Interesting Links for 13-11-2016

[andrewducker]

Lego ends advertising with Daily Mail after calls for companies to 'Stop Funding Hate' (tags: lego DailyMail immigration bigotry ) Ted Chiang, the science fiction genius behind Arrival (tags: movies short_story scifi ) Tesla’s Autopilot chip supplier NVIDIA on new self-driving system: ‘It’s basically 5 yrs ahead and coming in 2017’ (tags:

Comments

[kalimac]

For some years, I used Ted Chiang's name as a shibboleth. If you'd heard of him, it was a good bet that you had a decent familiarity with contemporary science fiction. If you hadn't, probably not. Now it looks like he's becoming too well known for that, which is good for him.

I would only advise people who've both read his "Story of Your Life" and seen the new movie Arrival to read my comment on them.

[danieldwilliam]

That article on the bursting bubbles is really interesting.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, fascinating to see the patterns repeat.

Next time we get a boom, having plans in place to take advantage of the bust would be useful...

[channelpenguin]

Can you still short things by using betting exchanges? That would be the way. Something very tightly correlated, if not the thing itself.

Timing is the crucial thing, and that is horrendously tricky to judge. Having enough money not to get wiped out waiting is kinda hard, too.

Also, government economic interference can sink predictions. Or regulatory (to ensure that only the big boys get to make major profits). Very high minimum stakes, for example

I got bored waiting for a house price bubble collapse almost 10 years ago (and that was after waiting longer than I expected).

I find my self generally a not-very-useful 10 - 15 years ahead of the curve in most societal and economic trends. This error margin is enough to make sure that I rarely profit (having become bored waiting, and thinking it is all already over because everyone has already seen it are the usual reasons).

[andrewducker]

Yeah, being too early is just as bad for you as being too late. I assume you've seen The Big Short, but if you haven't then you should absolutely watch it - the people there were practically bang on time in predicting the collapse, and they _still_ almost went bust trying to make money at it.

What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Cl

[channelpenguin]

Me and Steven talked HUGELY about this about 10 years ago and fairly steadily since, and I continue to do so with my current friends. With respect to both the UK and US

RE: What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Cl

[kalabetakyanda]

Thank you for the summation of this particular issue.
I have thought about it myself and have heard some opinions, but nothing this concise. I have tried to show the other side of the coin to people who expressed deep resentment about the deterioration of their quality of life/financial status and who often pick the wrong culprit, but I never can find the best analogies or the right words for a historic perspective.

[channelpenguin]

I assume that's directed at the original article, and not my comment :-).

It is a fabulous article, way better written than I ever could. :-)  I find it some justification for me having been banging on on this topic for years. I'm glad to see the experts spreading the thinking more widely!

[kalabetakyanda]

The original article is fantastic, yes, but that was directed at your comment.

I have since found other articles and comments that barely scratch the surface; as if this were a new issue the writers have just begun to think about. I also found this: http://forsetti.tumblr.com/post/153181757500/on-rural-america-understanding-isnt-the-problem