• 4 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • You are being willfully obtuse. Atheists didn’t choose the definition of the word. Magic is a catch all for things that are not explained by a scientific process. Computing is not one of those things. You don’t understand computers because they are a black box. Therefore it is tempting to call the result magic. But you had better sure as hell hope that the effect of computers are reproducible, every single time, because if they are not, the world as we know it ceases to function.






  • I don’t think a generic building that is suitable for all purposes is possible though. Inevitably the needs of a housing unit and an office are fundamentally different, going all he way down to the plumbing. It wouldn’t make sense to build an office building with enough plumbing to easily become an apartment, or vice versa, because taking a down-the-middle approach could just as easily lead to a building that serves no useful purpose at all. It’s not “just” about the money. He goes into the plumbing issue in particular in great depth. I highly recommend watching the whole video




  • It’s so weird, do they think handicapped people can bike and walk everywhere or don’t exist?

    As a handicapped person myself, it really baffles me how people think car oriented infrastructure is so much better for us. I am a wheelchair user, and I live in a 15 minute neighborhood. Getting around in my wheelchair is a million times simpler there than in my old car-centric suburb, because the same disabilities that make me wheelchair bound also prevent me from driving. Which mean that in a car-centric environment I do one of the following:

    a) Rely on the generosity of friends and family to cart me around at their convenience, or b) Utilize shared access rides, which are door to door, but take longer than using public transit, or c) Roll myself to underserved suburban bus stops over badly maintained sidewalk, and pray I make it on time.

    None of which are appealing.

    Meanwhile, in my 15 minute city:

    • The buses often run at 10 to 15 minute intervals (vs 30 to 60 minutes in the suburb),
    • Sidewalks are larger
    • I have less distance to travel in the first place

  • I say this as somebody who cannot drive. And I say it with all the love in the world for public transit. Public transit absolutely cannot get you everywhere, at least not if you expect to be there in a timely manner. The vast majority of America is suburbanized, the worst possible environment for buses.