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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 12th, 2023

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  • Not going to disagree with the tough world out there, I’m just going to suggest / ask a few things that are at least somewhat in your realm of control that might help.

    • If you are willing to divulge this information - how much are you making at your current job, how much do you pay for rent and what are your expenses?
    • Do you have any family members or friends you can reach out for support?
    • What does the cost of living look like in your area? Any other options?









  • I get your point but from a business perspective Google is doing pretty well (see last quarterly earning and they announced dividends for the first time). It’s good to be a shareholder and from that perspective the CEO is doing a good job.

    Time and time again markets have shown, within reason, poor user experience and anti-consumer policies do not negatively impact stock price.







  • What I want to understand is whether or not that technology is creating more value.

    I think the question to ask is value created for whom. Based on my personal and probably biased opinion, value is not created for the greater good but for the capital owners and shareholders.

    And if so than more technology means more value which means we can eventually get to a place of so much societal surplus that we can reorchestrate soceity to enjoy the benefits of it.

    Again, my opinion, but it’s not in the DNA of a capitalistic society to have surpluses so someone will capture it and try to squeeze out more. So in the event of a seismic technology advancement, my dystopian view is that the poor will not reap much benefits, and instead of billionaires, we will have trillionaires.

    So that’s where my question is. If a company experiences a +30% efficiency boost due to technology, does soceity benefit from it?

    I think if there is a counterbalance to capitalism and corporate greed then yes, some of that value will come back to society. Perhaps an improved medication at cost, better transit, emergency response technology… But if we leave it in the hands of capitalists they will enrich themselves very quickly.


  • There is a lot to unpack from your post. First of all, there is no doubt that technology in general adds value for the human race - like the another commenter said, foundational things like fire, tools all the way to the zipper and buttons you have on clothings, umbrellas you bring into the rain, the video chats you have with loved ones during COVID - those are all the fruits of technology.

    But if you get down to the particulars, value can be very subjective. Some people value fancy new tech sneakers, primate NFTs whereas others value new computer vision technology or a new programming language. So are certain technologies adding value? Depends on who you ask.

    As for who is capturing value in a capitalistic society, I think you already have the answer. Simply put, if your company operates at a 50% efficiency and you bump it up to 70% with tech and automation, rest assured that you are going to see job cuts to “become lean” and to “do less with more”, followed by increased targets to produce more. You are not going to get more leisure time but instead be asked to push ahead until you hit the physical limit and break.


  • Soak dried Porcini or Shiitake mushroom in a bowl of warm water for about 20 min (can boil the mushrooms if fresh). The mushrooms then can be used as an ingredient to a variety of recipes but more importantly, the bowl of water is now an umami bomb, and can be used as a broth or seasoning to add a ton of flavor to a bunch of dishes (pasta sauce, soup, stir-fry…)

    Porcini in particular has an earthly, nutty taste and can be used to create complex sauces with a “beefy” taste.



  • it would be quite nice if humans disappeared from the planet…

    “Nice” is a human concept so if all human beings are gone, is it really “nice” and does it matter?

    Because Mother Earth don’t give a F. Most of what we say about saving the Earth is in the sense of making it sustainably habitable for us humans and not to f up the economy too badly.

    Mother Earth don’t care if it gets 30 degrees hotter and if the atmosphere turns into sulfuric acid because for the vast majority of its lifetime, it’s been human free anyways.