Cats don’t need to ask questions about the world because they are scientists and will figure it out for themselves if they don’t get shown the answers. They know where the snacks come from, at least in regards to their own world, that’s why they come running when they hear the package.

They knock stuff over to see what happens. They meow for treats to see what happens. They sit on your face to wake you up to see what happens. They get into things just to see what’s in them.

And when the result is something they want, they try it again to see if the result is consistent. Reproducible.

That’s why the best way to get a cat to stop doing something they do to you is to ignore them. They meow to wake you up for food? They do that because it’s been working. Stop responding, and the behavior will also stop.

Wow, I haven’t heard “smooth move, ex-lax” in many years. Haven’t even said it myself in at least an age.

I agree, frankly. I am expert qualified (former military), and inherited firearms when my mom died. I don’t have any firearms currently, as I sold those off (very very old farm weapons; we were on a farmette) nor do I ever intend to get more. All that training, and I’m still not comfortable owning something that is designed specifically to kill something.

That is to say you can hypothetically do nothing, and still end up with firearms, which is a really big problem. Zero background check on inheritance…

There’s a bullet hole in the flashing under my second floor gutters, facing the street. Doesn’t look like it came from nearby, like it’s not slanted down toward the street or anything. No idea how long it’s been there, but I found it a few years ago when cleaning the gutters. Bullet might still be lodged in there.

It’s genuinely wild to me that people just fire this shit off willy-nilly.

Two people texted me merry Christmas. That’s it. Didn’t do anything else.

Did you know you can get pint glass koozies, just like for cans?

Eg

We also have those nice paper sleeves for coffee cups that would do the job as well. At least where you touch.

So it’s an already-solved problem for this application.

Right, and you get why this is impossible for most people? That was my original point. Most people, even if they want to do this, can’t. It’s unaffordable.

The point is that your suggestion that someone is free to do this is just very much not the case.

Ok, but if your plan is to live solo forever and not interact with society, you’d basically need to pay for it upfront. That means you need a lot of money all at once, otherwise you’ll still need income, which limits the ability you have to be separate from society.

Yes I know, I’ve looked at them. That’s how I know they are quite expensive.

They’re free to go live in the wilderness, with no roads, no fire department, no water or electricity, no services whatever, and find out how much they’re actually benefiting from our collective.

Where?

This is what I want to do, but I can’t afford to buy land on which to do it (and not just any land is useful for this either, it needs to be capable of supporting people before you can count it). Land enough to support a small homestead isn’t cheap, and zoning/local laws often restricts what you can do on it. So for example you may buy land, but not be allowed to drill a well, even if you have the means and knowledge to do so. Or if you buy land you can afford, you may not be allowed to build a permanent structure on it at all.

You’ll get kicked out (and possibly fined) of both state and national parks in the US if they find you “permanently camping”, which they are likely to do since there are frequently people out there. The only other option is squatting on private property. If you get caught before whatever time passes for squatters laws to take effect, you lose everything you’ve built up.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying for things I’ll never use because it makes society as a whole better. All I’m saying is opting out of living in a society is nearly impossible for most people even if they are ok with not having all the stuff society funds like roads and fire control.

I’m super into this. All of it. I don’t think it’s one thing but several and that makes it more compelling, because I’m honestly not super sure. Because I’m not familiar with any of it. It’s like reading about OS behavior on systems I’ve never touched.

You seem to be referencing a few people or channels or something, could you provide some links to their content so I can watch it? I’m genuinely interested, and I have enough time on my hands to go searching if all you can give me is a link to the creator. This sounds like exactly the sort of phantom goodness I want more of.

Demakes are so interesting. They are more constrained than coming up with something new for an old system, but, seemingly because they use IP people are already familiar with, they can leave more unsaid/unshown and just implied, and still have it be cohesive.

That was a really good one, I can see why it’s your fave!

Oh man yes actual time dilation as a core mechanic of the game sounds awesome. Disorienting as hell, but awesome.

I bet a game like that could be used for therapy, too, like in a big way… let people live out where their life is headed, or the life of someone they’d target for hate crimes or whatever. Let them struggle. Maybe they’d come out wanting to make some changes. That’d be cool af. I’d totally playtest that. Repeatedly. And end up like time-frozen Jessica after she wakes up 😜

That sounds like x-files, and I’m not super surprised lol

Ooh, I’ll have to look into that book, thanks!

Yep those all count :) I’ll have to watch those episodes again! Same with the black mirror one, those are all good but man I gotta be in the right mood for ‘em… lol

It’s honestly a wildly broad category, so kinda no wrong answers.

There’s all sorts of things that count. A picture with game hud elements to imply gameplay, videos of whole fake games, books that mimic play through guides that describe how to play games that don’t exist.

There’s even fake video games that are just one cover art picture, and a sound track that implies how levels would be played.

Ooh yeah that’s a good one, I have a big long think about that every time I read that book.

I love BMO 🥹

Oh man, I get into everything, especially if someone presents it to me with enthusiasm. I love learning about new stuff, and super bonus if it alters my perceptions or broadens my horizons :)