In case you can’t tell, I’m passionate about rationality and critical thinking.

However, I still appreciate a freshly-baked π.

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Joined 2 months ago
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Cake day: September 22nd, 2024

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  • It’s not just cognitive. We lose taste buds with age, and the ones that remain shrink and lose sensitivity.

    It makes sense if you think about it. Bitterness is associated with a lot of poisons. Sourness is associated with spoiled foods. Having a strong aversion to these tastes during childhood compelled our ancestors to avoid dangerous foods during their most fragile stages of life.

    Then of course, sugar is a quick source of energy. It should be a given why a quick source of energy benefitted our ancient ancestors (for whom food was much more scarce.)

    In short, that increased childhood sensitivity allowed our ancestors to survive until adulthood.

    So parents - next time a kid complains about their dinner being too bitter, take comfort in knowing that if they were ever exposed to actual poison, they’d avoid it with the same urgency.


  • My family had a healthy idea of limits, closer to the “free range” philosophy, before such a term was required.

    Our neighbors across the street, however, were the prototype for helicopter parents.

    While my sibling and I gained confidence and navigational skills by biking around our confusing neighborhood before the days of GPS, the neighbor’s kids weren’t allowed to go down the street unsupervised. My siblings and I stood alone on the corner bus stop, but the neighbor’s mom sat in her car and only released her kids when the bus had arrived.

    At the time, my parents made fun of theirs for holding such a tight leash. We also pitied the kids because they panicked about being “lost” when my siblings brought them on a walk around the block.

    But now I see kids sitting in cars at bus stops as the norm. And of course, stories like the above article go to show that the helicopter style has won (for the time being.) The people who were raised to fear everything outside their front yard are now parents themselves.






  • It sounds like we’re on the same page. I didn’t mention foreign influence, only monied influence, which is the same thing you’re saying.

    My point was that these influences previously existed in the U.S. long before now. They didn’t materialize out of the blue. Anyone who’s been explicitly anti-fascist prior to the past decade knows that there was already an undercurrent pulling people in that direction.

    I appreciate hearing your perspective, and you’re absolutely on point. One thing I know for sure is that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.


  • pretending that this neofascism is some kind of external infection is tantamount to covering one’s own ears.

    See, I think it’s mixed. You’re absolutely right that people voted for this. At the same time, years of propaganda by monied interests have led us up to this point. Authoritarianism has been low-key popular at least since the 90s (maybe earlier, but the 90s was when I started school, and learned by experience that fascism is how the school system operates.) People are scared to rock the boat against their “leaders,” and given enough time, this is the result.

    I wish I had time right now to write more about this, because there is some deep psychological manipulation that’s embedded in the fabric of this country. It doesn’t excuse people’s behaviors, but knowing how and why they operate is crucial to understanding the big picture.




  • Incidentally, there’s a condition called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome that relates to this property. For someone with AIS that has XY genes, their appearance can range from phenotypically male, to phenotypically female, and anywhere in-between. This happens because their cells don’t respond properly (or at all) to male hormones, such as testosterone. As a result, the unused testosterone gets converted into estrogen, which their cells usually can respond to. For someone with complete AIS, they are usually born and raised as female, only finding out about their condition when they get to puberty and never have a period.

    A quick note: excess estrogen can turn into testosterone, too. And yes, there is also an Estrogen Insensitivity Syndrome, but it’s extremely rare (fewer than 10 reported cases.)


  • Some people in the complaints believed they were talking directly with Musk, a sadly common story that has popped up in news reports before.

    I remember when I thought I was talking directly to a celebrity online… when I was 13. It didn’t take long to realize how stupid that idea was. To be a grown adult and still think there’s a chance a celebrity is sending messages to random people is mind-boggling.

    I cringe at the memories now, but at least I can take comfort in having learned about catfishing long before I had money to lose from it.






  • I got the same vibe. From the kid’s expectations and reactions, to the parents’ own words on the incident:

    “I don’t think Rotschy [the company] failed my son in any way,” Derrik’s dad said. “All these events culminated into this accident.”

    The kid is on defense from the moment he tells his mom that something bad happened to him, then his dad absolves the company of any wrong-doing. Healthy, loving, supportive families don’t react like that. If his parents aren’t chugging the kool-aid, I’d be astounded.




  • Yes, but it’s included in the proportion to which you buy those things. So if you’re spending a lot less on other things, but more on housing, it’s a wash for your overall expenses.

    I may be misunderstanding, but doesn’t spending a greater percentage on housing necessitate spending less on other things? Someone who spends 50% of their earnings on shelter has to make more careful budgeting decisions than someone who only spends 30% on shelter. With a smaller portion of income to spend on anything else, people will put off purchases that they can’t afford. Using that proportional difference to claim “it’s a wash” sounds like circular reasoning. At least, it doesn’t seem to account for all the purchases people would have made if they weren’t putting such a high percentage toward this one basic need?