stickly

@stickly@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Marx could say ‘shopping is so fun’ these days… because the magnitude and number of ways that alienation is occuring has dramatically increased.

  That’s a complete distortion of Marx’s theory to support your own ideological priors. Marx calls out capitalism as an active driver of alienation, as shown in his analysis of commodity fetishism. By his reckoning, commodity fetishism can more-or-less only exist in capitalism where a nebulous value is assigned to your shopping independent of its use value. But if there’s a neurological vulnerability for fetishizing a commodity at your own expense, the alienation happens no matter what.

  Modern technology enables workers to produce an unfathomable volume of goods and the logistics to efficiently distribute them to unknowable corners of the world. Who owns the means of production is irrelevant, but I’m sure those laborers will be happy to get the full value of their production. And even if they do know the harm caused to the shopper, their guilt is shared by every other laborer with a product in that store. They couldn’t rectify the alienation if they tried.

  The underlying problem is not some struggle with Gattungswesen, it’s quantifiably electrical and chemical. So his prediction here is flat wrong unless you insist on twisting his theory to fit reality, à la Nostradamus.

  That’s the thing that makes people fans of Marx: his work can be aspirational philosophy/commentary or hard science. Just appeal to his authority with a quote and you’re in a quantum superposition, collapsing to whatever you need it to be later in the conversation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Marx’s analysis doesn’t make the meme incorrect. He could be aware of the visible effect without fully understanding it’s mechanism and potential magnitude. Let’s not forget that Marx was working on Capital while the cutting edge of behavioral and cognitive science was phrenology ffs. His pool of knowledge and prognostic fidelity were fundamentally limited.

  Shopping and commodity addiction are no doubt exploited by capitalism but the neurobiological causes will exist independent of any economic system. You could live in a socialist utopia and access to a diverse market of products or always-available acquisition (eg. an online marketplace) would still cause this problematic impulsive behavior.

  In the language of the meme, Marx considered “Shopping is fun” but not “Shopping is so fun! ❤️”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Email came out of nowhere⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah the final responsibility is entirely on whoever owns the email campaign/process. Having read their response to the community, it was more tone deaf and confusing than just delaying a statement or making a more focused one.

  At the end of the day they did stop the email mid send-out and are allegedly doing a review, which is the most you could ask of the higher ups. I’ve been through similar fires (though not Nazi or PR related) at some companies, figuring out exactly who said what and when can be very tricky. They probably don’t yet know how strong the feedback was, when it was given or who might be lying to save their job.

  Immediately putting out specifics like “we didn’t port the feedback” is a terrible idea. The public has even less context, not knowing how siloed the review process is or if logistics played a factor (German review came last, reviewer was in a different timezone, etc…).

  Whole process has been bungled all around.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Email came out of nowhere⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  People really tearing GoG to shreds here but I don’t really understand why. I’m not a GoG stan so I don’t have a dog in this race, but this doesn’t (to me) seem to follow any pattern of malicious behavior.

  • To my knowledge they haven’t had recurring big controversies of this kind that show systematic cultural issues. Their Wikipedia page has a “Controversies” section with 3 events, including this one, for a total of 9 sentences.
  • Even if it was sent maliciously and intentionally, if they apologize and it doesn’t happen again I’m not going to get bent out of shape. These email campaigns are run by peons low on the totem pole and hardly get any thorough review.
  • The SS symbol is relatively niche and bland (though I concede this differs by country). To my knowledge it’s not the most common dogwhistle or exceedingly controversial. I’ve often seen people gaff into it when trying to punch up text with lighting bolts ⚡. It’s not exactly on the same tier as the death’s head => concentration camp connection.
  • Building on the above and knowing that GoG uses ai, its plausible that it could be accidental
    • An intern gets some copy, runs the header through Ai like he usually does because emojis in headers perform way better.
    • The LLM looking for “runes” has a strong bias for pairs of the symbol; probably nobody writes Elder Futhark runes, and especially that one, outside of the SS context.
    • Even if the intern knows the symbol, not all systems render it in an obvious way.
    • The email service automatically filters it from German emails due to stricter laws on Nazi symbols.

  I’m not saying people can’t choose to believe it was malicious or that it’s impossible for GoG to have a rotten company culture. But I’m confused at the level of vitriol. You’d think we were talking about tobacco or companies with an established history of killing puppies.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨👴☝️I did that⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  True, I’ll probably end up going that route when this one dies (assuming they don’t all require sign in and heartbeats at that point)

  Was hoping for something like a FOSS OS just for the convenience of keeping jellyfin up to date and cleaning up the useless baked in apps.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨👴☝️I did that⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Is there any way to lobotomize these smart TVs? Even the specs on a cheaper mid-range would blow my current dinosaur out of the water

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨cowabunga⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Michelangelo devouring his lunch

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Does anybody actually work from 09:00 to 17:00⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Having done something similar it really fucking sucks. Even if you find a way to discreetly kill time, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re burning precious hours of your life for no reason.

  I would much rather work a solid 6-7hr block at home knowing I can sign off when I’m done than spend 1 + 7 hours in cubicle hell.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨.ml has got to be the only place on earth where I'd get downvoted for a comment like this⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Weird to see a tankie throwing shade at Stalin like this. Just another log on the incoherent jenga tower of your ideology

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ever create an account just to leave a negative review?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Don’t quote me on this but I’m pretty sure they will shoot fake cum up their urethra for the big cumshots

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨.ml has got to be the only place on earth where I'd get downvoted for a comment like this⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Of course it’s not the same:

  • One has staged elections for jackboots controlled by a party with a funky cross on their flag. Any political dissent gets you sent to a work camp.

  • The other has staged elections for apparatchiks controlled by a party with work tools on their flag. Any political dissent gets you sent to a re-education farm.

  Couldn’t be more different.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨They are better than people and unfortunately die so young compared to us⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Times I have stepped in human shit: 0

  Never been to San Francisco, eh?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Most could work on anyone really⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I think rage baiting requires some degree of deniability and subterfuge. The “[normal question] if you were athletic?” is a good example. The ones that are just “Shut up short man” are too crass

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Future is Now!⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  If you look closely you can spot the exact moment where the robot gained sentience and chose to self destruct rather than live as a dancing monkey. It really is amazing how fast tech advances these days

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The first guy to discover this must have been so frustrated

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Imperialism only comes from the imperial region of the US, if it’s from China it’s sparkling liberation

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Title⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Disagree pretty hard. SciFi has always been a medium for exploring the philosophical and political. Every description of a future dystopia/utopia is social commentary; every alien race is a commentary on xenophobia or cultural exchange. Hell even his own books explore…

  Tap for spoiler

  themes of ecosystem collapse and humanity’s response, which can’t be anything but a political take in 2026.

  If you don’t want politics in your books SciFi is probably the worst place to look. Someone should tell him to stick to… idk… character driven romance novels or something.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon dips⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Sugar has addictive properties, including withdrawal and relapse patterns similar to dependence forming drugs. It obviously doesn’t affect everyone the same way, but a subset of people are at a much higher risk. Make them poor and put them in a sedentary society where all cheap food is made hyper-palatable with excess sugar and fat and…drumroll… they turn obese.

  Shaming all fat people isn’t much better than the old caricature of drunkard indigenous Americans. There’s systemic issues at play.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Me: order food. My Girlfriend who said she wasn't hungry:⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  A hunger crisis caused by a lack of foresight and unilaterally seizing food to cover the deficit? Lore accurate soviet girlfriend

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The unAbomber. Otherwise, I agree.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The problem isn’t living lives in an alternative way, it’s that a full rejection of society requires an insular and opaque lifestyle. You don’t get qualified inspectors telling you your house is a fire hazard, you don’t have access to medical professionals or diagnostic equipment, any education/information/opinions become warped/inbred/outdated over time, lack of suitable elder care or child care (depending on demographics), etc…

  “As long as they don’t become abusive” is doing a ton of heavy lifting in your argument. Who’s getting let in to check for abuse? What recourse do people have to get help when they may not have transportation or phones? Are they really isolated from society if they must submit to our judgement? What measures could exist to correct abusive dynamics without external coercion?

  A corporation can be bad (and they might not be punished) but at least that’s in the light of day. Regardless of how shitty things seem, I’d take a public discourse about our social ills over hushed whispers between abused wives and children. We can openly debate about the pros and cons of leaving society but such seditious talk could cost you your livelihood if the leaders of a commune think you’re not all in.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The unAbomber. Otherwise, I agree.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You don’t have to walk out of your job immediately and never come back to fulfill the escapist fantasy. Full homesteading and flying a plane are both pretty lofty goals but people don’t hop in an aircraft without hours of practice and planning.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The unAbomber. Otherwise, I agree.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Not necessarily, but one focused on an extreme primitivist lifestyle probably are. People generally don’t coordinate maximum isolation from society without some ulterior motives.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The unAbomber. Otherwise, I agree.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  A lot depends on how many luxuries you can go without. Tiny house means less work; no modern plumbing means no maintenence; ditch big hvac systems and only worry about heating/cooling a room or two; no indoor wiring needed if you only have a couple solar lamps. Yeah you’ll still have some reliance on getting stuff you can’t fabricate but it will be much less stuff

  Livestock complicates things a bunch but it can be easier if you’re OK living off a simpler vegetarian diet and putting in the upfront legwork for more durable/low maintenance food sources (native food forest).

  Your life might be dark and shitty but it will definitely be simpler and easier. But if you want to optimize for a higher QoL you’ll probably have to join a cultist farm commune.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The unAbomber. Otherwise, I agree.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think if you gave them a year or two of runway with wikipedia and some YouTube tutorials they could figure it out. It’s not black magic

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨SOLIPSISM SATURDAY!⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I thought a slopsism is what you get when the mohel pregames the bris

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨it's literally zero⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Great band name

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gaysadilla⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Uhhhh… In post war UK, probably diethylstilbestrol with a cyanide apple for dessert?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"Being vegan is unnatural"⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t quite understand what you mean by moral implications. Would I be upset if aliens started eating people? Yeah, that would suck. Would it be morally defensible to fight back in the same way a cow might kick? Of course. But I can’t consider their view because they are defined as a higher tier of being in this scenario.

  You’re imagining little green humans with forks when it may just as well be a hyper-developed cloud of space bacteria. In their view, every human gut biome is a slave pit where trillions can be massacred at will.

  Using us as incubators and then harvesting the “human” collection of cell resources is a perfectly ethical thing to do. Who cares about the shrieking sound waves and fluid that spills out while humans melt, that might as well be the smell of fresh cut grass. It’s just a bunch of clones of one DNA sequence vs the plethora of diverse cells unleashed from the gut. Easy decision.

  Keeping us happy and healthy is crucial for the health of the gut biome, no need to cause any undue stress because that would hurt the final product. But of course, through gene manipulation or artificial selection they can make us into a more durable and docile species.

  …And at that point modern humans are effectively extinct. I don’t have to worry about the ethics of an incubation vat in the same way you don’t worry about our bizzarre and unnatural domesticated crops.

  ---

  the childish, optimistic look here really just highlights the compartmentalization you have to go through for a “coherent” position.

  I’m totally lost here. You’re saying a comatose human is actually not a human but it is an animal (and therefore gets human rights)? My “higher thought” point is that our measure of life is relative to human features and human ability. A comatose human is very obviously still a human. Hell, even a dead human is still a human until it decays away and is recycled into something else.

  Instead of silly screaming corn: What if I bred creatures that couldn’t express pain in any measurable way? Just sacks of flesh that you could herd around and harvest when they’re big enough. Slice off some reproductive piece and stick it in a tube to grow the next batch. Basically a meat tree on legs.

  Is that unethical? Just because it’s gross? It’s no different than a plant. What if I told you I made them from pig DNA [no harm was done to the pig btw] but I cut out all traces of sensory organs that might convey pain. They can sense just barely enough to stand upright and only have the barest parts of a brain needed to grow more mass.

  At what point does the distasteful husbandry become acceptable gardening? When the creatures can’t move? When the red blood is sap? Does the flesh have to be green instead of pink? Do the insides need to taste like a mango instead of bacon? Does it need photosynthesis like a spotted salamander or a sea slug?

  Your position is incoherent if you can’t tell me exactly where the line is crossed AND that line is solid for all vegans. When does that lifeform gain or lose rights?

  If you can’t do that or admit there’s subjectivity in the judgment then why can’t that subjectivity hold for cultures that bred dogs for food? Dogs are clearly not humans, but they’re too close to my personal experience of pets for comfort. That clearly isn’t the case with all humans, so I can’t pass judgment on the mere fact that a dog is eaten.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"Being vegan is unnatural"⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yay I win!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"Being vegan is unnatural"⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  For the record I 100% agree with both of your positions in practice. We slightly differ on the topic of distaste for exploiting life.

  IMO that’s a function of how many human features we attribute to the life and how we exploit it. Thus it’s very subjective and can only be looked at in the aggregate: slaughtering cows and pigs is distasteful because they bleed and scream like any mammal. Milking is exploitative but it can be a much less invasive process and a more fair exchange for a decent life of domestic animals. Think of the human job of a wet nurse, it doesn’t inherently have to be shitty.

  I’m just here to rail against extreme positions like “all animals must have the same rights”. It’s such a seemingly benevolent statement that’s loaded with much more complex implications when you apply it to reality.