Astral Codex Ten

Santa Claus

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Santa Claus

Article

Santa Claus is a recurring concept in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between May 30, 2022 and October 07, 2022. The archive places it in contexts such as “Some topics, like Santa Claus and Hermione Granger, form vast black-hole-like attractor basins in conceptual space”; “Santa Claus is a jolly old man who lives at the North Pole and spreads holiday cheer”. It most often appears alongside Ada Lovelace, Adraste, Alexandra Elbakyan.

Metadata

  • Category: Concepts
  • Mention count: 2
  • Issue count: 2
  • First seen: May 30, 2022
  • Last seen: October 07, 2022

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

A Guide To Asking Robots To Design Stained Glass Windows
May 30, 2022 · Original source
No mortal can truly understand the mind of DALL-E, but I think that either it’s more confident in who Herschel is than who Brahe is, anchoring it to “stained glass depictions of specific historical figures who are known not to be Santa Claus”. Or possibly “Tycho Brahe” sounds kind of fanciful, like the sort of person who might secretly be Santa Claus if you dig a little deeper, but “William Herschel” sounds like a respectable English historical figure who has far too Jewish a name to be Santa.
If you give it a subject that sounds like the kind of thing depicted in medieval stained glass, it will depict it in a medieval way. If you give it a subject that sounds more modern, it will depict it in a more modern way. Some topics, like Santa Claus and Hermione Granger, form vast black-hole-like attractor basins in conceptual space, dragging in anything even remotely related, and turning the scene into Christmas decorations or Harry Potter fan art.
A Columbian Exchange
October 07, 2022 · Original source
Beroe: The relationship between Cristobal Colon and Christopher Columbus is the same as the relationship between St. Nicholas of Myra and Santa Claus. St. Nicholas of Myra is a historical figure who lived in 4th century Anatolia. He may or may not have done bad things like physically attack people who he disagreed with at church councils. But Santa Claus is a jolly old man who lives at the North Pole and spreads holiday cheer. In the same way, Cristobal Colon is a historical figure responsible for many serious crimes. But Christopher Columbus is a brave explorer who set forth across the ocean sea with only three tiny ships, despite the risk that he might fall off the edge of the world -
Inline links: physically attack people who he disagreed with at church councils