Could be, but my rotation does include a decent number of tracks with sexually explicit lyrics or anti-government themes.

Go figure.

Only some users though? Very strange setup. I’ve not been asked at all, but maybe my music choices out me as old as fuck?

You’re moving the goalposts.

You made two key points;

1. That suffering can be beneficial and
2. That denying someone the opportunity to experience something beneficial is immoral, somtomhave kids is moral positive.

My primary objections are

1. That suffering is always bad (although we disagree on the definitions of suffering, somits likely to be a moot point)
2. Having children on the basis of it being morally good presents a number of very upsetting and dangerous implications.

Gaza was an example of a point, and of my own views on suffering; that suffering is something you cannot escape and that you do not choose, not something that’s difficult or temporarily painful you can choose to do which will ultimately produce some good. I’d posit that everyone experiences some form of suffering in their lives, to varying degrees, and the minimisation of this can only ever be a net positive.

Personally I don’t want children for a number of reasons, but boiling it down to a moral reason is reductive, unhelpful, and can be dangerous.

I’d put it to you that suffering, in the sense that we’re discussing, would be something more than the pain of exercise - the people of Gaza are suffering, when I go into the ‘pain cave’ on a bike ride I’m enduring something for the benefit of it; I can stop, pause or relent if it becomes overbearing. It’s type 2 fun. It’s not suffering if you can opt out; challenge, and difficulty arent bad; suffering is.

It’s interesting that your anti-theistic approach has led you to what I would see as a very religious adjacent approach to reproduction; my worry with approaches like the outline you gave is that it can end up punishing any sort of reluctance to have kids (and can paint those who aren’t able to as immoral in some way). Not saying that’s you’re intention, just saying.

Could an artist not suffer for their work that brings great joy to themselves and others? Is that suffering not then worthy and good?

This is an awful take. Not suffering is always preferable to suffering.

If something is worthy and good then denying others the opportunity to exist and be worthy and good is itself immoral.

Does this mean that you have a moral imperative to have children because there are “worthy and good” things in the world? Is the logic “I can have children, there is good in the world, therefore it’s immoral to deny a potential life the opportunity to experience life”?

I say this as someone who can, but won’t, have children, and who grew up in an evangelical church - that’s a bizarre logic that feels an awful lot like some fundamentalist Christian quiverfull shit.

Please! Although I’d hesitate to say I have any “claims” as such - I’m ex religious and flip-flop from agnosticism to some kind of atheistic nihilism depending on the day. “I don’t believe in anything” is as close to a solid statement of belief as I’m likely to get.

I’d love to hear more about your belief system. This kind of stuff is endlessly fascinating.

It’s fun when it’s both.

Artificial diamonds are still diamonds! Just because nobody died to make it they are identical on a chemical level.

They don’t just look purer, they are purer!

The problem is that rich people have been fleeced by diamond sellers for so long that they over value the “story” of a diamond (IE, carbon forged into a diamond over millennia etc etc. as a symbol for love blah blah).

+1 for this.

If I write it, I usually remember it. I have project specific trackers which I’m forced to use for work (an ERP), and occasionally I’ll use some spreadsheets for “complex” note taking, but at the end of every day I write what I need to do tomorrow (top tasks, at least), and add to it as I go.

I do that most days and most days I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to keep things moving.

I’ve moved from Boost to Thunder. It’s a great experience so far.

OPs alternative is law.

I’m not sure the ethics of their employment are of much concern.

I understand the inflation argument, but what gives crypto any value other than a) a relative value which is based on fiat currency anyway and b) the faith of the userbase in it?

Why does 2/3 of the protein vanish when you cook it?

You might be underestimating the amount of protein you’re getting. Urad dal has 25g of protein per 100g serving. Chickpeas are similar (19/20g per 100g serving). Red lentils are like, 10g per 100g serving. I “need” about 70g of protein; some days I’ll get that other days not so much but the average is probably about right.

I don’t track macros though.

I eat vegetarian and it’s never been an issue, though to be fair in western diets we’re generally over-proteined.

Is it possible to use a number different to the one on the device you use? Seems like a simple workaround to use a throwaway SIM to set up, and then use it with that number moving forwards.

Have you paid for a service that uses AWS though? Youay never know if you’ve funded the big A.

I couldn’t swim until I was maybe 10 or 11 and it was awful. Thankfully my parents moved and my school mandated lessons - but I wasn’t confident until maybe my late teens/early twenties?

I think kids should learn as early as possible and it makes me a bit sad that my niece and nephew haven’t learned yet (and are unlikely to as their schools don’t teach them and my sibling doesn’t seem interested in getting them lessons or teaching them). We live on an island with a lot of water inland - it’s more important than other stuff like riding a bike!

Wacky