FriendOfDeSoto

Klingelingeling!

Socialism badge unlocked.

In their defense, they were probably lying before the advent of so-called AI as well.

The sound you're hearing is me screaming in intense jealousy. Both of your trip and the outfit! LLAP

That presupposes though that a shapeshifter would need to see their own reflection to judge the look. If you have developed over millennia the ability to change your appearance at a molecular level, or physically speaking thereabouts, you probably have developed the ability to judge the look without having to look at it. You would be a rock who knew how to become Michelangelo's David.

I'd be amazed to hear that chameleons practice at a puddle before they try to blend in with the jungle. But I was sick a lot when they taught biology in school.

European-Americans

Why only those?

need better leadership role models to show them that education and hard work

Compulsory education in the US is straddled with numerous problems. Underfunding is maybe the biggest one. The fact that schools need to be converted into bullet proof bunkers doesn't help. Standardized tests are not a foolproof way to assess people's aptitudes. The curriculum in some states leaves a lot to be desired. A defective system cannot produce perfect students. And we're not even talking about the insane for-profit higher education system that gives people debt for life. The system produces undereducated leadership role models. The good people tend to find other areas to work in. You cannot demand new role models without a complete, well-funded overhaul of the entire education system.

Hard work can be helpful to get ahead in life. But it's no guarantor of success. It's more luck or inherited wealth that get you ahead. You seem to adhere to the good old American dream idea, rags to riches stuff. It's a mirage. Like the melting pot theory or manifest destiny it deserves to be deposited on the trash heap of history. There was probably more truth to the dream when rent/mortgage was a fifth of your average paycheck when it's now most of your average paycheck. That is if you still have a home. Times have changed, ideas are still catching up.

— not violence, promiscuity, and criminality — are the right ways to get ahead.

Violence? Agreed. Crime? Also agreed. Promiscuity? You'd have to define that first. And I have an inkling I may not agree with you once you have.

Fundamentally, you could make a caveat even for violence and crime under certain circumstances. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. To the Brits George Washington was a violent criminal. Violence is baked into the birth of a nation, along with the prolonged history of slavery and segregation.

I also think that former criminals can be valuable role models. It depends on many factors, e.g. have they paid what we call the debt to society? Have they atoned? Etc. But if I'm not mistaken you're looking more at financial fraud and maybe sexual misconduct - don't have a clue why those two popped up first in my head - and I would say that disqualifies perpetrators from being leadership role models. People who vote for people like that to get into positions of power anyway are a real thorn in my sight as well.

So I find bits of your statement that I can warm up to. Overall, I think it's a bit populist for my taste. I disagree with some of the assumptions I think you've made. And it does nothing to address any underlying problems as I see them.

As a general vibe in life, I try not to punch down. Antivax kids through no fault of their own are at a disadvantage in life (and make life for immunocompromised folks harder). Wondering if they'd be okay with a cootie shot as a question seems snarky and punching down to me.

You could not answer this question categorically anyway. It would depend on the age, how much autonomy they already have over their body, and to how much RFK junioring they've been subjected. So the answer is care and individual attention for each kid, not a generalization.

I don't know where you get the idea I suggested we hunt them down from. But I think you've correctly picked up on my critical opinion on this question.

Were you dancing at the time?

I imagine it's not as easy in terms of producing the template video to match your body type (and maybe agility) and then to set up the projection just at the right distance. Conventional wisdom might also say that you learn dance moves better by copying others and that's why you get floor to ceiling mirrors in dance studios.

Why did she have to go and make things so ... complicated?

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

Thank you for your eloquence.

My LLM says you're an enlightened one! May the builders of the universe bless your path.