zero

exactly! this is what I always mentally defer back to when thinking on topics such as this. I know asking what's the point what's the point all the time can get annoying...but when it comes to a potential new technology being rolled out, which could start the snowball rolling that will some day lead to a catastrophic disaster for the human race, well, I think it warrants asking! like you implied, this chatbot thing is a part of the whole capitalist shebang. come up with some tech, say it is there for some altruistic reason, then someone with a ton of money wants it, makes an offer too good to refuse, it sells, and then what...some nothingburger feature gets added in to hook the potential millions of "subscribers" that will pay to do something with it, and the money rolls right in! it all sounds like a giant money making scam operation to me, that will undoubtedly cause further confusion, and detach people even more from having to face reality. or hey, the other easy answer is it could lead to sex. that's the other motivator besides money, right? dudes can't get chicks, so they think about building one with the potential to have a conversation with and screw. isn't one of the big proponents of VR pornhub? it starts with something harmless like Chat GPT...AI big breasted robot for sale when?

correct. we know there is no stopping technological advancement. there is no way to stop advancements in AI, because of the driving force innate in humans to keep progressing, keep the ball going toward some future goal further and further away. what is that goal exactly? we are not entirely sure. I mean yeah the loosely based goal with technology is to make things easier for humanity, help humanity, I get that. but does having AI created music/art, or having chats with an AI bot really do anything to make human life "easier?" it's hard for me to see that at this time. seems to me it will only disconnect people further from humanity. I get that AI advancements excite a lot of folks. hard to deny that that humans have been a very destructive force on this planet, and perhaps AI will figure out a way to help us do this life thing better. the transhumanists like to believe it is a natural progression to have humans integrate with tech/machines, in hopes of making things better for those on this planet... but if you ask me, things keep getting shittier as we go forward. they say the best years are usually those behind us. so what does that say about this line of thinking that we need to push forward with AI? what is it going to make better exactly? probably short term wins, but long term losses. there is always a catch, a ying/yang. it will no doubt make things worse for all humans at some point, but there is nothing we can do to stop it.

it's been mentioned several times already in the thread, but good to re-iterate this again: you need to focus on getting yourself to a better place mentally, and try and stop thinking about the past that you shared with this person. I know it is incredibly difficult to do this. so called emotional "baggage" is called that for a reason - it weighs you down, keeps you from freeing yourself from whatever it is you're hoping to move on from. keep focusing on helping yourself at this point in time. there are many methods a person can take to get to a point where clear, calm thinking becomes easier to get to, instead of the scatterbrained worried thoughts constantly racing through your head. go for a walk daily. talk to someone IRL on a human level. close your eyes and try and think about absolutely nothing for awhile. try and look at the situation from a bird's eye view. all these things will help. and of course, time. think about a year from now. you will have moved on, and your life will be entirely different than it is right now.

I read something awhile ago that bringing charges against him could backfire, as in give him a boost or jolt back to life. the red hat militia/Q defense men we know would all rally around the king. and the squawking from the remaining R supporters (Marjorie, Brobart) would amplify enough to possibly make team R have to come to his rescue (again)... but donald really seems to be toxic to everything around him at this point in time. seems then that it would be a smart play to bring the hammer down against trumpone about now. my gut feeling is based off of internet articles of course, but it's been proven his support hurt R mid terms. the bad idea NFTs that not even Bannon would hop on board for. Pence seems to have drifted from the fold, and absolutely wants to be president. even DeSantos seems to have some momentum going, more so than donald. is this all enough this time, for the R party to finally hang him out to dry? we'll see. but it really does seem like the orange kool aid the R's drank years ago is slowly being pissed out of the system...hopefully by enough that they won't want to try and defend him to the level they once did.

I'd strongly recommend you talk to a psychologist if you are having suicidal thoughts. nothing is worth ending it all over, man. the best thing about living is you have the opportunity to learn as much truthful information as possible. you have health insurance? most insurance will cover the visit (but you gotta co-pay!). or shit, just go to a psychologist/mental health pro to talk about what you're experiencing regarding the divorce. talk therapy is there for a reason. if you don't want to do that, then I'd recommend finding a guided meditation class to go to, if you've never tried meditation before. deeply meditating is also extremely helpful for reducing stress/anxiety. it can help you gain insight into whatever personal thing in your life is causing you to lose your shit over. read a book on the basics of Buddhism. there's a lot of helpful knowledge there. and finally, good to realize this experience is all just temporary. your divorce. life. everything. nothing is permanent. just go with the flow and see what happens next.

I hear you man. in the battleground states, I get that political activism certainly can be a factor to swing the pendulum from one party to another. and not to re-hash our previous discussion too much, but part of that discussion was me playing devil's advocate on the whole activism approach. just my attempt at some outside the box type thinking...following the logic path that reverse engineering something can sometimes lead to a new view on it. too bad in a state where I live, Texas, any sort of activism to move away from the R's feels like a bit of an uphill losing battle. in my county, it was more or less 67% R, 30 something% D across the board in this election. would've needed tens of thousands of votes to swing the needle... waiting in line to vote was a somewhat sobering affair, overhearing convo's from R supporters, and just how insane they sound. people really do think there is some antagonistic government force out there trying to personally get them. it's widespread paranoia on a whole another level, egged on by the maga man and his tribe of loyal R party idiots. totally sick that the R party actively promotes creating a society of fearful, paranoid people, who believe in disingenuous outright lies.

either that, or this is another way for the nefarious global actors propping up dumbo's presidential campaign to funnel their dinero straight to the source. wouldn't surprise me if the largest collector of these digital all 'merican donnie b ball cards is some Chinese/Middle Eastern/N Korea/Ruskie shadow group. can't forget d-bag trump is on the side of all those who wish to do USA harm.

oh shit...I missed the part about them being "digital" cards lol. these are NFT's ahahahahaha https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2022/12/15/trump-announces-99-digital-trading-card-nfts/ hilarious:

baseball cards...yeah I've been there before back in the late '80s/early '90s. still have boxes of them. we were all under the impression back then that if you hold on to them long enough, they'll increase in value. nope. I looked into offloading some complete sets and it's more of a PITA than it's worth. have to get them professionally graded now for a fee, then haggle with the internet marketplace. no thanks. will let them sit in boxes I guess until someone throws them out for me. but that jackass image above did remind me of the Marvel comic book cards from 1990 I still have a lot of. those were fun. I was like not even in the teenage years yet, and all the cool kids collected them. kids. collected. them. who in their right mind is gonna spend $99 on some crap image of donnie boy's head on rando spandex man? who in their right mind even comes up with this idea? people on lots and lots of drugs. coke probably. that's who.

they're only really interested in attacking things/ideas that are rooted in logical thinking. that's exactly why they don't go after other whacko shit like scientology, because that's like their kindred spirit in a way. scientology is complete fantastical bullshit, exactly the same as what maga/Q push out. what would make more sense is if they merged their beliefs with scientology, or scientology absorbed them, and formed some bizarro world axis power of clown car evil mega conglomerate.

amateur hour. everyone knows if you want to be taken seriously wearing a cat costume, you need a mask:

sidebar here I know...but wanted to slightly correct the hardly anyone part above. at any gig I've had in the US working for a mid/large company, paid vacation is always part of the deal. sick pay as well. it usually has to be accrued based upon time at the company, but it's there. parental leave isn't common for guys here of course, you have to provide proof as to why you need to take off. obviously with women that isn't an issue. but for any small business employee, yeah, I think those things you mentioned above are not a guarantee. healthcare...yeah that's another beast entirely. it is a completely broken system here...IMO it's a massive scam bigger than all the crypto bro shenanigans combined worldwide.

"stalin bangers" lmao

the people he's surrounding himself with can't be helping him make smart business decisions, that's all I meant. from my armchair quarterback perspective, Elon today is worse than the Elon that was trotted out to us years ago. his image used to be of Elon the smart engineer, now he's Elon the idiot cosplay cartoon character fuck up. you're right it's his fault and no one else's for behaving like an asshole. I mean he could realize this at some point, accept accountability, and stop behaving like a self-righteous spoiled rich boy. he could do something to ground himself in reality and make smart decisions, as opposed to whatever he seems to be doing now. the group of enablers he must have in his social/professional circle must be giving him total shit advice, don't seem to be helping him, and yes he's at fault if he's listening to it. but fuck if I care really. I never used twitter, despise social media, and am glad to watch this comedic spectacle play out in public.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/12/elon-musk-booed-by-crowd-at-dave-chapelle-comedy-gig.html seems that someone posted a video of the boos on twitter...then had their account suspended lol at one point in time, I really thought that Elon was a smart guy. his ideas were grandiose, but he didn't come across as a total narcissist shit head, like trump. there's no way he has any of what he's doing now game planned out. it is all spiraling wildly out of control for him. I thought maybe he is purposely trying to tank twitter, perhaps to try and tamper down on the social media juggernaut machine that has negatively impacted society. but that doesn't add up, since his reputation is now circling down the drain, and he no longer is going to ever be taken seriously on anything ever again. just another example of a one-time smart dude, who got sucked into the world of vulture like con men, all trying to give him "advice" or something like this, when they're just using him for their own personal gain.

it's like in the past few years elon, trump, Putin, crypto, Kanye, Q, maga politics, have all blended together and formed into one great big glob of primordial bullshit, hellbent on the destruction of an age old concept known as common sense. they all seem to be riding the same wave, one in which a factual based reality is non-existent.

environmental factors should also not be overlooked if your goal is to try and keep some sort of cohesion to what you want to produce. I sit in front of a big window, and know things like is it sunny outside, cloudy, summertime, winter, etc. all play into whatever sounds I come up with. think this is why bands sometime rent a house or studio in some different location, in order to feed off of the change in environment...hope to hammer out an album unique to that experience. Josh Homme from QOTSA has these desert sessions where he brings random musicians out to an old house in the desert to record on vintage equipment. that's definitely gonna be something that will change a person's headspace, and their creative output. from wiki: and p sure it's very common for musicians to be night owls, make/record stuff all in the late PM - early AM hours. would say that can definitely have an effect on your music, and may play into the cohesion factor. I know I've read some people say they only work best in the twilight hours, can't be as creative during the waking hours. I know this definitely has a sub conscious level effect on whatever musical sounds will naturally flow out of a person.

sitting comfortably, and being able to sit still, is not just the key to productivity, but is the key to life. if the whole world would learn to sit still and comfortably for a little while every day, then we'd all be better off for it. this is what those dudes back 5000 years ago in western Asia figured out. crazy that very few people in the modern rat race really get this.

correct. no hopping online and finding out about everything you want to know about in under a few minutes. I wasn't into electronic music back in 1994 because I was happy finding stuff with a lot of distorted guitars back then. I found out about Aphex in '94 through the On video. it was on a VHS tape of a bunch of alternative music music videos I ordered through one of these BMG music club type catalog services. think like Radiohead, Breeders, Afghan Whigs, Blind Melon, Nirvana, videos were on it...and Aphex! so to answer this silly question, Aphex, because I had no idea abut Ae until sometimes toward the later '90s.

may sound harsh, but you coming to the realization there isn't anything you can do about your father's issues is something you should view as a positive. best to figure your own shit out first separately than whatever he's going through. we often times think we can solve other people's problems when we can't...it is up to them to solve their own shit...come to their own rescue, so to speak. best course of action would be for him to talk to a psychologist/psychiatrist...but I know people don't like doing that. especially people in their 70's. I want my own parents to do this and they won't. my mom says she's been like this all her life (she's 74) and won't change at this point, so I just have to deal with it. I think that's bullshit. it is never too late to change.

how do you like it? I've read most all his stuff, will give this a shot at some point.

completely agree. I started watching this series about Teal Swan - The Deep End - and it was making me so angry listening to this woman, and hearing from all these sad sappy people she duped into believing her BS. why am I watching this is definitely what hit me about 30 min in, and so I turned it off! so many other shows, not worth wasting time on stuff that you know will irritate you.

2 guys have dinner and talk. that's the whole film. their conversation goes deep into trying to understand the human experience. one guy is pragmatic, the other is spiritually eccentric. both guys have strong theatre backgrounds, and use this to make their points. a lot of discussion on experiencing reality as it really is vs. living behind a mask of illusion. very philosophical with Buddhist undertones. highly recommended if you have patience and are into discussing life philosophy and humanity.

would be nice if the global media behemoths come together and agree to give trumps 2024 campaign zero coverage. we know his twitter is coming back soon, and we really don't need every tweet of his being covered 24/7 like it was back in round 1 of the insanity show. I don't think this will happen, btw. I'm sure once he fires up the tweet device, it'll be the exact same thing as last time...his game plan of saying outlandish shit on twitter to get everyone with intelligence facepalming, and the other group with non-correctly functioning brains all fired up. then keep doing this over and over. the media can't escape their addiction to him, and this is how he keeps going. the tried and true trump game plan: 1)tweet bullshit in order to get online commenters all fighting amongst themselves. really enforce the us vs. them mentality. no way to work together on anything. 2)convince people to donate their $ to his campaign. pure grifting. we know from experience this works. 3)get together as often as possible in an arena and waive flags. listen to liars up on stage go on and on about nothing, insulting anyone in disagreement with donald. get the crowd to cheer wildly, repeat chanting mantras, becoming one with the bullshit. sell maga themed merch. 4)keep doing steps 1-3 until Nov. 2023. this should secure at least 40% of the vote. the super important remaining % needed for the W will come down to the wire on election night. I of course don't want this to happen, but unfortunately can see it all playing out in some version like this. if the media would not give him any coverage - or at least put him on page 24 - then this is one way to stop his brand of insanity.

indeed. calculated in a way that makes no sense to most of us observers at the moment. what he's doing to twitter right now is pretty far out of whack from what we would think of as normal behavior in this type of situation. one would think that he would decide to buy the company in order to somehow improve it, in order to grow and become (I guess) even more financially successful. at this time this appears to not be the case. so wtf is the real goal here? I had sorta joked a page or 2 back that perhaps he bought twitter to tank it on purpose. like buy the thing to take it straight to bankruptcy. but that also doesn't really add up because like it was pointed out here, he had to take a loan to buy it, and he used some of his personal $. does he like losing money? I dunno. most people don't. but he's a big fucking weirdo, so who tf knows...