I believe in the boundless depths of the self. Beyond that I’m not sure.
Understanding why and how we’re even conscious entities, assuming I believe you guys even exist, is the question that still needs to be answered regardless of aliens becoming known to us.
I think another big difference is Lemmy still feels like it is inviting at least a small amount of conversation. Whereas Reddit increasingly feels to me like it collectively prefers to upvote only one correct answer, and stamp down everything else.
I think with federation in general we have more of a chance to preserve what we value in each instance. Whether that is constructive conversation, or cited responses, or memes only/ no memes…
I look forward to being a part of multiple, quite different feeling networks of communities.
As others have pointed out, maybe look for a hobby.
Take baby steps towards becoming more involved in the things that youre passionate about. Housing affordability, the climate, and other things are on everyone’s mind these days, and maybe there’s something there that you have some strong feelings about. Look for virtual municipality or state/province public consultations about those things (e.g. new housing development consultations), and lend your voice to it. Meet new people with the same ideas.
Tldr, Try to make some of your free time into something self-directed, constructive and fulfilling (instead of passive algorithm surfing).
Embrace the dark side expressing yourself without the perfection filter of spellcheck. Those squiggly red lines want you to be someone youre not. Punctuation prevents you from being you. Spell things your own way. Make up your own words.
With respect for your writing, I couldn’t understand the argument against meeting people where they’re at. The wife approval factor is the tongue in cheek official benchmark for acceptance. It’s gentle wisdom that can be applied to all potential users, and I understand it to mean compromise is always needed unless your partner is also a FOSS advocate.
I love free software, but I come to it almost purely from a privacy perspective. And if privacy is the main goal, there is commercial software that doesn’t care about vacuuming up consumer data. So for some, including me, it’s only a question of risk - tolerance, appetite, and mitigation.
Admittedly I think I don’t yet understand the free software movement. My journey began with docker and self hosting some alternatives to big commercial software. There’s probably more need to explore why meeting users where they’re at is a good rule. Me as an example, I may have overlapping interests with free software but my motivations are different. Therefore the fundamental need for me to use a libre alternative to discord just isn’t there. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be able to appreciate libre more as I interacted with the software and community (regardless of the platform theyre talking on).