Chebucto Regional Softball Club

@detondev

I added the ant to the jacket. It’s supposed to be a play on the famous ski brand spider.

i’m starting to come to terms with the fact that my sense of fashion can often be best described as “sarcastic.”

This jacket is so much fun and there are many like it at the thrift shops. It’s also very warm since it was made for skiing and still has lift tickets on it.

today’s outfit is a blast from the past the #Enron ballcap perfectly compliments my 80s ski jacket #fashion

There are more important things in life than making money. But if you want to make money is it unfair or controversial of me to suggest that you ought to create something of value along the way?

Make a product and sell it. (Grow food, make clothes, build furniture)
Perform a service that people need (Change the bedpan, cook dinner, organize the library)

Stop trying to make money when you have done nothing.

Loans are also a form of gambling. Gambling that you'll have more in the future.

"If my polymarket bet comes through I'll have no problem paying off my klarna."

Can you bet on ploymarket and pay for it "in four" yet?

People say they hate math, but their minds are swimming with numbers.

@dnkboston @sarble

Gambling can be a prison for some people and it hurts to think about all of the people who will be exploited in this way.

I don't think your skepticism of even "legitimate" markets is misplaced. That dream of just making the right call and getting so rich is very seductive. The emotional rush of the whole process has deep impacts on the human brain.

It exploits that good plucky part of us that always wants to "try again"

@sarble

Though I have to admit that claiming that having people betting somehow creates value by creating predictions of future events is very creative.

But if predictions were your product you'd be selling the predictions. The whole operation would be inverted. You'd select random people to place bets, give them play money and keep the results secret to sell.

But no one cares. It's just gambling and people will get hurt because of it.

@sarble

There is a reason people associate gambling with some guy who comes and breaks your legs for not paying your debt. It's bottom feeder stuff, you sell a bet or you make loans when you have nothing of real value to offer the world. And people latch on to all of these desperate dreams and end up murderously angry at each other.

We KNOW this is how it works.

Putting it in an app with a cute little chart and calling it a "prediction market" won't change that one bit.

@sarble

It is important that gambling is limited to narrow spheres such as lotteries and maybe horse races. Even then you get cheating and corruption.

It's not good for predicting the future because as soon as people think this is true you get manipulation. Then people try to ride the manipulation to make money.

For the love of God go make a real product and sell it like normal capitalists. Stop trying to milk someone's uncle's gambling addiction to make a quick buck.

@sarble

Eventually there is enough money in the market that manipulating the results becomes too lucrative to avoid.

This is why even though this "idea" was proposed 30 years ago very few people were biting. We have entered a regulation-free space suddenly where we may learn why these things are a terrible idea.

But, people have known this for thousands of years. It's why gambling is "a sin" -- it produces nothing and only incentivizes lying and cheating.

@sarble

This "prediction market" rebranding of gambling is Thirty Years Old. They were talking about this when I was in college.

"Since people have to bet money the predictions of these markets are more accurate than polls."

This statement can be true... for a time. It's true as long as only a small number of people are paying attention to the markets. As the profile of the markets grows their predictive ability tanks and perverse feedback loops are created.

@wakame

yay...

good lord

*sings*
"And the devil will drag you under, by the sharp lapels of your checker'd coat."

@sarble

Can I bet on when civilization will collapse? You got that inside lead? Help a girl out here.

"But a prediction market for scientific discoveries might have perverse impacts on journals, and scientists."

No no no... gambling on things has no impact on the things. No one would ever use inside influence to make a quick buck by changing the outcome of an event with a lot of bets placed on it. This is all pure and above board and an excellent idea.

Hey anyone want to start a "prediction market" for scientific discoveries? Paper publication and peer review results? We could get as rich as sin.

By sinning.

At some point I start feeling foolish for not just giving up and joining the circus. We would need a good lawyer though. Who knows the law around here?

Polymarket and Kalshi are NOT gambling companies. How could you say that?

I'm literally crying right now. When will the misinformation stop?

Please understand that it can't be gambling if there is a chart like it's the stock market and if there is an app where you can look at the chart before you bet- I mean invest in the prediction market.

Charts and graphs mean that this is science and science can't be gambling.

@sng

They are always so busy and serious about their tasks.

@jopabinia.bsky.social

I didn't know about this book, but I will check it out.

When it comes to leafcutter ants there is no need to fret about rare insects being poached. They are very common and sometimes agricultural pests in their home countries. So, collecting a young colony isn't doing any harm.