Catzilla. Truly a loaf incarnate.

Individual data points like “I take pilates”, “I work nights and weekends”, and “I live in Smalltown, ST” might not mean anything on their own, but if you can connect this data to a single person, then realize there’s only one pilates studio in Smalltown, then look up their hours and notice there’s only one day class on weekdays, you can make a reasonable guess as to a regular time when a person is away from home. This is called data brokerage.

This is a comically contrived example; the real danger is in the association of countless data points spread across millions of correlated identities. It’s not just your data, it’s the association of your data with that of your friends and family. Most people are constantly streaming their location, purchases, beliefs, and affiliations out to anyone who cares enough to look. Bad actors may collate their data and use it to take advantage of them, and the only move they have is to ask for prohibitive legislation. As if we don’t already have prohibitive legislation.

Anonymity is expensive, inconvenient, and fragile, but it’s the only mechanism that protects individuals from the information economy, which I would put right next to ecology in terms of critical 21st-22nd century social problems. It also helps us resist censorship, but that’s a different essay.

He cannot protec
Nor can he attac
But he is a little hat

About seven years ago, I quit dexmethylphenidate after eight years of various stimulants. I wish I could tell you there’s a general solution, but I was just reading a completely unrelated book and had to get up, log into Lemmy, and respond to this thread I skimmed past three hours ago. I do take caffeine (~400mg) and nicotine (~6-10mg) daily, as well as a drop of hemp oil weekly to manage the caffeine side effects, so I might be disqualified according to some, but I don’t think so. I’m sorry, but nothing will ever approach the unconditional dopamine of strong CNS stims.

Diet and exercise are essential. If I neglect them, I can fall into a loop of unproductive behavior. I mostly eat seeds, legumes, and veggies, with plenty of grain to facilitate cardio. I run 5-10K three times a week. I take protein (pea) and fiber (psyllium) supplements on top of a battery of vitamins. All of this helps me maintain a balance of stable productivity, but honestly the most life-changing thing I’ve ever done was get to a point in my career where I’m allowed to be productive on my own terms.

It took me until I was 26 to find a job where I was allowed to work mostly alone and be measured by my overall productivity instead of being graded by the horseshit pseudoscience that passes for academics and middle management. Obviously that’s not much help to you if you don’t have it yet, but please hold out. Don’t listen to the horde of people with a work ethic in place of a philosophy. I fucked up or walked away from so many opportunities. You can still find independence. Society needs divergent thinkers, they just don’t like to advertise it.

There are still days when I can’t get anything done. There are times like this when I abandon what I’m supposed to be doing and fixate on something that really isn’t part of the plan. My solution is to practice discipline generally so that I can forgive myself for wandering occasionally. I hope this isn’t too disappointing. Take baby steps and trust no bitch.