Skip Navigation
InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)HA
HandwovenConsensus @ HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee
Posts
23
Comments
152
Joined
2 yr. ago
  • Well, I only know of two off the top of my head, but I really doubt they're the only examples: Irish and Mandarin Chinese.

    I think some Irish don't even habitually use them when speaking English. If you ask them "Are you ok?" they'd answer "I am" or "I am not."

  • My parents didn't specifically tell me if Santa Clause was real or make-believe. They wanted me to come to my own conclusion, I guess. My dad is a rationalist person, and my mom's from a culture that doesn't traditionally celebrate Christmas.

    So what I believed was that the appearance of presents on Christmas was an unsolved mystery, and Santa Clause was just a hypothesis to explain it.

    I suspected the real explanation probably involved the tree working as an antenna for some kind of cosmic energy that triggered the appearance of presents. Perhaps in ancient and more superstitious times they discovered this phenomenon by accident and continued to put up the tree ever since.

  • What they should do is push for voting reform. There are tons of proposals for voting systems that solve the two party stalemate and the issue of gerrymandering.

    If they really wanted to stop the insanity of the Republican party, that's what they would do. Until they do, they are complicit in it.

  • Unfortunately, that's not true. Dodge vs Ford Motor Co established the precedent of shareholder primacy when Henry Ford was successfully sued for attempting to reduce dividends in favor of reinvesting profits.

  • Well, I only know how it tends to work in China, where the traditional calendar is used for cultural events such as festivals, while the Gregorian calendar is used for just about everything else, including domestic business. I assumed it's the same in most modern cultures with a different traditional calendar, but maybe I'm wrong.

  • Is it? I know some cultures have a traditional lunar calendar, but I didn't know there were many that didn't also use the Gregorian calendar for business.

    Which cultures have the seven day week without the solar year?

  • Not quite the same, since in my scenario the player loses everything after a loss while in the St. Petersburg Paradox it seems they keep their winnings. But it does seem relevant in explaining that expected value isn't everything.

  • But the odds of the player managing to do so are proportionate. In theory, if 8 players each decide to go for three rounds, one of them will win, but the losings from the other 7 will pay for that player's winnings.

    You're right that the house is performing a Martingale strategy. That's a good insight. That may actually be the source of the house advantage. The scenario is ideal for a Martingale strategy to work.

  • You're saying that the player pays a dollar each time they decide to "double-or-nothing"? I was thinking they'd only be risking the dollar they bet to start the game.

    That change in the ruleset would definitely tilt the odds in the house's favor.

  • No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Is there a house advantage in a "double-or-nothing" coin flip game?

    The idea is that if the coin flip goes in the player's favor, they win double their bet. After winning, they can either collect their winnings, or risk them all on another coin flip to have a chance at doubling them. The initial bet is fixed at, let's say $1.

    Mathematically, this seems like a fair game. The expected value of each individual round is zero for both house and player.

    Intuitively, though, I can't shake the notion that the player will tend to keep flipping until they lose. In theory, it isn't the wrong decision to keep flipping since the expected value of the flip doesn't change, but it feels like it is.

    Any insight?

    No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Is it actually very common for people to have violent sadistic fantasies, possibly involving actual people in their lives?

    I just kind of wonder with how casually people express these thoughts. It's a little disturbing how normalized it is to entertain such notions, given how other types of fantasies are very stigmatized.

    Like when discussing char.ai, acting out sexual or romantic fantasies is something a lot of people do, but it's considered embarrassing. While people freely discuss violent roleplays without any shame.

    And then there's the cliche of fantasizing about killing one's boss or coworkers.

    Are these really common thoughts for mentally sound people to have?

    No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    How am I supposed to decide who to vote for in local elections?

    I've never heard of these candidates, they have no party affiliation, and there's almost no information about them online that I can find.

    Are those positions just for people who work closely with those departments to vote on?

    No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    When people talk about returning the cart after shopping, does that include putting it in a corral, or do you have to take it all the way to the front of the store to be a good person?

    Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What's a piece of classical music that everyone knows but most people don't know they know?

    No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Why do people say that "return to office" is about raising commercial real estate prices?

    A lot of times, when people discuss the phenomenon of employers ending work-from-home and try to make their employees come back to the office, people say that the motivation is to raise real estate prices.

    I don't follow the logic at all. How would doing this benefit an employer in any way?

    No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Small children are well known to be afraid of voids (closets, under the bed) in their sleeping area. Knowing this, why don't we design children's rooms to eliminate them?

    I'm not a parent, but going by pop culture, it seems like literally every child has the same fears.

    In pre-modern times, I imagine that they'd be sleeping in the same room as the parents, but if modern notions of privacy don't permit that, seems we could at least design an enclosed capsule or something.

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    How would you fill in the blanks for your country?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What is something your country doesn't get enough credit for?

    Reminder: Please specify the country you're answering for.

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What could be considered the "traditional costume" of your country, and do people still wear it?

    Reminder: Please state what country you're answering for.

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    People whose original language isn't English, which dialect did you try to imitate while learning?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What was something you were surprised to learn is or isn't unique to your country?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What is a must-see movie from or about your country?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What food is considered a local specialty of where you live?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Meta- Community input requested on the rule to state which country you're answering for when you reply to a post

    I really don't want to be overly strict with the rules, especially while this sub is so small. But I think this is an important rule, and I'm considering being more strict about its enforcement.

    The reason I think it's important is that this is meant to be an educational community. In many cases, I assume people don't say where they're from because they assume it's obvious to people based on their answer. It may be, to people from the US or familiar with its zeitgeist. But this community isn't just for them. The last thing I want is for this community to suffer from US-defaultism.

    For that reason, I'm thinking that from here on, if I see an answer that doesn't state which country it's for, I'll give a reminder. After that, the poster will have 24 hours to edit it into their post, and it will be deleted if they have not done so.

    What do you think? Too strict? Not strict enough?

    Daystrom Institute @startrek.website
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Did Captain Pike block multiple phaser shots with a platter?

    Just finished watching Season 2 episode 4. During the shootout near the end of the episode, Captain Pike blocks at least a couple of shots with a random platter.

    What was the platter made of that it could dissipate so much energy?

    Strange New Worlds has really grown on me overall, but that scene seemed really silly.

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What confuses people the most when they visit your country for the first time?

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    How far back into your country's history could you go without needing a translator?

    I asked this before elsewhere, but I thought it led to some interesting answers.

    New Communities @lemmy.world
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    Ask The World - A non-regional community for asking questions about other countries and cultures

    Ask The World

    [email protected]

    Back on reddit, I really enjoyed participating in the various "Ask

    <country>

    " subs, so I'd like to get something similar started here. This community is going to be for general questions for anyone from any country, not directed as a specific country. Ask about culture, lifestyles, geography, whatever you want to know that might be different in a different place.

    I hope some of you will be interested. I'd really like to see Lemmy grow in general.

    Ask The World @lemm.ee
    HandwovenConsensus @lemm.ee

    What would you change about your country's culture if you could?

    Please remember to say which country you're from. We don't have flairs here.