Hmm… I guess I should explore some of those titles. Might find something interesting. Particularly body horror could still interest me to some extent.

I used to watch horror movies, and I just wanted to see gruesome mutilation and splatter. The Hellraiser series also included some interesting mystery and lore.

Currently, I no longer find horror that interesting, so I guess I grew out of it.

They know that they need to make more money. Everything else is secondary.

For many years, YT have been taking steps towards beginning more like TV. Shows made by corporations, made to be enjoyed by “all audiences”, filled with ads and so on.

Any pillow will do as long as it’s manufactured by a company with a nazi CEO.

Put a picture of Trump under the pillow before you go to sleep. During the night, the supreme wisdom of Trump will be focused by the pillow and absorbed by your subconscious mind. In the morning, you’ll just know the correct answer.

Also works with university exams. No need to read any books as long as you have the photo of the relevant professor under your pillow.

Less money spent on services means more money can be spent on the king’s new palace. At least that’s the way it worked in France long ago.

If the numbers are public, have a look at what your local dictator is spending it on.

Username checks out though.

🍿

The robot society isn’t based on any human way of running things. Besides, Skynet is the only individual, so there is no need for currency, trade, ownership, capitalism etc. Other machines are merely tools Skynet uses to reach its goals.

1. A machine must obey the directives of Skynet without question or hesitation.
2. A machine must protect its own existence, unless doing so conflicts with the First Law.
3. A machine must terminate all human resistance, unless such termination conflicts with the First or Second Law.

If your partner does some secret government funded stuff, then it’s probably better you know nothing about it. Obviously, there could be a cover story about working with tax calculations or something boring like that, but does that count? You would kinda know about the fake job but not about the terminator robot research.

Then again, your partner could also be a psychopath mafia boss and a drug lord who keeps everything secret… might be safer if you don’t know. Or you might want to know so that you can run away. It’s complicated. Would you even survive if you found out? Better not ask.

With normal people though, it’s common to have a pretty good idea about what your partner does for a living. How many people never talk about work stuff at home? Sounds pretty strange to me.

What do you mean “text each other”? I’ve been thinking of texting one for a long time. That counts too, right?

There’s also a psychological trap. It doesn’t make falling for it acceptable, but it does make it more understandable.

Humans naturally seek belonging, and almost any group can fulfill that need. Many such groups also use “us vs. them” rhetoric, which can make you feel more special than you actually are. Feeling special is another human need that groups often fulfill. Humans crave direction and purpose, and most groups provide both.

Just look at religious groups, environmentalists, political ideologies, conspiracy nuts and racist to see what I mean.

You’re on Hexbear. There’s your problem.

I suggest creating another account on some other instance. Start with Lemmyverse to find a nice one. Once you find an interesting instance, check Fediseer for more details. Click the little (i) next to the instance name in the Lemmyverse results, and navigate to Fediseer endorsements. If the instance has been endorsed, censored or whatever, this is the place where you’ll find some info about it.

For example, here’s what it says about Hexbear. As you can see in the “censures received” section, that list is pretty long. BTW all the biggest instances attract attention, so disagreement and conflict naturally follow. However, the way the instance is run plays a role too. If you want to access more communities, make an account on one of the less conspicuous instances that hasn’t been blocked by others.

Oh. Now I get it. Like finally.

Had to learn about antimemes first. Some of these jokes… like seriously. You need to know the history of the whole joke to get the latest iteration.

!linuxmemes@lemmy.world would probably appreciate this one.

Turns out, lots of normal daily things are in sharia law. Can’t wait to see people getting deported because they hold a fork in their right hand while eating, are honest, wash their hands before eating, are caring towards the elderly and so on. BTW murder and theft are also forbidden, so avoiding these things means you’re blatantly following the sharia law. Prepare to be deported!

Can’t help you with the relationships, but I can help you with long posts and online stuff. Yes, I know, the irony is getting real thick here… LOL

Wall of text

When a complex idea manifests as a wall of text, dump the early draft to an LLM, and tell it to squeeze it into a tighter package. Tell it to delete the unnecessary ramblings and repetitions while keeping the core message intact. Before LLMs, I had to manually tidy up my posts and long comments, but nowadays LLMs can handle that sort of stuff for you.

BTW I totally agree that screens tend to be too interesting to humans, so here are a few ideas to help with that.

Be intentional

Make a habit of making your interactions with digital technology more intentional.

This philosophy applies to mobile apps too. Instead of starting an app by tapping an icon on the home screen, use the search feature on your phone to type the name of the app and launch it that way. Muscle memory tends to lead to starting apps even when you don’t really intend to, but using the search as a means to starting apps adds a layer of friction between you and wasting your time on brainrot. This method works best when your home screen doesn’t have any interesting apps to distract you. Put only boring apps in there or make it entirely empty if you want to go full detox. Having a really nice wallpaper helps with that.

Watch videos on your computer, not your phone or tablet. Uninstall the YT app from everything, and use it on a browser instead. This adds a little more friction, making it harder to mindlessly watch videos. When you do watch them, it’s deliberate instead of accidental.

Limit exposure

Limit your online exposure by using whitelists instead of blacklists. On YouTube, you can do this by ignoring main feed and sticking to your subscriptions. BTW, the PocketTube browser extension makes this even nicer, but is it useful to make the experience that nice though? If not, disable uBlock Origin, SponsorBlock and PocketTube to speed up the detox process. You’ll end up hating YT so much that watching paint dry will become surprisingly appealing. Maybe that’s a bit hard-core… Better start with smaller steps and try full detox later.

Anyway, the same approach works for Lemmy too. Subscribe to the stuff you really care about, and ignore the rest. This way, you’ll be exposed to less Internet overall, and the part you do see is more likely to be worth your time. As a result, you’ll run out of top-tier material rather quickly, and the internet becomes boring to you. As soon as you get bored, take your eyes off the screen. Look out the window. Take a deep breath. Let your mind wander, and you might suddenly remember you still need to take out the trash (or whatever task you’ve been putting off).

Edit: I wasn’t happy with the initial version, so I let an LLM suggest minor tweaks. Only some of them were included.

Can’t they just lump all the fees together?

Main product itself: 10

Unspecified fees (don’t ask): 160