A friend of mine whose decisionmaking I respect a lot. Good balance of logic and empathy. He would be an awesome president and hed hate me for dumping that shitton of responsibility on him. Wouldnt want to be in his shoes. Also id miss him, but its for the best.

That actually sounds wrong. Do they use the same level of graphics or was the first game optimized THAT badly?

• that sugary sweets make kids act “hyper”

Do you happen to have a source for that? Coz I have witnessed kids act like a horde of wild monkeys on crack right after eating dessert on multiple occasions.

I dont understand how anyone could criticize a per-capita statistic. It is completely logical to compare coutries by size. Or if not, we need to start talking about China being number one in almost everything in the world. Just having many people who contribute relatively little doesnt make your country more generous.

I couldnt care less. I never understood how people would be angry at others for forgetting their birthdays. Its just a damn anniversary…

There are more or less accepted theories in psychology that fear of death is ultimately the basis for all our fears. Fear of being left alone is a result of evolution telling us we will die without a community. Fear of failure because we would get cast out, hence being alone and dying without the communuty etc. The hypothesis is that once you accept death as an inevitable part of life, the path leading there will be much more enjoyable.

What I find interesting is that you are saying you dont enjoy life but are afraid of dying. If life isnt enjoyable, would disappearing really make a difference? (genuine question)

We experience the world through lenses that our brain programmed through our experiences. I think the extent to which one enjoys life deoends heavily on how that persons brain ‘expects’ life to be enjoyed. If your opinion is that life is generally not that great, you wont experience the different joys it brings. In some cases, our brains can be ‘tricked’ very easily. For example, when you have a hiccup, tell yourself ‘hiccups arent real’ like you really believe it. The hiccup will go away within seconds. What Im trying say is if you tell yourself that you are enjoying some things and that life is great, eventually that will become your new reality. The trick behind motivational videos/speeches/coaches is that you receive the information from another person. If you believe that person is telling the truth in saying life is great, your brain may adopt to that. Telling it to yourself is way more efficient though because your brain is already you, but it obviously seems stupid talking yourself into things you dont believe.

Of course clinical depression is a different matter and needs professional care.