This is the view of eyes-closed freedom. People believe in this kind of freedom when they close their eyes and assume everyone is free.

However, this kind of freedom is not empirical. It doesn’t survive scientific validation. Why? Because it is eyes-closed freedom. No need for verification.

Does this mean I am against freedom? No. Not at all. I believe in arms-open freedom. People have this kind of freedom when they can open their arms and make choices that they care about.

This other kind of freedom is empirical. It survives scientific validation. Why? Because it is open-arm freedom. You verify it when you see that people are capable to open their arms and live valued lives.

The key words here are both capability and valued lives.

First, let’s focus on capabilities. Someone who is dead is less capable than someone who is alive. Someone with polio injuries is less capable than someone without them. Someone with a good education is more capable than someone without it. Someone with money to pay for basic necessities and better technology is more capable than someone without it.

Now, let’s focus on valued lives. Someone given money to perform a job they hate is living a life that is less valued than someone given money to perform a job they love. Someone unable to spend time with their loved ones has a life that is less valued than someone able to spend time with their loved ones. Someone deep in depression and unable to savor life has a life that is less valued than someone without depression.

So, you can now see that this post is arguing for eyes-closed freedom and against arms-open freedom. Consent, when used to reduce our capabilities and valued lives, is actually a freedom-killing tool.

In other words, consent, when used to kill consent, is digging its own grave. At best it’s just a contradiction. At worst it’s the logic of a psychopath.

I always thought I had a crooked tooth. It felt that way whenever I touched it with my tongue. It has bothered me every day for years.

However, it was only yesterday that I asked my dentist about it. She looked at my tooth and said it was perfect. At first, I couldn’t believe it.

Apparently, teeth are usually not symmetrical; usually the side facing the center of your mouth is more square-y. The side facing away is usually more bulbous.

I’m shocked. And a bit frustrated, because it seems as if the way forward is accepting that I’ve got a tooth with a protruding corner that my tongue will forever feel.

That or I can pay a bazillion dollars for a completely unnecessary dental procedure.

I think I prefer accepting my corner.

Look for Cynefin by Dave Snowden. It’s a framework that not only helps with understanding programming, but many other types of systems.

Biggest bang for your buck: mindfulness practices. I tend to recommend Healthy Minds, but most evidence-based mindfulness practices are good.

Second biggest bang for your buck: experiential exercises like defusion, acceptance, and self exercises. Why experiential? Because they exploit your senses so that they help with memory reconsolidation. Thoughts lose their power but you retain your ability to notice them and choose.

Let me know if you have questions!

This source seems to indicate that they can indeed

A little slomi

Thanks for your response. I’m glad your dog was in your hands.

And yes, your answers help me have a clearer idea of what the experience can be like and what can be done. Thanks.

Thanks for your response. I’m glad the dog lived a life with you, someone who cared about them. I’m sorry the seizures got to her.

Just to clarify, my questions weren’t for a dog of mine. They are for a neighbor that seems to not care well for their dog, and their dog has seizures. A group of neighbors filed complaints already, and we’re waiting on the resolution. In the meantime, I wanted to understand what the dog could’ve been experiencing and what could be done while a dog is having a seizure. If the dog is in pain, the type of complaint is more serious than if not, so if the current complaints don’t change anything, maybe something can be done in the future to change the complaint.

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry for taking so long. Here are my questions regarding dogs with seizures: what do you do while a dog is having a seizure? Do you know what they may be experiencing?

I ask because I have a neighbor with a dog that is practically left alone most of the day and most of the night and sometimes has seizures that we can hear and that my neighbor confirmed via text messages. A long time ago we reported my neighbor to the local animal control body, but they claimed that they couldn’t do anything unless we could prove the animal was suffering. After collecting neighbor testimonies and recording ourselves in our homes listening to the dog (we had to prove that we were recording ourselves and not the neighbor), we filed a formal complaint. Now we’re waiting for animal control to take action

I guess my questions at this point are out of curiosity and compassion for the dog. In case the complaint doesn’t come to anything, maybe my questions can also be fodder for future, more effective complaints.

Thanks for the heads up!

This is as great as it is sad. Nintendo, could you really not be a good company on your own? Did you require democracy and consumer advocacy for you to care about user-replaceable batteries in all of those products?

lol

meta is speedrunning enshitification

impressive

they skipped past the “get people to use your product” part of enshitification.

@dessalines@lemmy.ml

“Deletes surveillance-capitalist social media to improve life. Immediately builds self-hosted social media and productivity systems to further improve life”

The one that says that conspiracy theories are used by elites to distract us from the real injustices and problems in this world.

You’re right it does seem like a Polymarket brainrot bet.

I want to clarify where I’m coming from. For starters, what I was trying to say was that I’m not as pessimistic. I don’t believe in blatant conflict-of-interest bets, but I do like betting with friends quite a bit, especially when it comes to social processes. I usually bet a fast-food hamburger because it’s cheap and we can catch up or talk about why we each thought we were going to win the bet.

I’ve lost one bet and won dozens. Usually, my friends are pessimistic and I’m not so much.

So, here’s my proposal. Instead of betting, how about I just say I hope the world’s alright?

How long do we have before shit starts to break down due to lack of food and water, even in the imperial core? I give it less than a year at best.

Let’s bet.

Take your pick:

• I bet no G7 country will declare food emergency within their borders in the next 12 months (ending 2027-5-30 at 23:59 UTC).
• I bet the FAO food index will not go above 219 in the next 12 months (ending 2027-5-30 at 23:59 UTC).

These are contextual. Some people could say “absolutely” or “for sure” or “obviously”, and yet they could appear arrogant instead of being persuasive.

If you’re going for persuasive frames, I think it’s best to frame an argument around empathy. If you can prove that you understand someone else’s problems, they’ll be more open to you and your proposed solution.

Of course, this is easier said than done.

Yeah, the green number shows the improvement, and Babbel users improved more. What the green number doesn’t tell you is how much time it took to get there. If you look at that, Babbel is more inefficient than LingQ and Rosetta Stone.

Thx for your ethical considerations 🙏 here’s another important cause

Here: https://comparelanguageapps.com/index.html and here: https://comparelanguageapps.com/Vocabulary-or-Grammar-Proficiency.html

:)