That's why Boltzmann brains are a problem. If a theory predicts the appearance of Boltzmann brains, then that theory is (arguably) self-defeating.
For example, let's say you tell me your theory of the universe. And then I say, "Wait a minute, doesn't your theory lead to an infinite stretch of time where random brains can randomly spring into existence?"
If you say, "yes", then I'd say, "If your theory is true, then I'm probably just a Boltzmann brain, and this whole conversation is just a figment of my imagination."
I would assume that I'm probably a Boltzmann brain because the number of Boltzmann brains that ever exist will be far larger than the number of human brains that ever exist. Even if it takes a zillion years for a Boltzmann brain to appear, it will happen zillion times, over an infinite stretch of time.
Sean Carroll discusses this in much more depth in "Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad" [1]. In the paper, he argues that "the theories that predict [Boltzmann Brains] are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed."
I think this is the real answer though you won't ever hear them say it out loud. Gas was the reason they got involved in Syria too. Keeping Assad in power enabled them to stop a gas pipeline from being built from the middle east through Syria to the EU.
For me, one nice thing about working from home all the time now is that I don't have to listen to everyone's annoyingly loud mechanical keyboards. I kinda hope this fad dies before I have to work in an office again...
We have a bunch of old Sun Microsystems mechanical keyboards at the office, and they're not loud. I use a Cherry MX Brown equipped keyboard and it's not loud either.
Does everyone use "Blue" switches over there?
BTW, I don't believe mechanical keyboards are a fad. They're much better than the better rubber dome keyboards. Especially as they age.
Out of curiosity, have you done typing tests? I did once with some keyboards I was comparing. For me there was a difference. At least in the moment. It's possible I was just better on one because it was similar to what I had already been using.
I've used a lot of keyboards in my life. The latest rubber domes I've used are either Microsoft and Logitech. Currently I'm using two keyboards daily, a Microsoft Sculpt (rubber dome) and a Logitech G710+ (Cherry MX Brown).
Logitech is much more consistent, softer, strains my hands less, allows for faster typing.
Rubber dome keyboards become heavier as they age, because their key stems wear down. They become extra heavy when you don't use them for some time, because grease tends to harden as they age. This is not the case with the mechanical switches. They just behave the same, all the time.
On the worst case, a rubber dome keyboard needs so much force and has so much friction that it sprains your hand/fingers (Dell's low end bundled keyboards are an health hazard).
The majority were rubber dome, and all the Sun keyboards I own are, but they made some mechanical type 5’s. They pop up on eBay once in a while. I am not sure the deal with their existence.
I personally use MX Browns at home, but they're not significantly louder than a full size, well used membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards tend to get noisier as they age and their stems wear down and their lubricants degrade.
On the other hand, there are far more silent mechanical switches available. There are "Silent Brown" switches, "Red" switches without any tactile feedback, or "Silent Red" switches, with even less noise.
If I decide to change my office keyboard one day, I'd buy Red or Silent Brown switches, not because standard Browns are actually annoyingly noisy, but we as people are under stress in the office and get irritated sometimes, and I want to be polite.
As I said before, mechanical keyboards are not about the noise they make primarily, they're much more comfortable to use and they last a long time. Oh, I like the sound of my Browns, but it's just a secondary effect.
There are good mechanical switches that are silent. For example Cherry MX Silent Red. I also have a keyboard with Cherry MX Browns with o-rings to dampen them a little bit.
There is no excuse, other than being totally obnoxious prick, for using a loud keyboard in an open office.
I thought so too, so I brought my 1989 Model M and asked everyone around me if they were okay with it, and that the first complaint I heard about it I would get rid of it.
Slowly after that, people started bringing in all kinds of mechanical keyboards.
If you think that's bad, wait until you hear about these people (sales, customer service, project managers) who actually talk on the phone while in the office.
You'll miss the sound of cherry mx blues in no time.
When i joined my current company, IT asked me what keyboard i wanted, and when i asked for a mechanical one, they told me my manager would need to sign off on that!
It depends on if they're quiet or not. My modded HHKB Pro2 is not any louder than the usual laptop keyboards are.
MX Blue switches should be banned from offices though.
Silent MX Blacks are uncomfortably quiet when you type on them. I find the Zilent 67g to be my favorite switch. It hits all the right check boxes for sound and comfort.
The fact that "no one bats an eye" doesn't mean they're not internally annoyed by the key sounds. In my office, there was this person who used a cheap noisy keyboard. It bothered us, for sure, but we didn't bring it up to his attention.
Yeah, like, I'm not going to ask anyone to use a different keyboard. I'm an adult, I can deal with it.
But I do think mechanical keyboards are way too loud, way overpriced, and way overhyped. (But that's just my opinion. I'm sure people would say the same thing about some of the stupid stuff that I'm into.)
Different keyboards are different, as are workplaces. I would never bring a keyboard with clicky switches to a shared workplace. There are also ways to make mechanical keyboards as silent as a classic office keyboards.
People pay money for things that are pretty pointless. That's true.
Paying for an NFT seems especially pointless to me (and I suspect to most people). But maybe if the crypto folks keep lecturing us all online, more and more people will start to come around...
Let's say that I get paid basically the same whether my team performs adequately or whether it really excels.
In this case, why wouldn't I prefer friendly teammates? As long as we perform adequately, we're gonna get paid the same. Let the superstar assholes work on someone else's team!
This strikes me as a catch-22. People who research cryptocurrencies / blockchains and conclude they are promising technologies are likely to both invest in them and also tell people they are promising. But that doesn't tell you anything about the direction of causality. It could be either "I invested in them so I tell people they're promising" or "I think they are promising so I invested in them".
I remember investing in Microsoft in the 90s and Apple when the iPhone came out and also telling lots people that I thought Windows 98 was really great and that the iPhone was a huge deal, but the primary reason I told people those things was not because of my investment in the stocks, rather I invested in the stocks because I thought those things were true.
And many of the people who show up to hate on cryptocurrencies participate in what amount to support groups for people who had the opportunity to buy but didn't.
"Dropping in a cheaper keyboard and cutting the touch bar is a mistake."
Sometimes people state their opinions as facts. Sometimes people don't say anything to defend or explain their opinions. They just blurt them out. An it makes the internet so fun!!
My favorite one was MS Word/MS Office. It was always contextual, just quick tap on touchbar without reaching mouse and clicking option on ribbon menu. TBH I think that from apps that I used daily only MS and Apple tried to figure out how to make touch bar usable.
For example, let's say you tell me your theory of the universe. And then I say, "Wait a minute, doesn't your theory lead to an infinite stretch of time where random brains can randomly spring into existence?"
If you say, "yes", then I'd say, "If your theory is true, then I'm probably just a Boltzmann brain, and this whole conversation is just a figment of my imagination."
I would assume that I'm probably a Boltzmann brain because the number of Boltzmann brains that ever exist will be far larger than the number of human brains that ever exist. Even if it takes a zillion years for a Boltzmann brain to appear, it will happen zillion times, over an infinite stretch of time.
Sean Carroll discusses this in much more depth in "Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad" [1]. In the paper, he argues that "the theories that predict [Boltzmann Brains] are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed."
[1] https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.00850