So you’re saying it’s a one dimensional age check which doesn’t invade your privacy because you can just lie to it completely?

That’s a valid point. I just want to clarify that’s what you meant.

it inherently weakens one’s determination to survive

This is a good point. Aren’t Jedis quite selfless though? I would think that they would already not prioritize their own survival over other principles.

When you work on dissolving the self, one big benefit is you stop freaking out so much about death. You recognize that even though you’re locked into this very narrow subjective experience, it’s still one cell in a much larger process which will endure after your death. It becomes much less “the end of everything.”

I would guess that Jedis are totally there and wouldn’t change any of their choices based on whether their little subjective consciousness will cling to existence or not.

We had an election not long ago where I live and I voted against my interests again. I’m an affluent homeowner but I voted for greater flexibility for new housing construction projects rather than be a fucking NIMBY and worry about my property value. I also voted down a sales tax because it’s regressive and hurts people poorer than me the most, even though I know the county will seek that money via property or business taxes next, which I will pay.

As I did all this I thought about how we lambaste Trumpers for voting against their own interests. I still haven’t thought the issue through enough but I understood at least that people are sometimes willing to vote for a principle which will come at a price for them personally. So we can’t just categorically dismiss this behavior as always dumb.

I did it to help other people and Trumpers tend to do it to hurt other people, so it’s very different, but still an interesting topic.

Hey, I don’t know if you’ve heard about this or not, but… there’s pornography on Steam.

I haven’t actually. But now I understand why Steam asks for my birthday over and over. It’s surprising that people don’t complain about that more. All the new age verification laws have drawn vociferous ire, but Steam has been doing it for years and remains beloved.

Most corporate lawyers are there to steer you way around any danger. I used to think they would help me understand exactly where the legal boundaries are, but I’ve been disappointed time and again that they won’t play it even close to the line. To be fair to them, laws are written in language and always have room for interpretation so if you work in an industry where you’re doing novel things, they can’t always say exactly what will get you in trouble.

A lawyer that will lean in and go in hot on issues where it’s well known that you’re operating over the line… yeah that’s a very “wartime consigliere” kind of thing which I imagine few corporate lawyers are able to pivot to at the drop of a hat. Sorry, Tom.

No. Just near them.

That’s grammar school stuff. Graduate to the ice cold enema and your glory hole will applaud.

I never bidid before but now I bido and woo woo woo no doo doo.

That is correct!

Laying down on my shower floor ain’t gonna make you cleaner.

Anyone they perceive to be hated by “the other side” is an instant saint. Look what they did with Charlie Kirk.

Think of all the job creation he’s going to spark in Argentina though. /s

Yeah all 3 of you should cancel.

I mean let’s face it, the Joker’s insane schemes would take more time to plan and implement, logistically, than any one man has in the week.

In the broad strokes yes but if preservation really mattered that much to them, they would have adjusted their plan in so many ways. Is it really an existential threat to leave 500 people instead of 24? Do they really need to threaten The One with total extinction to get him to choose to participate in the matrix? That really makes it seem like the matrix is a higher priority to them than human survival: the matrix or nothing.

I understand. Like I said I still love the films but I think things are even better when they are thought out at more levels. The premise here wasn’t just “we don’t have that technology yet” - it was patently not credible under thermodynamics.

Let’s not forget “privileged and detached from the vicissitudes of paying rent and gas costs.”

Their desire to preserve humanity is only touched on in The Animatrix and supplementary materials. It doesn’t even agree well with the primary film trilogy, where they clearly risk “the end of your species” repeatedly, and even in the best case scenario reduce humanity to 24 individuals, which is well below the minimum threshold for a viable gene pool.

Yeah I just don’t find that explanation credible at all. The brain is a 40 watt guesswork machine, not a high performance processor. I love the matrix, but it was never built on a solid premise.

I understand your point. Don’t understand mine? When the world has already been damned for 80 years and your leaders aren’t doing anything about it, you no longer have anything to lose and the whole “just one more election” bit starts to fall flat. Losing can be an opportunity for change in a party, when you’re finished rewarding them for staying terrible. At some point we need a party to actually be good, not just less worse than the other guys.