https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55194334756/

This is an amazing image.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/reorganization

Forest Ecosystem and Watershed studies in South Carolina. You can't study that from the new location. Nor the invasive species and forest health in Michigan and Minnesota. No more Spotted Owl and Old-Growth Habitat Monitoring.

This is irreplaceable regional ecological knowledge, university partnerships, and long-term datasets that took decades to build.

Tom Schultz is the first Forest Service Chief overseeing this; first Chief ever hired from outside the agency's career ranks. He came from the private timber industry (Idaho Forest Group).

Instead of timber trade partnerships with Canada, we are preparing to gut our national forests. Call your reps and let them know what you think. Not sure what else we can do.

That every mouse movement highlights lives lost is harrowing. Grains of sand on the beach, each with their own world and community.

Shame on the flaggers.

Grew up poor in the US with extremely minimal family support, like the kind that kicks you out or has mental health issues. How did we become parents? Well, unprotected sex. Unless you mean how was the experience; in that case, I would not recommend my path. We both came from broken homes and we received little to no family support.

I think you have a point though. My wife and I figured out life together as a team before we were really fully formed individuals. We had so much more energy; I couldn't imagine starting over with kids at 40. The model of young working parents and helpful grandparents and other family makes a lot of sense. Kids in your 20s works well if you have the support.

We _know_ the human brain is finishing its development in our early to mid twenties, maybe 10 years post puberty. This extra brain development likely needed for our advanced social and tool needs, and is a unique niche for humans. Our hidden brain development does make a difference. Other primates don't display this.

I like that. And because humans are (sometimes poor) pattern matchers, we are confusing that for the proxy of age.

What makes an adult? I think accepting responsibility for your (and often someone else's) condition is a big part of it. I did that at 15. I double downed at 30 when I became our sole provider. But it was my 40s when I started to feel like an adult.

I see many "adult" children and many more adults acting like children. The difference seems to be a combination of self-awareness, social awareness, and responsibility taking.

Like the article, I think much of what makes you an adult is taking responsibility. For some, the first time that happens may be when their parents die I suppose.

A system doesn't want your feed empty because they want your eyes, but because money. When they choose what goes into the feed, they should gain increased liability for what comes out. The risk they take on for more money. If that money is not worth it, don't recommend.

I enjoyed the internet in the beforetimes. Recommendations were limited to "this is objectively related, this is new, this is upvoted, this is by someone you follow or someone they follow, or this is randomly chosen." I still feel there is some liability there, but it is less than when it changes to "this is something we have determined we should show you based on your personal past behavior." That feels different than liking a category when the meta-categories are picked for you. Especially when those meta-categories allow for things you would not want to opt in to, like doomscroll material.

I like some of the stuff I get algorithmically. I never would have searched for a soul cover of Slim Shady, but I'm glad I found it. And I'm glad I found knot tying videos. I think there is space for fancy feeds. But I think it should come closer to being a publisher. This _will_ depress throughput creation if things all have to be monitored which will change the economies and maybe that means some businesses can't exist as they do today. I'd likely pay a subscription to a LearnTok that had curated, quality material.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071230082748/http://www.straig...

I have longer threads that I don't want to pollute with side quests. I will pull up multiple other chats and ask one or two questions about completely tangential or unrelated things.

Scarcity is a physical phenomenon. Only one $thing exists and more than one person wants it. Scarcity. The agreement to transfer that $thing to someone is based on humans respecting made up rules. Society. Social constructions. How we define affordability is different. You can "pay" in different ways, some that don't have physical mapping t real world like "social standing."

The laws of supply and demand and scarcity still apply, yes. But how that plays out is social. People have to agree or fight. "Affordability" is based on what we agree is worth an exchange. You may value the approval of the recipient more than money. What does affordability mean here? To curry favor later with someone else or because your moral framework lets you sleep better (they were a hungry kid and you don't want kids hungry - another kind of scarcity where we define affordability by how hungry you are).

Like you said, unless we redefine words. Then you can have affordability and scarcity mean the same thing.

Edit: snark reduction