… people have a tendency to underestimate how prone they are to manipulation. We should amend our constitutions to include freedom of thought as a fundamental human right.

Good for them. Chrome needs a corporate competitor, and the recent lawsuits that (I think) prevent Google from giving FireFox hundred million dollar bribes might lead to a diminished product.

Let me reframe my comment. Tell me if you still think it’s trolling. Assume I’m responding to:

“Those woke people are getting what they deserve at the gas pump. They voted for Sleepy Joe Biden, they get what they deserve.”

…I’ve never met a “Woke” person in real life. I know a bunch of Democrats, but not the stereotype obsessed over on social media. It’s reminiscent of the McCarthy era and communism. Everyone talked about communists all day, every day, but they were sooo good at blending in that nobody saw them.

What does “Woke” even refer to? People who think the benefits of diversity outweigh the negatives? People who are annoyed with the people online ranting about the right to life and abortion? If this were the case, then a lot of the Republicans i know are apparently “Woke”.

…if you no longer think I’m trolling, then you just don’t agree with my original opinion.

I haven’t met many people that conform to the MAGA stereotype. It seems to mostly be used as a slur to dehumanize Republicans. I’m a centrist; I’d have made a similar argument if the majority was dehumanizing Democrats.

This is my opinion. I’m sorry if you don’t like it. Out of the hundred simple comments that were insulting Republicans, my comment was the only one that didn’t agree.

Prohibition is effective, it’s just that it doesn’t work for easy to manufacture compounds such as alcohol or marijuana. Every known human culture has independently discovered alcohol, and marijuana is a weed that is ready to smoke in its natural form.

As far as social media goes, my country has reached a point where TikTok and Facebook are preinstalled on every phone. If a parent buys their kid a phone and removes them, they will reinstall themselves after an automatic update. When you take into consideration the “streamlined” registration process, one can argue this is a means to target prepubescent children.

…I guess an 8 year old could download a VPN and steal their parents identification, but I feel like some form of prohibition would help.

I still think it’s a step in the right direction. Once you make it illegal for children to use social media, you can start going after the platforms for knowingly manipulating children.

The value of social media lies is in it’s ability to change thoughts, opinions, and long-term behavior. The public underestimates how effective this technology is, especially when it comes to children. In the absence of regulations, these platforms can make people believe just about anything by exploiting perceived peer pressure.

I think it’s important. Most of the people in AA aren’t religious, but the “program” wouldn’t survive if it lacked structure. People use the religious terminology, but most of them don’t believe it.

It makes sense. I live near the border, and I’ve worked at quite a few places that used Canadian imports to make finished American products. I’m glad I found a new job since them; God knows it my ex-boss found a new supplier of steel tubing. Every car part we manufactured was a product of Canada.

I know a lot of Christians, and they have normal views on pollution and the environment. They are about as apathetic about the issue as the rest of us.

…they make similar arguments about atheists. “Since they don’t believe in sin, they are selfish and violent.”

Lol. Although this claim might be technically true, comparing the cost of the first prototype lithium ion battery with a modern mass produced batteries is apples to oranges.

…Reddit is the opposite of Republican. The people there are aggressively far left. It is hard to believe that it’s not an artificially enforced echo chamber.

The problem with echo chambers is that they are politically sterile. By aggressively forcing Republicans and moderates off the platform, we lose the ability to influence their stances and opinions. It becomes a circle jerk.

Testosterone administration is more illegal pharmaceutical use then it is a fad diet. It’s also not particularly dangerous. The safety profile is similar to hormonal birth control.

I wouldn’t want to shut down the simulation, but it would depend on the energy expenditure. A hospital could theoretically save more people if they allocated fifty million dollars per patient. A person’s right to life is contingent on the cost to maintain it.

Born again woman?

…I don’t think I’ve ever met a man in real life that ate a fad diet. They eat hamburger helper and take out.

If we had sustainable practices, at least of 3rd of the people in the United States and Western Europe would have a standard of living similar to the people in 3rd world country. This is assuming we don’t compensate for things by exploiting more vulnerable populations.

I personally think this is a decent trade-off, but the people my country would end up exploiting would probably disagree.

I had the same opinion, but it changed after playing Doom (2016, Xbox One) and Doom Eternal (2020, Xbox Series X) back to back. The difference was dramatic.

I still believe we are reaching a point where Moore’s law is hitting a fundamental limit, but only time will tell how things will pan out. My guess is that consoles will need to get bigger to get better.

Karma is just a means to exploit perceived peer pressure to reinforce desired behavior and change how people think. The desired behavior from the perspective of the platform isn’t limited to engagement. There are more subtle forms of monetization, such as propoganda and “peer”-to-peer advertising.

… pretty much. Natural disaster have been attacking man since the dawn of time. It’s about time we struck back.