When I see mosses, I think about how they function similarly to sensors or organic bioindicators. For example, you can potentially determine when an environment is contending with pollution merely by looking at moss from a distance. But moss can also be collected and thoroughly examined in a laboratory.
Code that includes commented out code negatively impacts performance. Removing the commented out code improves performance. TFW you realize commented out code is being parsed and it's causing effects.
Some of you are cool and deserve to be let inside the secret group chat.
105 021 mit ICE L in Berlin-Warschauer Straße am 06.04.2025
"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder. We should always endeavor to wonder at the permanent thing, not at the mere exception. We should be startled by the sun, and not by the eclipse. We should wonder less at the earthquake, and wonder more at the earth. What was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it was a wonder. It was not merely a world full of miracles; it was a miraculous world."
first century: honestly off to a little bit of a slow start here like. jesus was obviously doing some big stuff, thats why its called the first century. han dynasty is neat but spans a longer time period so i cant give it too many points for that. 6/10 i’d say
second century: idk anything about the second century. not memorable, 4/10
third century: beginning of the mayan classic period. big fan of elagabalus. setting of (most of) romance of the three kingdoms. 6.5/10 honestly pretty good
fourth century: another one thats kind of, idk. council of nicaea i guess and wikipedia says this is when stirrups were invented. late classical vibes. 5/10
fifth century: fall of the roman empire! sexy! drama! attila the hun! not much else going for it honestly, but still like maybe 6.75/10 just for that. big fan of the huns
sixth century: sui dynasty is a pretty big deal, that’s about it. 5/10
seventh century: a lot going on. islam. tang dynasty. first written attestation of old english and (depending on exactly which inscriptions you wanna count) old japanese. hight of classic maya civilization. 9/10 love this one
eighth century: pretty much the beginning of japanese literature, man’yōshū etc. start of the islamic golden age. dresden codex. 8/10 would be higher but seventh century is a hard act to follow
ninth century: the invention of algebra, you gotta love that. we’re really on a roll now, 8/10
tenth century: this one always tricks me, the turn of the millennium happens at the end not the beginning. i know its the same with the twentieth century but that one’s in living memory so its different. song dynasty. “dark ages”. i like it but somehow it just doesn’t stick in my mind like the last couple. 6.5/10
eleventh century: norman conquest, heian jidai, 7/10 for sure
twelfth century: genghis khan is born, does some sweet ass steppe politics and power plays, 8/10
thirteenth century: a personal favorite of mine. the mongol conquests. half the known world. biggest contiguous empire. walk from one end to the other with a gold plate on your head. letter to the pope. im as big a fan of this century as temujins empire was thicc. 10/10 perfect score.
fourteenth century: i have nothing of interest to say about the fourteenth century. 5/10 by default
fifteenth century: ThE ReNaIsAnCe 7/10 love me some leonardo
sixteenth century: lots of genocide, 3/10 probably my least favorite. there’s lots of genocide in all the ones after this too but its not part of their aesthetic gestalt for me and thats what I’m basing this on
seventeenth century: sort of, wizard-astronomer with a big ass telescope vibes. calculus. 7/10
eighteenth century: american revolution, french revolution, haitian revolution, lots of drama. also i love townsends eighteenth century cooking, 7/10
nineteenth century: overhyped fashion design, “lol what if the bad guys actually did conquer the world” edgey bullshit. marx was neat, also darwin. 5/10
twentieth century: dramatic, lots of twists and turns, very high concept. absolute masterpiece. 10/10.
twenty-first century: technologys gonna get so fucking crazy it could be great or terrible. honestly this coronavirus stuff will not be more memorable than the spanish flu in 100 years, in fact i bet less. trump’s bullshit will all just be like, idk weird facts to tell people about at parties like. ?/10 we shall see
Your ability to describe the world affects how you think about it. If the language and idioms you know are constrained to a particular window, that window will act as a constraint in shaping not only how you see the world, but also how you experience the world.
The concept of heaven banning is possibly one of the most hilarious forms of punishment. Users are unaware, isolated from the main network, and subjected purely to positive feedback loops, creating a sense of perpetual false validation.
Beautiful Pit Viper (Trimeresurus venustis), family Viperidae, Thailand
Venomous.
photograph by Justin Coburn
One of the most boring forms of discourse is when two opposing sides are like, "They're hypocrites!" "No, they're the hypocrite!"
The problem with investing energy in trying to refute bad arguments is that you inevitably put yourself in their company.