Nihilism is free, you are welcome to it. They haven't even been seated yet (takes place on January 3rd, 2027), we should give it a chance, I think. The nihilism remains available if we are disappointed by giving new folks a chance. Hope is not a strategy, but we must keep some, as a treat, imho.
They are lying through their teeth. We know from independent investigations and reverse engineering efforts that the TVs capture audio/video for the mothership. Also, the devices are effectively remotely controlled and can be updated at a moment's notice to suit the current commercial strategy of the true owner of the device (it's not you).
> What is it that appeals so much to young men about minimalism?
It's hard to generalize, and I myself am probably atypical here, but I suspect that most young men have their own 'little homely touches'. They might be less likely to run out and buy curtains or hang up pictures but I've seen things like random sports stuff (team merch or equipment that hasn't seen use in ages), old bear cans, action figures, books, guns, watches, guitars, and the occasional dead animal being displayed (or at least constantly left out and in view). It can look more organic than put together, but I've moved a guy's stuff only to find it put back in what was apparently its spot more than once.
I'm guessing actual statistics will show that men are much more likely to experience violence, and much less likely to get help/support from others, but I don't think that'll make women feel any better about their own very real risks. It'd be nice if they had a way to feel safer without endangering themselves by surrendering their freedom and personal data to corporations who want to profit from keeping them under surveillance.
"Men" paints with a broad brush indeed. Men who belong to gangs know violence continually. But what about the college-educated class? Could the sex ratio flip there?
I think that your definition of violence might be an interesting bit of bias here.
Let me try a metaphor. You get a job offer. It's good money. You need to move to a town which is REALLY REALLY into American football. Dedicated to it 100% and there's no rules against steroid use. 50% of the town are steroid using players. You will be providing them IT support. The steroids they use make all the players twice your size and strength, a little more violent and less predictable than you, and coincidentally all sexually attracted to men.
You will be living there for one year on this contract. What changes might you expect to see in your own behavior over the year you are employed there?
I know women who leave the house without their phones. I also know women who only share their location with their friends when they go out for a night of drinking or their first few dates with a new partner, but otherwise don't feel a need to be tethered to a phone and monitored to feel safe.
Then again, I've also got a niece who has expressed that her phone is a constant source of anxiety. She feels like she has to immediately respond to every text and social media post from her friends no matter what or there will be consequences which could range from causing others worry to losing social status and being potentially excluded as punishment. It sounds like a nightmare.
What worries me are the impacts of constant surveillance that we can't see. What does it mean when every child gets assigned into various buckets like "smart/stupid", "constantly late", "impulsive", "has few fiends", etc by companies who are constantly tracking their grades and test scores in every subject as they age, along with their location and social networks and online habits. What happens when that data ends up with data brokers and sold to everyone from potential employers, to governments, to insurance companies, to criminals and scammers, and to AI companies for use as training data.
We're already seeing things like predictive policing, surveillance pricing, judges using AI to write rulings and parole-boards using AI to decide the fate of prisoners, extensive (and often illegal) background checks used by landlords and employers, careers being ended by people's ancient social media posts, and literal bombs being dropped based on AI's flawed assumptions.
AI is making it ever easier to trawl through the massive piles of data being collected and output results, which will randomly contain errors people will probably never be told about even when they're being used to make decisions that have major impacts on their lives.
It's become so normalized, even by their own parents, that kids growing up in this environment don't even question it. I wonder if we're raising generations of stunted adults who've been denied the opportunity to develop confidence and independence as children, training them to submit to constantly being monitored and recorded, and then throwing them to the wolves who are eager to use all that data to maximize their ability to take people's money, manipulate them more effectively, or pass judgement on them.
Your phone also still collects a record of your GPS data, and that history gets transmitted back the moment you have a connection. Your phone can also still be tracked via bluetooth while in airplane mode. That's also how "find my device" works when your phone in airplane mode. WiFi data can also be collected while in airplane mode.
Airplane mode is basically a lie. It's prevents the transmission of certain specific signals from your device, but that's about it.
No need to treat them the same. Charge spammers a ton, then make personal letters free. The poorest regular people get a great service with less junk mail, and advertisers pay for the trouble they cause.
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