Refusing to reduce complex reality into slogans and clichés since 19XX

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Joined 2 months ago
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Cake day: February 5th, 2026

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  • Synthetic motor oil is chemically quite similar to conventional motor oil. Both are made from hydrocarbons. One is drilled from the ground, the other is made in a lab. Lab-grown meat vs. animal meat would be a much better comparison.

    But you’re comparing apples to oranges. Vegan chicken that tastes exactly like chicken is as good as it can get. If it tastes better than actual chicken, then you’ve just created a new meat-like product with a chicken-ish taste.

    It’s like a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest where Charlie Chaplin himself ranks sixth. You can say someone looks almost like Charlie Chaplin, but claiming they look more like him than he does himself doesn’t make any sense. At that point you’re just saying you prefer the way one thing looks (or tastes) over the other. So you could equally say cake is better than meatballs.

    Having opposing opinions doesn’t mandate insulting the other party.









  • We punish people for speeding, driving under the influence, or texting while driving because those behaviors are reckless and we want to deter them. That makes sense.

    But what about a freak accident where the driver did nothing wrong? Should they still be punished just because it happened to be them in the wrong place at the wrong time? In my opinion, no. If they didn’t do anything reckless or negligent, there’s no reason to think punishment would teach them anything useful. At that point it just feels like we’re satisfying our need for vengeance rather than serving any logical purpose.

    With a self-driving car, every accident would basically fall into that “freak accident” category. The car wasn’t distracted, drunk, or driving recklessly. Maybe you could argue the company should pay compensation to the victim’s family or at least cover medical costs if the person survived as a gesture of good will - but I don’t see how the company would be morally responsible in a way that justifies fining or punishing them.

    Just thinking aloud here. I don’t know what the actual answer is.