#Intra Robot Living

[bugisbonkerz]

Eliza doing a lot of expressions. my file almost corrupted so many times it's all her fault

[lovewillthaw-j]

Plot holes in The Wild Robot

I finally watched DreamWorks The Wild Robot. I had seen trailers for it and have been very keen to watch it. I heard it got good reviews and was an Oscar contender.

My verdict? Animation was good but the film was let down by its plot holes and pacing. It ended poorly. It certainly did not live up to what was hinted at in the trailer. Spoilers after the break

Initially, Roz was annoying when she kept asking the animals if they needed her assistance. She's so advanced, can't she tell they are not humans?

It takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to accept that Roz could learn how to speak to animals in chirps/grunts/growls etc. If such technology exists...the world would be very different, Roz shouldn't have been the first one to discover it. There is also an inherent assumption that all the animals can speak to each other which doesn't make sense. Intra species, yes, but not inter-species. A bird can't speak to a fox.

I'm alright that the baby goose imprinted on to the robot. It's a main plot point and selling point. But later on, when the film revealed that there were THOUSANDS of geese on the island, I started to scoff. Did Roz, Fink the fox and Brightbill the young goose NOT know that there were other geese? Didn't hear them? Didn't see them flying? And the geese somehow knew that his family had been killed by Roz? Why would they know that? And why wouldn't the geese try to save Brightbill from Roz, whom they viewed as a monster? And why were the geese mean to Brightbill like school bullies?

The big betrayal where Brightbill left because he discovered that Roz hid the fact that she accidentally killed his family, did not hit the right way it should. It felt off and was just there because the plot needed it.

I doubt one week's worth of flight training would get Brightbill fit enough to fly a migration flight. Also I don't think a bird of prey can teach a duck to fly.

Brightbill taking over as the leader of the geese did NOT make sense. Again, the plot required it. Was there no second in command to the leader of the geese? Brightbill is a teen, he hasn't even flown the migration route before, how can he be the leader? Even if we allow for some innate electromagnetic sensing of the flight path, he still is very young and would not be able to make decisions on where is the best place to land etc. And we did not get to see the old leader goose go out in combat. The scene just abruptly cut to Roz. Why would the old goose willingly sacrifice himself?

The hibernation/winter scene does not make sense for so many reasons. I don't think the log "cabin" that Roz made would withstand such a terrible winter. (gee Elsa, warm up a little? 😂) but the BIGGEST PROBLEM is the number of some of the animals depicted. There's ONE fox? On the whole island? ONE beaver? ONE bear? One mama opossum but no male opossum? How the heck do these animals reproduce? How did they get to the island? If there's a main land where they came from, why wouldn't they go back there to seek shelter before winter? (oh, but in the scene that the raccoons steal parts from Roz, there were like 100 raccoons? Doesn't make sense! How does the island support so many raccoons?) Next problem, I can't believe they would all not eat each other while in the log cabin. Please, that is totally unrealistic. (going forward, how do the predators stop eating meat? They can't just convert to eat vegetation) And if you interrupt an animals hibernation like that, can they just simply resume hibernation for weeks in that cabin? Does the fire last forever? (in the ending of the film, we see a fire in the rebuilt log cabin - who started the fire? Animals can't make fire!) Also, characterizing Fink as being disliked by everyone else is too similar to Zootopia.

The scene that a crocodile (or was it a predatory fish?) was chasing Brightbill, and Roz saved him but damaged her foot - there were other geese in that same lake. If there was such a dangerous predator in the water, there is no reason the geese would swim there. If I recall, immediately after Brightbill was out of danger, we see geese on the water again. Inconsistent. The predator is only predatory when the plot calls for it.

Roz was depicted more than once to be "injured" or even near death but nothing came out of it. I recall that she seemed to be leaking hydraulic fluid and Fink was looking concernedly at her foot prints. This sets up the audience to think something bad is going to happen. But nothing did. After Roz collected all the animals into her cabin, it looked like she had accumulated too much damage from being in the cold and was on the brink of death. But no, spring came and she was totally fine. Later on, she yanked out her "core" while saving Brightbill when falling from the sky. This seemed to be the poetic ultimate sacrifice. I thought she'd be dead for sure. But no. Nothing happened. She still functioned and could even rebuild the log cabin. You can't lead the audience on like that repeatedly and not deliver! Fool me once... But not 3 times (or more)

The "evil robot" Vontra - there is no reason she is so seductive and so evil minded to pick up a gun. She's a robot. (similarly why do the warrior robots have deep male voices) During the fight scene Roz activated some device that (I can't recall exactly) magnetized Vontra or sucked her up by some force - why wouldn't that affect Roz too? That's cheating.

Robots vs ducks - why would the robots not have a more efficient way of taking down a large number of fast flying assailants like some kind of shield or electrocution? I remember the robots using a single laser gun to try and shoot down the birds one by one. In the greenhouse, the warrior robot caused damage to the greenhouse - surely the humans who built it would have planned for infestation and a means to control it without damaging the greenhouse.

Earth in the movie was not fully explained. We got one scene of the Golden Gate bridge under water with whales swimming on top of it. Poetic and thought provoking, some kind of post apocalyptic earth? but no explanation was provided. Early in, Roz takes out a brochure for a Florida vacation. So... San Fran is under water but Florida is not? We see a corn field in a green house, that's it. No explanation. I suppose it's all in the book (I have not read) but as a film, it must stand alone. Film viewers should not have to read the book to understand. Who's making these advanced robots and ships? What is the message being sent here? Wall E - lazy humans who have programmed robots to do everything? Is there an evil mastermind who also makes the warrior robots? (those robots looked scary) oh and by the way, the animals being able to defeat the warrior robots was ludicrous. Yes, I know that Roz adopted animal behaviors to beat the robots but come on. Roz is already stronger than the animals (she could carry the bear) and the warrior robots would be even stronger. But they can be beaten by animals. Roz's "skunk" spray should have zero effect on the warrior robot.

The beaver that was gnawing away at the tree - the way he was making a hole under the tree from one side, at some point the weight of the trunk would have collapsed ON him, not away from him, no?

The ending was the most disappointing part. Roz gives herself up and... Becomes a corn farmer. Brightbill comes to visit her periodically. It was not fulfilling or satisfying. What happened to all the knowledge Roz amassed? The fact that she developed emotions? Why was she allowed to survive? Wouldn't the humans have taken her CPU and recycle her? She was badly damaged and dirty, missing her core etc. Also the reunion felt a bit too reminiscent of the last scene of Baymax (big hero six) when the robot recognizes the main character.

Thanks for reading my rant.

[headcanon-territory]

OK I'm rambling about Screwllum, this is a very nonsensical post because though I like ramble and analysis stuff, I never talk about them publicly because it ends up being a jumbled mess. My brain just functions that way but please bare with me. [I think I should note that there is spoilerish content for those who likes to check the notes, events or curios in this game ]

I read a few of the Gold and Gears content or hidden Screwllum lore through curios, notes or the occurrence events and it just hits me that Screwllum just exists for the entire 1.6 quests and the new SU dlc dosent really involved him at all. He dosent do much but he is relevant.

But I can't stop thinking that this guy is the guy that got the IPC to cancel their plans about eliminating mechanical lifeforms across the universe, this is the guy in one of the resistance groups against Emperor Rubert. But what makes his rebellion different during the Emperor Rubert wars? HES A MACHINE JUST LIKE HIM. HE ALSO SAVED ORGANIC LIVES. like that fact alone wouldn't be so interesting to me if he wasn't a machine.

And somehow it feels like his character hadn't that much focus during the dlc. Buuut I haven't finished the dlc yet so maybe there's a few occurrences or some of the story endings i didn't encounter yet

Soo maybe there's things there that I didn't know yet about him unless I got informed.

ITS JUST it's weird that he's treated with a sidelined light in favor for Ruan Mei [since yknow, big character for 1.6] but he has importance during Emperor Rubert's time.

But i do guess it's on his decision that they made in the dlc and dosent wanna show this fact all over your face.

There is like hints or a few notable content about planet screwllum during the dlc that's good. Like ooo Mechanical City, finally get to know a bit about the capital of Planet Screwllum Like the intra-cognitive events are all set there. And also how Planet Screwllum's people can function like humans [THEY CAN CRY AND TEAR UP DO YOU KNOW THAT?? SCREWLLUMITES CAN CRY THEY CAN ALSO PASS AWAY APPARENTLY <atleast they have population control>] [but somehow Screwllum worries about what he drinks and it should be machine oil for some reason]

So hey! We are learning more about his people this update, slowly and surely! [how All of these hints is giving me false hope- there's no planet screwllum update in the future they definetlt won't they are not brave enough to make several patches with very robotic humanoids they wo]

I got brain burned

tldr: Screwllum should be a more important character in the 1.6 patch especially in the new SU dlc because he has relevance in the time period its based on

[dysthymia123]

In a complete state of nihilism

Making this post after going through a so-called blackpillers posts and seeing her cope that reincarnation will save her and punish all those other foids....lmfao such human narcissism.

There is no god, no religion, no spirituality, no reincarnation. No savior, no truth that will solve everything, no carriage.

Belief in those things is a moid and foid psyop to justify their hedonism, hatred and fear of death.

Blackpill feminists who still believe in spirituality or are religious are still cucks and the same as libfem/radfem foids. They aren't actual blackpillers because they are still holding onto fake hope.

The ultimate basis of all living beings is survival and procreation which manifests in the form of wars, rape, pedophilia, tribalism, intra-sexual competiton, fear of death (which leads to religion), fear, bullying (aka the stronger trying to natural selection off the weaker), kinks, sadism, submission etc.

The only hope i have left is robots but even my hope in robots is starting to decline because what if (when robots get created and reach maximum sentience) just start doing the same things their human moid and foid counterparts have been doing, and so the cycle of wrath continues.

[leximicham]

Preface to Friendship as a Force Multiplier

I was watching a video with my wives about important lessons for being a professional in our industry and I found myself getting really frustrated when the topic of skills came up. I find myself getting frustrated a lot when people talk about important skills in jobs, hobbies, families, content creation, etc. So often people seem to focus on technical skills, they'll then add something about the importance of organization and/or project management skills, maybe make a mention of people/communication/marketing skills, but people seem to shy away from one of the most important set of skills in my opinion: Intra-personal skills.

How am I supposed to get any cool and important things done if I don't know how I do things or if I don't know how to take care of myself to ensure that I'm healthy and available enough to do said things? Where's health as a skill in these talks? Where's boundary setting, time management, flow awareness, pressure response, reasonable accommodations, and nurturing self-talk in these discussions about what's important in our lives and work? So often people shy away from talking about our struggles or thinking about the struggles other people may be facing and we call them "personal problems". It's like there's this base assumption that you're not ready to listen to the talks which "tell you everything you need to know about being an x professional/creator/expert" if you don't know how to show up everyday and just churn out work. As someone with disorders which impair my executive functions I feel like these talks must be for robots. Someone without any sort of executive dysfunction might call me lazy. Neither of those labels is particularly useful.

I realized that, in spite of all of my complaining, I do actually have a bunch of knowledge in this space. I've done a lot of research, I've had great mentors, and I have people who love, support, and encourage me to organize and share my experiences and learnings. If you were following along with my rant and want to know what I've translated from the "robots" (lovely neurotypical people) and high functioning neurodivergents in my life then I hope my linked post will help you. Friendship as a Force Multiplier is about how we can help others achieve their goals and is a language that we can use to ask for help when we're struggling with our execution ability (getting shit done). I hope one day that I can tackle some of the other problems I mentioned above.

I initially wanted this post to be both a rant and the main post but the rant got too long and I won't do the recipe blogger thing. There's no good reason for me to make you read an entire story every time that you want to remember how to bake my gluten and dairy free cheesecake. I mean: share with your loved ones how they can help you get shit done.

[niharika6778]

Engineering Students and Automation: ES Chakravarthy’s Advice for a Bright Future

Automation, in today's fast-developing era of technology, has now become the most essential thing in the modern engineering industry. For students pursuing a career in this dynamic field, understanding automation is no longer optional but necessary. ES Chakravarthy inventor of engineering thoughts- encourages aspiring engineers to get ready for the unknown future with automation issues and to learn about the tangles of automation.

Embrace the Evolution of Technology

Automation is transforming industries, streamlining processes, and creating unprecedented opportunities. Chakravarthy opines that Engineering students can or must seek to work in these change modes actively. “Technological evolution cannot be stopped,” he says. Instead, it is time to adapt to it and use this new avenue to promote advancements.

To keep yourself at the cutting edge, Chakravarthy suggests, be well versed in the latest tools, software, and methodologies in automation. This includes artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things, which are the three pillars of automation shaping the future of engineering.

Develop a Strong Foundation

Automation thrives on a solid understanding of engineering principles. ES Chakravarthy also stresses how essential it is to have control over core competency areas such as mechanics electronics and computer science.

“The question of automation, therefore, cuts across different fields,” he says. “In my opinion, learners require a novel teaching strategy that includes the theoretical part together with the practice.”

With the right academic foundation laid foundations, engineering students can independently approach complicated automation issues and contribute towards finding solutions.

Cultivate Problem-Solving Skills

Automation is essentially tied to a set of models to be applied in an effective problem-solving way. Chakravarthy also enforces critical thinking skills among students by solving the case studies. He advises them to take on activities in projects, internships, competitions, and other concerns that will challenge them to use their creativity in arriving at unique solutions.

ES Chakravarthy adds that “Problem-solving is at the heart of engineering”. “Automation escalates the consequences of solutions which is why engineers need to address problems with openness and creativity.”

Focus on Lifelong Learning

Chakravarthy has provided five key lessons the first of which is never to stop learning. Automation technologies are continually evolving, and staying updated is essential for maintaining relevance.

"He believes that one need not end learning of formal schooling instead of pursuing higher certifications, obtaining post-graduate education, and hands-on participation at education forums,". 'Education of an engineer doesn't end with a degree,' he affirmed...' It's a journey of continuous learning and adaptation throughout one's lifetime."

Collaboration and Teamwork

It is common to have multidisciplinary and multicultural teams throughout the automation process. He focuses on the question of cooperation, information sharing, and teamwork.

“Appropriate inter/intra personal skills particularly in effectively working with others is another important characteristic of great engineers,” he says. “Automation is all about pooling resources together with people from within the organization.”

Ethical Engineering Practices

Chakravarthy challenges engineering students to focus on the sustainability, safety, and social responsibility of what they produce. He also said that if engineering is done correctly, it is very important for society because automation has the potential to improve the lives of individuals.

Prepare for a Bright Future

Engineering students Chakravarthy’s insights for success namely: accepting technology change, laying a good ground, developing problem-solving ability, creating a continuous learning culture, and promoting teamwork, and integrity are very comprehensive strategies for success.

In other words, ES Chakravarthy infers, “automation is not isolated to machines and algorithms.” ‘This is all about giving authority to engineers and letting the future engineers design a better, smarter, and above all a sustainable world.’

Engineering students interested in automation should be able to follow the guide above in order to step out with confidence and be at the frontline to revolutionize the future.

[drchandrakant01]

Exploring the Advancements in Neuro-Interventional Radiology: Revolutionizing Neurological Care

In the dynamic landscape of modern medicine, the field of neuro-interventional radiology stands as a beacon of innovation, reshaping the way we approach and treat neurological conditions. With its amalgamation of radiology, neurology, and interventional techniques, neuro-interventional radiology (NIR) offers a spectrum of minimally invasive procedures that are proving to be game-changers in the realm of neurological care.

NIR encompasses a diverse array of procedures aimed at diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, head, neck, and associated blood vessels. These procedures are conducted under image guidance, typically using fluoroscopy and angiography, enabling precise navigation through intricate neural pathways with minimal disruption to surrounding tissues.

One of the most ground-breaking applications of NIR lies in the treatment of ischemic stroke, a leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide. Through techniques such as mechanical thrombectomy, neuro-interventional radiologists can swiftly remove blood clots obstructing major cerebral arteries, restoring blood flow to the affected area and salvaging precious brain tissue. This timely intervention has significantly improved outcomes for stroke patients, reducing long-term disability and enhancing quality of life.

Beyond stroke management, NIR plays a pivotal role in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and other vascular abnormalities of the brain. By deploying endovascular coils, stents, and embolic agents, neuro-interventionalists can effectively occlude abnormal blood vessels or reinforce weakened arterial walls, mitigating the risk of rupture and hemorrhage.

Furthermore, NIR offers innovative solutions for the management of brain tumors and intracranial hemorrhages. Through techniques like intra-arterial chemotherapy and embolization, clinicians can deliver therapeutic agents directly to tumor sites or staunch bleeding vessels, circumventing the need for open surgery and reducing associated risks and recovery times.

The evolution of imaging technologies has been instrumental in advancing the frontiers of NIR. High-resolution imaging modalities such as digital subtraction angiography (DSA), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and computed tomography angiography (CTA) provide neuro-interventionalists with unparalleled insights into the intricate anatomy and pathology of the central nervous system, enabling precise procedural planning and execution.

Moreover, the integration of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) into NIR workflows holds tremendous promise for enhancing procedural accuracy and efficiency. Robotic-assisted systems offer unparalleled precision in catheter navigation, while AI algorithms aid in image interpretation, lesion detection, and treatment planning, augmenting the capabilities of clinicians and improving patient outcomes.

Despite its transformative potential, neuro-interventional radiology is not without challenges. Access to specialized training and resources, as well as the high cost of equipment and procedures, remain barriers to widespread adoption. Additionally, concerns regarding radiation exposure and procedural complications underscore the importance of rigorous training, adherence to safety protocols, and ongoing research to refine techniques and mitigate risks.

In conclusion, neuro-interventional radiology stands at the forefront of modern medicine, offering a paradigm shift in the management of neurological disorders. With its emphasis on minimally invasive techniques, precise imaging guidance, and multidisciplinary collaboration, NIR holds the promise of revolutionizing the landscape of neurological care, ushering in a new era of hope and healing for patients worldwide. As technology continues to evolve and expertise expands, the potential of NIR to transform lives and redefine the boundaries of possibility in neurology remains boundless.

[midnight-the-ambitious-writer]

⭐INTRO⭐

Hiya there!! My name's Midnight (He / Him pronouns) and as my blog name implies, I am an ambitious writer at heart which means I have wayyyy too many ideas lol I've taken a liking to writing fantasy, and I love creating fantastical worlds that I can build on anywhere at any time!

Information about my WIPs + their respective characters and a place for a taglist are under the cut!

MELODIVERSE ADVENTURES (Currently working on Book 1 of 4!) Book 1, titled “Midnight and the Gift of the Melody Blade”, follows a young wolf-human hybrid named Midnight who is a barista at Sunsong Cafe, on what seems like a normal day for him. However, after mysterious arcane events ravage the city, Midnight is gifted a powerful blade that will restore the city back to normal. But, he must keep it secret from a young kid villain who wants to use the weapon for malicious benefits... Characters: Midnight (a night-demon / wolf-human hybrid), Ambrosia (a bee-human hybrid), Twilight (wolf-human hybrid), Staticlight (a night demon / wolf-human hybrid), Dev (night demon), Sophie (Nickname: Soapie, a hell hound that cleans Dev’s base of operations.) GOBLIN THEFT AUTO A misfit group of goblin criminals who have lived in their forest home for years (which seems quite far from human contact) make the bold step of getting themselves known by committing burglary and other types of crimes while on the run from the law. 

Though one of the group members, Leshi is adverse to all this, and one day goes rogue and nearly snitches on the group. Not to mention they’re all young kids so no-one can enforce the legalities of the situations.Follow their misadventures on the run from the Penwood Police Department and see the cracks that will pull their group friendship apart…

Characters: Leshi Desxia (Goblin-human hybrid), Gnilk Jatyz (Goblin-human hybrid), Cazz Gurvir (the other characters are work in progress lol) SILVER MOON SONATAS (Rough Description credit to OpenAI Playground) When Lila, a young girl, stumbles across a glowing rock in the forest, she has no idea that it will change her life forever. She soon discovers that the rock is one of the Melody Gems, and that it has the power to grant her wishes. With the help of her new friends, a friendly robot and a wolf-human hybrid, Lila sets out to find the other Melody Gems and uncover their secrets. Along the way, they must avoid anyone who wants to get their hands on the powerful rocks, and learn to work together in order to keep them safe. With the help of the Melody Gems, Lila and her friends discover the importance of friendship and working together, and that the power of the rocks should be used for good, not for evil.

STARS, BITS, AND BYTES! (Synopsis credit goes to OpenAI Playground!) Stars, Bits, and Bytes follows the adventures of two pilots (Arietta and Quintus) and two young kids (Ottava and Lyric) along their journey to a brand new world, escaping the destruction of their home planet, Terra Melodiae on their spacecraft Titania (which has a cranky AI assistant.) But they have to dodge asteroids, fight space pirates and try not to lose their way as they navigate to this new world. When they get to this new world however, they must get accustomed to the strange society that has built up there with robots and magic as far as the eye can see and very strict military force that protects the planet from invaders.  However through information passed down by the general, the group finds out that Emperor Tetrachord and his army of Silencers wants to destroy this new planet.  Even though the two kids are scared to operate the ship themselves and steer it into a great battle, Arietta and Quintus are confident. The four of them must team up and use all the skills they have to stop Emperor Tetrachord from ruining this new world and find a way back to their own home planet. Characters: Pilot Arietta (human pilot), Commander Quintus (human pilot), Ottava (human), Lyric (human), Intra (cranky AI assistant computer) (other characters are WIP)

~TAGLIST~ (Feel free to send me an ask or message, asking to be added, and I’ll add you if you wish to follow any of my WIPs!) I am really excited to get to know this writeblr community more and get my work out there to show you all!!

[littlemarie4]

It's Time for 'LGB' and 'T' to Go Their Separate Ways

Brad Polumbo

26 Oct 2019

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The growing rift between increasingly radicalized transgender-rights activists and the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) communities has finally come out into the open. This week, Europe’s biggest LGBT-rights organization, the London-based Stonewall charity, was publicly accused of subordinating LGB rights to the group’s increasingly single-minded goal of replacing sex with gender as a marker of identity. As Helen Joyce recently wrote in Standpoint, “Stonewall went all in for gender self-ID. Its online glossary now describes biological sex as ‘assigned at birth’ (presumably by a midwife with a Hogwarts-style Sorting Hat). ‘Gay’ and ‘lesbian’ now mean same-gender, not same-sex, attraction. ‘Transphobia’ is the ‘fear or dislike of someone based on the fact that they are trans, including the denial/refusal to accept their gender identity.’ At a stroke, anyone who declares themselves exclusively attracted to people of the same sex has become a bigot.”

As a gay man who lives in the United States, I have no direct stake in Britain’s intra-LGBT politics. (“LGB/T” might now be a more apt term.) But I am surprised that it has taken this long for such a formal breach to occur. The same pressures have been building everywhere, and it was only a matter of time before someone acted on them.

After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide in the landmark 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, many believed the fight for gay rights would begin to wind down. Yet that didn’t happen. Instead, the LGBT-advocacy sector simply redirected its available staff, fundraising and rhetoric to other projects. I know this because I saw this happen, both as a university student, gay man and equal-rights advocate.

LGBT flag designed by Daniel Quasar.

In a relatively short period of time, the gay-rights movement fused with more radical campus-based gender and identity-politics movements, to become the compound movement now known as “LGBTQ+”—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, “queer” and more. Even many people within the movement now have trouble keeping up with all the new subcategories contained within that plus sign. One version of the rainbow flag unveiled last year has 11 different colors on it. The creator, Daniel Quasar, identifies as a “queer non-binary demiguy” whose pronouns are “xe/xem/xyr.” None of these bizarre neologisms have any resonance to those of us who joined the gay-rights movement simply to affirm and protect the basic rights of people to be who they are and love who they choose without stigma or legal sanction. We’ve been forced to watch the simple moral logic of non-discrimination be transformed into a self-parodic alphabet soup of invented identities.

Over the last few months, a Democratic presidential debate focused on LGBT issues was highjacked by a rogue transgender woman who shouted slogans about trans rights while the candidates and moderators nodded along robotically. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has called for unisex prisons, a policy that, if implemented, would lead to the rape of female prisoners. Senator Kamala Harris, another Democrat running for president, even came under fire for daring to suggest that pregnancy is a “women’s” issue—since it is now fashionable to highlight the fact that trans men and the “non-binary” also can bear children.

In his recent Netflix special Sticks and Stones, comedian Dave Chappelle nearly got himself canceled for pointing out the growing estrangement between the LGB and trans communities (whom he collectively referred to as “alphabet people”). This being a forbidden topic, it goes without saying that the ultra-woke outlet Vice ran a scathing review of the special, later echoed by other progressive outlets, such as Salon. LGBT activists chided Chappelle for his alleged transphobia on Twitter, despite the fact that viewers themselves gave the show a 99% rating. This is now a typical pattern: Whenever someone runs afoul of gender orthodoxy, the official pundit class has to pretend it’s appalled, a difficult conceit to sustain when sites such as Rotten Tomatoes make popular assessments a matter of public record.

Chappelle used the analogy of a car trip shared by passengers G, L, T and B. The Gs are driving, with the Ls in the passenger seat. The Ts are in the back. “Everyone in the car resents the Ts,” Chappelle says. “The Ts are making the trip take longer.” Trans comedians and activists, who’ve become accustomed to pride of place in the intersectionalist hierarchy, were up in arms. But Chappelle made it abundantly clear that he had no animus toward anyone in the LGBT community: The target of his satire was not any one group, but the increasingly ridiculous conceit that all of these “alphabet people” are happy fellow travelers. LGB rights and T activism have been revealed to be unnatural bedfellows, and it’s inevitable that, as is happening in Britain, they will go their separate ways.

Gays, lesbians and bisexuals all have something obvious in common: same-sex attraction. This is an alternative sexual orientation that, to some extent at least, shapes our experiences and alters our life outcomes. We typically identify with our biological sex—and in fact, sometimes have spent many years feeling trapped by it. To be gay is to understand that sex is set at birth. My sexual attraction, likewise, is based on hard-wired factors beyond my control.

Transgenderism is a separate concept. While homosexuality leads to obvious differences in real-life behavior, transgenderism offers a categorial redefinition of what it means to be a man or a woman. As Joyce describes it, a “gender identity” is a quasi-spiritual concept—almost like a soul—that is “something between an internal essence, knowable only to its possessor, and stereotypically masculine or feminine appearance and behavior.”

Gay rights activists simply want society to accept their different ways of living and loving—since gay men and lesbians pursue romantic interests and build families in ways that are at odds with conventional heterosexual expectations. Followers of radical gender theory, on the other hand, demand that we all reject our basic understanding of biological sex in favor of a recently conceptualized abstract notion of human identity.

Of course, the idea of transgenderism per se isn’t new—nor is the (perfectly valid and just) demand that people with gender dysphoria be treated with decency and respect. But the original form of this demand was based on the far more reasonable idea that gender is a social construct distinct from biological sex. It was not disputed that a transgender woman is a biologically male human who identifies with the social norms traditionally associated with woman. But in recent years, transgender activists have demanded that sex and gender be conflated, and that the very idea of innate biological differences be pushed into the background. At the most absurd extreme, there are now athletes and scholars who seriously suggest that being male offers no competitive physical advantages over being female, a proposition that even small children know to be unhinged.

One of the unsettling elements embedded within this advocacy is the demand that women—lesbians, more specifically—make themselves sexually available to trans women, on the far-fetched theory that gender identity, not sex, is the real source of human attraction. As Jonathan Best notes, Stonewall now has defined “homosexuality” as referring to “someone who has an emotional romantic and/or sexual orientation towards someone of the same gender.”

“Did you see what happened there?” Best writes. “Same-sex attraction has become same-gender attraction. This might seem academic. But take a moment to reflect on what it means in the context of Stonewall’s affirmation of gender identity. Stonewall is asserting that lesbians are attracted to anyone with a female gender identity, whether that person is biologically male or female. This turns gay and lesbian desire into transphobia. I’m a gay man—I’m attracted to male bodies—not people performing male gender roles. And, yes, that means I like male genitalia. (I really like it). Trans activists argue that my sex-focused homosexuality is transphobic. I’ve seen trans activists compare non-trans inclusive gay desire to racism and describe gay sexuality as ‘genital hang-ups.’”

In the United States, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed the Equality Act, a so-called LGBT rights bill that outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. That is a noble goal that would seem to be in keeping with America’s larger civil-rights legacy. But the Act explicitly redefines biological sex under federal law according to self-defined gender identity—so it easily could allow for a whole host of adverse consequences. And as we have seen in Canada, where a trans woman tried to leverage human-rights law to force immigrant aestheticians to wax her “female” scrotum and penis, the victims of this movement tend to be women.

Even under current U.S. law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act serves to outlaw discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Activists are arguing that transgender identity is protected under the law’s reference to “sex,” even though “gender identity” is mentioned nowhere in the law. Trans activists also are demanding government support for policies that subject gender-confused children to potentially sterilizing hormones and other aggressive therapies. Their rights are being sacrificed on the altar of gender self-identification as well.

The redefinition of sex as gender is a step that most people—even the most well-meaning and humane members of society—simply will never accept, no matter what laws activists manage to get passed. And the effort to ram this doctrine down the throats of ordinary people will tarnish any movement that insists on such mantras. So long as self-described “LGBT” activists demand that a male with gender dysphoria is “really” a female, many otherwise accepting people will remain opposed to, or at least skeptical of, the wider movement.

As a right-of-center journalist, I know dozens of young conservatives, particularly women, who are completely open and accepting of their gay and lesbian friends, and supportive of gay rights; but simply won’t accept that a man can be a woman, even if they are forced to give lip service to this mantra as a condition of passing sensitivity-training courses or using social media. Many progressive news outlets were aghast when new polling showed that “young people are growing less tolerant of LGBTQ individuals.” But a closer look into the survey’s methodology revealed that on most questions, they were asked about “LGBTQ people,” not gay people. Support for “equal rights” remained steady, but comfort around “LGBTQ” people has declined. Notably, the survey found that comfort levels around “a same-sex couple holding hands” remain virtually unchanged. Although it’s fashionable to pretend otherwise, it’s the T that’s the issue.

To repeat what I wrote above, transgender people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. And I have spoken out strongly against anti-trans policies (such as a ban on trans soldiers in the U.S. military). To say that these two causes—LGB and T—should separate isn’t to say that one has value and the other does not. I am simply noting that their goals are at odds. As gay writer Andrew Sullivan recently wrote in New York magazine:

The truth is that many lesbians and gay men are quite attached to the concept of sex as a natural, biological, material thing. And gay men are defined by our attraction to our own biological sex. We are men and attracted to other men. If the concept of a man is deconstructed, so that someone without a penis is a man, then homosexuality itself is deconstructed. Transgender people pose no threat to us, and the vast majority of gay men and lesbians wholeheartedly support protections for transgender people. But transgenderist ideology — including postmodern conceptions of sex and gender — is indeed a threat to homosexuality, because it is a threat to biological sex as a concept.

Canadian writer Sky Gilbert, a gay writer, made a similar point in Quillette, noting that transgender activists increasingly are telling young children who may grow up to be gay or lesbian that their effeminate or butch expression is actually a sign of a transgender soul trapped in the wrong body: “Until the latter decades of the twentieth century, if parents caught their son playing with dolls, they might suspect he was gay. And if he grew up to be an adult with same-sex desire, he would go to a psychiatrist to seek help. Now that we have (spuriously) separated sexuality from gender, a parent who catches his boy playing with dolls will take a trip to a psychiatrist—but this time for different reasons: Little he might be a little she.”

The idea of biological sex is at the core to the gay identity—of my gay identity—and the stereotypical definitions of gender expression that the transgender movement peddles ignores the existence of men and women who happen to express their gender in unorthodox ways without actually being transgender. Most of these people simply grow up to be gay. To demand that these children be instead labeled gender dysphoric is essentially a form of woke conversion therapy. We gays experienced quite enough of that phobic behavior from the socially conservative right. We have no interest in getting force-fed another serving from the progressive left.

[bugisbonkerz]

more of that dumb computer i hate

+some expressions

[augurcollective]

Star, the Mousy Musician

Basics:

Name: Aurora Von Brandt

Aliases: Star (preferred), Starr, Aura (also preferred, but conflicts with Sirius)

Race: Mousefolk

Gender: Cisgender female

Pronouns: She/her/hers, (may begin using squeak/squeaks/squeakself in the near future)

System Roles: Host, Motivator

Sign Emote: 🐭🎸 | :mouse::guitar:

System Join Date: 2020 - 01 - 11 (January 11th, 2020)

System Celebration Date: 02 - 05

Background:

Origin: (accidental) tulpamancy; possibly technically an introject

Bio: Originally an original character created by Storm, for their TTRPG project in its more infantile stages, two or so years ago (May 2019). She was accidentally created alongside Sylvie, Maya, and Onyx, where Sylvie was the only intentional creation of the four.

Canon Bio: Canonically, Star’s mother died while she was in middle school (jr. high) in a car crash, and during her late teens, her father went to jail for tax fraud, leaving her alone in their apartment for the foreseeable future until he returns. At the same time, she is going to school— the reason why her father committed tax fraud— for a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a dual minor in both classical art and robotics. She plans to go to grad school to get a Master’s degree, but she is unsure what her financial situation will be by the time she gets her Bachelor’s degree. She currently has a job designing and building factory robots for a living, which she got fairly recently, but only after interning since her first year of college. Additionally, she plays guitar, bass, and violin, and has released three albums, an EP, and five singles to the internet, amassing a small crowd of a couple thousand fans. In her hometown, she plays weekend gigs at bars and clubs, and sometimes holiday gigs at parks, primarily for some extra cash, but also for fun and spreading her name. Finally, canonically, she is afraid of cats.

Canon Abilities: Eye of Space, which allows her to measure distance, mass, sizes, density, etc. all with a glance, down to the atom. Metallokinesis, which allows her to control any metal at will, but the denser, less pure, or more radioactive a metal is, the more difficult it can be to control.

Elaborated Basics:

“Canon” Age: 23

Apparent Age: 19

“Physical” Age: 19 to 21

Mental Age: 19 probably

System Age: 1 year, 8 months (as of post)

Dating:

Romantic Orientation: Sapphic panromantic

Sexual Orientation: Sapphic demisexual

Intra-system partners: (Check call sheet)

Exo-system partners: Eden of FARAWAY Bunch (gf)

Acknowledged Crushes: None

Attracted to: fellow extranths/anthros, herbivorous animals, fellow mice; friendly people; “cuteness” and “prettiness” (rather than “beauty” or “handsomeness”); chess lovers, music lovers, and roleplayers; cheese enthusiasts.

Additional Notes: Polyfidelitous, but not as active as Charlotte; in a strictly monogamous relationship currently.

Boundaries:

DNI: All the system DNIs (they’re mine, after all), but also...

DMs: Ask for Discord, Tumblr OK.

Mentions / Pings: Try not to, but OK.

PDA: No.

Flirting: No, my girlfriend would like for me to stay monogamous externally.

Compliments / Platonic Affection: Always welcome. Love me some head pats.

System Outing: Tumblr OK.

LGBTQ+ Outing: Tumblr and Discord OK.

Venting: Discord DMs only, but try to vent towards Storm please, I’m fragile.

Personality:

Summary: Chirpy and fanatical; loves tinkering, machinery, and robotics, and canonically it’s her job. She’s a bit obsessed with rock music, too. Aurora is someone who likes to make things fun for everyone, and make everyone smile, even at the expense of her own schedule, but she doesn’t mind. She feels that, whatever she can do, can always be done eventually. And when it comes to romance, it’s easy to flirt with her, but hard to convince her of something. Can be a little fragile and sensitive at times, so be kind to her.

Likes: chess, food (cheese primarily), video games, roleplay, writing, rock music, indie music, alternative music, MCR (and I’m proud of it), guitars, Green Day.

Dislikes: tapioca pudding, tomatoes, selfish people, horror.

Extra Notes: She diverges from her canon slightly: she is not afraid of cats anymore, due to the presence of Sirius.

Appearance:

[Attachment IDs:

Art not owned by us, drawn by Pollo-chan on FurAffinity (original OC for the commission is named Esel Caldwell and also not owned by us); an image of a white-furred, feminine-presenting mouse anthro with long, straight blonde hair, against a plain white background. She is wearing a white button-down blouse under a black high-waisted skirt with shoulder straps, brown translucent stockings, and brown hiking boots. Her right hand is up grabbing the teal-green beret on her head, while her left hand is mostly obscured to her left side, behind her.

Picrew by Eefoj; primarily a navy blue background with a large central white square. A blonde-haired, feminine-presenting, white-furred, mouse anthro wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants. Her feet are bare; she is plantigrade. Her legs are spread; her left leg is arched upwards with her foot planted on the floor, while her right leg is parallel with the floor. Her left hand is placed on the floor behind her, supporting her, while her right hand is idle on the lap of her right leg.

/end IDs]

[timac-extraversal]

Four Racial Futures

(TIMAC #003, ~3,800 words, 16 minutes)

Summary: Four alternative paths to the current dominant left/liberal racial vision for future America are discussed, including an underestimate of the size of the white population, Castizo Futurism, Landian Hyper-Racism, and changes in society's understanding of developmental psychology.

Epistemic Status: Political speculation.

-☆☆☆-

‘Majority Minority’ America? Don’t Bet on It John J. Miller, Wall Street Journal (2021/02) [paywall]

“The surge in mixing across ethno-racial lines is one of the most important and unheralded developments of our time,” says Mr. Alba, a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He rattles off facts and figures: Today, more than 10% of U.S.-born babies have one parent who is nonwhite or Hispanic and one who is white and not Hispanic. That proportion is larger than the number of babies born to two Asian parents and not far behind the number of babies born to two black parents. “We’re entering a new era of mixed backgrounds,” Mr. Alba says.

The census apparently counts those who identify as both white and non-white as 'non-white,' which may be undercounting the number of people who are likely to identify as 'white' in the United States. Sociologist Richard Alba argues that assimilation is bidirectional, but proceeding apace.

The infamous Razib Khan chimes in on Twitter:

The Great Demographic Illusion: Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream [link] haven't read this book but summary supports my exp./priors in 21st century.

"When they marry, 72% of Asian-white women and 64% of Asian-white men take white spouses. The government nevertheless counts them and their progeny as nonwhite." i have a blue-eyed blonde-haired 1/4th japanese friend. she probably doesn't realize she's counted as nonwhite

fwiw, my half brown kids 'identify' as tan. but if they were forced to pick a race and others were forced would choose white more than anything else

On the one hand, we have the largely implicit left-wing theory that if there is no majority race, there can be no organized oppression by a majority race. On the other, the implicitly-left-wing theory that if there are many mixed-race people, it will become too difficult to organize by race - identifying people on the basis of race will be harder and people will have split loyalties.

Either might fail on its own. If people are naturally prone to politics by race and ethnicity, then a lack of a clear supermajority in a majority-minority country may lead to shifting ethnic coalitions, with no group feeling that it's in a comfortable position of power. Even within a mixed group, there might be selection in some specific direction, such as colorism, which is currently its own category of discourse.

On the other hand, it's apparently possible that some form of unironic 'Multiracial Whiteness' could "win," either from widespread adoption of 'white' as a norm even if whites were a minority, or by a supermajority ending up 7/8ths 'white' and the definition of 'white' expanding to match...

[Quora] What is Castizo Futurism? Renatto Belerofonte (2020)

Among the right-wingers, there is also a joke that "the Alt Right is a hispanic movement." And just as there is Afro-Pessimism, there is a 'White Optimism' in the form of "Castizo Futurism," as Quora user Renatto Belerofonte describes better than I could:

Castizo Futurism comes from the idea that the future of whites in the United States and Latin America is not as dire as white supremacists that believe in white genocide think it is. White Identitarians traditionally organize their societies through Hypodescent (the idea that the offspring of an union between two conflicting classes adopts the social standing of the lower class involved) [...] An example of hypodescent would be the One Drop Rule.

[...]

Castizo Futurism is basically the adoption of Hyperdescent by American White Supremacists, the idea that whiteness is a malleable condition that can morph according to the material and historical conjuncture of society. If Hispanics in the US suddenly stop being “non-whites” and start to be perceived as “mostly mestizos and castizos that are already predominantly European with various degrees of native blood” then you can conceive the prospect of “whitening” them overtime. If Mestizos can become Castizos (which according to White Supremacists is the cut-off at which you start to manifest European behavior and appearance) then there is the possibility that White Genocide can be reversed.

As Renatto writes, "if you look at non-anglo societies this paradigm is not the case [...] Spanish, Portuguese and French societies in America believed that you could 'become' white through generations of intermarriage..."

Human beings grow old and wish to create a legacy in their environments. For some people, this is children. For others, it is activism. Suppose you tie your self-identity to a great confrontation to overcome "whiteness," and then just as you saw the traditions of your ancestors as something outdated to be overturned, most of an entire generation simply ignore you and decide that they are now white.

Who, exactly, is going to stop them?

Of course, there is no guarantee that this will happen, but at the same time, there is no requirement that it won't.

One of the great advantages to adopting relatively liberal methods and tactics is that you aren't obligated to pin your hopes on demographic triumphalism - if the future goes a bit off-script, that isn't necessarily a problem. And it may well go off-script; one of the characteristics of the future that I have tried to express in my blogging is that, for most of us, it will be unexpected.

Why does the old conventional racism use hypodescent? Old conventional racism might claim to be based on thinking in terms of evolution, but it isn't necessarily. Often it proceeds as if race is primordial, trailing back into the mists of time. Why embrace hyperdescent now? In part, because 'white' was something that emerged once through evolution and selection, and it's implemented as a statistical distribution of heritable traits (even if those heritable traits are solely appearance). As long as those traits exist, it can simply be recreated if the appropriate conditions arise.

[Landian] Hyper-Racism Nick Land, Xenosystems.net (2014/09, arch. 2015)

Speaking of statistical distributions of traits, there are some pessimists that argue that intra-European political preferences are heritable and conserved.

But even those 'within-white' preferences, should they exist, may end up scrambled...

Assortative mating tends to genetic diversification. This is neither the preserved diversity of ordinary racism, still less the idealized genetic pooling of the anti-racists, but a class-structured mechanism for population diremption, on a vector towards neo-speciation. It implies the disintegration of the human species, along largely unprecedented lines, with intrinsic hierarchical consequence. The genetically self-filtering elite is not merely different — and becoming ever more different — it is explicitly superior according to the established criteria that allocate social status. Analogical fusion with Cochran’s space colonists is scarcely avoidable. If SES-based assortative mating is taking place, humanity (and not only society) is coming apart, on an axis whose inferior pole is refuse. This is not anything that ordinary racism is remotely able to process. That it is a consummate nightmare for anti-racism goes without question, but it is also trans-racial, infra-racial, and hyper-racial in ways that leave ‘race politics’ as a gibbering ruin in its wake.

"The problem with ordinary racism," Nick Land writes, "is its utter incomprehension of the near future."

If the conventional racists view race as primordial, as something that can only be either preserved or lost, and the would-be Castizo Futurists view race as something that can change over generations, then the Transhumanists are the most radical. Transhumanists tend to view the body mechanically, as a system of parts, each of which could potentially be replaced. This is the view on the macro level - they would support growing new organs in vats and transplanting them - but it's also true on the micro level. To a Transhumanist, a gene is not the same thing as a person who has it, and a gene is not in itself sacred any more than the radiator on your car is sacred. (Alter someone's genetics unwillingly, however, and you might find far more stern disagreement - not unlike the violent disagreement you might get if you broke into someone's car and stole their radiator.)

Someone once described Americans as 'temporarily-embarassed millionaires.' For temporarily-embarassed cyborgs, much of contemporary race discourse is just not very impressive. For Liberal Transhumanists, a man who has inherited frail leg bone genes is not an inherently unworthy being, but is merely someone who has not yet received robot legs - just as they are human beings who have not yet received anti-aging pills. And if some men have sturdy leg bone genes instead? Rather than a threat of enduring hierarchy, those genes represent potential untapped capital that could be used to raise the standard of living (from the typical subjective perspective).

In the famous animated franchise Ghost in the Shell, the lead character has an entirely synthetic body, except for her brain. If this were possible (and at this point, we don't know that it is, though we're continuing to experiment in fields like tissue engineering), one might describe a society capable of it as "also trans-racial, infra-racial, and hyper-racial in ways that leave ‘race politics’ as a gibbering ruin in its wake."

Are there risks involved with this mindset? Certainly. But many of the basic criticisms will ring as hollow to transhumanists as basic conservative criticisms ring hollow to many left-wing and liberal readers.

This future is not yet etched in stone, but on the other hand, an article in Nature published in 2020 argued that...

Together, these findings suggest that there are, at present, no known insurmountable hurdles to the eventual development of safe and effective clinical applications of genome editing in humans. […] Therapeutic genome editing will be realized, at least for some diseases, over the next 5-10 years.

Part of what makes contemporary race discourse so unimpressive to transhumanists is that it fails to integrate Crispr or PGD-IVF into its moral imagination. Right-wingers are said to look backwards, and left-wingers and progressives to look forwards. But while the right-wing WrathOfGnon would encourage readers think on ancestral time scales by physically building villages out of traditional materials (a view which, right or wrong, is consistent), a number of Progressives fail to imagine beyond the next fifteen years.

...or perhaps they do. Can children consent to what's considered a genetic disease (such as Tay-Sachs, which is quite lethal)? Would having kids the old-fashioned way come to be seen as a low-class activity for rednecks and religious fundamentalists? There are ways in which genetic equity is at odds with genetic freedom.

It's also possible that they are simply technology pessimists, maintaining multiple rings of protection in case technology should fail to pan out this century. Though if this is their perspective, perhaps they should consider the potential dangers of their current rhetoric as well.

Contrary to the Liberal Transhumanists, for someone like Land, everything is highly competitive evolution.

genomic manipulation capabilities, which will also be unevenly distributed by SES, will certainly intensify the trend to speciation, rather than ameliorating it.

I take issue with Land, here. Not just morally (though he writes "this blog generally seeks to spread dismay whenever the opportunity arises"), but in practical terms.

Every time we edit a gene, we risk an off-target result, which may cause disease. The tradeoffs for early genetic engineering favor focusing on monogenic disease, the sort of situation where your choices are to risk genetic engineering or experience near-certain death by age 30. Many traits like intelligence or general health, should they be genetic, are likely highly polygenic. Hypothetically, a rich man could pay for a thousand edits, but this would only work with a relatively mature technology where the rate of error is very, very low.

Something closer to the opposite of Nick Land's idea might come to pass, in which sharp negative points are eroded away except for a few populations such as religious conservatives, including the literal Amish, and medical skeptics, paid for by big institutions like insurance companies and public health authorities. In twenty years, the likes of L0m3z, a right-wing Twitter contrarian, may write about the coming "Planet of Midwits."

As for Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis In-Vitro Fertilization, although it is currently being used for preventing the transmission of Huntington's Disease (if you have $35,000 to spare), the gains from embryo selection for other traits can be more limited than people might expect.

[Video] The Glenn Show: The Dark Matter of Developmental Psychology Glenn Loury & James Heckman, BloggingHeads.tv (2020/12)

GLENN: I'm talking to one of the great economists working on human development. What are you up to at the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago?

HECKMAN: Well, one of the great issues of course, always, is exactly how do you improve the lot of human beings. Namely, how do you measure what improvement is, what are the relevant life skills, and then how do you develop those skills? What's the proper role for social policy, and I don't mean just governmental policy, I mean social policy? There are some very strong interventions, evidence for interventions, showing how if you tell parents a certain amount of information that they lack, it can have huge effects on their children. And the same is true of interventions that occur in adolescent years. Human potential is not being fully utilized. [...] I've been working on this not only in the US, but in several countries around the world - a lot of time spent in China, recently.

[...]

HECKMAN: And then gradually society has become more and more cognitively focused. Well that sounds good. When Governor Clinton was governor of Arkansas, well all of these well-meaning officials were talking about how to improve schools, what do they talk about? Nate scores - reading, writing, and arithmetic. They don't talk about character formation. They don't talk about self-control, executive functioning, the way you can help govern your life. [...]

HECKMAN: One of the main lessons of this body of work, and I'm proud to have contributed to this, is in showing the power of social and emotional and personality skills in shaping lives. Skills that can be actually cultivated, and skills that can be cultivated not just at the beginning of life, but through adolescence especially.

What evidence is there? Aside from more contemporary study in his own field, Heckman mentions discusses the Perry Preschool Project, a topic which comes up sometimes when one is looking into this field. While increases in IQ scores failed to stick, the experimental group had improvements in other life outcomes such as earnings, home ownership, and lower risk of incarceration.

HECKMAN: ...but the way you take the kid to the next step matters a lot. You've got to do it with some patience, and with some empathy - some attachment. And so there's a whole subject matter in child development psychology which we're looking at now - we actively are exploring.

HECKMAN: By the way, I don't want to pretend this is all completely known. This is what makes the work that I'm doing now so exciting. Because now we're measuring these interactions, week by week. This is now not in the US, it's in western China, one of the poorest areas. We can see how the interactions between the parent and the child are leading to the growth of skills on the part of the child. [...]

HECKMAN: This was something that was tried in Jamaica some 40 years ago. I'm working with a group of people with a study that's still ongoing outside of Kingston, Jamaica. It's called the "Reach Up and Learn" study in Jamaica. The China study is patterned after that study. [...]

So the research the Heckman is focused on is not limited to a particular race, country, or culture.

HECKMAN: It turns out that a lot of parents don't really know how to parent. And what do I mean by that? They don't have a clear idea what a normal growth trajectory is for a child, what a child can do. And they often don't understand how powerful they are in shaping the life of the child. So you give them that kind of information. Nobody's being forced to do anything. Just empower people. Almost every caretaker of a young child really wants that child to succeed. [...] When they are told this information, they act on it.

Asian Americans live longer than non-hispanic white Americans, and have a higher median household income. [1☆][2☆] While there is some racial tension between white and asian Americans (see, for instance, ongoing 'cultural appropriation' arguments and other discourse), it's generally considered less of an issue than disparities between the country's white majority and black Americans.

Could parental information and mentoring programs reduce disparities in the United States, even if they aren't resolved? And could this turn down the heat on race discourse?

For instance, at $76k median household income, white households make about 77% of what asian households do. Black American households make about $45k, or about 60% of white American household income. At 77%, they would make about $59k, not far off from the $56k of hispanic households.

What are the potential downsides? The most likely way for the program to fail is for it to have no effect or, at worst, a modest negative effect. [3] It isn't incompatible with an ecological view of human society. It would cost money, but probably not much more than another couple years of additional schooling.

Given the modest downside risk, what are the potential upsides? If the reports on the Perry Preschool Program are accurate and the effects can be replicated, there are a large savings to be had, mostly from the reduction in crime. [4☆]

But can the effects be replicated? The sample size for the Perry Preschool Project was relatively small. As far as Early Childhood Education programs go, the effectiveness of Head Start, which provides more than just preschool and is "based on a 'whole child' model," is disputed. [5☆][6☆] However...

Two older "high-quality" preschool programs mentioned frequently in the research literature are the HighScope Perry Preschool program from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. These programs include parent education and support and thus differ in significant ways from the type of preschool programs offered by Head Start, as well as the more recent "high-quality" programs. They are also much more expensive on a per-capita basis. Both the CPC and the HighScope Perry Preschool programs were started in the 1960s, and researchers have carried out long-term cost-benefit analyses for both programs. These analyses conclude that better long-term outcomes more than pay for their higher program costs, mainly in the form of higher career income and lower rates of criminal behavior.

- Armor & Sousa [6☆]

By 2018, the "Reach Up and Learn" program Heckman was speaking of had been expanded to 9 other countries, with varying degrees of effectiveness depending on its implementation. [7☆] (Though its associated US domain has expired.) Heckman's own study is, as one would expect, positive about the effects - and was published in Science.

Early childhood education increased earnings by 25%, enough for growth-stunted children to completely catch up to the earnings of the non-stunted comparison group. The control group remained far behind. In fact, average earnings from full-time jobs were 25% higher for the treatment group than for the control group. Ninety-eight percent of treated children had been employed at age 22, with 94% in full-time jobs.

Jamaica is not America, and interventions that worked under conditions in Jamaica might be less effective in America. However, if it could be achieved, a 25% increase in median income would put black American households at roughly $57k annual income, just above hispanic households, and within striking distance of the $59k target.

A nutritional intervention was also attempted, however, although "Other studies have shown cognitive benefits from nutritional supplementation in the first 24 months," Heckman wrote, "The nutrition supplement for the child was often shared with the family, so it may not have been sufficient to produce better outcomes."

And the nutrition angle might be worth looking into - the study cited (preceded by an analysis, by one of the same authors, of 13 studies on the subject) by Scott Alexander in Society is Fixed, Biology is Mutable showed that vitamins didn't do much for well-nourished kids, but that a minority of undernourished kids may have benefitted greatly.

-☆☆☆-

[1☆] As of 2014, asian Americans lived about 86 years, hispanics about 83 years, and non-hispanic whites about 79 years.

[2☆] In 2019, asian households had a median household income of $98,174 US to white non-hispanic median household income of $76,057. (It should be noted however, as shown in this Wikipedia article that is easier to read than the government data it cites, that household median incomes for groups within "white" or "asian" are not all the same.)

[3] Heckman's program and attitude suggest that an ideological explanation of how we got here isn't included, just an assumption of lack of access to resources by impoverished parents, whether that's in Jamaica, Peru, or China. This suggests the program lacks a loop where program failure just means that the program wasn't tried hard enough.

[4☆] Updating the Economic Impacts of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program (2005)

At a 3% discount rate the program repays $12.90 for every $1 invested from the perspective of the general public; with a 7% discount rate, the repayment per dollar is $5.67. Returns are even higher if the total benefits--both public and private--are counted. However, there are strong differences by gender: a large proportion of the gains from the program come from lower criminal activity rates by the treatment group, almost all of which is undertaken by the males in the sample. The implications of these findings for public policy on early childhood education are considered.

[5☆] Wikipedia collects a number of studies both for and against.

[6☆] The Dubious Promise of Universal Preschool David J. Armor & Sonia Sousa, National Affairs (2014/01, arch. 2014/01)

[7☆] Reach Up: how a Jamaican early childhood intervention swept the world APolitical.co (2018/04)

[yfere]

Shipping Calculus! Live Updates from C2E65

Why no one started singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G tree song during this episode, I have no idea. Thank you to @alarnia and @softazelma for helping with data entry. Masterpost here.

+500 to Liam O’Brien/The Sympathy Vote If anything, the investigative report humanized the man, what with his agonized expressions, the hard choices he’s making, the deals, trying desperately to hold onto his friendships. Sam Riegel seems like a robot in comparison, with very long bits. #VoteWithYourJohnson #LiamForPresident

-100 to Marisha Ray/Trustworthiness as the person in charge of the investigation into Liam O’Brien’s campaign, we expect a certain amount of clearheadedness and integrity, which does not include getting high before giving testimony. Fire her from the case! #VoteWithYourJohnson #LiamForPresident

+23 to Jester/Yasha for an adorkable conversation about Yasha’s hard rock harping career, using the imagination to handle hard feelings together, as all good Jester ships should. The offer to wipe Yasha’s memory again if there’s anything she doesn’t want to know or remember #ThatsLove, and Yasha channeling Jester’s slightly unhinged love of animals and peacemaking by speculating they could offer the udak some scritches to quell its murderous impulses. Yasha quoting Jester only about 500 times a day, worshipping the ground she walks on, believing she has the power to heal the grass, and then placing that grass into her pressed flower book to remember the moment with #ArtisticSolidarity.

+31 to Beau/Yasha, with a few Battle Aftercare Points for Yasha helping up Beau after the fight, and for an even more emotionally charged watch conversation that resulted in a Ljore Drop from Beau. Talking about past loves and betrayals, the “types” that Beau prefers. Yasha appreciating Beau’s lack of judgment, Beau only slightly ineffectively wielding her I’m-Horrible-Too trump card, Yasha saying she’s “seen” Beau “a lot.” Floating the idea that it is actually possible to move on from Zuala’s death. Beau offering to help Yasha dig up the body, because that’s not weird at all, That’s Love. Darlings. Points taken away because the focus of the conversation was almost entirely on other people they love and have loved, and Jester, which brings us to…

+10 to Beau/Yasha/Jester, as in the launch of the second major intra-party poly ship in the shipping calculus lab, we have two wlw who spend a substantial amount of their Lesbian Bonding Time just talking about how beautiful and perfect and incredible Jester Lavorre is. Fuck Caduceus, this Literal Saint walking amongst them can heal grass with her spit and her “radiant glow”. With the same logic, we can expect that her toenails cure poison, her kiss brings you back from the brink of death…Also, Jester lending Verbal Support to Yasha’s physical support after the gloomstalker battle, as Beau wrestles with embarrassment over not having done anything

+10 to Caleb/Fjord/Jester as our second poly ship gains points with Caleb saving both Fjord and Jester from plummeting to their deaths and Fjord taking the chance to thunderstep them both up the tree again!

+17 to Jester/Fjord but as usual, Fjord’s contribution to the Rescue-the-Jester operation looks a lot flashier, so he gets more of the Romance Credit. Not only that, but many points for a competitive tree-climbing adventure straight out of a romance novel where Fjord’s Need To Impress The Love Interest gives him enough adrenaline to actually beat out Jester on athletics, swinging her up safely into the branches like a magical green Tarzan. Fjord (and Beau) being lovingly sketched in Jester’s book so she can remember the moment forever. Excellent Battle Couple vibes in distracting and shooting down gloomstalkers while on the moorbounders, not once but twice. Fjord also made an admirable attempt to Rescue-the-Jester during the first gloomstalker attack, but Caduceus got +6 to Cockblocking for immediately assassinating the charmed gloomstalker before Fjord’s spell did any good. Fjord yelling at Nott for not listening to Jester. Plenty of point loss, however, because Fjord is never going to learn to love Jester’s animals, losing his cool and yelling about what her “fucking animal is doing” STOP, Fjord.

+5 to Jester/Caduceus, for the aforementioned gloomstalker assassination, and being #Blessed alongside Yasha and Fjord, but point loss for Caduceus rolling his eyes at Jester’s well-meaning attempt to spit the grass to life and saying “that’s not how it works,” saying “that’s not how it works” about the scrying despite having never succeeded in doing it himself, and for Jester insisting that the massive tree is an evil “vampire tree,” much to Caduceus’ dismay.

+15 to Caduceus/Arts-n-Crafts for sweetly weaving a sunhat for Yasha while everyone else does dumb shit like nearly getting themselves killed, damaging a holy tree and antagonizing the largest bird of prey in  several miles’ radius. He’ll probably sit through whatever encounter happens next week continuing to weave that hat.

+20 to Sam Riegel/Heatstroke as he responds to Concerns over his sweating and over-warm getup by putting on more layers. I’d expect a President with some more self-preservation in him, but if he offs himself with poor costuming choices at least he’ll be taken out of the running, am I right? #VoteWithYourJohnson #LiamForPresident

+16 to Beau/Jester They also earn many Battle Points, as Jester sends her nastiest Guiding Bolts (according to Sam Riegel, an expression of love) rocketing towards the gloomstalker attacking Beau. Beau instantly thinking of Jester’s skill with art and asking her to copy the map, and Jester adorably sketching Beau as one of her favorite people up in the tree, besides thinking that Beau’s tree climbing skills are Incredibly Impressive, and sneaking alongside her and Fjord to get a better look at the roc nest. Point loss for Beau saying Jester’s map was “garbage” which, even though Beau meant the map itself and not Jester’s skill in copying it, Jester still took personally.

-10 to Caleb/The Mission as he confesses to “losing faith” during watch with Nott, feeling like they’re failing and they don’t know what they’re doing.

+25 to Caduceus/The Mission as despite the Wildmother telling him Things He Did Not Want To Hear during his Communing session, Caduceus gets a massive, massive sign he’s going in the right direction in the form of Melora’s tree, and a detailed vision of all the places he’s expected to go to when he sleeps that night.

+19 to Caduceus/Nature as Caduceus plays around in the dirt, pokes at some interesting moss for several minutes, and gets to hang out, utterly smitten with a massive tree that is the best thing ever look at it.

+4 to Caleb/Fjord as no one listens to Fjord’s desire for a short rest, and even his puppy eyes directed at Jester is not enough to sway them, until Caleb catches on to Fjord’s plight and uses his #ItPaysToBeADamselInDistress power to say he wants a short rest, and shift the party to his favor. Caleb wanting some light to read his now-apparently-waterproof book for the Tiny Hut, and Fjord eagerly offering to cast a spell to make Caleb and everything around him darker. It’s the thought that counts? Point loss for Fjord ignoring Caleb’s advice against antagonizing the chasing gloomstalkers.

-2 to Caleb/Cat-Shaped Creatures as asking Frumpkin-the-Vulture with his razor claws to knead and drape himself on people is not nearly as comforting as actually having a real-life cat do it. However, +10 to Caleb/Vulture Culture for that and for turning himself into a huge bird of prey to cart Nott around.

-5 to Jester/Cat-Shaped Creatures (also -5 to Jester/Pets) as despite attempting to comfort Yarnball after the first gloomstalker fight, Yarnball remains spooked enough to break formation when they encounter them again, at which point Jester channels Alison Hargreeves vibes by lying and using mind control to get the poor thing back in line.

-4 to Fjord/Caduceus as Fjord gets a special, potentially life-saving visit from the Wildmother in his dreams, delivering him for the moment from Uk’otoa….and repays her by fucking up one of her most sacred places on the planet with repeated wood-shattering Thundersteps. Caduceus can’t watch.

-40 to Fjord/Uk’otoa as Uk’otoa now has a schedule of bothering Fjord every one to two weeks. I shudder to think how Uk’otoa is going to react once the Wildmother can’t protect Fjord anymore, now that he’s escaped from their clutches once.

+1 to Fjord/His Inner Bard for motivational rapping of...questionable quality

+3 to Caleb/Caduceus as Caleb very sweetly refuses Caduceus “wasting” his light spells on him, asks him about his feelings towards the tree. Caduceus looking to Caleb before anyone else to see if investigating the turtle shell is a good idea.

+4 to Nott/Jester as Nott offers some excellent advice on how to get ones’ way—ask the same question over and over again until you get the answer you want, and if that fails, do what you want anyway. Jester being the Most Concerned with Nott’s drinking, and alongside Caleb successfully steering her away from a suicidal (though heroically romantic) standoff against the gloomstalkers. Nott helping Jester and the others float safely down, and instinctively trying to save Jester and Fjord during their first fall. Bonding over an appreciation for big square dicks, which would only, and I mean only count for point gains between these two individuals. Point loss for Nott calling Jester “crazy” and saying she’ll scar Luke for life, which is probably just a deflection but a hurtful one. Jester catching Nott after she fails to climb the tree and just barely managing to stop herself from being negative and saying “Good effort!” instead, because Jester can’t help but feel like it’s her job to Be Encouraging.

+30 to Nott/Keeping It Together Maybe as she’s totally fine, she’s just going to drink a lot and nearly kill herself trying to stand off against the gloomstalkers and go stealthing alone in the middle of the night and rip the heart out of her enemies—she’s fine guys. It’s all under control

+2 to Clerics/Loneliness, as both Jester and Caduceus are abandoned to take a watch alone. Even so, their love for the others shines through, with Jester phoning up Kiri, and Caduceus preparing breakfast for everyone.

+1 to Caleb/Jester as Caleb tries to gently defend Jester to Nott, a few different times—a difficult thing, to dissuade Nott of anything!

+25 to Nott the Best Detective Agency/Detective Work and Beau/Nerdom as Beau is the one to find the map of the area to have Jester copy, alongside Nott’s excellent vision catching Melora’s tree at a distance. Then, Nott’s investigation of the tree alone demonstrating Admirable Detective Curiosity, while Beau is the only person to recall exactly what the tree is and its significance to the Wildmother and the Calamity. Jester finding their target running his hands along some mountain in the Prenumbra Range, looking for the correct place to put the emblem that he bought from the scout courier.

+3 to Essik/The Mighty Nein as he is “proud” that they’re hanging out cheerfully in the middle of the Badlands. At this point Essik seems to have just accepted that they’re a dumpster fire and has resolved to pat them on the head so long as they do the bare minimum and keep themselves alive. A few days from now they’ll give him a call from the bottom of the ocean, yes yes that’s very good children, we’re very proud of you here and that’s what I’ll tell anyone who asks because it’s not like I staked any part of my reputation on backing you to the Bright Queen or anything.

[lucienfairfax]

now, Noah (Fallout 4)!

2. Their mother? How do they think of her? What do they hate? Love? What influence - literal or imagined - did the mother have?

His mother is a messy subject, ngl. He did love her, but it was only after she died that he fully realised how much. Also, he never realised the truth of his conception and her illness until much later, and that really added weight to his survivor’s guilt and his awe of his mother.

When he was young, because he was young and didn’t know any better, he hated that his mother was always too tired/sick to do anything with him. Even though his grandmother was there to help, he felt neglected and unimportant for a lot of his childhood, until he grew up a little and realised it wasn’t exactly about him, it was something out of their control. He felt guilty about his brattiness for a long time, even though his mother never seemed to hold it against him. (It always astonished him how much she understood.)

Noah’s mother is the foundation of Noah’s goodness and compassion -- he learned to show it to her, and she gave it back to him and taught him how to show it to himself. In the same way, he shows it to everyone, because he learned how everyone deserves it, even (especially) when they are not easy to be compassionate to. (This is a great weapon in his arsenal when it comes to dealing with the Wasteland problems, and avoiding Atom’s influence.)

7. What was the economic status of their family?

Noah grew up lower-class -- his mother’s illness prevented her from being able to work, so she collected disability instead. He never really wanted for anything, but he also didn’t have anything extra very often. He only got into CIT on a full scholarship, which was fortunate.

When he married Zora, their assets combined put them comfortably in the middle-class bracket.

10. Is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent, intellectual, slow-witted?

I call Noah dumb a lot, affectionately, because although he’s very intelligent -- remember that full ride to CIT I mentioned? -- he... falls prey to predatory people easily, and he’s rather gullible at times. He is soft-hearted and doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in himself or his ability to do good, which makes him an easy target.

But he can jury-rig almost anything in the Commonwealth, he can fix synths (with a little training), and he has the diplomacy skills of a professional. So, you know.

16. What does your character do for a living? How do they see their profession? What do they like about it? Dislike?

He works as an engineer (robotics engineering is his speciality, but he does other kinds in a pinch) in the pre-War days, which is a pretty lucrative and stable profession. Those skills end up coming in handy post-War, too, seeing as knowing how to make broken or otherwise-useless things work in one’s favour is a survival necessity when you live in a nuclear wasteland. People have an easier time depending on someone who can rig their water pump or outfit their settlement with multiple defenses and will do it for nothing except the joy of the practice.

He is also the General of the Minutemen, which isn’t as much a profession as it is a... duty, I guess you could say. He (with Preston’s help) does the boring work of managing an outfit like the Minutemen, so that the Minutemen can focus on doing what they do best -- helping the Commonwealth. It is boring work a lot of the time, but he believes in the Minutemen, and he considers it an honour to help them.

Later, he is Director of the Institute, and that’s a lot like being the Minutemen’s General, except with even greater responsibility and notoriety. The Institute’s abysmal reputation in the Commonwealth is now his problem, and although he is determined like hell to fix it, it’s... definitely not easy or fun, and for a while it almost seems futile. But, hey, that’s Noah -- Patron Saint of Causes So Lost They Seem Fuckin Stupid.

22. Who are their friends? Lovers? ‘Type’ or ‘ideal’ partner?

Zora was his wife, in pre-War times. Preston Garvey is the most important person in his life in post-War times (within a few years, everyone just calls them husbands, because that’s functionally what they are). He also takes other close companions, like High Rise and Ellie Perkins, and he loves them just the same-- but none of them have quite the impact that Preston does on Noah’s life. 

27. How do they relate to their appearance? How do they wear their clothing? Style? Quality?

Before the War, Noah dressed respectably during the day and like a biker heathen at night (much like Zora, although Zora found it harder to maintain her dual identity). He cleans up nicely, but he’s never been more at home than he is in the Wasteland, where his leather jacket, ratty jeans (complete with gun holster), shitkicker boots, and permanent five o’clock shadow is like a uniform for him. He is the quintessential “looks like he can kill you / is actually a cinnamon roll (who can still kill you but will cry about it later)” trope, lmao.

33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health?

He does drink, but not terribly often -- it’s not good to work on machinery or manage fragile intra-community relations while drunk, you know. Mostly he does it with his friends and lovers, during downtime. Also, he’s a lightweight, so it’s not like he has to drink a whole lot anyway.

The stimulant chems disturb him (largely because of what happened to Mama Murphy, but also just in general) so he avoids them. But either way, radiation itself has psychoactive effects on him, to the point of being a potent hallucinogen and dissociative -- this is obviously a direct product and therefore a mark of him being Atom’s son. It’s the state of being that all Children of Atom (the religious kind, none of them literal children of his, as much as they’d like to be) aspire to -- being immune to the harmful effects of radiation and instead being made porous by it, their consciousness transcended, their knowledge expanded.

36. Do they like to suffer? Like to see other people suffering?

There’s a part of Noah that does perversely seek suffering, and that part is probably the part that innately knows what he is and how he was made. Luckily, it seems to be pretty satisfied by, like... rough sex and whatnot. LOL

But the part of Noah that he inherited from his mother is the stronger part, and that part wants suffering for no one. Now, in the parallel timeline where Atom does win Noah over, and makes him Heir of Atom and High Confessor of the Children, the seed of darkness that exists in Noah has grown exponentially -- so that’s a whole different story, there. There is a wide streak of psychosexual sadism in High Confessor Noah that one day I’m going to have a lot of fun writing about... 

42. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

Noah wants to feel like he’s overcome the darkness woven into his genes and soaked into his blood. He wants to feel like he’s been of some good to the world, instead of just making matters worse. He wants to know that Atom hasn’t won -- at least, not yet.

He wants to know that Preston Garvey loves him, and is glad to have lived after all.

He needs to be useful, to be indispensable. He needs to be needed. He needs his suffering to have not been in vain, and he needs others’ suffering to have not been in vain, either.

And really, most of all, Noah wants and needs peace of soul and mind. He has never once in his life felt that, and he so desperately wants to just... breathe, and feel the warmth of something divine that loves him as he is, and know that all is well. He wants his mother to embrace him and tell him that he is everything she could have ever wanted, no matter how he was created, and that she’s waiting for him.

[evoldir]

Fwd: Job: UMassachusetts_Lowell.Bioinformatics

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Job: UMassachusetts_Lowell.Bioinformatics > Date: 26 February 2016 at 09:42:28 GMT > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > > > Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Bioinformatics at the University of > Massachusetts Lowell > > The University of Massachusetts Lowell Department of Biological > Sciences invites applications to fill a full-time tenure-track faculty > position, rank negotiable, to start September 2016. We seek an individual > experienced in bioinformatics and quantitative biology, who would apply > computational, mathematical and other quantitative tools to analyze > complex, high-throughput data. Examples would include the development of > new computational tools to analyze whole genomes or transcriptomes, model > intra- and extracellular signaling networks, and to model systems-level > processes within populations and ecosystems. This area would leverage > our campus strengths in computer science to develop and apply new tools > to understanding living processes. In addition to the broad range of > research interests within the Biological Sciences Department, UMass > Lowell has a diverse group of science and engineering faculty who use > multiple model systems to evaluate new technologies (e.g. nanomedicine, > biomaterials, robotics and tissue engineering), therefore candidates > interested in establishing collaborations with faculty in these fields are > strongly encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will be expected to > establish a vigorous, externally funded research program, and contribute > to the departmentขs teaching mission. Teaching responsibilities may > include the development of an undergraduate Bioinformatics course, > in addition to upper-level courses in areas of interest to the candidate. > > The University of Massachusetts Lowell is committed to increasing > diversity in its faculty, staff, and student populations, as well > as curriculum and support programs, while promoting an inclusive > environment. We seek candidates who can contribute to that goal and > encourage you to apply and to identify your strengths in this area. > > To be considered for this position, please submit all required > application materials to the UMass Lowell Human Resources website: > https://ift.tt/2X6cvBd > > Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the > position is filled. However, the position may close once an adequate > number of qualified applications are received. > > > > "Garb, Jessica" > via IFTTT

[stock-market1]

Why is the Meta Trader 4 platform so popular?

The MetaTrader4 (mt4) is by far the most popular platform for forex retail traders. A lot more than 95% of the forex brokers offer this platform on their websites. It's one of the very complete trading platforms available with many features, indicators etc. Nevertheless the MT4 wasn´t created this way initially wasn't popular from day one. As we have explained inside our previous article relating to this platform, it started with an easy charting package in 2000 and evolved step-by-step within the years. The MT4 was introduced in 2005; although it was very similar to the version that we are employing today, many upgrades have already been made ever since then and a lot of features and indicators have already been added. Nowadays, I wonder if there is any forex trader who hasn´t heard of the MT4 platform. What exactly causes it to be the most popular platform?

Primadonna

We mentioned previously that the thing that was to function as MT4, which had simple beginnings in 2000. During those times online retail trading (ORT) was taking baby steps. Even yet in 2005 when the MT4 version released, ORT wasn´t widespread to everyone, so it was limited in trading platform providers. Much like every new product, the advantages of being among the first in the industry outweigh the disadvantages by far. Needless to say, the first concept could be unclear and with no advisor you've to pave the trail by yourself. Without other option, all potential clients will come and get totally hooked on your product. Many platforms can be found to the normal trader now, but virtually all the traders have tried the MT4 either demo or live. Familiarity with the item has it's advantages and disadvantages.

It's Free

As we shall explain below, the MT4 ranks first to every other platform regarding many aspects, but you can find other platforms that compete. However, this platform or software might charge a fee. The MT4 is absolve to the traders; this will always be better than other products which can be more advanced. After all, you are able to always fund your account with the cash that you´re going to spend on platforms and other programs which may come with it.

Numerous features

How many features was among the major causes the MetaTrader4 went viral when the platform was initially introduced in 2005. A few of the key features which made trading and market analysis easy were:

the multiple charts setup with integrated and easy to use charts

the navigator window

the marketplace watch window

the Pepperstone market terminal

the indicators window

more than 80 pre-installed indicators

automated trading

Those features certainly are a market standard now, but at the time your competition was scarce and other platforms lacked the key features that the MT4 offered. But the company hasn´t stopped there, offering new features continuously.

These additions include- a news section, signals section, one-click trading and additional trading instruments.

Easy to use

When traders go live, their main preoccupation should be beating the marketplace and finishing with a profit. Winning daily is hard enough and an elaborate trading platform will make things even worse. Therefore simplifying the trading platform is crucial. The MT4 has all of the features and indicators you'll need even as we mentioned previously, yet it is simple and you are able to navigate through it quite easily. You've the symbols and the rates on the left, the charts on the right and the indicators and other features at the top of the platform. The one-click trading and customizing ability has managed to get even more straightforward to use.

Simple programming language MQL4  

The programming language is a critical part of the MT4 platform. It has managed to get very easy for traders, programmers and the third-party participants to produce and implement trading robots and Expert Advisors (EA) indicators. Form EAs and indicators, which are supplied by the MetaQuotes Corporation, now you can find thousands of third-party robots and indicators which have been built exclusively for the MT4. In addition to the EAs and the indicators, traders have also developed scripts that may carry out certain functions. An example is taking screenshots of just a small the main chart, which includes the indicator as well or scripts that clear all of the indicators from the chart.  

Popularity

Last although not least, the popularity itself. This sounds like a paradox but it generates sense. The popular a product is – the easier it becomes to obtain potential consumers. In the event that you look for a trading platform on the internet, the MT4 can look everywhere. There will be a lot of literature covering this platform and recommendations is also a critical part of its marketing. With so lots of people already utilizing the MT4, it is not to difficult for the phrase traveling externally, inter and intra-trading group.