Wall Observer BTC/USD - Bitcoin price movement tracking & discussion

[Biodom]

I remember a discussion here about the "poverty" level income.
I, somewhat provocatively, said that the line is at about $140K/year, at least in some cities.
This was based in part on this:
https://www.taxesforexpats.com/articles/news/trump-proposes-eliminating-income-taxes-for-americans-earning-under-150-000.html

Many disagreed, but now there is a substack post by Michael Green that has gone viral:
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie

It's an eye-opener, i kid you not.

When you run the net-income numbers, a family earning $100,000 is effectively in a worse monthly financial position than a family earning $40,000.

Based on an abstract family in NJ,  .

I wanted to see what would happen if I ignored the official stats and simply calculated the cost of existing. I built a Basic Needs budget for a family of four (two earners, two kids). No vacations, no Netflix, no luxury. Just the “Participation Tickets” required to hold a job and raise kids in 2024.

Using conservative, national-average data:

Childcare: $32,773

Housing: $23,267

Food: $14,717

Transportation: $14,828

Healthcare: $10,567

Other essentials: $21,857

Required net income: $118,009

Add federal, state, and FICA taxes of roughly $18,500, and you arrive at a required gross income of $136,500.

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[xhomerx10]

That's funny, because when i try to "build" a inner vision of a close individual, they are always looking like comic representations, with constantly morphing faces, in dim light, very 2D, like printed on cardboard. They never look like they'd look to my eye IRL. But i had the ability to remember everything i had ever read under hyperfocus. I lost that, though, while psychologists say my aging brain needs mostly all the power to stay "high functioning", and it also quite feels that way.

That's interesting. My internal vision though is zero. Nothing. Black. Zip. I don't even see anything in my dreams. Almost ever. I can count the number of times that I've seen something in my dreams on one hand. And every time I woke up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. Lol

 I remember discussing aphantasia with you... I think we talked about visualizing an apple.  I don't see really great images of objects in my mind when I try but then if I think of a person I know who I haven't seen for some time, I can visualize the face quite clearly but then it's usually the name that escapes me.  Recalling the name can take days and it usually pops into my head unexpectedly... I try not to blurt it out if in public.

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[AlcoHoDL]

That's funny, because when i try to "build" a inner vision of a close individual, they are always looking like comic representations, with constantly morphing faces, in dim light, very 2D, like printed on cardboard. They never look like they'd look to my eye IRL. But i had the ability to remember everything i had ever read under hyperfocus. I lost that, though, while psychologists say my aging brain needs mostly all the power to stay "high functioning", and it also quite feels that way.

That's interesting. My internal vision though is zero. Nothing. Black. Zip. I don't even see anything in my dreams. Almost ever. I can count the number of times that I've seen something in my dreams on one hand. And every time I woke up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. Lol

That's a very interesting topic. I am similar to @cAPSLOCK, so the topic is intriguing to me.
Interestingly, I don't feel any deficiency at all (don't miss it) and to me it helped to study some abstract concepts without a need for visualization.

The absence of the "mind's eye" in a small % of individuals is called 'aphantasia' and it first came to focus as late as 2015 when one of the first serious research paper was published on it (initially it was described as early as 1880).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

Many people were shocked to learn that their own ability or inability to visualize objects was not universal.

In short; if someone asks to imagine an apple with closed eyes, some people see a nice jucy apple, colored and everything, some see a sketch and some "see" nothing. The vision was fine in all tested individuals.

True "aphantasics" are close to 2-4 % of the population (depending on the extent of it, maybe just 1% for full aphantasics) and yes, they sometimes don't "see" dreams as well, but not in all cases.

AI:

While the general population has about 2-4% aphantasia, a significant portion of people with aphantasia (
over 20%) work in science, computing, or math, suggesting a higher concentration than average in STEM fields, possibly due to strengths in processing complex, abstract information rather than mental imagery.

Sometimes, I think that this is a protective brain property...for example if the brain "sees" some nightmares, perhaps shutting down the "mind's eye" is a way to escape this.

I had a friend in grad school who was an exact opposite-he had hyperphantasia and said that he basically had two full life's: one during the day time and another during sleep where he had adventures every night with color, interesting themes, etc, like a movie. I was a bit jealous about this aspect of it as I typically don't recall dreams, with a few interesting exceptions.

David Hume springs to mind.

A relevant, interesting video:

YouTube — Alex O'Connor - Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine

[hypebrother]

Divide between seminary and the reasoning skeptics.

For all the right reasons, obviously.

There is only a fine line between genius and insanity.

One which is supported by proper ethics.

Ethics that are based on self knowledge, always shine superior to pretence.

For, the world is just an eidetic appearance on awareness.

The seer remains forever detached. From the phenomenal.

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[philipma1957]

I remember a discussion here about the "poverty" level income.
I, somewhat provocatively, said that the line is at about $140K/year, at least in some cities.
This was based in part on this:
https://www.taxesforexpats.com/articles/news/trump-proposes-eliminating-income-taxes-for-americans-earning-under-150-000.html

Many disagreed, but now there is a substack post by Michael Green that has gone viral:
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie

It's an eye-opener, i kid you not.

When you run the net-income numbers, a family earning $100,000 is effectively in a worse monthly financial position than a family earning $40,000.

Based on an abstract family in NJ,  .

I wanted to see what would happen if I ignored the official stats and simply calculated the cost of existing. I built a Basic Needs budget for a family of four (two earners, two kids). No vacations, no Netflix, no luxury. Just the “Participation Tickets” required to hold a job and raise kids in 2024.

Using conservative, national-average data:

Childcare: $32,773

Housing: $23,267

Food: $14,717

Transportation: $14,828

Healthcare: $10,567

Other essentials: $21,857

Required net income: $118,009

Add federal, state, and FICA taxes of roughly $18,500, and you arrive at a required gross income of $136,500.

too low on health cost but yeah fairly close to the truth.

and down the road college cost is high.

and trump is killing the best paying 4 year degree there is , nursing.

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[philipma1957]

That's funny, because when i try to "build" a inner vision of a close individual, they are always looking like comic representations, with constantly morphing faces, in dim light, very 2D, like printed on cardboard. They never look like they'd look to my eye IRL. But i had the ability to remember everything i had ever read under hyperfocus. I lost that, though, while psychologists say my aging brain needs mostly all the power to stay "high functioning", and it also quite feels that way.

That's interesting. My internal vision though is zero. Nothing. Black. Zip. I don't even see anything in my dreams. Almost ever. I can count the number of times that I've seen something in my dreams on one hand. And every time I woke up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. Lol

That's a very interesting topic. I am similar to @cAPSLOCK, so the topic is intriguing to me.
Interestingly, I don't feel any deficiency at all (don't miss it) and to me it helped to study some abstract concepts without a need for visualization.

The absence of the "mind's eye" in a small % of individuals is called 'aphantasia' and it first came to focus as late as 2015 when one of the first serious research paper was published on it (initially it was described as early as 1880).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

Many people were shocked to learn that their own ability or inability to visualize objects was not universal.

In short; if someone asks to imagine an apple with closed eyes, some people see a nice jucy apple, colored and everything, some see a sketch and some "see" nothing. The vision was fine in all tested individuals.

True "aphantasics" are close to 2-4 % of the population (depending on the extent of it, maybe just 1% for full aphantasics) and yes, they sometimes don't "see" dreams as well, but not in all cases.

AI:

While the general population has about 2-4% aphantasia, a significant portion of people with aphantasia (
over 20%) work in science, computing, or math, suggesting a higher concentration than average in STEM fields, possibly due to strengths in processing complex, abstract information rather than mental imagery.

Sometimes, I think that this is a protective brain property...for example if the brain "sees" some nightmares, perhaps shutting down the "mind's eye" is a way to escape this.

I had a friend in grad school who was an exact opposite-he had hyperphantasia and said that he basically had two full life's: one during the day time and another during sleep where he had adventures every night with color, interesting themes, etc, like a movie. I was a bit jealous about this aspect of it as I typically don't recall dreams, with a few interesting exceptions.

David Hume springs to mind.

A relevant, interesting video:

YouTube — Alex O'Connor - Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine

interesting.

I see dreams
I can occasionally fuck with them as I realize they are dreams.

But if I close my eyes and picture an object I see nothing but dots.

which is what I see if I close my eyes and make no effort to picture something.

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[AlcoHoDL]

That's funny, because when i try to "build" a inner vision of a close individual, they are always looking like comic representations, with constantly morphing faces, in dim light, very 2D, like printed on cardboard. They never look like they'd look to my eye IRL. But i had the ability to remember everything i had ever read under hyperfocus. I lost that, though, while psychologists say my aging brain needs mostly all the power to stay "high functioning", and it also quite feels that way.

That's interesting. My internal vision though is zero. Nothing. Black. Zip. I don't even see anything in my dreams. Almost ever. I can count the number of times that I've seen something in my dreams on one hand. And every time I woke up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. Lol

That's a very interesting topic. I am similar to @cAPSLOCK, so the topic is intriguing to me.
Interestingly, I don't feel any deficiency at all (don't miss it) and to me it helped to study some abstract concepts without a need for visualization.

The absence of the "mind's eye" in a small % of individuals is called 'aphantasia' and it first came to focus as late as 2015 when one of the first serious research paper was published on it (initially it was described as early as 1880).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

Many people were shocked to learn that their own ability or inability to visualize objects was not universal.

In short; if someone asks to imagine an apple with closed eyes, some people see a nice jucy apple, colored and everything, some see a sketch and some "see" nothing. The vision was fine in all tested individuals.

True "aphantasics" are close to 2-4 % of the population (depending on the extent of it, maybe just 1% for full aphantasics) and yes, they sometimes don't "see" dreams as well, but not in all cases.

AI:

While the general population has about 2-4% aphantasia, a significant portion of people with aphantasia (
over 20%) work in science, computing, or math, suggesting a higher concentration than average in STEM fields, possibly due to strengths in processing complex, abstract information rather than mental imagery.

Sometimes, I think that this is a protective brain property...for example if the brain "sees" some nightmares, perhaps shutting down the "mind's eye" is a way to escape this.

I had a friend in grad school who was an exact opposite-he had hyperphantasia and said that he basically had two full life's: one during the day time and another during sleep where he had adventures every night with color, interesting themes, etc, like a movie. I was a bit jealous about this aspect of it as I typically don't recall dreams, with a few interesting exceptions.

David Hume springs to mind.

A relevant, interesting video:

YouTube — Alex O'Connor - Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine

interesting.

I see dreams
I can occasionally fuck with them as I realize they are dreams.

But if I close my eyes and picture an object I see nothing but dots.

which is what I see if I close my eyes and make no effort to picture something.

I see dreams too. Often intricate dreams, complex enough to be movie scripts. Usually horror, mystery, and also drama, often dealing with loss, and an overwhelming desire and struggle to be/reach/do something.

When I close my eyes and picture an object, I can visualize the object, as if I was looking at it with my eyes. I can "see" forms, shapes, colors, and I can also "hear" sounds, "smell" odors and "feel" touches.

OK, maybe you're trying to literally use your shut eyes to see. If I do this, I also see dots, in the form of noise. This is similar to the noise in a film or digital camera in low/no light. But, try to picture something, and "see" it with your brain. I'm guessing that most people can "see" like this. But there are some who can't (aphantasia).

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[vapourminer]

That's funny, because when i try to "build" a inner vision of a close individual, they are always looking like comic representations, with constantly morphing faces, in dim light, very 2D, like printed on cardboard. They never look like they'd look to my eye IRL. But i had the ability to remember everything i had ever read under hyperfocus. I lost that, though, while psychologists say my aging brain needs mostly all the power to stay "high functioning", and it also quite feels that way.

That's interesting. My internal vision though is zero. Nothing. Black. Zip. I don't even see anything in my dreams. Almost ever. I can count the number of times that I've seen something in my dreams on one hand. And every time I woke up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. Lol

That's a very interesting topic. I am similar to @cAPSLOCK, so the topic is intriguing to me.
Interestingly, I don't feel any deficiency at all (don't miss it) and to me it helped to study some abstract concepts without a need for visualization.

The absence of the "mind's eye" in a small % of individuals is called 'aphantasia' and it first came to focus as late as 2015 when one of the first serious research paper was published on it (initially it was described as early as 1880).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

Many people were shocked to learn that their own ability or inability to visualize objects was not universal.

In short; if someone asks to imagine an apple with closed eyes, some people see a nice jucy apple, colored and everything, some see a sketch and some "see" nothing. The vision was fine in all tested individuals.

True "aphantasics" are close to 2-4 % of the population (depending on the extent of it, maybe just 1% for full aphantasics) and yes, they sometimes don't "see" dreams as well, but not in all cases.

AI:

While the general population has about 2-4% aphantasia, a significant portion of people with aphantasia (
over 20%) work in science, computing, or math, suggesting a higher concentration than average in STEM fields, possibly due to strengths in processing complex, abstract information rather than mental imagery.

Sometimes, I think that this is a protective brain property...for example if the brain "sees" some nightmares, perhaps shutting down the "mind's eye" is a way to escape this.

I had a friend in grad school who was an exact opposite-he had hyperphantasia and said that he basically had two full life's: one during the day time and another during sleep where he had adventures every night with color, interesting themes, etc, like a movie. I was a bit jealous about this aspect of it as I typically don't recall dreams, with a few interesting exceptions.

David Hume springs to mind.

A relevant, interesting video:

YouTube — Alex O'Connor - Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine

interesting.

I see dreams
I can occasionally fuck with them as I realize they are dreams.

But if I close my eyes and picture an object I see nothing but dots.

which is what I see if I close my eyes and make no effort to picture something.

I see dreams too. Often intricate dreams, complex enough to be movie scripts. Usually horror, mystery, and also drama, often dealing with loss, and an overwhelming desire and struggle to be/reach/do something.

When I close my eyes and picture an object, I can visualize the object, as if I was looking at it with my eyes. I can "see" forms, shapes, colors, and I can also "hear" sounds, "smell" odors and "feel" touches.

OK, maybe you're trying to literally use your shut eyes to see. If I do this, I also see dots, in the form of noise. This is similar to the noise in a film or digital camera in low/no light. But, try to picture something, and "see" it with your brain. I'm guessing that most people can "see" like this. But there are some who can't (aphantasia).

same here, i can visualize faces and i can rotate fairly complex 3D objects with texture/color in my head while visualizing it. etc

but cant remember peoples names for crap though

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[ChartBuddy]

Explanation
Chartbuddy thanks talkimg.com

[BTCETFInvestor]

I'm curious: what are your thoughts on Nietzsche?

@nutildah - I've thought about this post of yours and I must say; I find it mysteriously odd that you asked for my thoughts on Nietzsche (unexpectedly, out of the blue) because JJG often uses Nietzschean themes in his posts when discussing fiat dependence, government, financial inequality and herd-like behavior.

Am I to believe you just randomly decided to ask my thoughts on Nietzsche unprompted by any previous comment by me or reason?