I don’t know about fully functional, but I think there’s 3 things I would say are key to not being miserable all the time:

• Be kind. It’s not in everyone’s nature, but the results are so rewarding. Just stop to think, is what I’m doing right now causing someone else pain or discomfort? How could I reverse that? Don’t let your bad day ruin someone else’s.

• Be purposeful. Find things to strive for. Small goals are fine, and sometimes things take a long time, but don’t lose sight of where you want to be. Dont be manipulative or treat it like a zero sum game either, your success doesn’t need to come at the cost of someone else’s. Winning with your friends is even better than winning alone.

• Be forgiving. Most importantly to yourself. Failure is not the enemy of success. Self hatred will destroy any chance you have at happiness, many of us are taught at a young age to treat our own failings as horrendous sins that we must mentally self flagellate for. This is the one of the hardest things to overcome, but every step along the way will give your mind a little more room to find peace.

I found myself in a place where I was terribly miserable, isolated, and regretful. I didn’t know it at the time but it was the gradual application of the above which helped pull me out of that place.

OK dad

These look great… But no backlit keyboard option :(

Like anything art generators are a tool. One that can be very useful in a creative process, to convey an idea that is hard to present in text, to explore variations on a concept without having to draw something a hundred times, etc. It would be very difficult to argue that something like that has no valid uses.

However, as it stands the majority of the tools in place cost a fair bit of money to set up and run and so there is a high barrier to entry, and so the profits made from running them end up going primarily to those who are rich enough to set them up in the first place. Wealth inequality is a massive issue right now and so this sours a lot of people against these tools.

Many people also subjectively dislike AI art, which is a fair comment, as all art is subjective, but I don’t think it necessarily helps anyone to debate over whether it looks good or not, that shouldn’t be the issue here.

You could argue that the root of the problem is that most users of these tools will never consider the repercussions of paying for them, the people they are supporting are obscured behind many layers and it is impossible for the average consumer to know what the recipient will do with those funds.

Like any tool, these machines have created a new way for the already powerful to exploit the weak, it may be abstracted away behind closed doors but it is happening.

This line is weird when you consider it’s coming from someone who tried to defeat palpatine

Just want to say thanks for sharing this, I’m on chapter 34 and it’s fantastic so far

What is this from?

Rampant consumerism and tech saviourism are not solely the domain of “nerds”, nor are they true of all “nerds”. The group you are looking for is “people”.

Plenty of people you would never consider nerds will throw away their old phone just to get the newer model. They will assume they have no responsibilities to the world or to the community because government/science/jesus will sort the big problems out. They will live in their own tiny worlds never even considering the bigger problems at play.

Why do you think this is a problem that only affects nerds?

Make sure to do this while it’s turned on and plugged in to keep the AI aware of it’s destruction

Butter also works

Saksa be you Germany

It’s funny you pull the whole “ackshually I never said that” but I never accused you of taking the moral high ground. I just said the meme perfectly captures the idiocy of people taking the moral high ground. You lumped yourself in that category.

What kind of argument is this? “People talking about the current election are ignoring an option that hasn’t existed for 4 years” of course they’re not?! It’s not an option any more! The meme perfectly represents the idiocy of anyone trying to take any kind of moral high ground by not voting. America has made its bed, it sucks but no amount of idealism can change the practical options available to you.

Damn this ruined my whole day

It’s mentioned in the episode itself!

If you don’t exist outside the simulation then for all intents and purposes this is your reality. Might as well make it a good one.

I am enjoying Solar2D! Lua based engine for desktop and mobile, working on a virtual pet game. So easy to get something working quickly

Forgive my ignorance, what is tech saviourism?

Just because something makes individuals happy doesn’t eliminate the consequences. Most people would probably agree that cars are more convenient for sure, but they are highly inefficient compared to public transport.

You might not trust your government to manage public transportation effectively and that’s completely reasonable, but is that the same as saying public transportation has no value and we should all just get cars and to hell with the consequences?

Yeah we should just never do anything if it doesn’t instantly fix the problem.