It’s all about conservation of energy.

In your satellite scenario, the sum of kinetic and potential energy must remain fixed. This means higher orbits are slower orbits. In fact this is observable in man-made satellites that are moved to higher or lower orbits. There is no free ride.

In the “heat death” of the universe scenario, the total amount of energy in the universe is conserved (it is finite) but the volume of the universe keeps growing. On a long enough time scale the universe’s average energy per unit volume approaches zero.

“Latitude” can mean freedom of choice, or scope of work, rather than position on the Earth. I think he’s saying that it looks like the work of some low-level employee just doing what they’re told without thinking much about it.

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Some brands do this continually. That’s how Eddie Bauer or The Gap is constantly having a 30% off sale on one thing or another.

And it works. It’s called “price anchoring.”

Predators have forward-facing eyes.

Muppets have forward-facing eyes.

The science is clear.

An idea so old is new again. The Internet and it’s early services (Usenet, email, IRC, etc.) we’re all designed from the start to be decentralized. After 20+ years of people consolidating into centrally-controlled mega platforms, I’m happy to see things coming full circle.