Social media has turned me cynical I'm afraid

the thing that scares me more is that most people think they're in the top half

 

edit: to both of your points...now, we have thousands of idiots who don't vaccinate, causing a dozen deaths a year. 150 years ago, we just had thousands of deaths a year instead.

And while I acknowledge that the numbers have improved, forgive my reluctance to accept that we can't do better

Of course...we should always try to do better. Just important to realize that it is possible that attempts to make things better may actually make things worse, and to proceed with caution

Nah dude I totally follow you. To add on to your hypothesis, more families now are going up with 2 working parents and are subsequently raised in an alternative setting, whether that be a baby sitter or a television/iPad. Conversely, as you mentioned constant relocation for jobs, I think there's a factor of not starting a family at all Becoming a more popular option - but I actually think thats not just a good thing but a GREAT one. As you said, grandparents will be less involved and I agree, not only due to location but by massive age difference. And without a family baby sitter, actual baby sitting services and day care can get wildly expensive. Like 2nd mortgage expensive in my area. I'm totally down for less people breeding, but I feel it fuels into this idea that industry/production is a lifestyle. I respect people that work hard, especially long hours but at what point is it "slavery with extra steps"? If we've been developed to not desire a family, does that make us work harder or less hard? What's the motivation for working at all if you can provide for yourself if that's the only responsibility we have?

 

...got a bit rambly there...

Eh, counterpoint, every m/f couple I know wants kids. Even the ones I was pretty sure didn't want kids, like my brother, who just had his first kid at 36, after like a decade of being married.

 

I'm pretty sure America has had a below-replacement birthrate for most of its history. I don't think the rate at which people are having kids is really changing.

Eh, counterpoint, every m/f couple I know wants kids. Even the ones I was pretty sure didn't want kids, like my brother, who just had his first kid at 36, after like a decade of being married.

 

I'm pretty sure America has had a below-replacement birthrate for most of its history. I don't think the rate at which people are having kids is really changing.

It's changed a lot lol...US births per woman in 1800 was 7.04 - now it's 1.8. https://eh.net/encyclopedia/fertility-and-mortality-in-the-united-states/

 

 

The majority of countries in the world have had significant drops in birthrate over the past 150 years - worldwide the drop has been enormous:

 

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN

 

Even countries with high TFR have declined substantially: India for example went from 5.31 in 1960 to 2.33 in 2016. In fact, the only country on that list that has a higher TFR in 2016 than 1960 is DR Congo - went from 6.001 to 6.112

 

For this reason, most analysis I've seen predicts worldwide population peaking at around 10 billion somewhere around 2070 and then declining substantially. The main reason population has even kept growing up to this point is increased life expectancy

Ayyy no more dying in child birth and vaccines to the rescue! Not to mention better child labor laws....

 

 

And it all comes full circle

 

I think that's a pretty big get out of jail free card...

missed this...what's the alternative, though? There will always be people (lots of them) who do stupid stuff and look to someone influential to provide something that can vaguely justify it. It's not prudent to hold people responsible for the actions of others unless the actions are extremely serious, and it's practically certain that the person of influence is knowingly acting maliciously.

 

The implicit alternative is that you should be more cautious the larger of a megaphone you wield. It's quite different if you're talking to one person and saying something than if you are sending it out to millions of followers. I don't know that there's an enforceable solution, but this is generally why there are many layers of people checking say statements made by a politically prominent person or a CEO of a company. Of course, there are always some fun exceptions.

Getting decent at makeup. It's to the point now, assuming the Dunning-Kreuger Effect isn't killing me now, that it doesn't actively look bad, and I feel decently confident going out in it.

 

Now I just need my voice and body to catch up. 5 months to HRT...

thats exciting! congragulations friend

I think my point still stands, anti-vaxxer girl is no more responsible for influencing parents to not vax than she would be responsible for stalkers and harassers harming her because she uses sex as a way to gain influence

That's a really false equivalence. Men harassing women is not a logical result of a woman being sexy. People not vaccinating their children is a logical result of people spreading misinformation about vaccinations.

 

If I told you that drinking cyanide would clear your skin, and as a result you decided to drink cyanide, that's what the latter argument is. If I told you I was trans and you then decided to commit a hate crime against me, that's what the former is. In one, I am advocating the action you take, in the other, I am not advocating the action you take. I can be held responsible for you taking action I advocate for, but not for you taking actions I don't advocate for.

Today I played some League of Legends and wondered why I haven't retired from it yet. The community is insanely toxic and I really don't have fun -.-...

It's also about cumulative effects. 1000 booty models saying vaccines are bad, or because our psychology sucks, even 100 booty models saying it 10 times each, results in a real influence on medical decisions.

If we're keeping the anecdote on track, she's less "booty model" and more "fitness model". Most of her content is pro-organic nutrition and workouts. A model none-the-less.

My landlady is going to replace the carpet with laminated hardwood. Yeeeeeeeah.

 

...

 

I talked to my boss today about the possibility of telecommuting. He seemed cautiously receptive. Our last lead developer telecommuted and kind of spoiled it (she didn't work there for that long)  so I'm going to have to be above and beyond this year leading up to November/December. I told him I'd definitely be in on Monday mornings for our meetings and Fridays.

 

Since I'll be graduating in the fall I'm going to plan on having a job offer in hand so he matches. I'm willing to take less pay for flexibility while I'm in school but Raleigh and surrounding area is a lot pricier than NC (it'd easily be 2.5-3x my rent now within 20 minutes of downtown). I could probably go as low as $50K assuming my bro and I stick together (that'd be $80K/year which is plenty, and our tax burden would be lower since it's two incomes). He'd be able to commute though.

 

My plan for the year is to be on my way out of Fayetteville and on to Raleigh. Ideally I'd be in Raleigh by January, working 40-hours salaried at my job, and attending NC State. Within the next three to four years, ideally I'll be working at one of my "Big 3" (Epic, SAS, or Red Hat).

Made myself a promise at the beginning of the year that I wasn't going to buy any more men's clothes. Don't buy something I'm going to throw out in a year, ya know.

 

Ripped my backup pair of dress pants today, so now I have a decision to make...

Made myself a promise at the beginning of the year that I wasn't going to buy any more men's clothes. Don't buy something I'm going to throw out in a year, ya know.

 

Ripped my backup pair of dress pants today, so now I have a decision to make...

 

I'm in the same boat, for different reasons (been bulking so my clothes won't fit for long). You can prob get some cheap dress pants on sale somewhere or go to a thrift store. Or rent them if you'll only need them like once

Our level 8+3 bard/rogue managed to slay 2 adult blue dragons tonight basically by himself after the rest of the party served as damage sponges. Both were killed by free fall dive bombing from his Griffin mount. Pretty epic.

yeh but were the dragons wearing ripped up dress pants

We're losing one of our party members in a month. Shame, but she's rarely able to make sessions, so if I was forced to cut one of us loose it'd be her. Not sure if we'll bring a new person in to fill her spot, I feel like DM plus four is the perfect number, just enough different angles and opinions to make things more fun.

 

Want to fly out to Australia every fortnight and join our game, RPG?

fine dax ill join ur damn campagin

fine dax ill join ur damn campagin

 

<3

im stayn in emu plains currently, is that close to u?

I went through there on the train Friday and Sunday. I didn't see you.