sarahconstantin's Shortform

sarahconstantin

This is a special post for quick takes by sarahconstantin. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.

links 10/28/26: https://roamresearch.com/#/app/srcpublic/page/10-28-2026

- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goshwow fandom slang
- https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/10/is-whos-on-first-funny.html bizarre take by Tyler Cowen
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade4401 the paper that launched the company OSMO -- a model that predicts odor from molecular structure.
  - to date the company has only produced one aromachemical, a synthetic peach scent. we've had synthetic peach at least since 1919.
- https://venkateshrao.com/blyg/t/267h2365beb165qncnrsscr7cg/ as usual Venkatesh Rao's takes seem peculiar to his personality. i think he finds it difficult to desire things, and is frequently in a "blah" state where nothing appeals or drives craving. I do not have this problem!
- https://www.galois.com/articles/specifications-dont-exist a specification for a piece of software depends on what you want, and sometimes "you" (especially a collective "you") don't know what you want.
- https://edjefferson.com/localwiki/ local Wikipedia, only pages about things near you.

Rao seems to desire backwards.

all desire comes from things you know or have, by some sort of scrutable process

This appears false based on what has been observed of the neurological processes. Virtually no desire comes from a scrutable process. It exists first and then attaches to a stimulus. Change the stimulus and the desire changes form.

One of my favorites is this experiment where a desire for Johnny Cash was induced and then removed and the subject never associated the inducement with an artificial source, but rather was convinced it was their own natu... (read more)