People are surprisingly adaptable.

You can be sure there will be fallout from social media, generative AI, and cutting corners in our education system. Is this going to set us back in terms of “progress”? That depends on how you measure progress.

Once things break down, and they will break down because they can’t be maintained without the skills that built them, people will have to relearn how to do things they’ve relied on tech for, including how to think critically.

Undereducated and ignorant doesn’t mean stagnat and lacking in ability. The world they find themselves in when they hit 40 may be harsh, but that might help to cement the lessons it teaches more quickly. It will likely be painful, but it would be painful for someone from Gen X or a Millennial as well. They’ll have to learn to adapt to a new climate, a new economy, and a new culture that we can only speculate about. Much of the knowledge and philosophy we’ve considered essential to daily life may be useless to them anyway.

So, as a generation, they’re “lost” to us… but probably not so lost they can’t find themselves after we’re gone.

Happy and fulfilling lives… I prefer Matthew Inman’s take on the subject of happiness. By that standard, some of them will probably find satisfaction and fulfillment in things we don’t yet know or understand.

Some things should be private. Some things should be secret. Not because there’s anything wrong with them, but simply because they’re yours and you want to keep them that way.

Seconded.

i would gladly make the switch if for no other reason than just playing a tiny part in screwing over Visa and MasterCard.

Why? Cause fuck em! That’s why!

Thanks. I don’t know if I’m wise, but I’m definitely old enough to have a little experience and cranky enough to resent someone being in my business all the time. Social media pushes us to share everything with everyone, so it can be fed into surveillance advertising, but there’s some peace of mind in having time and things that are only, or at least mostly, yours.

As far as gaming goes, I was a PC gamer for a long time as well. I used to play mostly RTS titles, but got into online games and MMOs in the vanilla WoW era. I’m not beholden to a particular type of game, and these days I play most exploration and story driven games with less of a combat focus where I can relax and complete them at my own pace like Stray, Firewatch, Jusant, and Death Stranding. I replay old favorites a lot. Portal and Portal 2 still hold up really well.

Outside of issues with AI, a decline in quality, and privacy, the Windows vs. Linux choice really comes down to looking at the software you use and the games you play. In a lot of cases, there will be something that’s equivalent to common windows software, but works a little differently, Libre Office instead of MS Office, etc. So you have to consider your desire to relearn some common tasks as well. If you do try it, I’d get a second hard drive if you can, install Linux on it and dual boot or just keep the Windows drive around in case you decide you want to switch back.

I like Linux, I started using it after taking a class on it back in the early Win 10 days. I don’t do anything extreme or crazy with my set up, I mostly run Debian or Ubuntu based distributions like Mint, PopOS, MX, and so forth. I haven’t tried Bazzite yet, but I’ve heard good things. But if you want to tinker, go nuts, you can customize about anything if you have the skills. It’s never been 100% trouble free for me, but neither was Windows, and for the most part it’s run really well on my older hardware.

Linux gaming is a lot easier these days, and for the most part if you’re avoiding big AAA online only titles, you can run just about anything you want with minimal hassle. I bought the Steam Deck for simplicity’s sake, I was running most of my games through Steam with Proton on my desktop anyway, and it was cheaper than upgrading or replacing my old PC. Valve isn’t a perfect company, but they seem to be much better than most of the competition these days, and I like that they’re working to provide a solid alternative to Windows in a market that’s been dominated by one company for far too long.

This is precisely why the “that man needs Jesus” meme exists.

No problem. I get really down about what the internet has become because I remember what it was supposed to be back in the early days. We were gonna communicate without social barriers, end prejudice, save the rainforests and the whales, you know…?

But the very nature of the medium is impermanent. Every protocol and technology that underpins the internet is flexible, changeable. It’s changed significantly from the early days, back when people were optimistic and hopeful about what it meant for us, it can change again. But it won’t until we disengage from it. As long as we’re hooked, we feed the beast.

I think it’s good to talk about our dissatisfaction with what online spaces have become, to encourage people to pull back, consider what they’re doing, and to look for alternatives. We can’t pretend that it isn’t a part of our reality, it’s out of the bottle, the box is open and so forth, but it doesn’t have to touch the whole of our existence, it doesn’t have to shape every part of our reality.

I tell people to take a single small step. Leave your phone at home so you’re not tempted to cheat, then go to a book store and buy a book, pay cash for it, and don’t use a rewards program. Don’t ask for suggestions or look up reviews, browse the aisles and pick one based off the blurb on the back cover. Unless the cashier is a friend of yours, no one knows you own that book except you. No one was paying that much attention, I promise.

Owning that book will be something private, something only you really know about, so it can be any book you want. It’s a small act, but it’s one that’s utterly free of judgement, analysis, and intrusion, which makes it something profound in this day and age.

EDIT: Bonus points if it’s a local bookshop, but do the best you can.

I’m not going to completely give up on it, but I’m finding ways to be more selective about how I use it. I’m moving away from it gradually, as going cold turkey has never worked for me in the past. I’ve started buying physical books when I can, working on hobby stuff more, going outside to exercise, etc.

Corporate social media is outright abusing people’s minds for profit and is wholly unethical. It should be burnt to the ground and only mentioned as a cautionary tale. Anything with an algorithm should be treated with the same kind of caution we use for hard drugs. Honestly, I’m not sure any form of social media is good for your mental health anymore, but at least federated socials are organic and free range, so to speak.

Streaming and gaming I’m more conflicted about. I feel it’s obvious that the current business models most streaming and gaming companies use have contributed to a decline in quality and artistry in our media. Microtransactions in games should be held in the same low regard as corporate social media. However, I don’t think giving people access to a broader selection of content is harmful in general, it’s just the constant price hikes, seemingly arbitrary cancellations and removals, and shifting of content from one service to another that ruins it. With product placement becoming an accepted practice, we’re seeing more and more movies and TV becoming ad vehicles and propaganda platforms… But we could have a nice thing if creators were respected and consumers treated fairly by the major streaming services. Sadly, that’s not likely to happen unless the money dries up.

News… News is awful. Regan dealt broadcast news a fatal wound by repealing the fairness doctrine, but it was Facebook that finally buried it. When more people started to access news content through Facebook and Twitter than from actually watching the channel, news networks adapted by creating content that plays well in the attention economy, which basically means they generate as much rage-bait as possible. If it’s not outright propaganda or apology peices then it’s just political gossip aimed and pissing one demographic or another off. There’s not much point in consuming any news except long format articles from a few select sources any more.

Interacting with people… Back in the heyday of forums you could find a wealth of info and helpful people to answer questions on almost any topic. But most of those forums had a miscellaneous or off topic board where the chronically online could talk about what ever they wanted. Those places were always a minefield of trolling, misinfo, and general assholery. That’s basically what smartphones turned the Internet into, one giant off-topic section full of angry, chronically online people. I don’t try to find online friends anymore…

For me, I limit devices to specific purposes. My phone does calls, messaging, and the few socials I interact with plus occasional music for workouts. My tablet only plays music, has a limited selection of games, and my e-reader apps (no socials, no streaming, etc.). TV is only for streaming video. My laptop I’ll occasionally access Lemmy on, look up hobby stuff, and do online shopping with. Any gaming is on a steam deck these days, and usually single-player offline titles. Setting things up this way helps me avoid doom scrolling, buying shit I don’t need, consuming mindless Netflix content, and buying in to AAA game hype. It’s not perfect, but somehow it helps a little.

Your mileage may vary.

Remember the Panama Papers?

Yeah…

As for the 9-5ers, how else are they gonna live? Just existing costs money in the US, and refusing to run the rat race still carries a social stigma in many places. The ideals of rugged individualism and the nuclear family as the base unit of society have eroded communities and people are somewhat isolated even in urban centers. Social media only fuels this effect by giving people a synthetic sense of community and belonging.

No one’s likely to make waves until they see a direct threat to themselves or a community they identify with is at their doorstep.

My boss didn’t know how to use my ergonomic mouse

I use a logitech M575 trackball, people have tried to scoot it like a mouse and yanked their hand away from it as if it burned them.

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded, Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed, Everybody knows the war is over, Everybody knows the good guys lost, Everybody knows the fight was fixed, The poor stay poor, the rich get rich, That’s how it goes, Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking, Everybody knows the captain lied, Everybody got this broken feeling, Like their father or their dog just died, Everybody talking to their pockets, Everybody wants a box of chocolates, And a long-stem rose, Everybody knows…

Building incendiary devices sounds like it could become a fun and profitable handycraft…

deleted by creator

Two things would happen.

1. They’d justify the ICE goon’s behavior by claiming the embassy was enabling terrorism or drug trafficking.

2. They would pitch a huge fit, take some sort of extreme action, and claim they’re in the right because US diplomats are good guys.

They don’t care about rules, ethics, or even having a consistent system of values. They only care about punishing people, power, and getting what they want when they want it. If they pull back at all, it’s only because they fear their support (and with it their immunity from consequences) is slipping. They’re just bullies and cowards.