehicle (which is expensive in itself).