# General Discussion **URL:** https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/c/general-discussion/12.md [Latest](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/latest.md) · [Categories](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/categories.md) · [Tags](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/tags.md) --- ## [About the General Discussion category](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/about-the-general-discussion-category/27)
**Author:** [@Fourmilab](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Fourmilab)\ **Replies:** 0
This category is for topics that don’t fall into one of the more specific rubrics. For those who came here from the Ratburger site, think of it like the main page there. Use tags to indicate the subject(s) of your post… --- ## [Los Angeles Mayor Race 2026](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/los-angeles-mayor-race-2026/6345)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [23 October 2026 00:23 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/los-angeles-mayor-race-2026/6345 "2026-10-23T00:23:22Z")
Grok: Filmmaker Charles Curran posted a cinematic campaign ad for reality TV personality Spencer Pratt’s 2026 LA mayoral bid, with the tagline “LA is worth saving.” The 98-second video uses dark, action-movie style vi… --- ## [Part 1: Moderna Had a Long History of Failure. Then Along Came COVID.](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/part-1-moderna-had-a-long-history-of-failure-then-along-came-covid/4840)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [23 October 2026 00:18 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/part-1-moderna-had-a-long-history-of-failure-then-along-came-covid/4840 "2026-10-23T00:18:49Z")
This is part 2: COVID-19: Moderna Gets Its Miracle Both written by Whitney Webb in 2021 --- ## [Babylon Bee 🐝 and other stuff that is funny](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/babylon-bee-and-other-stuff-that-is-funny/4733)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 502\ **Last updated:** [22 October 2026 19:14 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/babylon-bee-and-other-stuff-that-is-funny/4733 "2026-10-22T19:14:05Z")
Ongoing topic for Babylon Bee material --- ## [On Partisanship](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/on-partisanship/6472)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [22 October 2026 18:39 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/on-partisanship/6472 "2026-10-22T18:39:26Z")
There has been some revived interest in Aldous Huxley’s 1952 book “The Devils of Loudun”, about some unpleasant events which took place in the small French town of Loudun in the 1600s. Huxley’s observations on partisans… --- ## [The Road To Panspermia Is Paved With Sexual Perversion](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-road-to-panspermia-is-paved-with-sexual-perversion/2334)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [22 October 2026 15:24 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-road-to-panspermia-is-paved-with-sexual-perversion/2334 "2026-10-22T15:24:15Z")
There is a lot of Big Think potential in the topic of panspermia but I don’t think anyone has thought through the implications from the standpoint of the consequences of evolutionary bottlenecking and the “good enough” t… --- ## [Horowitz Interviews Andreessen: "The true story...origin of Netscape"](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/horowitz-interviews-andreessen-the-true-story-origin-of-netscape/4731)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [22 October 2026 02:12 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/horowitz-interviews-andreessen-the-true-story-origin-of-netscape/4731 "2026-10-22T02:12:42Z")
Imagine, if you will, a couple of guys in their 70’s, sitting in tiny house in a tiny rural Iowa hamlet watching this who were substantial forces in the PLATO network, one of which was the son of a principle engineer i… --- ## [Dear Immigrants](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/dear-immigrants/4800)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 264\ **Last updated:** [21 October 2026 16:48 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/dear-immigrants/4800 "2026-10-21T16:48:55Z")
--- ## [Data Centers are a Public Benefit, Let’em be Built on Public Land.](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/data-centers-are-a-public-benefit-let-em-be-built-on-public-land/6435)
**Author:** [@Hypatia](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Hypatia)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [20 October 2026 15:54 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/data-centers-are-a-public-benefit-let-em-be-built-on-public-land/6435 "2026-10-20T15:54:36Z")
I’m a rube who has been trying to explain wherever I can comment t that the local opposition to data centers does NOT (in my experience) come from people who are primarily worried about utility costs and water usage. No… --- ## [Aviation Accidents](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/aviation-accidents/5774)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 161\ **Last updated:** [19 October 2026 22:08 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/aviation-accidents/5774 "2026-10-19T22:08:28Z")
--- ## [OpenClaws or OpenClaus?](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/openclaws-or-openclaus/6279)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [19 October 2026 12:11 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/openclaws-or-openclaus/6279 "2026-10-19T12:11:19Z")
OpenClaw is the Santa Claus of children everywhere. Why, if I am to believe the stories I hear, it is delivering most of what Musk is promising to deliver with an Optimus future! Here’s what I see happening: For a yea… --- ## [The Foundation World Model That Might Have Been](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-foundation-world-model-that-might-have-been/4815)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 83\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 14:49 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-foundation-world-model-that-might-have-been/4815 "2026-10-17T14:49:38Z")
Proposal for Foundation World Modeling To Expose, Hence Mitigate Power Concentration Dynamics Introduction We propose to provide a critical component of any effort to mitigate centralization of power: A Foundation World… --- ## [Anduril and Palmer Luckey](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/anduril-and-palmer-luckey/6161)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 08:16 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/anduril-and-palmer-luckey/6161 "2026-10-17T08:16:36Z")
8 minute clip Edit: summary from Gemini… “Trump Understands This–China Would Destroy Us” - This is Why We NEED to Manufacture in America from the Shawn Ryan Clips channel, discusses the critical need fo… --- ## [(Leaked) Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies Ten Month Report](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/leaked-bigelow-aerospace-advanced-space-studies-ten-month-report/6486)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [16 October 2026 15:15 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/leaked-bigelow-aerospace-advanced-space-studies-ten-month-report/6486 "2026-10-16T15:15:08Z")
Direct PDF download link I consider this worthy of a thread because in the recently published Jacques Vallee’s self-declared final journal “Forbidden Science 7”\*, he laments: This major breach was never supposed to … --- ## [For Columbus Day](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/for-columbus-day/2125)
**Author:** [@Hypatia](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Hypatia)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [13 October 2026 17:55 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/for-columbus-day/2125 "2026-10-13T17:55:01Z")
Spain should have to reabsorb the descendants of their colonists who are now throwing themselves into our cities, these soggy spawn of the Spanish Conquistadores whom our border agents have to fish outta the Rio Grande. … --- ## [How To Nuke Large Language Model Bias?](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/how-to-nuke-large-language-model-bias/2592)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 124\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 22:31 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/how-to-nuke-large-language-model-bias/2592 "2026-10-12T22:31:47Z")
We need to nuke what might be called “large language model bias”. The bias of which I speak is in two interdependent senses: Bias toward large models The most principled definition of “bias”: Bias operationally ident… --- ## ["Kill The Boomers!!!"](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/kill-the-boomers/6254)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 15:18 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/kill-the-boomers/6254 "2026-10-12T15:18:28Z")
Read the responses to this story out of the Senate Republicans. Anything but fix the political economy! You’ll have to forgive me for suspecting the same “demographic” that opposed me in 1992 are now using guys li… --- ## [The “Cornell 7”: The Sexual Revolution Devours its Own Children](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-cornell-7-the-sexual-revolution-devours-its-own-children/6475)
**Author:** [@Hypatia](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Hypatia)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 13:47 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-cornell-7-the-sexual-revolution-devours-its-own-children/6475 "2026-10-12T13:47:16Z")
I don’t know whether you dear polymaths have paid any attention to this case. In general I don’t think you interest yourselves very much in such cultural froth, God bless ya! But I want to write about this in a forum wh… --- ## [The Trivial Problem Of Consciousness](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-trivial-problem-of-consciousness/6483)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [11 October 2026 16:27 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-trivial-problem-of-consciousness/6483 "2026-10-11T16:27:59Z")
Stanford Research Institute established the protocols for remote viewing. The fact that Tom Campbell has made mincemeat of this approach to operationally define consciousness should not be held against that operational d… --- ## [Elegy THIS, JD Vance](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/elegy-this-jd-vance/5748)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [10 October 2026 14:22 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/elegy-this-jd-vance/5748 "2026-10-10T14:22:21Z")
--- ## [Indian Government Hides Flood of H-1B Migrants from U.S. Media](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/indian-government-hides-flood-of-h-1b-migrants-from-u-s-media/5807)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [8 October 2026 21:09 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/indian-government-hides-flood-of-h-1b-migrants-from-u-s-media/5807 "2026-10-08T21:09:02Z")
--- ## [MEI vs DEI](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/mei-vs-dei/4775)
**Author:** [@eggspurt](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/eggspurt)\ **Replies:** 177\ **Last updated:** [7 October 2026 21:04 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/mei-vs-dei/4775 "2026-10-07T21:04:09Z")
This X post has been making rounds: Today we’ve formalized an important hiring policy at Scale. We hire for MEI: merit, excellence, and intelligence. This is the email I’ve shared with our @scale\_AI team. ————————————… --- ## [There isn't even a name for our war.](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/there-isnt-even-a-name-for-our-war/6478)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [7 October 2026 15:09 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/there-isnt-even-a-name-for-our-war/6478 "2026-10-07T15:09:28Z")
This is an appropriate topic for scanalyst as John Walker was our Patton. PS: I believe Jim Davidson has disabled the donation popup now, but if it still appears it amounts to Substack slop if not deliberate sequestrat… --- ## [Please Sir, I want SMR!](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/please-sir-i-want-smr/6394)
**Author:** [@Hypatia](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Hypatia)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [4 October 2026 17:41 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/please-sir-i-want-smr/6394 "2026-10-04T17:41:03Z")
An article by Marcois on American Greatness today says data centers can be powered by Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and they really ARE small and compact, and don’t need huge pools for cooling. So what are we waiting fo… --- ## [Bitcoin World Volatility](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/bitcoin-world-volatility/4472)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 84\ **Last updated:** [4 October 2026 13:04 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/bitcoin-world-volatility/4472 "2026-10-04T13:04:25Z")
--- ## [Unusual get out and vote snail mail...](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/unusual-get-out-and-vote-snail-mail/6470)
**Author:** [@Gerard](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gerard)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [3 October 2026 13:11 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/unusual-get-out-and-vote-snail-mail/6470 "2026-10-03T13:11:39Z")
Today, in the mail, there appeared a very unusual “get out and vote” postcard. I ask, did anyone else get one? Interesting as they addressed it to “Gerald” but the scribbled writing used “Gerard”. Here is the front… --- ## [Hutter Prize Awards Largest Advance in 20 Years on Its Superintelligence Benchmark](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/hutter-prize-awards-largest-advance-in-20-years-on-its-superintelligence-benchmark/6468)
**Author:** [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [1 October 2026 21:13 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/hutter-prize-awards-largest-advance-in-20-years-on-its-superintelligence-benchmark/6468 "2026-10-01T21:13:03Z")
Hutter Prize Awards Largest Advance in 20 Years on Its Superintelligence Benchmark Three entries slashed the knowledge compression record for 1GB of Wikipedia on a single CPU, under a test where every error penalizes. S… --- ## [Hunger In America](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/hunger-in-america/6146)
**Author:** [@drlorentz](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/drlorentz)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [29 September 2026 20:01 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/hunger-in-america/6146 "2026-09-29T20:01:43Z")
After volunteering for several weeks at a local food bank, I have made the following observation concerning the clientele: Most arrive in late model cars, some in luxury vehicles (Mercedes, Lexus). Many (most?) are ove… --- ## [Immigration in Los Angeles...](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/immigration-in-los-angeles/6001)
**Author:** [@Citizen\_bitcoin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Citizen_bitcoin)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [28 September 2026 13:41 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/immigration-in-los-angeles/6001 "2026-09-28T13:41:36Z")
--- ## [Virility: it’s Kismet!](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/virility-it-s-kismet/6462)
**Author:** [@Hypatia](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Hypatia)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [25 September 2026 19:47 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/virility-it-s-kismet/6462 "2026-09-25T19:47:49Z")
I had an epiphany watching Abdul El Sayed crouching at the edge of the stage, holding the microphone out to that guy tearfully questioning him about the IRCG. The Dems are looking for a few good men. Masculine men. S’… [Next page](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/c/general-discussion/12.md?page=1)