It could be a lot of things. I have learned that with how the world works there is no one single answer for why people do the things they do. So yeah, it could be ignorance as I suggested, a power grab/sense of belonging like you suggest, and/or something else entirely.

I also think people like this person in the article gets wha they deserve, regardless of why they are the way they are.

The problem isn’t so much about things becoming problems once they affect a person, it’s often that these people were never exposed to things affecting them personally before they became adults.

I am of the opinion that empathy develops best when people are exposed to life (for this exercise you are welcome to define “life” how you see fit).

While I have not personally been mistreated for my gender or race, and I have never had anybody murdered or abducted in my personal life, I have had a lot of other Bad Things™ happen to me that has developed a healthy sense of empathy. I can then use that empathy and apply it to those other situations. It’s like the analogy of lifting weights can train you to pick up and move heavy things (not just barbells).

People like this have led what I believe to be very sheltered lives. Maybe they were spoiled, never told no, whatever. As far as they ever knew the horribleness of the world only happened to other people (in books, papers, movies, and TV shows), who they were taught were deserving of such things, and that it would never happen to them regardless pf anything.

None of this is meant to excuse anyone’s behavior or lack of empathy. Never would I suggest such a thing. But it may help your sanity in having a possible understanding of how it might happen in the first place.

It may not; I am not presuming to know you or how you will react to anything I’ve just said.

YMMV.

But think of the children!

These are the same people who push things like age verification, and banning porn. The really worse part about this, despite his hand-waving “I didn’t mean to offend anyone” bullshit, is that this apparently has become so normalized that this has become something that is taking a large amount of effort and time to resolve (if it ever gets resolved).

In any normal timeline, this a) would have never happened so publicly, and 2) he would’ve been immediately removed and stepped down in shame.

But here we are: the Dark Ages pt. 2. Their masks are off, and they are leaving their shame behind. This is our new normal.

Here’s my take: therapy only works if you give yourself over to it. That is to say, you have to be committed to take the advice that your therapist gives you, regardless of whether or not you (in the moment) believe it or not*.

You also have the right, and expectation, to push back. But, you have to do it in good faith. If you do the work, and take their advice, and it genuinely isn’t working for you no matter ho hard you try, tell them it isn’t working and what you’ve done.

I’ve been in therapy for almost 3 years now. It’s done wonders. But it’s been a long, difficult, and often painful journey. My therapist and I have had our moments. It happens. But we both kept at it, and I actually feel like a “normal” person for once.

Also: if you genuinely feel like you’re not connecting with your therapist, then don’t be shy about it. Let them know, and go find someone else. Don’t settle for someone just because you think you can’t do better or that you don’t deserve better.

* Obviously don’t do anything that would cause you or others harm.

That’s a story that’s kind of hard to swallow.

Probably your sister.

~I’ll show myself out.~

*badder english

Do you filter keywords? I filter a lot of keywords, so now my feed is a lot quieter because of it. It’s also a lot nicer, and I don’t spend as much time on here as I used to.

And don’t worry, you’ll find some other new way to procrastinate. 🤣

That’s what I was trying to say, but I like your explanation better than mine. 😅

Capitalism. Capitalism caused this. Big Tech is just a vessel that is used by capitalists to further their agenda.

I would like to have a genuine conversation with you about your take. What happened to you in the last two years that had you about-face on your (lack of) faith?

I used to be religious growing up (it was a familial expectation). Then I kinda half-heartedly gave up, and I became agnostic. Eventually I decided that there is no God as we know it, but I do not deny the idea that there was some greater hand at play in our existence as a species.

Things do feel a little too coincidental to simply be random. For existence, our existence in general: the earth had to form in just the right place in space, and the temperature and oxygen levels had to level out to a specific point for humanoids to form and grow.

I know that can all be explained by science, and I am not disputing any science. But that’s my anecdotal opinion on why I feel there is something/someone out there bigger than us (but not a God).

Like I said, I’m genuinely curious on your take.

So, you can say, it’s something else? 🤔

None of what you said makes any sense.

This is the equivalent of an anti-vaxxer denouncing vaccines because they feel that their herbs are close enough to real medicine. 🤦‍♂️

Don’t do that. Syntax absolutely matters.

That’s not JSON. Note the use of equal signs for the property names. That’s something else.

Don’t do it. Just don’t. There’s too much spam and ads out there already.

This right here. Constantly nagging them about something they are ashamed of will only make them more resistant to help.

What is it you would like us to say?

I am pleasantly surprised at that excerpt.

Old really is how you feel. I feel old now (48, going on 49), but only because of how my life turned out and certain events that I have to deal with (divorce, single fatherhood, getting colonoscopies, etc) by myself. I certainly don’t have as much fun as I used to, and that definitely plays a huge part in feeling old.

All that to say that if your dad is having fun, “not acting his age”, then good for him! I hope he gets many more years of that before shit has to get serious.

To directly answer your question: a 36-old is supposed to act however they want to (within moral reason of course), so long as they and the people around them are enjoying it.

It’s real fucking simple: let people turn it on if they want to use it (any feature, not just ai), and let everyone else leave it disabled by default. The fact that they have to poll users for what they want shows how tone deaf they are to begin with.

Edit:

Also:

The company argues that users should decide how AI shows up in their digital lives, rather than having it embedded automatically across products.

This is a lie. How many times I get that stupid AI summary on search results.