Fear… At the bottom of it is always fear

Over the next 100 years or so VR and haptic tech make it so people can become fully emersed in virtual reality. So pretty much everyone does. There are arguments on both sides, but eventually most people choose to live in their own world as a “god” with only VR interaction between one another. Everyone in VR stops having real kids, but thanks to AI improvements they can still have “kids”. Technology eventually allows people to plug in permanently while their bodies are maintained by AI and robots systems. Eventually their bodies die, but their consciousness has been captured enough by the system that no one knows or notices when their VR friends bodies die in reality.

In the real world a very small segment of society refuses to join the VR universe and pledge to remain in the real world. Maybe there’s some war in there because of this. Eventually though, the population of earth drops to maybe a few hundred thousand mostly wandering communal groups, while everyone else’s consciousness is in VR systems. This is good for the planet.

After a few thousand years, the people in reality have multiplied and built a better more equitable world, but have completely forgotten about the people in VR, and the automated buildings containing the computers have become buried and lost to time. Until one day someone stumbles across one of these ruins and begins interacting with the VR people again despite a mythical belief system that such technology is all bad.

Some shit happens and there’s a VR vs reality reckoning… Maybe some sort of Romeo and Juliet love story to keep it interesting.

Huh, I wonder if any of those refugees they keep murdering might have been able to do some work?

People who sell bullets and bombs really want this

Forgot medical bills and student loans… Suddenly it’s the 99% 1% 0% rule

Mental health crisis clinician: dementia is not considered a “mental health” issue

Also, we can’t force people to get help just because they are acting wildly “crazy”… Even if it’s clearly psychosis, mania, etc. Even if the cops are getting called everyday because the person keeps trashing stores or harassing people. (And, in my state, the cops aren’t allowed to arrest them either, BECAUSE the behavior is due to mental illness).

There’s some serious issues with our mental health system in the US.

I think an easier solution would be to expand section 8. The government should have tons of housing units built, and then families can “pay them off” with section 8 funding. Right now section 8 money just goes to slumlords. Instead that money could go to the people who actually need it. This would increase housing supply, so prices would come back down, plus allow people to build equity and ownership in their home allowing them to start raising themselves out of poverty.

And instead of fighting the rich who are causing all of that, they’re dumb and blame immigrants… Like they’re told to… By the rich

Yes, this is why… But of course the article doesn’t mention that… Which is shocking coming from a media conglomerate owned by a nepo rich white guy /s

That’s what I thought… But if it’s winter in the north then it’s summer in the south, so you’d expect them to average in a way that you wouldn’t see such stark differences between say January and July. In July it’s winter in the south, summer in the north. Intuitively I’d assume they’d average. Temps would still be rising year over year, but you wouldn’t see a difference between months. A couple people have answered that it has to do with the earths tilt and the fact that there’s more landmass in the north. Seems plausible I guess.

Why does it seem like this is only the northern hemisphere and not truly “global”? Shouldn’t it be warm in the southern hemisphere when it’s cold in the north? So shouldn’t these groupings generally hover around an average between northern and southern hemisphere temps?

This is the internet… You might have to throw a /s after your comments, even if it’s obvious

It sucks that we live in a world where it’s impossible to tell if this is real, complete nonsense, or a false flag operation.

Oh good, another thing Americans spend more than almost anyone else on and get worse results.

It’s almost like Hamas is a puppet for Israel, designed to keep giving Israel an excuse to continue their genocide.

All of Israel is occupied Palestinian land

If you go back will you be forced to fight in the Israeli army? (Deal breaker as far as I’m concerned)

?

Technically the choice exists for them… But if they’re never introduced to it can they be expected to know it exists? If every single person in their lives… Their parents, teachers, preachers, everyone they see on TV… Only ever feed them the same crap, and any dissent is not just discouraged, but dangerous. I’m not sure they really CAN choose you know? Now, there is a lot of willful ignorance as well… Don’t get me wrong. And obviously there’s a difference between not knowing you have a choice, and actually not having a choice.

Yeah…I guess I just meant that average liberals tend to blame average conservatives instead of the rich (while average conservatives basically blame everyone who doesn’t conform to their exact ideals instead of the rich).

Not sure I agree that conservatives can both “choose” to be like they are, and also be the victims of their upbringing in a toxic system. These 2 points you made seem to be contradictory.

I agree many liberals fail to see that the average conservative is also a victim of this system, and that conservatives are brainwashed to think what they believe is a good thing.

I don’t think I made the comparison you’re saying I made. I’m sorry it came across that way. Calling out asshole conservatives for being assholes is fine as long as it’s with the understanding that they don’t know any better because the rich have them so brainwashed. And then follow it up by trying to convince them that the rich are the problem, not the immigrants etc. But to stop at blaming average conservatives, without recognizing the rich as the fundamental problem, I think, has the same end result as conservatives blaming everyone that’s even slightly different than them… No one points at the rich.