Probably not a popular view here but I’ve found my hobbies more fulfilling since I started doing stuff other than gaming. Native plant/food gardening, reading books, working out… all of this stuff can be affected by capitalism too of course but I’m less beholden to it. I still game a bit now and then but much less than I used to.

AI-generated articles, books, coloring books for example, are all a thing now. Behind the Bastards did a podcast episode on the latter two.

I’m a student teacher right now in elementary! I try to get my kids to think critically whenever I can. I hear kids talk about insane shit they saw/heard on tiktok (I got into an argument with a student who thought Slenderman was 100% real because of something they saw on tiktok) and I try to really get them to think and actually justify why they believe things.

This is a great example of why it’s so important to emphasize teaching critical thinking in school right now. Misinformation and disinformation is just going to continue to grow.

I’m betting it would actually be cheaper to cook something like rice and beans than it would be to eat cereal.

The actual signs exist (get yourself a planisphere or a stargazing app, find some dark skies, and discover them for yourself!), it’s just all the magic personality nonsense associated with them is bullshit.

I have an e-reader as well as a phone, tablet, and paper books and honestly I still prefer my phone over anything else. With my phone it’s easier to look up words/concepts I don’t know if I want more than a simple definition of the word. Sometimes I will use the e-reader with my phone next to me for when I want to look something up. These days I would say paper books are my least favorite medium though. Big, bulky, and it’s more work to read them in the dark.

Did you know they’re based on Japanese history?

Yeah, you could easily make this more straightforward by putting parentheses around 8÷2. It’s like saying literature sucks because Finnegans Wake is incomprehensible.

I’ve been in education for a few years and can tell you that a lot (most?) of teachers are cheering on the inside when they see a bully get his ass beat. These school policies aren’t being set by teachers.

I have very little faith in businesses to do the right thing for the right reasons. Publicly traded companies in the US literally can’t do that legally if they think it will hurt their bottom line.

Go vegan. It’s better for the planet too.

Have you played Call of Pripyat with Misery? It is so good. I would have to call it my favorite gaming experience of all time. I put a ton of time into Shadow of Chernobyl with mods too. It’s been a long time though, maybe it was Oblivion Lost?

People have entire careers devoted to advertising. It is a huge, profitable field that has tons of money and research behind it. Everyone is vulnerable to the influence of advertising.

the elderly are not always mobile enough for public transport

They should just do what Japanese elderly people do and use the (free) ambulances as taxis!

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/how-often-do-happiest-couples-have-sex-it-s-less-ncna828491

Once a week or so is the average. I’m at about the same amount of time in a relationship as you and we’re about once a week. Personally I feel like sex is nice but it takes time and effort and I’m not always in the mood to spend time pleasing someone else (and I’m not going to initiate unless I’m willing to do that). I could see myself having sex a little bit more often if I had a better work-life balance where I felt less pressed for time. This gets me thinking that I should check in with my partner about this topic though!

Kind of a troll/satire that some people took seriously, definitely required reading for internet tomfoolery history IMO.

https://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/

Mow down fascism and kill your lawn!

It would be funny if people were forced to do something akin to mandatory military service but for working at a school as a paraprofessional or other aide for a little while. I feel like most people really have no idea how much teachers have to juggle and deal with on a daily basis. Come see how my kids behave when left to their own devices and then judge me.

That “I” am pretty much just the construct of electrons flying around my brain.

If you get into mindfulness meditation a little bit, the concept of self in general shifts in really weird ways. Like I know that I am an individual entity in the world, but the sense of an individual actor or driver within my consciousness has faded somewhat. When you recognize that the thoughts or feelings that manifest in consciousness are about as much under your control as whether the wind is blowing or what the people across the room are talking about, it gives you a new perspective on life.