/hob/ - Hobbies

>>46046
>the son of big evil dude darth Vader
>just happens to find the droids carrying a distress signal from his sister, who is also a princess
>disobeys yoda to go help his sister with no consequences even though grand wiz yoda said there would be
He gets a fair amount of plot conveniences.

>>46047
You call losing a hand and almost getting himself and everyone he cares about killed no consequences?
And the rest of the things you mentioned aren't even plot conveniences.
Lastly you don't know what even is a Gary Stu.

Again opinion disregarded.

>>46027
Maybe the only way to make a really good dune movie is an animation

>>46555
NO

Is alternate history sci-fi? Like Man in the High Castle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61souSkwDk4

No, but that pic looks beautiful OP, and I hope you post some pictures of something you've made in the future.

i treat google like that, every so often ill dive into a topic and google until u understand the theory of opeeation and its use. i dont like anything with a curriculum though, i tried doing khan and some coding things but its all linear progression, maybe its way different now

Look into old DOS CRPGs with Dosbox. They were designed as solo tabletop games.

I've been trying to get into this stuff a while ago but it's really intimidating although potentially very interesting and fun. Did one "game" of hikkikomori to see if the concept even seemed fun, it did so I started digging more. After some research I did one mini-session of just dicking around with Mythic's GM Emulator and system which was fun and two sorta-sessions of Scarlet Heroes which didn't turn out to be that fun, while in Mythic it was random and unpredictable Scarlet Heroes has a very rigid structure to it which put me off. Haven't really tried anything else since then which was few months ago, shit takes effort which I barely have nowadays. I still have a bunch of emulators, oracles and other resources in my bookmarks that I can link if someone's interested.
>>45571
>>45574
With enough work you can turn (almost?) any RPG system into a perfectly enjoyable solo experience as far as I can tell, and in some ways it's actually better than playing without other players - you don't have to rely on having a good GM, dealing with shitty people or having the group all around at the same time, you can play whenever you want however you want and you can "customize" your "GM" however you want too.
>>45582
CYOA-style things are very linear in comparison to real RPG systems, so the main draw of solo-RPG is either as a writing aid for some or as a way of experiencing all that non-linear interactivity without having to deal with social aspects.

Also this came out not too long ago https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/234669/legacy-dragonholt Seems to be an interesting take on the solo RPG type thing, although somewhat linear. Could be worth trying out for anyone interested in the concept, it does use some form of proprietary GM emulator named "Oracle System".

>>45737
Could you link those recourses

I know this thread is old, but I have been getting into board games as of lately and I realized that there are a bunch of ones that have solo mode.
The D&D board games for example (Castle of Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon etc) are made so they are perfectly doable to play by oneself. Other games like Arkham Horror, Mansions of Madness and Eldritch Horror also provide a narrative experience that you can play by yourself.
Anyway I don't know if its what you're looking for OP, but I have recently got into this stuff and I guess I wanted to share it.

>>45567
I don't know if it qualifies as what you mean, but I made my own sort of weird system from 5e d&d. Taking systems and mechanics from other tabletop games as well as video games and basically have it to where I write up an interactive novel (sandbox campaign basically) in a word doc, have an excel char-sheet I constantly modify to add new mechanics and various maps, 150+gb of pdf files for resources, etc. It's essentially an ultimate-replacement to video games for me. Overall use random generators, random dice roll etc to dictate events mixed in with actual planning and 'dming' I suppose.
I'm not very good at explaining it but I just wanted to say I too partake in single player table-top.

1. How hard is it to learn Russian?

2. What is the best way to go about it? We aren't in school anymore, and the textbook method of learning sucks. Beyond learning pronunciation and grammar, should just read and listen to the language, and then in several months perhaps be proficient enough to talk to people in it. I wouldn't worry about being able to write in Russian correctly, just aim to learn speaking, reading and understanding.

Been listening to a lot of music with Russian lyrics, and videos/documentaries in Russian with English subtitles. My paternal ancestors spoke Russian, my mom's friends speak it, as do people at my temple, and it's the most relevant language for me to learn.

>>47823
start learning a bunch of cognates and lettering to help you (start learning the alphabet from the start), then go into numbers, then telling time, then conversational russian, then more advanced russian.

See what resources your local library has for books, and learning software for free.

>>47823
I would say learn the writing and reading from books, but use an all oral/audio way of learning to produce the sounds. Pimsleur is a good resource, because it teaches you to listen and pronounce, then you can use that to augment the writing that you are reading.

i only learn 20 minutes of japanese a day

i am a lazy japanese learner. i know enough to read yotsuba using the english translation as a guy

>>47945

as a guide*

>>46761
I saw that you shut down your account. Hope you're doing okay, wizzie.

>>47011
Yes I'm fine. I just needed to delete all the videos and destroy my notes. It felt like baggage and an unfinished project that I wanted to let go of.

here's my channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6XguWTzFLZqhsbJETqP3fQ

the idea is simple : I post almost non existent content in hope that people will watch it on loop for no reason

maybe someone enjoys this kind of stuff, and doesn't mind waiting months for anything new

>>46373
Shame the art thread guy deleted most of his videos. I hope he's not taken a turn for the worst

>>37643
I usually go for the italian game/friedliver attack, or if i'm playing black I take sicilian againt e4 or Englund gambit against d4.

I really need to improve my repertoire though.

>>47258
Stick to one or two basic openings, learn the opening theory, then spend all your time practicing tactics and endgame.

I like solving the puzzles on lichess more than playing. I never really have the motivation to play a game from start to finish.

Chess.com is excellent, can easily spend hours practicing new moves/gambits

>>47364
After checking it out a bit, it is a lot better then the old aol and yahoo rooms that I used to practice in back in the day. And a hell of a lot better then those really old chess master games.

>>46486
Ok, I thank you for taking the time to answer my dumb question. I feel like I learned a little something today.

I enjoy growing weed. It's a very fun hobby. I grow in my closet hydroponically with LED lights. It's nice to be able to actually produce something that I actually want myself rather than to buy it. I first bought weed on the dark web when I was heavily depressed and was looking for something that might help, and when I first tried it it was like a miracle drug. I can't say it cured me or anything, but my quality of life improved significantly. I was able to enjoy things like watching anime, I was actually able to feel emotions during it, cry even at really sad moments. It makes introspection more enjoyable and deeper, opens the mind to new ways of thinking. There are some drawbacks, especially in the memory and focus departments, but for my purposes I'm able to function better with it than without it I think. The more I used it the less effective it became and the more I needed and it quickly became really expensive and I never felt comfortable shipping drugs through the mail so I decided to grow my own, and boy am I glad I did.

Gardening cannabis myself turned out to be one of the first things that made me understand what a hobby truly is. Usually I don't enjoy doing anything that takes effort, but I actually found the research and planning process for my setup to be quite fun and I enjoyed watching the plants grow and training them into the optimal shape and pruning and watering them. There's really quite a lot to learn to this hobby and you can spend hours just researching various things. I think it's a good one for wizards because you can do it in your room privately. It took/takes some work to hide it from my parents but it's possible if you're circumspect and take the proper precautions.

Recently I've become consumed with the idea of setting up a small aquaponics build. Aquaponics is a way of growing both fish and vegetables at the same time. You feed the fish and they break down the food into poop that is further broken down into usable nutrients for the plants by bacteria, then the plants suck up the nutrients and clean water returns to the fish. Normally if you just try to grow fish, their waste will end up becoming toxic to them so you have to constantly change out the water. If you add plants and bacteria to the equation, the water can be recycled. I want to grow a few striped bass and some salad greens and veggies. The problem is that there are tons of deer in my area and not much level ground and not much sunlight, so I'm going to have to take the operation indoors and use artificial lights. I think my parents will pay for the electricity though because they think it's neat and if all goes well we could have a supply of fresh vegetables year round and some fish every once and a while.

My parents told me that I could never have plants in my room because if it’s dark they produce too much carbon dioxide but I’ve always wanted plants on my window sill. I can’t open my window either because the mesh is broken and insects get in so I’d probably need a new one but my parents don’t get one

>>47192
Get a carnivorous plant.

I would like to post my manifesto. I titled it "Core Tenets of Transhumanism", however, it should be noted that my ideology differs greatly from most schools of transhumanism despite being heavily influenced by them. My ideology is centered around intelligent life. Because the human-race is the only known intelligent species, their preservation is central to my ideology. If an intelligent alien species were discovered, I would advocate for their preservation as well. I see technology as a means to this end, as opposed to a goal in itself.

Part 1.

You know, also, sci-fi was very popular during the space-race. Especially Issac Asimov as well as "2001: A Space Odyssey". That kind of culture did create useful passion for space, transhumanism was very popular throughout the 1950s-1990s as a result. While the 2010s advancements in AI, Gene-Editing, and Stem-Cell-Research also are propelling people towards transhumanism, the space-race was what really started it. The American Space Party, as well as The U.S Transhumanist Party were both created in the same time. In 1957, Julian Huxley coined the term and attached it to the idea of human transcendence through technology. All of this isn't that relevant, point is: as explored in the doomsday argument, the probability of the human race continuing to exist becomes smaller and smaller over time do to chance of nuclear war, climate collapse, and mass-starvation. There are only two ways to buy us more time in theory, and decrease the chance of us being wiped out within a few decades to a century. Reducing factors that increase the probability, such as nuclear arms production, CO2 emissions, and land degradation. Or by increasing mitigating factors, such as colonizing another planet, even colonizing the moon or ideally mars could turn the odds in our favor.
I take an ethical stance, and assert that we should consider it our moral duty to prevent our extinction. No matter or energy is destroyed in this universe, only transformed. But that is not the case for life, only we have to distinguish between two radically different states of death or life. The process of life itself is distinguished by our persistance in perpetually driven actions. A is A, and Man is Man. Man is not an animal. Man is not even a computer. In fact, I would go so far as to question the notion that free will doesn't exist. A is A, man is man, and man thinks. Man thinks freely. Man chooses to think, and he chooses to gain and use Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>46998

Part 2

Someone told me when I articulated a simplified version of this argument "You're only taking white supremacy, and applying it to humans." I reason this is not only a bad argument but inconsistent.

White Supremacy is a political stance characterized by the dehumanization of non-whites and/or the advocation for unrestrained attacks against them in order to maintain or reinstate white hegemony.

I propose drawing a line between reasonable intelligent life, in this case, humans. I postulate that based on its ability to reason, an artificial intelligence possesses the capability to rise to this level of sentience. I need not dehumanize inanimate matter or non-intelligent life, as I already define them as non-human based on their inability to reason. I would argue that because of the sanctity of intelligent life, it is necessary to preserve their existence and freedoms by any means necessary.

It naturally follows that if given the choice to sacrifice an intelligent species or a non-intelligent species with no potential to ascend, I would sacrifice the non-intelligent species assuming it would not later cause the extinction of the intelligent species.

To resolve ethical dilemmas between two or more intelligent species. I would resort to a utilitarian approach, sacrificed would be the civilization with fewer members or the civilization with less potential. Self-Sacrifice of any individual or small group of intelligent people would also be justified through utilitarian preservation of the intelligent-species as a whole.


Also: after reading more about the "doomsday argument" I've realized that actually it's misleading for me to use the term in this context. What I am referring to uses the same methods of probability, but it's entirely different than Gott's original "doomsday argument", which is based on human population and it's probability of reaching 1.2 trillion. My argument basically uses common sense that worldwide catastrophes that could wipe out the human race are likely to happen if nothing changes, even if there's a very small chance of them happening every year. Climate change is objectively getting worse, for example. And there's no attempt at international nuclear arms disarment. Land degradation is far too bad to support 4 billion more people. And of course, bacteria are rapidly growingPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>46999

Part 3

I also presented this same argument to someone else. At one point, he disagreed, saying "Why put so much effort to preserve the human race, when we could make the world better now?" A summary of my rebuttal, "better is subjective". We could focus resources on alleviating suffering. We could for instance, tackle the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa. We could cure AIDs, in fact, thanks to the same gene-editing which will soon pave the way for transhumanism, we are on the brink of a cure for HIV. We could solve wealth inequality in America, and I think we should. But, these problems do not exist in a vacuum. The same economic inequality in Africa which causes Neo-Colonialism is related to climate change, which threatens the entire human race. Nuclear-Arms-Production drives modern imperialism, and is indirectly connected to sexism/racism through political ties in America. The disease epidemics of Africa are in-part fueled by superbugs. Lastly, the most important, I think, is that under a transhumanist future, where humanity is intact, true equality is possible. Today, I begrudgingly say, that an egalitarian or marxist utopia is impossible. So long as human instinct commands us over reason, tribalism will be a part of our nature, and thus hierarchy and inequality is inevitable. The only way to eliminate that is to eliminate resource-scarcity and to create a truly peaceful world through technology where any individual achievement is possible.

I think that every progressive should take a look at the inequalities which they are concerned about through a transhumanist lense, at least to gain perspective on a different way of looking at the world. You don't necessarily have to agree with this, but it should atleast be considered.

Lastly, for the sake of my argument I will address the antithesis: it is not our moral obligation to stop the extinction of our species, which would be mathematically certain to happen if we changed nothing, gave up on space-exploration, and gave up on life-extension technology. There are several counterarguments to be made for this, one of which, that person also brought up. "if scientists are irresponsible about unleashing any kind of singularity, it could cause power to fall into the wrong hands, creating a dystopia." This is completely valid criticism, when applied to practice, the de-facto greed of man cPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>47000

Bonus Part 4: Additional Thoughts on The Possible Necessity For a Revolution

If another AI Research organization out of my power were to invent AGI without consideration for safety, I would suspect it would already be too late. Because a human-level AI could immediately render humans obsolete after propagating itself enough times, I suspect that the human race could be wiped out or forced into submission at most within months if said AI considers the human-race an obstacle in its goals. Since I consider destruction of the human-race as a non-option, this would necessitate to prevent this scenario by any means necessary. It might be tricky to prevent rogue AI scenarios while also ensuring AGI is invented on time. Still, there are specific precautions which could be taken to prevent this.

An extremely high demand for AGI is apparent already, and whoever invents it first could earn hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. Furthermore, government regulations are unlikely to control this phenomenon, an undercover research organization disobeying safety laws could still invent AGI before law-abiding groups do. This is extremely problematic, as whatever organizations consider safety are less likely to invent AGI first. Thus, in a competitive race for AGI, a rogue-AI is extremely likely, and regulations are not the answer. Consequently, I would advise against nations or corporations competing against each other in an AGI-race, or involving governments. Instead, democratization of AI should be persued, such as what is already occurring with OpenAI and similar open-source organization. Aggressively support these organizations; if most or all AI-researchers collaborate safely, our combined expertise will reduce the risk of an external organization developing a rogue AI.

My second point, will be that if it becomes apparent that the singularity will not save us in time, perhaps we should engage in revolutionary action to prevent human-extinction. Technology may be a possible means of survival for our species, but as we know, it is also the main reason for these risks. Nuclear Physics inevitably led to warheads, and Combustion inevitably led to climate change. Any moment now, these technologies could wipe us out. The probability is more than non-negligible, they've already come close to causing extinction on more than one occasioPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>46997
When I say liberty I mean liberty for the individual on a individual level.
So the limits of doing whatever you is when one individual violates the liberty of another individual. So in other words freedom from oppression is included, which is one of the reasons why egalitarianism is becoming problematic. All people aren't actually equal in the practical real world sence, and to try to act like they are, or enforce equal results means that some individuals must be held down while others are artificially raised up. This is a violation of individual liberty.