A 50-something French dude that’s old enough to think blogs are still cool, if not cooler than ever. Also, I like to write and to sketch.
https://thefoolwithapen.com/
I don’t date/wed a religion, or a god. Only a person.
That being said, there would still be the obvious limit that I would have to like (and be liked by) the person which, as far as I’m concerned, would most probably exclude some of the more… extreme religious beliefs.
I’ve known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I’m back in the early spirit of the internet.
Welcome :)
It’s a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I’ve noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.
This a very interesting metaphor, real spot on.
But I would say a lot of that rural Internet has not disappeared, not yet. It’s still there, very much alive. People are simply not visiting it anymore. They don’t dare go outside the pretty walled-gardens they’re used to.
But those people wanting to stay parked in their corporate-owned gardens, or silos, doesn’t make that small and more humane web go away. And would they chose to, they could still come visit it freely, they could still easily interact with their creators. They could even create and tend to their very own part of it, making that small Web a richer place.
They just don’t do it. Most of the time because they can’t be bothered with doing the actual work, or because they’re afraid to try and to fail. They want to be fed easy to eat content, not learn to cook it themselves.
They want the a Web that is like those shitty fast-food serving standardized and over-processed industrial food. Something ready to eat that is barely food at all but that will stuff their belly and, more importantly, that will never surprise them. Alas, this food is as much a poison for their head as it is for their body. They will realize that too late. It probably already is.
Too bad, because the alternative is still a thing, not that far away.
The small web is still a thing. Many blogs still exist that only share content their author sincerely care about or is interested in, that are ads and tracking free, that respect their readers… But the majority of people have quit visiting them, they simply don’t go outside of, say, YT, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok or whatever where they can all stay together parked like the cattle they have not yet realized they have become.
Back to your original metaphor. Digital rurality is still there and many could easily own a small part of it and make it exwactly like they want it to be, and be happy with it. But they prefer staying in the large over-crowed cities, in small overpriced apartments like most their friends are doing.
Lemmy is a great alternative to reddit but it could relatively easily become another silos—just plural and not corporate-owned but silos nonetheless. It’s up to us to keep it open to the alternatives. I mean, sometimes I feel sad to see little posts & comments inviting people to go read/watch something they liked that is not already hosted on some corporate-owned platform. Heck, sharing personal content feels so much like a lost cause to me that I seldom share a link to my own blog posts: why bother? I also publish a lot less often than I used to, here again: why bother?
Using your example, you could be lying.
True that. It’s even more interesting considering ‘Libb’ is not my real name, just the one I fancy using online. But I would say that it’s beside the point of your question (which was not about the possibility one would be intentionally telling lies, just how much data makes a ‘fact’ reliable), still, it’s obviously related.
But then… considering that for some undisclosed reason you could not get access to more (source of) info, how would you decide if I say the truth about my name or not, when at the same time next to me some people (more than one) are claiming I’m a liar and that my name is Gertrude? Maybe that can’t be decided? Or that should not be? Or mayb the dude claiming his name should be given some extra credit? Or maybe not (I may say I’m but I doubt Elon Musk will admit I’m his natural son and that I should therefore be entitled to a part of his huge piles of money, plus change for the trauma I endured ;)
If I was to consider myself dependent to anything, I would say I’m more of an analog dependency kind of guy than a digital one.
I mean, I have a computer and a phone (and a tablet) and I know how to use them, but I also don’t feel much excitement building up thinking about using them, at all. On the other hand, I enjoy doing analog and IRL activities.
I keep hearing “it isn’t the quantity…” and I do not understand why it isn’t seen as just as important as trustworthiness of source because even the best source needs a high amount of data to back up a claim.
consider my flat-earthers example: the trustworthiness of the source(s) is at least as important. If I told you my pseudo is ‘Libb’ you can bet that it is indeed so, even if that just me saying it. And that would remain true if, out of nowhere, 100s of people started telling you my pseudo was in reality ‘Mickey’ or ‘Gertrude’. I would still be Libb. Conclusion? All by myself, against that hypotheticla large crowd, I’m still a more reliable source of info concerning my identity.
On the topic of flat earthers, did you ever see the video of the guy who tried to demonstrate the earth was flat and proved it was round? The look on his face was priceless. haha
No, and I’m almost wishing to see it. Almost.
I must admit the rise of flat earth theory came as a shock to me. I always have had a sweet spot for absurd theories but I could not imagine people taking those seriously. But maybe that’s just me being manipulated/lobotomized by the government? As a matter of fact, I’m also a pro-vax and that may explain a lot :p
I would say, a good starting point would be a few examples of those so-called facts and their corresponding data.
Half-jokingly, I have little doubt I could find a lot of data demonstrating the earth is flat on flat-earth.org or whatever flat-earthers main website is called. But no matter the amount of data I would find there that still would not cut it as far as I’m concerned to accept their certainty as a fact—Incidentally, I also just answered your first question: it’s not just the quantity of data, it’s also its trustworthiness that should matter ;)
Like with questions posted in a forum: at least, having little more to read than just its title ;)
It is not anymore as far as I know, right?
Edit: on my computer only as I don’t surf the web with my phone (I don’t know if there is a mobile version of Waterfox)
Early 90s. I used to have an email and I also used to connect to some BBS through a 14.4 kbit dialup, I had to pay by the minute of connection and that certainly was not cheap to young me. Then, came the WWW and demise of BBS, and then the marketing money that ruined the everything.
For me, the amount of crap is the real main change, as I’m mostly looking for the same kind of content which is text-based. Sure, since the 06s and YT I’ve also consumed a lot of videos but as far as I’m concerned this is something I’m getting rid of: back to text and a more humane and less corporate-owned Web.
The second change would the proportion of absolute morons populating the Web. There were always some amazing troll and some clinical case out there but they were amusing events. Now? they’re on the verge of becoming the norm and that’s as sad as it’s terrifying: think Idiocracy but not in a funny movie and with real life consequences.
Speed of connection? Not so much. I remember my 14.4 dial-up modem but my unlimited high speed fiber connection (that cost me nothing) doesn’t feel that much speedier. Why? Because all its amazing power is used to load a shit ton of tracking scripts and another shit ton of marketing scripts with almost every single webpage, and then the pages themselves are poorly (if at all) optimized.
Thinking about it, it’s almost funny to realize the hardware is so much more powerful nowadays but the content has become so bloated with tracking (spying) and ads that it loads much slower than web pages used to, back then. That’s what they call technological progress, and that’s something we pay good money for.
Like mentioned in another comment there is a difference between patriotism and nationalism.
I would add to that there is a difference between loving one’s country and being a fetishist of its flag or its national anthem.
You will find flags in all countries. The question is more what proportion of the population is obsessed with them?
I’m French and I can tell you that beside the far-right, who loves waving flags and singing the first few lines of the Marseillaise (most of them, like the rest of the population probably have never taken the pain to read the entire song, even less so to memorize it, too much of a hassle). For the most part, you will find flags on public buildings and offices. Seldom on private home/office.
Also, it’s visible during special celebrations, say, each year for the 14th of July (France’s birthday) some streets and stores will be decorated and, at least where I live (Paris), public transit will also have a little flag waving in the wind.
Last but not least, you will mostly see the French flags waved, this time en masse, during sport events. People will also proudly wear french colors on their clothing and on their face, or on their head (I fucking love this stupid hat, but Io don’t own one). But then you will also see the other countries flags being waved by their own supporters, and most of the time they don’t end-up killing one another ;)
Like I said, people barely know more than the first few lines of our national anthem, kids are not required to swear allegiance to the flag either at school. Some people are discussing about bringing that back but I’d rather see them bring back some traditional reading and math lessons, like in the ‘good old days’… when kids actually were taught something useful. Because we’ve been suffering from the same issue you have with your US school system: it’s falling apart, badly. Our kids aren’t taught much if anything. More and more of them can barely read or write, and they can’t do simple math. Let’s not mention getting any notion of civic education, history, philosophy (which would all help make a more informed & better-equipped citizen, which is not that silly in any country that is supposed to be a democracy).
That being said, even without a flag, we’re many to love our country, despite all its flaws, even those of us who criticize it vehemently. We just don’t need to show that by waving some cheap piece of fabric, or glue a sticker on a some car.
I have bookshelves filled with books on French (and European) politics, history and philosophy. Sure those are not flags I can wave on the street or glue on my car to show what a true patriot I am but, imho, their non flashy content represent France (and the many other EU countries) a little better than any cheap piece of fabric put on a mast.
That being said, I have a pair of socks with a french flag on them. Could that count a patriotism? ;)
I’ve never dated a woman wearing false nails. The same with botox.
Also, I’m not seduced by make-up. Contrary to false nails, I don’t mind it, I find it useless. I like to look at actual people, and I may even feel attracted to some of them. I’m not interested as much in looking at the fantasized image people may have of themselves.
I’m also not obsessed with a person looking young, meaning I don’t mind grey hair and wrinkles. Why would I? I do wear my own wrinkles with no worries, alongside those (short) grey hair I would have on top of my own big head if I was not completely bald.
Not considering the body itself, there is a ‘sexy’ thing that always left me wondering what was so hot about them: high heels.
I mean, I get it they help shape the legs. But they’re also quite obviously less stable to walk with and they seem rather uncomfortable to wear for hours. I would tend to favor the company of a woman able to go out for a long walk with me, be it in nature somewhere or to visit some art gallery or museum in town.
Young people aren’t angry? They look quite upset to (old) me, and rightfully so. I probably would be a lot more than they are, to be honest.
One remark, maybe:
The few old people around you does not represent a valid statistical sample for ‘old people’ in general. You need a lot more data.
No offense intended, maybe it’s like that because you’re living in a family that is keen on hating and insulting one another? The only thing I would feel ok to conclude from that is they may very well be dickheads, every single one of them, but that doesn’t mean all people their age are the same. Don’t generalize ;)
To help you realize how… too fast such conclusions can be made, and no doubt how wrong they can be, consider this simple observation one may want to make reading your question:
The only constant in your interactions with older people is yourself. How come you may ask? Well, they’re all different (old) people that don’t share the exact same age, sex and personality (taste and preferences), maybe they don’t even live all at the same place. Meanwhile, you’re the exact same person. You do not change and you’re not different, they are. So, if every single one of those different and older persons you meet is hating on you shouldn’t I conclude that you’re the most likely cause of their hate?
See how easy it is to come to some nutty conclusion out of mere ‘observations’?
To be perfectly clear, I 'm not saying it’s you that’s causing anything. Far from it. First, for the simple reason that I never met you and then because you probably are not the cause of anything here. Like I said, there is not enough data to conclude anything. Still it’s so easy to conclude that it’s your fault and from there that if it’s your fault it’s all younger people’s fault—it’s not ;)
To share my own personal experience, as a child (I was young, once) I knew very early on my mother hated my guts. I started by wondering why adults where such assholes towards kids up until I realized that was not ‘all adults’ nor ‘all mothers’, it was her. That unique person she was for reasons that were her own that certainly would not allow me or anyone else to generalize her behavior to all mothers.
All of that to say there could be a lot of reasons and factors unrelated to their age.
every grandparent or elderly relative always have insulting remarks about me
I have been young myself (promise I really was, and one day you will be old too) and my grand-parents never insulted me. Not once. And as an older person myself nowadays I tend to not insult… not too often ;)
But I have a rule of never ordering before a week has passed
This a great way, I used to do that at the beginning but I don’t need to anymore… I simply don’t want to buy anything anymore unless I really need it.
Regarding phone holders: I made mine out of… cardboard, recycled from the phone packaging. Contrary to what many people think cardboard can be real sturdy (and is very easy to work with) ;)
Don’t apologize for correcting my mistakes. I was not sure about that, and was indeed wrong. Thx for pointing it out :)
It’s anything but obvious to see how a simple question such as: What’s your job and how much do you earn?, could be interpreted as scamming. But you know that’s not it, this is just a pretext. At least find a more believable one. “Prudent advice” = literally being profiled. You won’t ever admit you witness Sinophobia, because you (Westerners) hate Chinese people. It’s that simple. It’s like all of those transphobic people asking “show me one thing where JK Rowling said something transphobic!” -> they don’t actually believe transphobia is a real thing, so nothing would be transphobic to them. Same thing with you. And yes, you’re also racist. And you mentioned money 2 times now, which is odd. At the end of the day even the most progressive Westerners will be racist towards the Chinese.
That’s somewhat an impressive demonstration, alas not the one you may have hoped for. But we won’t have much opportunity to discuss together, I’m afraid. So, like I think I said already, I wish you a nice day and say hi to your money (that makes it 3 times).
7 months ago is current politics? That’s a stretch. You must not pay attention to what’s going on in the world. A LOT more current events. Nice try silly goose.
Like I expected, TikTok brain at its best.
Have the best day you can, despite being what you are ;)
I’m not hardcore anything but I quit using Reddit and have not looked back. I also don’t use any other social, even tough I own other accounts I have not logged into for many years.
Why I don’t see myself hardcore? Because there is no hate, or anger and no desire to preach anyone to switch either. I respect people’s choice. I disagreed with a few of reddit decisions & their policy change back then and took my decision accordingly. I posted a goodbye note explaining why I left reddit and switched to Lemmy. The same with X, Facebook, or whatever: when I realized I could not trust those services, I told people around me and moved away.