I’m a “LLM believer” in a sense, and not someone who derives joy from actually typing out the tokens in my code, but I also agree with you about the hype surrounding Claude Code and “agentic” systems in general. I have found the three positive use cases you mentioned to be transformative to my workflow on its own. I’m grateful that they exist even if they never get better than they are today.
I’m curious to hear more about how you get useful performance out of your local setup. How would you characterize the difference in “intelligence” of local models on your hardware vs. something like chatgpt? I imagine speed is also a factor. Curious to hear about your experiences in as much detail as you’re willing to share!
Local models won't generally have as much context window, and the quantization process does make them "dumber" for lack of a better word.
If you try to get them to compose text, you'll end up seeing a lot less variety than you would with a chatgpt for instance. That said, ask them to analyze a csv file that you don't want to give to chatgpt, or ask them to write code and they're generally competent at it. the high end codex-gpt-5.2 type models are smarter, may find better solutions, may track down bugs more quickly -- but the local models are getting better all the time.
AI polarization is a little interesting. The AI generated image prompted the parent to not even consider whether the content was on topic. This might be a decent heuristic, but it's bound to throw out a lot of potentially useful stuff as well.
Count me among those that didn’t realize how much seed oil is used. But is that bad? I don’t have an axe to grind against cow’s milk, but I do have trouble digesting it (and besides, I like the way oat milk tastes).
Do I need to be worried about the fact that there’s a lot of seed oil in it?
"Seed oil" is a broad category, but the most popular (cheap) seed oils would also fall under "ultraprocessed foods".
Canola oil in particular is ever-present in the US, and unlike other refined plant oils, requires the ultraprocessing to be considered fit for human consumption (you'll never see extra-virgin canola oil on a grocery shelf). Debates about its safety aside, I don't feel the need to give it the benefit of the doubt when I could just eat something that doesn't contain it, and that something would likely be healthier for many other reasons.
Nutrition science is anything but conclusive, however there is some preliminary research indicating seed oils may not be healthy and contribute to obesity. Why are condiments like ranch and mayonnaise unhealthy? Because they're almost entirely seed oils.
There is oat milk without any added oils, including Oatly, but you have to specifically look for that version, they're not always easy to find. And it will taste thinner without any fatty component that cows milk has.
It’s hard (impossible?) to know if we’re talking about the same thing or not, but I experience something like this all the time, without being on the edge of sleep. We might both be wrong, but it’s relatable!
My mother forced me to practice classical string instruments from a very young age, and as a child, I fought her viciously over it.
Because she pushed through my complaints and bore my abuse, I now have deeply embedded musical skills that have changed the trajectory of my life experience for the better.
As an adult, I try to thank her for this whenever I can. I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to give my own future children this gift.
> Even if you manage to find something that is somewhat relevant to the real world, like green energy research, chances are it might be something highly technical, abstract, and difficult to relate back to the final product.
As someone lucky enough to have found a programming job in an organization that is dedicated to something I believe in, I can confirm this perspective. The big picture mission helps keep me motivated, but my day-to-day is pretty abstracted from that mission.
My advice to OP would be to try to diversify your sources of fulfillment. That may be unsatisfying advice - I know that there was a time in my life that I would have rejected it - but from where I stand now, it is the most reliable path to overall happiness.
It's a matter of the degree of support. Would it be wrong, in your view, for a wealthy tax-paying parent to invest in their own child above and beyond what their taxes provide for society's children?
If a wealthy tax paying parent is votes against taxes to support programs like offering free lunches to children in schools, so their children can have a 'better' education, then I think that is wrong.
I went to a wealthy private high school. 15 years later, most of the children from wealthy parents didn't amount to much. The top 50% work a high level role at their parent's company (probably taking the job from someone more skilled). At worst, they are still supported by their parents in their 30s, career-less. Only the top 5% multiplied their parent's wealth.
The money spent on private education could have been used to support low-income students, which would reduce crime and create a more powerful middle-class.
Is it wrong? No. But it's probably not good for society or even the kids, honestly. I struggle with how I'm going to be able to keep my kids grounded and motivated given the advantages they'll have in life.
If I could change the tax code I would cut income taxes (why discourage work?) but jack up taxes on inheritances/gifts.
I agree with your takeaway message, but the timeline isn’t completely arbitrary. From the perspective of humans appreciating things, there’s a difference between something that endures for .01x vs. 10x a person’s expected lifespan.
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