Dehumanizing people is the first step in treating them like animals, and then extermination them - genocide. Don’t go down that path. It always ends the same way.

This quote from Chris Rock hasn’t aged too well, but the overall sentiment is correct.

I’m sorry, I misread your statement. I think we’re on the same page.

Yeah, the good news is no one has ever suffered permanent damage from verbal abuse, so no problems, right?

And why is physical violence no-tolerance (except when it isn’t) but verbal violence is a-okay?

I’m not saying physical violence is okay, and I never have. In fact, I generally go the other direction, saying that physical violence should be a last resort for solving problems, and that those who use it clearly don’t have better tools to solve their problems. And know which groups is known for not having a lot of experience solving problems? Kids. That’s why we have adults supervising them. And training those kids that verbal violence is okay, and a great way to harass your peers, is, to put it bluntly, pretty fucking stupid. And some of those kids learn that a suspension isn’t that big a deal to some of the kids they bully, which is a hell of a lot better lesson than the adults around them were teaching them.

Most of my immediate family are on Android and use Signal. I’m happier this way.

What exactly is the threshold you’re waiting for on this escape plan?

Both distillation and reverse osmosis should get rid of microplastics. Reverse osmosis should get rid of mercury in any form, while it would depend on other chemical properties (evaporation rate, temperature source water is heated to, etc.) on whether distillation would remove chemicals like mercury.

Some further reading.

You aren’t wrong, either, but if you start doing the numbers for how much forest per person we need, there isn’t enough land. It is carbon neutral, though.

And do the same for solar and batteries, so we can stop using fossil fuels for electricity ASAP.

That really is the greatest risk for some of thses features. It’s easy to get complacent when something works well, and then you’re in trouble when it doesn’t.

It didn’t so much as pull as get stiffer to turn out of the lane. Again, that doesn’t happen if your signals are on, so it’s a good reminder to use your signals, too.

Like I said, relying on these assists as replacements for proper driving isn’t something I would recommend. You should still be shoulder checking and using your mirrors. My wife’s vehicle has blind spot detection, which turns on an amber light by the mirror. If you’re changing lanes, it’s an obvious indicator that it may not be safe. A more thorough shoulder check can identify if the vehicle is actually at risk for collision. For example, if you just passed a vehicle and are pulling away, the detection light may still be on, but you aren’t at risk of collision. Alternatively, if I thought the lane was clear and decide to change lanes, the light may be on due to a speeding driver who is approaching to pass me in the adjacent lane. The light will be on even though he isn’t in the way yet, and changing lanes could result in an accident. Or maybe someone has been sitting in your blind spot for a few minutes and you decide to change lanes. A quick mirror check indicates you’re safe, but that amber light says maybe not. If your shoulder check doesn’t catch the problem, you probably haven’t done it well enough.

Again, can be good assistance tools, I don’t think they’re good enough to be replacements yet.

I rented a Hyundai Elantra. Yes, the wheel will move under your hand. Yes, it has hand detection, which is probably trivial to spoof. When I used it, winter had just ended and lines on the road weren’t always clear, so it would occasionally disable itself. Trying to change lanes without signals isn’t terrible, but certainly won’t happen by accident.

I would by no means rely on this, or recommend relying on it, just like I wouldn’t recommend relying on blind spot detection, but they can be handy aids to improve your overall driving, and can help catch your mistakes.

If you compare the total mining efforts of the entirety of human civilization, it will about to a small enough fraction of the moon that it would do less to destabilize the orbit of the moon than energy loss due to tidal forces.

Most of these costs are in terms of energy, one of the most plentiful things in space. Also, if we do things right (a huge if, I know), the bigger idea is to bootstrap it by sending enough tools to make the tools you need to extract and refine resources. This doesn’t require a von Neumann machine since we can control them, either directly or remotely. Also, if we are going to extract resources in space, a lot of infrastructure will need to be built first, which is cheaper if we use resources that are already in space. And as the saying goes, the surface of the moon is halfway to anywhere in the solar system.

The deal between the devils. “You get to make them poorer and I’ll make them die sooner. (And we’ll all get richer.)”

I absolutely think that privacy within your own mind should be inviolable (trusting corporations and even government to agree is laughable). Iain Banks’ Culture series explores some of these implications, as well as who should be in control of your mental state. It’s messy and hard, and is one of the reasons I currently wouldn’t get a brain implant. I might change my mind if I had ALS, for instance.

I likely had undiagnosed depression for decades before I got treatment, from a GP, no less, after being dismissed by a psychiatrist. If you have concerns about your health, keep trying to get help, as long as you’re able.

“What am I without my legs?” “What am I without my eyes?” “What am I without my arms?”

What counts as “the real me” has been evolving for decades, if not centuries. I’m not volunteering for brain implants, but I’m not writing off the idea sometime in the future. As for AI, this is going to be more of the ML variety, not the LLM variety. Think more of “neurochemical levels have been trending in a certain direction for too long, release opposing neurochemicals to halt the spiral” and less of a little voice inside your head giving quite possibly incorrect answers to whatever you’re thinking of.

This is absolutely risky stuff, but less risky than recurring electroshock therapy? Hard for me to say. Note that the article is from nearly 2 decades ago, but there are articles in the news from just the last couple weeks.

You’re in luck!

I have one of the models affected by this recall. My serial number indicates it isn’t affected. It’s been working fine for years. I have other products of theirs and my biggest complaint is that my earbuds didn’t work after being lost in the snow and found months later in the spring.

Does my anecdote beat yours?