Gaywallet's recent activity

  1. Comment on The return of non-PC language in the US mainstream in ~talk

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    Apologies I perhaps should I have done a better job explaining what I mean - I did not mean to suggest that he bans people without due consideration. I'm simply stating that he's not going to have...

    Apologies I perhaps should I have done a better job explaining what I mean - I did not mean to suggest that he bans people without due consideration. I'm simply stating that he's not going to have time for a deep dive. I don't have time for a deep dive for half the bans that happen on the platform that I help run, and we have lots of moderators. Sometimes I'm surprised at the amount of information they're able to gather by spending some time going through one's post history in a way I'm simply not able to. It's a pure matter of scale, resources, and free time.

    8 votes

  2. Comment on The return of non-PC language in the US mainstream in ~talk

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    Unless things have changed drastically there is a singular person with the ability to remove comments and that is Deimos. His time is limited and he is a singular person. I would say there's a...

    Unless things have changed drastically there is a singular person with the ability to remove comments and that is Deimos. His time is limited and he is a singular person. I would say there's a high likelihood that if a fight broke out in the comments, things would get removed and people would get banned and that a full understanding of context and the individuals at play would likely not be taken into consideration. To be clear, this is not a criticism so much as a recognition of the reality of how this place operates primarily on vibes and has managed to avoid the worst actors and stay fairly insulated.

    12 votes

  3. Comment on The return of non-PC language in the US mainstream in ~talk

    Gaywallet
    Link
    I think this is mostly a function of folks reclaiming these words in spaces which are public enough for non-insiders to see it happening. Calling each other these slurs in semi-private spaces on...

    I think this is mostly a function of folks reclaiming these words in spaces which are public enough for non-insiders to see it happening. Calling each other these slurs in semi-private spaces on the open internet can have the appearance to others that the word isn't as powerful or problematic as it once was. I certainly know that in the last 5-10 years the number of queers I know who self-identify with some of the words you've mentioned, including words generally considered a bit more problematic like

    faggot and tranny

    slurs inside
    has vastly increased. I do find it a bit interesting because it's pretty restricted to queer identities and mental health and we haven't seen a resurgence of the use of words like the n word despite it also undergoing a very similar path in terms of reclamation. I suspect some level of this is due to the timeline itself and how the internet is an open space in which you can see it, as well as some of the general anonymity afforded on the internet allowing folks to do things you can't quite get away with in-person.
    5 votes

  5. Comment on My doctor emailed me back - Abigail Thorn in ~lgbt

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    No offense but how is this any different than the countless companies which exist which advertise that they will set you up with a physician to get you a prescription for testosterone, ADHD meds,...

    No offense but how is this any different than the countless companies which exist which advertise that they will set you up with a physician to get you a prescription for testosterone, ADHD meds, or ketamine to solve your <insert problem here>? Like I get what you're saying and I think we should have some level of safeguards, but I think the gut reaction you and others are having here is perhaps not recognizing the world we already exist in.

    Have you ever talked to someone who's reasonably rich? Most of them have access to whatever drugs they want, because they can easily find physicians who will simply prescribe them the things they want. Or they just get it on the black market - there's a reason you always hear about rich people doing cocaine and all other drugs. There's a reason when you hear about someone rich ODing in their home there's about six chemicals involved.

    But even if we ignore the rich for a minute, how many friends have you talked to about their cocktail of things they do? I would reckon the majority of people in the world have done drugs of some sort, recreationally, even if its just alcohol. Probably the majority have done at least one other drug, such as marijuana. We've certainly all picked up OTC meds that we weren't sure were gonna work, or tried weird snake oil on behalf of a family member or friend recommending it.

    If we take a step back and assess what's being proposed here by @em-dash, they're saying they should have slightly more autonomy over this. Opioids are actually a perfect example of something a generic GP can't actually prescribe easily anymore. Sometimes this is due to the actual credentialing and possibly state law, but some of it has to do with insurance companies themselves restricting prescriptions without medical evaluation (internal review). In addition, certain drugs have special classes which can't be prescribed by any credentialed MD (may need review by a psychiatrist or a pharmacist or other specialist). What they're suggesting is actually more or less what every rich and medically proficient person already has access to through their connections and knowledge and resources, but making it explicit instead of implicit. Honestly I think it's a great idea, at least as a thought process, to get us to think a bit deeper about the current state of affairs and the ways in which it isn't working. As others have mentioned, in some countries it already works a lot closer to this model than it does in the US, which should provide us comparisons and some more food for thought.

    16 votes

  6. Comment on My doctor emailed me back - Abigail Thorn in ~lgbt

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    While you're not wrong, many physicians become dead set in their ways and completely inflexible to new information. They attend continuing education classes the same way folks who get a speeding...

    While you're not wrong, many physicians become dead set in their ways and completely inflexible to new information. They attend continuing education classes the same way folks who get a speeding ticket attend traffic school to remove points from their record and keep their insurance rates from skyrocketing - it's entirely for show and they simply aren't paying attention. I say this as someone who works in medicine, who's spent countless hours with doctors, physicians, and other credentialed individuals. The reality is that humans are gonna human and this applies to the medical field as well, and many clinicians are not interested in updating their thoughts because what they are doing works for enough people that it doesn't matter if there's a better (or even alternate) way to do things out there.

    9 votes

  8. Comment on Luigi Mangione prosecutors have a jury problem: 'So much sympathy' in ~society

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    It is certainly important to think about that! But this isn't a widespread problem with all crime that is happening - it's specific to this case, meaning that the context of this case is...

    It is certainly important to think about that! But this isn't a widespread problem with all crime that is happening - it's specific to this case, meaning that the context of this case is important. On a broader scale we should be paying attention to justice vs. vengeance as it plays out in the entire system and we should and do have some protections to try and minimize vengeance seeking behavior. But the way this is being painted as an issue in the article seems to ignore broader issues with the justice system in general (you could just as easily talk about failures of justice when it comes to rich folks gaming the system, another way the justice/vengeance paradigm can be exploited) and the author seems to be picking a biased side and calling it "neutral". It feels dishonest to me to fail to discuss or address issues with the justice system as a whole when picking a side like this (siding with justice over vengeance, for example) without simultaneously highlighting how pulling to one side too hard also leads to different problems.

    10 votes

  9. Comment on Luigi Mangione prosecutors have a jury problem: 'So much sympathy' in ~society

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    Neutrality is supposed to exist in the context of peers, which is why it's called a jury of peers. If the average peer believes this man should not be punished in the way the judge or the...

    Their struggle to get a proper neutral jury

    Neutrality is supposed to exist in the context of peers, which is why it's called a jury of peers. If the average peer believes this man should not be punished in the way the judge or the prosecutor believes he should be punished, then the prosecutor and the judge are biased (frankly the reach for terrorism is out of pocket). The reality is that the "neutral" position on this matter is a sympathetic one to this individual and our justice system should reflect this.

    21 votes

  16. Comment on Crabs, crustaceans, and pain in ~science

    Gaywallet
    Link
    Direct link to scientific paper

    Direct link to scientific paper

    5 votes

  18. Comment on Inside the war against excessive headlight brightness in ~transport

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    You know I'm not certain since it was bought used, but in my state it can be at most 35 in the rear, so its probably somewhere between 35-50.

    You know I'm not certain since it was bought used, but in my state it can be at most 35 in the rear, so its probably somewhere between 35-50.

    6 votes

  20. Comment on Fragile promise of psychedelics in psychiatry in ~science

    Gaywallet
    Link Parent
    Nearly all major studies on therapy+hallucinogenic drug in this realm (MDMA, LSD, mushrooms, etc.) have a rather standard protocol. The prospective patients are screened for pre-existing mental...

    Nearly all major studies on therapy+hallucinogenic drug in this realm (MDMA, LSD, mushrooms, etc.) have a rather standard protocol. The prospective patients are screened for pre-existing mental health conditions (anything besides the target is often a reason to be excluded, at least during the research phase as a means to best understand outcomes). If they pass the screening they are then set up with a series of appointments (and in some cases they might even have a number of sessions with the therapist to get to know each other before getting to typical drug+therapy structure). The first appointment is essentially an educational- the patient is told what they are to expect, the format of what is going to happen, how the hallucinogen works, etc. and are allowed to ask questions. This usually lasts several hours. The second appointment is where they receive a dose and undergo a session of therapy. There is time to settle in, ask questions, etc. Then they are dosed and the therapist is in the room. The structure of the timing from receiving a dose to the actual therapy, the cool down period, and the decompression are all standardized to the time the drug is active one's system. There is then 1-2 more appointments where a retrospective/unpacking session happens and possibly another normal therapy session.

    These things are incredibly curated and structured. I've seen documents put together that even specify how many pillows, blankets, and seating should be present, what kind of lighting to use, and even what kind of exercises to go through to prepare and create a safe/warm/cozy place for the person to be in the best possible headspace for therapy.

    But these more structured, well thought out studies are not the only studies happening and humans come in many variations. There will likely be plenty of noise to sift through and it won't be effective for everyone, but that's entirely okay (and in fact, arguably desirable). This is simply meant to be another tool in a toolbox - the appropriate tool for a patient should be a discussion between a patient and their doctor. In many cases this particular tool is able to fix people who've gone through every other possible tool in the toolbox and found no solutions. It's really not that important to know whether it works better than placebo so much as it is important to figure out how to structure these in an effective manner and ensure it's 'safe' enough to do to become a medical mainstay for patients for which it seems a useful tool to explore.

    4 votes