In a recent series of experiments, we paid people a few dollars to unfollow the most divisive political accounts on X. After a month, they reported feeling 23% less animosity towards other political groups. In fact, their experience was so positive that nearly half the people declined to refollow those hostile accounts after the study was over. And those who maintain their healthier newsfeed reported less animosity a full 11 months after the study.
Found this bit interesting
I don’t forgive the nazis or the americans either
I haven’t forgiven them for sending up a dog and a monkey though
Besides gambling hype I think regular people are into it for a couple reasons:
-don’t have to trust the whims of your state government (who could devalue their currency at any time)
-deflationary by design so your earnings maintain value (no one could discover a btc meteor to mine)
-Requires broad miner consensus to change the rules
Microsoft Word automatically converts a double dash to an em dash too
Despite all the and suffering it has caused and will cause, Trump admin has at least handed us the beginning of a breakdown in US hegemony as trust has eroded with other nations who are all busy pivoting away from it right now.
Unfortunately upon breaking the gridlock, other nations are scrambling to maintain the status quo rather than leaning into the future by redoubling commitments to address human and climate crises before it’s too late for the humans.
Journalists too. Not too long ago it was quite taboo to kill journalists, especially foreign ones, but the taboo seems to be gone altogether there is no outrage.
Philosophy is excellent food for thought, working through a MOOC course (MIT/Yale?) and doing the prescribed readings might strike your fancy. Happy to give more specific recs if you have some existing curiosity about a topic. Side note that it’s difficult to find people to talk to online about serious philosophical topics, the options I’ve seen (discord groups, facebook groups) usually aren’t very engaging but the reading and lectures and contemplation are engaging on your own imo.
Watch ancient history documentaries like the Fall of Civilizations or History with Cy channels on youtube (Fall of Civilizations is also/originally a podcast if you prefer). Whenever I am feeling empty of interesting thoughts this is my go to. When I watch frequently I constantly find my thoughts combining and recombining history with my current experience in a way that feels awfully close to intellectual stimulation. I also find it gives some mildly comforting perspective on current events.
Built to purpose gadgets. Getting into arduino or similar as a hobbyist can be intellectually engaging. The process of identifying something in your space you could enhance then drafting and executing a plan (including some basic programming) is kind of like a puzzle. Building things you don’t need like an LED based checklist for chores that resets every day, a pedestal that spins to give a house plant even sunlight, or a solar powered bird house might be a fun challenge.
Edit to add that if you live near a university professors will usually let you unofficially audit their class if you’re interested in a topic and have time during the week.
Find a nice waterfall and build a hut by it
Flow charts or bullet lists as visual aid. The higher position your interlocutor is in the simpler you should try to keep your point. If you need their input on a project only bring them one A vs B decision at a time.
Regular coffee/espresso does nothing good to my body except make me poop immediately.
BUT my old school had a vending coffee machine that would sometimes break and only put out the coffee sludge with no water and THAT stuff made my hands shake
I forget the title but there’s a sci-fi story where there’s a galactic council between sentient creatures but they don’t invite newly discovered sentient species to the council until they survive the milestone where most sentient species nuke themselves out of existence
Worth noting that you’re going to have a lot more Zionists in Israel than in the general population.
At least 1/3 of the protesters that show up for Palestine in my woods are Jewish Voices for Peace folks.
Israel is an antisemitic project.
Completely plausible! Have you aged since? Or stopped aging at 27?
Edit: If not maybe you needed to add a few drops of purple eyeglass-cleaner sample.
Can relate but I made potions in the bath. With various colors of shampoo. In actual glass test tubes and such from the science supply store (probably not wise @my parents but all the little glass bottles were adorable).
“Passionately Support The Machine While It Crushes Everyone Including, Eventually, Me”
That must feel soul sucking to build :(
Oh I see, thanks! The sentence structure was confusing me
Yeah it’s kind of like the psychological advice to let go of things you can’t control. That’s fine when it’s your annoying boss (within limits) but not fine when it’s mass kidnappings.