umlautsuser123's recent activity

  1. Comment on At what age do you consider someone to be an adult? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
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    When are you an adult? Ideally, some time in your 20s. Realistically... 30-35? But generally, it's whenever you shift into settling down roots. Rather than changing your life, you grow it. When...
    • When are you an adult? Ideally, some time in your 20s. Realistically... 30-35? But generally, it's whenever you shift into settling down roots. Rather than changing your life, you grow it.
    • When did you feel like you were an adult? As young as a teenager lol. But 25-27 is when I made big moves to set down roots. 26-29, I think my decision making in some areas had rapidly improved.
    • Do you think the legal age that someone is considered an adult in your country should be changed? Yes, sort of.

    The coming of age moments in the U.S. tend to be 16 (earliest driver's permit?), 18 (legal adult), 21 (drinking age). More optional things are moving out and graduating college. Then there's "making comfortable money." That can be a moving goalpost, though, especially if you have kids. Then I think there's also "when you are the parent to your parents."

    There's an argument that "if someone is old enough to go to war they are old enough to drink." I don't think alcohol is great for a young brain but I'd be open to either bringing the drinking age down or bringing the legal adult age up to 20 (and drinking age down to 20). I just hate the idea of kids fighting in war (in general), but also the idea that they must do so for lack of other options.

    More generally, I think that the way we shuttle people (from state-funded education with a high focus on academics for the "next stage", straight to student debt for private education to work in an industry you lack practical experience with) delays adulthood. I think it leads to a level of unpreparedness for life that makes it hard to feel ready for things you might actually want. I think it's better to promote more experimentation and early failure that helps prepare you to be on your own. I think highschool should be shortened and we need to stop accepting full-time college students out of high school unless they're the second coming of Einstein.

    In terms of why delaying adulthood matters at all, I learned once that it's pretty common to retire and then have a 'brush' with mortality. 39% of people will get cancer in their lifetime, and according to what seems to be a cancer hospital, 24.1% of cancers are diagnosed in the ages of 55-64 and 29.1% are diagnosed within 65-74. 80.4% of cases overall occur in patients over 55. I dislike the idea that we spend a lot of time 'preparing' to live our lives, have a short sliver of living it, and then suddenly have to fight with our health.

    2 votes
  2. Comment on Single most useful program you daily use? in ~tech

    umlautsuser123
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    Apple shortcuts. It's basically "you don't need to know how to code (but it helps if you do)" drag and drop scripting. You can connect them to triggers like time, location, app opening / closing,...

    Apple shortcuts. It's basically "you don't need to know how to code (but it helps if you do)" drag and drop scripting. You can connect them to triggers like time, location, app opening / closing, etc. I set up stuff for tracking my workouts, caffeine usage, alcohol usage, laundry timers, auto-disabling or enabling networks when I enter or leave places, etc.

    4 votes
  3. Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people?

    edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has...

    edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has historically been a safe place to find out things that would be difficult to ask in person even if you know who to ask, and I appreciate the fact-checking, reality-checking, what-have-you that comes with that.


    Things like:

    • What things felt free to do and not free to do? Was that a quality of law or society? (e.g., freedom of speech, gay relationships, zoning, running a business, jaywalking, etc.)
    • Trust or reliability in government
    • Educational quality
    • Relationship to the media
    • What luxuries people tended to have (e.g. modern imported gaming consoles, domestically produced products, number of cars, etc.)

    Posting from America here. As the great power politics seems to have heated up these past 3-10 years, it feels like the environment has become more polarized as well. Eventually I started to ask myself what exactly I was supporting or opposing philosophically, in wanting my country to have the largest influence. The measures I came up with were not things that my own country did well on, and often felt like things I couldn't get the most accurate picture on without Russian or Chinese language acquisition. I happened upon a BBC article about new Chinese graduates I guess going through what millennials did in 2008, and found the general similarity of it interesting.

    67 votes
  4. If you had to start a blog and post even though very few may read it, what would get you blogging weekly?

    I was thinking about one of the threads here about missing the specific subcultures on Reddit. Maybe we just aren't in the habit of sharing our interests or want to know who else is interested in...

    I was thinking about one of the threads here about missing the specific subcultures on Reddit. Maybe we just aren't in the habit of sharing our interests or want to know who else is interested in the subculture.

    If absolutely forced to, I could probably blog about:

    • Occasional game learnings - either new games or specific mechanics in games
    • things in relation to the city I live in (I still check this on Reddit)
    • Recipes or foods I've tried to make or bought and liked with a bent towards fermentation, coffee, plant-based stuff
    • smart articles I thought were worth recommending to others, or fun facts.
    • software - nothing super technical, but either small projects, language learnings, thoughts around companies. Maybe occasional "software used to make art" stuff I stumbled upon
    • Episode reviews of detective shows, kdramas, and anime
    • Deleting Instagram and trying to export my saved posts without using a script (my advice... code review something online and use that script) and other things in relation to introversion
    19 votes
  5. Did you live in a city then move out? How was it? Did it change your energy towards the day-to-day?

    This is such a vague thing to post, but in the past few years I've been wrestling with my increasing introversion. I'm always tired. I was talking about my feelings towards friendships to a friend...

    This is such a vague thing to post, but in the past few years I've been wrestling with my increasing introversion. I'm always tired. I was talking about my feelings towards friendships to a friend (without an intent to say anything negative) and found myself surprised at how little I mentioned any benefits from companionships. What weighed on me was the time spent, the work spent, the money spent on trying to "keep people happy." (I have a few other closer friends, so it's not the way I feel about everyone). It's a weird position to be in as someone who had once tried hard to make new friends. I find myself struggling with the guilt for how I feel and the desire to just recess, to focus on myself, and to attend to my desire for stability (especially financial stability-- I feel like things have gotten more expensive). I have deeper and more commitments than I used to, which should make me feel so fortunate. However, as a result, they are also in competition for my time / energy.

    I've been feeling really weighted down by this lately, so I'm curious to hear from people who may have gone through something similar. A part of me feels that perhaps if I made my life more stable (a cheaper mortgage instead of renting in a major / global city, a higher paying job, lower-key friendships etc.) then I would feel happier on a day-to-day level.

    edit: clarified some things

    29 votes
  6. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
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    I really think "Make my Fridge / Car / TV Dumb Again" would unironically be a winning platform. Like the other candidates would eventually scramble to have a position because of your meteoric...

    I really think "Make my Fridge / Car / TV Dumb Again" would unironically be a winning platform. Like the other candidates would eventually scramble to have a position because of your meteoric rise.

    "What do you think about <insert war>?" "War is bad. You know who doesn’t think about war though? My dumb as rocks fridge." overwhelming applause

    22 votes
  7. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    re: air rage, This was 100% the kinds of Freakanomics-esque suggestions I was also hoping to see in thread.

    re: air rage, This was 100% the kinds of Freakanomics-esque suggestions I was also hoping to see in thread.

    6 votes
  8. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    Yes to toilet reform!! I would totally vote for "auto-closing toilet seats for every toilet" and "sinks that operate on a 1 minute timer." I expect diseases to decrease sharply.

    Yes to toilet reform!!

    I would totally vote for "auto-closing toilet seats for every toilet" and "sinks that operate on a 1 minute timer." I expect diseases to decrease sharply.

    3 votes
  9. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
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    Is your mom looking for a VP? I weirdly like the military thing. I think it'd help instill some kind of social discipline, would make us more afraid of war / drafts, and (most importantly) I've...

    Is your mom looking for a VP?

    I weirdly like the military thing. I think it'd help instill some kind of social discipline, would make us more afraid of war / drafts, and (most importantly) I've heard it to be a means to socialize people of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I've wondered if we could use summer camps to do the same thing at a younger age.

    3 votes
  10. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
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    There are dozens of us! Someone asked me "If you were king of <our city>, what would you do?" and I said "I'd make a law that leaving dog shit on the street was punishable by smearing it on the...

    There are dozens of us! Someone asked me "If you were king of <our city>, what would you do?" and I said "I'd make a law that leaving dog shit on the street was punishable by smearing it on the owner."

    I kind of think some laws are not meaningfully enforceable (like, fining someone for something is so complex) so I kind of like the idea of petty street justice that encourages citizens to keep each other in line. Kind of like very toned-down caning (although I guess the poop can make you sick).

    5 votes
  11. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    I like this. Somewhat similar, but as a pedestrian in a major city, my pet peeve is cars driving into the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians closer to the road / in harms way to cross the street. I...

    I like this. Somewhat similar, but as a pedestrian in a major city, my pet peeve is cars driving into the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians closer to the road / in harms way to cross the street. I kind of think you should have the right to deface a car that does that tbh. Spraypaint, stickers, keying it, feel free. If everyone kind of agreed "okay, that's karmic" I think we'd see cars stop sooner.

    4 votes
  12. You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it?

    Imagine that on the campaign posters, it will say your name and then this policy. For example: Vote for <your username> ... Rain boots for everyone. (No American / Englishman / Indian / etc....

    Imagine that on the campaign posters, it will say your name and then this policy. For example:

    Vote for <your username> ...

    • Rain boots for everyone. (No American / Englishman / Indian / etc. should have soggy socks.)
    • A Speedy DMV. (It should take 10 minutes to renew your license at the DMV.)
    • Rice in every restaurant. (Rice is good with everything. At least some Asian KFCs will serve fried chicken with rice!)

    It should resonate deeply with people, without the expectation that it should solve any of the deeper problems in life.

    80 votes
  13. Comment on Joe Biden's path to US re-election has all but vanished in ~society

    umlautsuser123
    Link Parent
    Apparently they have a "petty feud." Everyone in article reads kind of poorly, but NYT comes out looking better after this past month so I'm guessing it's emboldened them. It has also surprised...

    Apparently they have a "petty feud." Everyone in article reads kind of poorly, but NYT comes out looking better after this past month so I'm guessing it's emboldened them.

    Although the president’s communications teams bristle at coverage from dozens of outlets, the frustration, and obsession, with the Times is unique, reflecting the resentment of a president with a working-class sense of himself and his team toward a news organization catering to an elite audience — and a deep desire for its affirmation of their work. On the other side, the newspaper carries its own singular obsession with the president, aggrieved over his refusal to give the paper a sit-down interview that Publisher AG Sulzberger and other top editors believe to be its birthright.
    ...
    “All these Biden people think that the problem is Peter Baker or whatever reporter they’re mad at that day,” one Times journalist said. “It’s A.G. He’s the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn’t done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age.”

    It has also surprised me, as I see them as a mainstream Democrat outlet.

    3 votes
  14. Do you know a lot of weird people to talk about the latest weirdest things you've read?

    Recently, I went to a meetup for a blog I follow. I was expecting and (in part) hoping for it to be really strange. Similarly to this post "Developers Aren't Nerds", I think a part of me held the...

    Recently, I went to a meetup for a blog I follow. I was expecting and (in part) hoping for it to be really strange. Similarly to this post "Developers Aren't Nerds", I think a part of me held the expectation that I really would become an adult who sat around with other people who read something intellectually stimulating and joyfully kind of debated it amongst ourselves. Sort of like being on Tildes or any good forum. And being around these people and the environment was fun-- it was mostly casual, but when it wasn't, I felt challenged and like I was talking about things I cared about. And above all, unlike being online, it still felt human-- there wasn't that weird anxiety of saying something and getting piled on.

    I'm blessed to have a pretty good life, which includes (now) a fairly diverse and broad social life I worked to grow. I believe there is emotional support too (though I have a smaller circle for that). But it feels like we spend more time talking about (their) travel, music festivals, clubbing, whatever. And I know part of the issue is that I don't "get" it (I am an introvert, I like small groups), or I did enough of those experiences and feel sated for the time. But man, would I like to be a little weird and just randomly talk about the random shit my head puts together after reading. (Today, it was global fertility rate projections, sperm counts, IVF. Other times it was blockchain and other architectures I was learning about. Overall, things that are difficult to bring up randomly.)

    Do people have that outlet offline? Where did you find it?

    16 votes
  15. Comment on "Learning to be happier" by Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology in ~life

    umlautsuser123
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    It gets pretty broad from here. I'm choosing to only copy partial excerpts as I think it's better understood read altogether.

    That autumn term of 2018, I decided to try delivering a free lunchtime series of lectures, ‘The Science of Happiness’, based on the Yale course. Even though this pilot was not credit-bearing, more than 500 students gave up their Wednesday lunchtimes to attend. That was unusual as, in my experience, students rarely give up time or expend effort to undertake activities unless they are awarded credit or incentives. There would be 10 lectures, and everyone was requested to fill in self-report questionnaires assessing various mental health dimensions both before and after the course, to determine whether there had been any impact and, if so, how much.
    ...
    We now have five years’ worth of data and have published peer-reviewed scientific papers on evaluation of the course. ... Our most recent analysis over the longer term shows that the positive benefits we generate during the course, and the two months after, are lost within a year, returning to previous baseline scores, unless the students maintain some of the recommended activities.
    ... What is the mechanism underlying positive psychology?

    It gets pretty broad from here. I'm choosing to only copy partial excerpts as I think it's better understood read altogether.

    ... Specifically, we had completed a set of studies demonstrating that, when children are instructed to talk about themselves, they thought about their own possessions differently and became less willing to share with others. Emphasising their self had made these children more selfish. This got me thinking about the role of self-focus in happiness.
    ... Many PPIs such as sharing, acts of kindness, gratitude letters or volunteering are clearly directed towards enriching the lives of others, but how can we explain the benefits of solitary practices where the self seems to be the focus of attention? The explanation lies with the self-representation circuitry in the brain known as the default mode network (DMN).

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Jack Dorsey quits Bluesky board and urges users to stay on Elon Musk's X in ~tech

    umlautsuser123
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    https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana I think this has come out recently. I managed to read it before I experienced a paywall but have to reference from memory now....

    https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana I think this has come out recently. I managed to read it before I experienced a paywall but have to reference from memory now.

    IIRC, he basically says Bluesky was meant to be a decentralized protocol that Twitter could use so that they could get out of the business of entertaining censorship requests. If they didn't own the data, they couldn't meaningfully honor such a request. But after Twitter was sold / went through an utter shit show, the person he got to found it worked increasingly independently, to the point of talking to VCs and (iirc) trying to secure funding.

    They also rolled out recent changes that basically allowed for moderation, which was exactly what he didn't want. Although it's true that your data doesn't need to disappear, Dorsey is correct to point out that an app built on Bluesky's protocol will still be able to honor exactly the same requests that he was hoping Twitter would avoid. I have no clue how to really circumvent that, though, even with a blockchain. There's the frontend, the hosting, and the domain ownership that can always be theoretically used to penalize a website, right?

    5 votes