https://theweek.com/articles/880107/why-fox-news-created

That or maybe politics Friday when those posts are allowed?

It is simple. The economy and the media.

Call it selfish, but most people are more concerned with their own well being and that of their families than anything external. They don’t see Gaza, climate change, or abortion in the grocery store, they see prices that are massively higher than they were during Trump. You can try to explain how economics works, how tarrifs are a bad idea, how inflation is actually down, but to many that’s just noise and why should they trust these economists over anyone else. Their lived experience is that, excluding covid, life was more affordable under Trump.

Take a look at the most popular cable channels and you see Fox news. Look at podcasts and there is Joe Rogan. Social media is arguably better, but X and Facebook are still big and skew right, plus the others are ripe for disinformation campaigns and bots. A large number of Americans regularly consume a diet of right wing propaganda.

Trump always overperforms. Even in 2020 he did better than he had any right to. This time there is no covid hanging over his head and Biden/Harris are taking all the blame for inflation.

It also does not hurt that millions of Americans willingly consume hours of right wing propaganda everyday. Fox News remains one of if not the top cable channel (after sports) and Joe Rogan one of the top podcasts. Meanwhile CNN has shifted right, papers like the Washington post have been compromised, and the remaining “liberal media” is so obsessed with appearing unbiased that they end up “sane washing” GOP craziness and inflating minor democrat flubs.

“liberal media” outlets are either actually run by conservatives or so obsessed with trying to appear balanced, they end up downplaying Trump and highlighting Harris issues. Combine that with the pure propoganda from conservative media, and the whole industry has a strong conservative slant…

• Real news: Trump praises Hitler
• “liberal media”: Trump praises WW2 leader, Harris eats pizza with a fork
• Conservative media: FORK GATE 2024!!! Harris campaign in shambles!

When, given a choice between doing something fun and something necessary that can be easily put off, you default to doing the necessary.

Then they briefly acknowledge you before returning to whatever uninteresting topic they were already discussing and tighten the circle so that you could not join in even if you wanted to…

You look around the room and everyone is in tight circles, making mostly small talk, with a few people in each circle dominating the conversations. At best, all you can do is stand outside a circle, essentially eavesdropping, but that’s creepy.

So you just wander the room admiring the art and architecture, look out the windows, etc., before either finding a way to leave or finding a quiet corner and pulling out your phone.

The question is about a scenario where a person selflessly decides not to have kids because of how doing so would subject them to a worse quality of life and add to the demands we put on the planet.

His answer (as quoted here) selfishly explains how kids can enrich the lives of those around them, but does not discuss the experience of the kids at all.

And that’s pretty much the whole conservative mindset… other people only matter if they can be used to your benefit. (I don’t think i quite got that until just now…)

4′33″. I hate that melody and would rather just listen to silence.

Volcanos being caused by overpopulation in hell.

Almost makes me wonder if this is a mechanical turk situation.

It is also the origin of the anime “wow” sound effect. https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Anime_Wow_Sound

Changes could have so many repercussions even well meaning actions could make things worse. The safer bet would be to collect lost books and art.

That said, stopping the Lincoln assassination is tempting. I’d hope to change reconstruction to better wipe out the confederacy, prevent lost cause doctrine, and better integrate former slaves into full citizenship and society.

VR - It has been through a few hype cycles, but never quite makes it. Cost, weight, battery life (or tethers), lack of highly desirable games, required floor space, nausea (in some people), etc.

Starlink - when announced it sounded like the solution to ISP monopolies and rural broadband access. But the roll out was so slow that other solutions have caught up. For people with no option other than satellite internet, it is still great (if they can get it) but for a lot of people, better options now exist.

They’ve overhyped the hell out of it and slapped those letters on everything including a lot of half baked ideas. Of course people are tired of it and beginning to associate ai with bad marketing.

This whole situation really does feel dotcommish. I suspect we will soon see an ai crash, then a decade or so later it will be ubiquitous but far less hyped.