The Nightstar Zoo

Does anal-retentive have a hyphen or not?

(I'm given t understand that it has three....)

_________________
I used to be Junius Gallio, until I messed up retyping my password in the Great Password Reset. Nice to be back.

" I gotta stop doing mathematics while sober."

A null retentive is when your collection object permits null members.

Or did I miss-hear what you said?

_________________
I hope Para never plays with Tenzy. The result would be terrifying.
Para and Petey need to have some dialog together. Just because.

Ironically enough, the extremely-pertinent question was asked by someone with the name of Putzho.

Next question: Is this conversation happening in real-time, or at the very least, is it happening at the same time rate for each of the separated participants?

If you're the kind of person who asks whether the entire conversation is preprogrammed, then I'm not sure how you would accept a simple answer that it isn't. It would be easy for them to simulate that part too.

You either treat the conversation as really happening or you don't, because there isn't any way to really tell unless the simulation has flaws you can see from the inside.

Yeah... that's one of those "How can I be sure I'm not just a shadow on Plato's cave" questions.


But I am really looking forward to the answer.

The purpose of the question isn't really supposed to give an answer to the person asking the question, it's to relay the information that the asker knows that this all could be memory implanted in his mind.

^ this. Putzho is pretty savvy.

From the inside a sufficiently good simulation is indistinguishable from reality. Which means that there's no point in worrying about it, because you've got nothing to distinguish one from the other.



But if the conversation is implanted, then they already know that you know, so there's no point in telling them anything unless you think doing so will have a positive effect if the answer is no.

Doug Lampert

Have to admit I really like this Sysadmin God.


Which makes me really suspicious of him.

When you recall the memory, if it was implanted or not, it makes you feel really smug about having thought that up (or having the AI reading your mind know that you're smart enough to have thought that up).

I doubt he has any reason to lie to them. They cannot interfere with his plans and they are already technically dead. The best he can do is give them full disclosure so they can move on.

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.

This. They are now AI instances running on someone else's hardware. The absolute most the can do is register their objections.

_________________
I used to be Junius Gallio, until I messed up retyping my password in the Great Password Reset. Nice to be back.

" I gotta stop doing mathematics while sober."

Pretty much. They can register their objectives using creative means, but the end result is still nothing more than a notice of their objections. I doubt they could even pluck Flowey if they weren't allowed to.

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.

I'm just always suspicious of anyone or anything I immediately like.

Error, does not compute. Bad command or file name.

_________________
May or may not run a Reaver-powered Perpetual Internal Combustion Engine of War And Shrapnel Fabber

"always suspicious" =/= "immediately don't like"

Your google translation failed you today.

That's just because of repetitive use of the same storytelling plot twists. Granted, I don't remember if our author has had much experience writing characters that are consistently likeable while being on the side of the antagonists.

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.

Not just here. I'm like that with other media and in real life.

Here, I'm not sure who'd I'd count as "likable" but not an actual member of the "crew".... hmmm.

Gen. Bela-Amin and Sorlie I liked. Gasca. Danita (but then most Gavs are/were decent sorts) Those are the ones that stick out.

I liked Danita, though I don't know what happened to her (did she die on the Gift horse)? The Purp had a respectable character. Murtage joined the crew so i don't know if she counts.

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.

Danita wasn't on the Gift Horse, she was in the Research Pod along with Gasca, Elf, Para, and the Yellow Murderbot. They all survived, no reason to think she didn't.

We have repeatedly seen a runt-supersoldier scientist working on the "Where did everybody go?" problem. Not sure if they've actually said her name, but good odds that's Danita.

Elf did in fact actually say "DANITA! Stay behind us!"

With today's strip, I think the system admin is happy that this species has a pretty decent grasp of what it means to be a virtual person and what issues are present.

Is this the guy that jumped off the cliff to see if he could die? I can't tell them apart.

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.

As has been mentioned in previous threads, either there are two Putzhos or the Artist made an error.

Putzho One jumped off the cliff. Coloration Orangish-Brown.
Putzho two is conversing with the Sysadmin. He also yelled at the "God-Tree", which is his "first" naming. Coloration Light Green.

Note, Putzho One and Two have the same antennae count and configuration.

Notably two others have been named, Hazz who "made the terrible joke". Who is the same color as Putzho 2, but has a different antennae count.

And Batzhu, who took art in college, and is a pink hue.

The guy who jumped off the cliff is brown, and there is some confusion if his name is Putzho or Hazz.

_________________
I used to be Junius Gallio, until I messed up retyping my password in the Great Password Reset. Nice to be back.

" I gotta stop doing mathematics while sober."

I'm betting the cliff-jumping Putzho and our current Putzho were meant to be the same character, but the coloration got messed up between cliff-jumping and confronting the "God-Tree".

Putzho is actually a chameleon. Changes skin tone at will. So if he's staring at a blue goat-god, he's blue, but if he's staring at a brown cliff, he's brown.

Also, everyone is named Putzho, they just use nicknames to avoid confusion.

_________________
May or may not run a Reaver-powered Perpetual Internal Combustion Engine of War And Shrapnel Fabber

No, it's to put the question of who is really in charge of your mind into the asker.

_________________
I hope Para never plays with Tenzy. The result would be terrifying.
Para and Petey need to have some dialog together. Just because.

I wonder if Putzho is simply a title, such as "comrade"?

_________________
Rule of thumb is that if you need to use a squeegee, they're at least Laz-4.