[HN Gopher] Islands of the Feral Pigs
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Islands of the Feral Pigs
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 38 points
Date : 2024-11-12 02:09 UTC (20 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (hakaimagazine.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (hakaimagazine.com)
| xrd wrote:
| I'm still in shock that this online magazine won't continue.
|
| https://mailchi.mp/hakaimagazine/important-news-from-hakai-m...
|
| At least it will be preserved. But, the writing is consistently
| good, and consistently on the front page of HN. This is an
| example of a magazine worth saving.
| burkaman wrote:
| Damn that is very sad, I have donated in the past. Sounds like
| there is a chance they could find a new funder though.
|
| > But we have adjusted to the news and we're committed to
| finding a new outlet where we can continue to publish stories
| with our signature keen insight into all things coastal and
| oceanic. We're actively looking for new funding sources--if you
| have ideas, please get in touch, because we're open to
| suggestions. Over the next six months, we will keep you
| informed of our progress in finding a new haven for our next
| chapter.
| 7thpower wrote:
| My urge to pass judgment on the short sighted explorers is at
| odds with some of the commits I have pushed to get something to
| market at the expense of some future souls.
|
| This was a great read to start the day with.
| telgareith wrote:
| Tbh, this was the intended result.
| beardog wrote:
| People used to believe that animals could generate from the
| earth. The ecosystem used to be viewed as a mystical thing that
| would take care of its self and no mere man could significantly
| influence.
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation
| HenryBemis wrote:
| Uuffff.. I get it where the article is trying to go, but "..the
| pigs exist a little too much."
|
| Well, we rape nature, we unbalance natural order and when there
| are 50-100 more pigs we need to slaughter them.
|
| In cases like that what comes to mind is the Hubris, Atis,
| Nemesis, Tisis.
| (https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/hubris-atis-
| nemesi...).
|
| We (humans) 'contaminated' the island with pigs and other animals
| and we were a-ok while they were ravaging other species. Now they
| are annoying us we need to take swift and firm action and
| eliminate them.
|
| I am looking forward to a future where the cities will be under a
| self-sustainable 'dome' and everything between those cities will
| be wilderness/jungle, we will let nature take over.
| nervousvarun wrote:
| "I am looking forward to a future where the cities will be
| under a self-sustainable 'dome' and everything between those
| cities will be wilderness/jungle, we will let nature take
| over."
|
| This strikes me as a similar idea to 1970s sci-fi with its
| "arcology" super high-rise vertical cities.
|
| It hasn't happened yet because it makes too much sense but
| isn't a solution that makes the most $$$/humanity is far too
| selfish.
|
| Hope I'm wrong but I don't think you'll live to see your dome
| :(
| InDubioProRubio wrote:
| Just wait- mass prevalence of humans drives mass adaption of
| anti-human counter measures by oncologic systems. Ambrosia
| everywhere..
| PittleyDunkin wrote:
| That, we haven't figured out any viable way to produce the
| sort of energy necessary to feed humanity without harvesting
| the sun, which is very greedy in terms of area.
| technothrasher wrote:
| > I am looking forward to a future where the cities will be
| under a self-sustainable 'dome' and everything between those
| cities will be wilderness/jungle
|
| I suspect we'll see Trantor before we see that.
| m3kw9 wrote:
| looks like they are shooting themselves in the foot with so much
| conservation red tape. Those things will double and double till
| you got nothing left
| potato3732842 wrote:
| The purpose of the system is what it does.
|
| Humans have eradicated tons of species from various islands and
| areas over the years. If this was a priority it would be solved
| or on its way to being solved. It's not a priority so the
| problem just kind of continues at a simmer and nobody really
| cares as long as it doesn't encroach on the developed areas
| where people who's voices matter (at a state level) live and
| the business of lightening tourists' wallets takes place. And
| people like the author are left sadly pissing into the wind
| bemoaning the state of affairs.
| WillAdams wrote:
| New Zealand at least is trying _very_ hard:
|
| https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/new-
| zeala...
| PittleyDunkin wrote:
| > The purpose of the system is what it does.
|
| This is a tautological and useless definition of telos.
| Sometimes things just don't have a purpose.
| Vecr wrote:
| Eh, it's a heuristic. When you put time and effort in, you
| can usually do better. Superforcasters can beat "nothing
| ever happens", and even regular people can in particular
| areas, but if you don't know about a subject it's a good
| starting point.
|
| Similar to the "efficient market hypothesis". It's clearly
| false, but good luck walking into a randomly selected part
| of the market and reliably being able to beat it.
| PittleyDunkin wrote:
| I have no clue what this babble has to do with the
| concept of a "purpose" or a "telos" or an "end".
| Vecr wrote:
| I don't think it's babble, they're reasonably good
| heuristics if you have little information or time. What
| part is confusing?
|
| The point of "POSIWID" is that you can look at e.g. a
| government office that's never denied a request and make
| a first guess that its purpose is to rubber-stamp
| documents.
| PittleyDunkin wrote:
| That just seems like an incoherent understanding of
| "purpose", which seems most reasonably based off "intent"
| and can only be measured by claims of intent.
|
| The heuristic you're referring to seems to be figuring
| out whether a system does what it's intended to, which
| seems to be an entirely different issue. Why overload an
| already useful word with seemingly contradictory
| semantics?
|
| Granted, it seems like a very useful concept, just an
| abominably-named one.
| Vecr wrote:
| What's your position on intentionality[0]? I don't put
| stock into anything too fancy there. Being simple about
| things in general, you can define a physical or
| mathematical system that uses optimization of some sort
| to drive the world toward certain states over others.
|
| Questions regarding if the system's conscious or "cares
| about anything" don't really matter.
|
| Accepting that, you can say any system that drives
| towards states "intends" to do so.
|
| Unless a system is not functioning well, is weak, or is
| adversarial opposed, in general what it does should be
| more or less what it "intends".
|
| This isn't iron-hard, but as a first guess, that gets you
| "the purpose of a system is what it does".
|
| [0]: e.g. I don't know if your definition of "telos"
| requires anything in that direction. If you've got
| definitions you can link them from the SEP (Stanford
| Encyclopedia of Philosophy) or similar. Maybe too far
| into the weeds to be useful from a cybernetics
| perspective though. More theological.
| tiahura wrote:
| Isn't this exactly the legit use that ar-15 enthusiasts cite?
| howlin wrote:
| Resources on wild pig management usually recommend trapping or
| baiting rather than trying to shoot them. Shooting at them with
| a semi-auto while they are fleeing is a particularly cruel way
| to address the problem, as you're not making clean kills in
| this sort of situation.
| int_19h wrote:
| We aren't talking about one or two pigs wandering into a
| backyard here. The sheer numbers are such that people who
| hunt them routinely end up shooting literally dozens of feral
| pigs in minutes, and it still isn't enough to keep the
| populations in check. Which is why USDA straight up says that
| "lethal techniques may be a more effective means for limiting
| population growth and achieving long-term suppression of
| damage".
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