evercarrot's recent activity
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Comment on Miynt – Blu-Ray Land (2025) in ~music
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Comment on An appeal to the community for non-algorithmic recommendations in ~talk
evercarrot LinkShould make this into a weekly topic -format, where everyone can freely speak their thoughts about something interesting they've read/watched/listened to. I see there's one specifically for books...Should make this into a weekly topic -format, where everyone can freely speak their thoughts about something interesting they've read/watched/listened to. I see there's one specifically for books and for movies and games, but for general?
Alternatively, there could be a "weekly text" where users all read or take part in a specific blog/article/book/podcast/political treaty/Wikipedia article/Star Trek episode/libretto and then freely talk about it and recommend a somehow connected topic to be read next by the community, like in the game of telephone. The most voted recommendation would then be the next topic and so on.
Just my two cents, if you really want to maximize getting out of evil algorithms dictating your life and make it a community effort.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
evercarrot Link ParentYou already got some responses from other people and I don't mean to overwhelm you at all, whatever you choose I hope you give it at least a few chances before giving it up. I was going to...You already got some responses from other people and I don't mean to overwhelm you at all, whatever you choose I hope you give it at least a few chances before giving it up. I was going to recommend you watch the whole YouTube video by Jessie Gender "A Complete (& Unhinged) Guide to Watching Star Trek" and then go from there. Other than that, I'm sure other people are much more knowledgeable that me on this subject, I just gave my two cents, because it's really beautiful when you really get the grasp of why these shows (I've watched The Next Generation all 7 seasons, Voyager all 7 seasons) are so good.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
evercarrot Link ParentIt probably isn't for everyone, I can agree. Many times you also have to look at it as a product of its time, meaning the baked in references to real world events aren't really relevant anymore,...It probably isn't for everyone, I can agree. Many times you also have to look at it as a product of its time, meaning the baked in references to real world events aren't really relevant anymore, though the point often still stands. It's much more about what's morally right and wrong, and the nuance therein (in contrast to more action-oriented shows). ST at its best is spot on in terms of questioning society and making you think about it long after you've watched the episode, but at its worst it can be very silly filler.
It's much more about the message.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
evercarrot Link ParentNow that I read your highlighted part again I realize what I wrote makes no sense. My bad. What I meant to say was that they often respect the prime directive by not saving said civilization, even...Now that I read your highlighted part again I realize what I wrote makes no sense. My bad.
What I meant to say was that they often respect the prime directive by not saving said civilization, even if it means the civilization's end. Sometimes they do go against the directive, but for good reason.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
evercarrot LinkI've been binge watching Star Trek Voyager recently, and there the episodes more often than not revolve around this exact question. There's the "Prime Directive" which is basically the rulebook...- Exemplary
I've been binge watching Star Trek Voyager recently, and there the episodes more often than not revolve around this exact question. There's the "Prime Directive" which is basically the rulebook for what you can and can't do as the captain/crew of a starship, and in true Star Trek fashion, the question often arises of whether it can be reasonably expected to follow rules such as "don't interfere with other lifeforms" when you're stranded 30 000 lightyears from home and when none of the hostile species you encounter follow any kind of similar rules. Who would know, right? And who would care? You were only trying to survive, after all.
In ST it usually ends with the captain, being presented with the moral dilemma, choosing the "right" option which is to respect the Prime Directive to save this unknown species even if it puts their whole crew at risk. Nevertheless, I think the show handles these moral dilemmas well. This sentiment is nice, and I believe stuff all the way from specific ideologies to internet group chats and driving in traffic largely depends on people thinking like this, "I will do it for my country/group/peers, and sadly, this trust in humans is often misplaced (greed in society, trolls in the chat group, drunk driver on the road). You can do everything right, and have everything go wrong regardless.
People are selfish and lazy. That's never going to change, and if you pick up a piece of trash from the street when nobody else is there, did you ever really pick up the trash? Was it a wasted act of kindness because nobody saw it? It was, yes, if you really did it because it felt good. But if you also did it because of your inner prime directive, then you did something huge. Much like in Star Trek, you didn't only clean one small trash that some ignorant person left behind, you didn't set an example to anyone, you didn't leave it for the next person to pick up. You simply did what you thought was right. That, in my opinion, is humanity.
Don't leave it because somebody else probably will do it, but also don't choose to do it because nobody else will do it. Choose to do it so that the next person doesn't have to.
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What exists behind us? - A reminder to actually spend time with content from the past, not just cherish it
The word "content" in this text means works that you can consume for knowledge or for entertainment, e.g. books, films, TV-shows, video games, scientific articles, podcasts, poems, music, all of...
The word "content" in this text means works that you can consume for knowledge or for entertainment, e.g. books, films, TV-shows, video games, scientific articles, podcasts, poems, music, all of those Youtube-videos you have saved for later never to be watched again, etc...
With streaming services, apps and tools becoming worse and harder to use while also increasing their subscription costs more often to appease investors, AI is taking over not only our future jobs but also our hobbies and passions, i.e. the very thing we were supposed to be able to make more of. Sponsored as well as subtle user-made advertisements are infesting site after site, but increasingly, the interactions these ads get also come from bots. Social media is no longer a place where I “trick” my peers into thinking I had a wonderful weekend - when in reality it was mediocre at best - but instead a battleground of different actors trying to inflate numbers for short-term gain. It feels like no film, no video game or book, no service, no image, no friend nor foe on the internet exists anymore for anything other than a fleeting moment of transactional gain. Nothing seems trustworthy anymore. Nothing seems genuine.
With the most recent YouTube video by Technology Connections (“Algorithms are breaking how we think”, 22. February 2025) that talks about “algorithmic complacency” and how people today let themselves be fed curated content instead of finding the content they are interested in, it highlights a shift I have felt the past year but never have had the words to express clearly, which is the following: People don’t care anymore.
And why should they? It’s much easier to come home from a long school or work day and just get cheap dopamine without having to put brain power into searching for entertainment. After all, I’m not trying to learn anything right now.
Now, I know I am preaching to the choir on this site. I don’t need to tell you of the bad effects today’s customs and practices on the internet will have on us and especially the next generation, both short-term and in the long run, but the worst one I can see is not back pain, short-sightedness, decline of web-searching skills or even gullibility. It is apathy.
Propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, manipulation, advertising, reaching voters, gaining consumers, decreasing attention spans and a willingness to pay more as long as no additional effort is required on my part. Escaping this fate seems to require an ever-increasing supply of vigilance and effort. The thought arises: What exists behind us?
Now, this might seem nonsensical. We all love to go back to older things from time to time. Stuff from previous generations has always intrigued us. But I am asking you, have you given any thought to the mind-boggling amount of content out there that has already been made? Think about all the books, movies, music, video games - although all this most probably was made with profit in mind, it was still made by people who chose to make it because they could.
The other side of the coin is realizing how small a portion all of this represents, when compared to the amount that has been lost to time, in one way or another. Why then, does it seem like the minuscule amount of content we have left from times gone is not treated with any respect at all? Why are alternatives to modern content taken from us just because they do not entail profit? Libraries have fever books, video games are taken offline, free software starts selling your data or making the free version have big restrictions, and then there is of course the whole case of The Internet Archive. I have even had to sail the seven seas to get ahold of books that don’t come in a format that confines them to a specific, paid app. This last part is seemingly becoming the only way of accessing a whole lot of stuff nowadays, which is a shame.
In essence, as archives and physical media die, we look to the corporations of today to satiate our craving for quality content, and in so doing, we alienate ourselves from our uniqueness and our soul. Why read a boring book when this streaming service is constantly getting new movies? Why make art when AI can make it for me if I ever need it?
It is precisely for these reasons that we need to keep a steady grip of the very thing that makes us human: our interest in creating. It is good for the mind, for the body, for the personality, for the diversity.
Thus, this is an argument for - or rather, a call to action to - spending time with content that was not made for one-time use, but rather, content that respects the time you put into it, be it book, film or game, not forgetting to let yourself be inspired and expressing yourself in the process.
30 votes -
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1 vote
Well this was a surprise to my ears this Monday evening :P
I remember when the album Lonely Beach came out a few years ago and it was randomly recommended on spotify, I spontaneously clicked it and started listening and it really defined my summer 2022 before life got in the way and I forgot about it completely. I've never really been good with music recommendations or songs that are very mainstream for some reason, the music that really sticks comes from completely random encounters. What I loved with this album was the sound, and listening to this song now reminded me of that album and the fact that I never got to listening to any of Miynt's other songs at all! Miynt really has the perfect sound for when you're driving on a summer night. This gave me huge nostalgia.