I mean, what is actually needed is a secure messaging app that scrapes wraps existing apps. So when two people send messages through FancyMessages, they are secure. But then if only one person has FancyMessages, and the other has Facebook messenger, then they could still comminicate - the FB user using Messenger as usual, and our hero’s FancyMessages app picking up the FB messages and passing them on through the FancyMessages UI.

This seems like a flaw in the design of the platform…

You aren’t wrong. But being a social media influencer is something almost no one would accidentally fall into. People who do it intentionally are doing it to chase a dream of fame and fortune and glamor - but because there is a limited amount of attention in the world and it is highly concentrated, you are really rolling the dice on a dream if you decide to commit to it. There is a very high probability that even if you put your whole heart and soul into it and did everything perfectly, you will still never achieve much more financial success than a child’s lemonade stand.

It’s basically the same thing as wanting to be a blockbuster film actor or a rock star or an NBA player. If you are struggling and unsuccessful… Well yeah, that’s exactly what everyone told you would happen. Go get a different job. And if you are successful and famous and making tons of money - “oh no, boohoo, it must be so hard to be successful beyond your wildest dreams.”

Speaking of rainbow parties - that was actually a great idea. How come we never do that?

Next they pay attention and learn algebra

The fact that you used the term we usually use to describe quitting alcohol and cigarettes is probably a good sign that they should be banned.

I’m sure there are some out there. But they won’t be any good.

Tinder, Hinge, Bumble. That’s what people are on. Maybe there is something else popular in your area - ask your friends. If you try to go somewhere else (unless you are trying to fit a specific niche like being gay or kinky or a farmer) then you will miss out on most of the online dating market. And spoiler: it will be the good part you are missing out on. The guys you want to match with aren’t making accounts on “random dating app lolz”, because there is no one there so it is a waste of time.

And also how they assessed “being a bully”

Or the other option: all kids are equally capable of being dicks to each other. It just depends who has social capital. Kids who have the traits necessary to gain social capital - intelligence, athleticism, attractiveness, confidence, etc - end up on top of the social hierarchy in school and also end up going farther in life.

I know plenty of moral smart people who are doing very well in life.

Eh, I bet the pay is shit

An additional 100% we didn’t plan for to make the damn thing actually work after delivery.

Well yeah. What you believe is literally all reality is. Of course it’s important. I believe I’m sitting in a chair typing on my phone right now - if I didn’t have those beliefs, my reality would be completely different. That’s important

I like both comments and long variable / function names. I also like it when people break functions down into excessively fine detail.

Why? Because deleting redundant lines is always easier than figuring out what is going on when you don’t have the information you need.

I will name functions by just vomiting out my current train of thought about what the function needs to do. Sometimes it ends up being so long it runs off the page. Good. Now I know exactly what the function does, and anyone in the future will too. But more importantly, an obnoxiously long name draws the ire of everyone who reads it until someone comes up with a better name - usually me, when I’m not actively trying to write the code in the function body. As long as this isn’t a public function in a library that is actively being referenced by hundreds of people, the change is easy with modern ide refactoring tools.

I also do this with comments. But usually, the comments become my function names, and then the comments are redundant.

Really depends on where you are. These people won’t get as far in stable communities where people know and talk to each other. If you are doing these things habitually as a way to get ahead, eventually everyone will figure out what is going on and will, at the very least, exclude you from the group.

This pattern is the case with most people who are especially dickish or unpleasant in one way or another. Sure, a very small number of them gain power and influence in the world at large. But most of them live shitty lives. They have few friends, and the friends they do have are shitty like them. They have no money, because they have trouble getting and keeping jobs - even low paying ones. When they manage to find romantic partners, the relationships tend to be tumultuous, since the only people they can attract are just as shitty as they are.

I have no evidence for this. I am just guessing - given my priors that power dynamics are hot, most people are nice but will compromise social ethics for their own desires when given the opportunity, and that there are strong social biases against reporting positive experiences.

Interesting, this also leads to what is perhaps my most controversial opinion. In an ideal world, teen-adult sex wouldn’t be taboo, but would instead be commonplace and accepted.

Our current system for introducing people to the world of sex is to give them some vaguaries and say “okay, now get to it with other people who have no idea what they are doing. You may or may not be making Jesus cry.” This is the exact opposite of what we would do if we were to talk about an important part of an individual’s maturation into adulthood in the abstract. We would agree that they would benefit from guidence and instruction from someone who is experienced and knowledgeable, and who can council them through difficulties they encounter. Instead, if we actually had a sexually open culture, people with ample sexual experience (adults) would be the ones to introduce adolescents to sex - either directly or through explicit instruction. Of course now this is, once again, sounding like a porno… so I’ll just leave it at that

I’d venture a vast majority of times don’t end up like yours.

Really? I would bet the opposite. Sure, it is ethically questionable… but the fact is that power dynamics are sexy. Like, a sexually mature but inexperienced and ultra horny teen gets the opportunity to have sex with their teacher? Yes sir/ma’am! The porno almost writes itself!

And selection bias - you will almost always only hear about the teacher/student sex that goes wrong somehow. Every once in a while, someone like the above poster will talk about their positive experience, shrouded by anonymity. But you can see the downvotes they are getting. The whole subject is taboo, which means they will almost certainly never share their experience. And even if they did, publicly, no news source would ever report “teen has sex with teacher, says ‘This is awesome!!!’” There are strong cultural incentives against being public about healthy, enjoyable teacher/student sexual relationships that end amicably.

We are all very aware how easy it is for you to manage that.

It’s because most people use their phones as their main computing device these days. The idea that the average person would give up the convenience, stability, and familiarity of something like windows because of “pure greed” and “loss of OS control” is a fantasy. The average person would buy a screwdriver with banner ads if it saved them $10.