Top all-time · #19795
Ryan Mercer
Personal blog · ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts · on HN as ryanmercercultureai
Ryan Mercer's personal blog at ryanmercer.com covers culture and ai. Since 2018, 3 different Hacker News readers have linked it 51 times, most often “Humanity's end: the time we waste on virtual lives”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-23, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (2) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Ryan Mercer's personal blog posts are linked in discussions of career change and reading. The comments show only that one commenter plans to read a post on the site, not what it covers.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 2 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Official home of Ryan Mercer. Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab.
Most-linked posts?
- Humanity's end: the time we waste on virtual lives2 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2018-05-31
What Hacker News says?
Peripherally related and also on a made for Google phone (Nexus 6p IIRC)... several years ago I called 911 and found that I couldn't use my phone for a short period after https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2016/7/25/how-the-g... They claim it is so 911 can call you back in the event of a dropped call but oof, just not cool.
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/7/25/how-the-government-shut-down-my-phone-calling-911
on “Pixel prevented me from calling 911”Submitted I hope work from home continues as a story · 682 points
HN discussionI had a friend killed in a hit and run, she was found nearly a week later by family members searching possible ways she could have used to walk home from work, had she had something like this (and it had not been destroyed) they could have had closure much faster. My mother's father, while still alive, rapidly deteriorated mentally and was in two accidents by himself in somewhat remote areas and also went to drive t…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2013/2/19/flashback-to-the-hypokalemic-episode.html?rq=hypokalemic
on “Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911”Submitted An open letter to YC (and silicon valley in general) as a story · 5 points
HN discussion> I haven’t seen it generate anything that feels artistically interesting. I'd disagree. - One of the first queries I did made some interesting chairs, I would genuinely buy the first if it was sanely priced: https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2022/6/17/dall-e-2-... - One of the first H R Giger inspired works I did made some really interesting computers, I would (and may) hang some of these https://www.ryanmer…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2022/6/21/dall-e-2-stills-from-dont-hug-me-im-scared
on “DALL·E now available in beta”Submitted My father died 23 years ago, his voice is now an NFT as a story · 4 points
HN discussion>I am baffled that people like yourself are not concerned in the least. >I grew up in an Eastern Europe Communist State where this kind of personal surveillance was the norm. Do you feel the same about smartphones? They record location, are capable of recording audio and video, if you have wifi and/or bluetooth on they can record every device ID you come within range of, they can in theory record everything you do i…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/7/11/pokmon-go-funded-by-the-cia
on “Amazon Sends 1,700 Alexa Voice Recordings to a Random Person”Submitted How customer service failed me and my car at Meineke as a story · 2 points
HN discussionMy wife and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's far more important to her than it is to me though. For me a large part of believing in something greater in myself is the hope that I simply won't cease to exist when I experience brain death. I pray hoping someone is on the other end at least listening to me, I rationalize life on our planet as some sort of orchestrated miracle, I lo…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/category/dad
on “Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?”Submitted TrueNorth Transportation Co – putting more money in the pockets of truckers as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThe problem here is synthetics are generally considerably less resource intense than natural fibers, I looked into cotton vs polyester a couple of years ago https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2016/7/19/environme... While the synthetics and artificial fibers are bad as they pollute the environment downstream, cotton production requires roughly 20,000 liters to produce 1kg of fiber while polyester requires SEVEN…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/7/19/environmental-impact-of-textile-manufacturing
on “Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water”Submitted A love letter to Zapier as a story · 1 points
HN discussion>and I think it has a bright future. That's highly debatable. While you might sell software/solar panels/magicwidgets to a small subset of people, for the most part no technology is going to have a meaningful impact on current greenhouse gas emissions. As I said to Wren (I really tear into them in this post, I feel I was fair though)[1] after they post their introduction thread here: > We're going to make changes by…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-letter-to-yc
on “Things I Learned from Five Years in Climate Tech”Submitted Tackling the problem of food production, and can indoor farming help us as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSomeone has done a great one though a couple years ago at 1:90~ scale (1.2 meters by .8 meters): https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/7h9f18/lego_internati... As an AFOL that has done my fair share of MOCs, the thought of that (or at 1:40) hurts my wallet, I did a small Mars base MOC that fit on a single 32x32 baseplate and for the elements I was using to get the habitat shape I wanted I was ended up spending a li…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/7/29/my-lego-moc-of-habitat-modules-for-a-mars-mission
on “Lego ISS”Submitted Environmental impact of textile manufacturing as a story · 1 points
HN discussionYou don't need internet to live, you don't need internet to earn a living, the internet does not cure cancer, the internet does not treat any disease. Yes the internet will grant you access to knowledge you wouldn't otherwise have, yes it will allow you to telecommute, yes it will allow you to type to strangers in 17 countries at once. The internet however also: - allows for persistent, extended bullying - can lead…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/8/2/humanitys-end-the-time-we-waste-on-virtual-lives
on “Sanders unveils plan to boost broadband access, break internet and cable titans”Submitted Humanity's end: the time we waste on virtual lives as a story · 1 points
HN discussion>, can you elaborate on this? Not the person you were replying to but sexual harassment or just creepiness is a common one here in Indianapolis. This year alone: - one friend had an Uber driver offer her perfume when she took an Uber home which creeped her out - A co-worker driving Uber on the side had a couple invite her into their home offering her use of their hot tub and telling her that she could borrow clothes…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2019/3/4/21ad-after-dad-letter-to-my-father-2019
on “Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing”>Out of curiosity, you said you stopped a long time ago -- do you happen to suffer any long term negative side effects? No not really, aside from the memories of some of the bad experiences. Sometimes I'll be looking in the mirror shaving my neck, washing my hands, whatever and I'll remember seeing this bloated, mottled skin version of myself with deep bruising around my neck and remember being at the toilet on my k…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2013/2/19/flashback-to-the-hypokalemic-episode.html
on “5-MeO-DMT: 20-minute psychoactive experience that’s transforming lives”>and is now worthless. Not quite. You can always part stuff out on http://bricklink.com/ and might get a penny per element or might get several dollars per element depending. Us AFOLs that make MOCs are frequently buying random elements we need for this or that. For example: To make this Mars habitat MOC I spent about 60$ just to get some of the elements (like the curved tops of the habs, the PV panels and the ISRU…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/7/6/lego-31032-1-red-creatures-reimagined
on “Lego collecting delivers huge and uncorrelated market returns”Like I said years ago in this post https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2017/2/13/i-miss-th... "Yes, I am a 20th century person. My curse is that of being born on the cusp of the digital revolution. My curse is that of wanting a simple life in a friendly world. My curse is that of being smart enough to know that this 21st century life isn't something good, it will never be for me. "
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2017/2/13/i-miss-the-20th-century?rq=miss
on “What I learned during my three days offline”You are burnt out and stressed, so I completely understand the general despair/malaise that drips through from your posts. However, you are getting in the way of your own success. What's the alternative? Being 39 with no degree? Delaying the degree even further, so that you're 45 with a degree and 24 years of experience, and still competing with 22 year olds? Starting now, is better than not starting. If you're goin…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2021/7/23/reflections-on-my-first-semester-of-byu-pathway-worldwide
on “Ask HN: How do you start a new career with minimal qualifications?”If anyone is really interested in this hit me up on reddit via ryanmercer or hit contact over at http://www.ryanmercer.com this is a subject I'm really passionate about both for use on Earth and for investigation/use off-world.
Comment linking /
on “Is Vertical Farming Really the Future of Agriculture?”I applied to the most recent winter YC batch with the idea of, I want to help people put tech down and plug back into the world. Sadly, they weren't interested as it won't make 1 billion dollars in a few years for them to make bank on. I think purely the attention companies get at demo day would have been a very powerful thing and I know there are countless tech types the world around that are fed up with technology…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2016/8/2/humanitys-end-the-time-we-waste-on-virtual-lives
on “America’s social-media addiction is getting worse”Even before requiring your real name, OkCupid was pretty blah for some people, a friend of mine had a woman message him, before he could reply, with a few things in his profile she was able to identify him and then went full psycho. Ultimately she made multiple posts on Cheaterville.com and made claims he gave her STDs etc, which cost him an acting job when the casting people googled him and BAM it was one of the fi…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2012/3/15/aimeexx1-is-at-it-again-on-cheaterville.html
on “Grindr and OkCupid Spread Personal Details, Study Says”>then it would be hard to for this to also be a billion dollar company and would probably be better suited to a non-profit." Ouch. I started to write a reply to this but it ended up being more appropriate as a blog post as it cascaded a bunch of thoughts and feelings. https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-...
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-letter-to-yc
on “Founder’s Guide to the Y Combinator Interview”Even when you do have 'good' insurance... When I had severe hypokalemia and was effectively paralyzed several years ago [1] (sorta comical read) they never once asked me about my dietary intake, instead they assumed I had some rare genetic disorder (in the ER the doctor literally told me "we're googling your symptoms") and once I was admitted they paraded 3 doctors through my room and billed me for 5 or 6 'consults'…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2013/2/19/flashback-to-the-hypokalemic-episode.html
on “Man diagnosed with coronavirus near Seattle is being treated largely by a robot”>you would think if life was so prevalent in our galaxy that there would be some sign of their technology. There's a big problem though, I've written about it here https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2014/11/30/this-jus... Basically time + the vastness of space = an insanely low probability that any two intelligent civilizations would overlap within a detectible sphere, especially with our current level of tech…
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2014/11/30/this-just-in-you-dont-matter
on “Why do we assume extraterrestrials might want to visit us?”I feel you. Food production is a big one with me right now and I've been drastically reducing the animal products in my diet and switching to less processed foods (black beans have become my staple). I find writing can help manage it a bit, in fact I just finished a piece on food production and indoor farming https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/7/8/tackling-t...
Comment linking /ryansthoughts/2018/7/8/tackling-the-problem-of-food-production
on “Ask HN: How did you find your passion?”