News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Ohio gas well blowout leaked more than many countries do ... by rconti on Thursday December 19, 2019 @03:33PM (#21838941)
Speaking of rounding errors, you shouldn't vote, either.

In fact, even literally throwing up your hands is a waste of energy.

Re:Ohio gas well blowout leaked more than many countries do ... by claudiawerner on Thursday December 19, 2019 @09:12PM (#21841214)
> Speaking of rounding errors, you shouldn't vote, either.

Quite a few philosophers of politics and radicals would agree with that statement; from SEP[0]:

>There is some debate among economists and political scientists over the precise way to calculate the probability that a vote will be decisive. Nevertheless, they generally agree that the probability that the modal individual voter in a typical election will break a tie is small, so small that the expected benefit (i.e., p[V(D)−V(R)]) of the modal vote for a good candidate is worth far less than a millionth of a penny (G. Brennan and Lomasky 1993: 56–7, 119). The most optimistic estimate in the literature claims that in a presidential election, an American voter could have as high as a 1 in 10 million chance of breaking a tie, but only if that voter lives in one of three or four “swing states,” and only if she votes for a major-party candidate (Edlin, Gelman, and Kaplan 2007).

Chances are, you can use the time to do other things, things that gain you more benefit than "a millionth of a penny" (if we must use the economism of time = money).

[0] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voting/#1

Re:Ohio gas well blowout leaked more than many countries do ... by rconti on Friday December 20, 2019 @11:32AM (#21845314)
I disagree with it too, but it follows from this silly theory of not taking any action unless it's the biggest possible action.
Re:Ohio gas well blowout leaked more than many countries do ... by hanniabu on Thursday December 19, 2019 @03:46PM (#21839081)
That's not at all the same comparison. An equal comparison would be where the president's vote counts at 1 trillion votes. In that case I wouldn't bother voting because even if everybody in the country votes for candidate A it'll mean nothing if the president votes for president B. The president's vote will always overpower everyone else's vote.