grepe

yeah, according to our mayan guide when i was there the human sacrifices never happened... but they were extremely inconsistent with their stories and also believed that the number of days in the solar year is connected with human body through the number of joints so i wouldn't take their word for it.

when i was listening to what guides in other groups were telling about the same spots and traditions i noticed that each and every one of them had their own fantastic and completely different story and many of the things they were saying were clearly wrong (e.g. that the descent of kukulcan shadow play only happens on two particular days of the year).

oh shit... i was there on that day! and i missed it...

after living in the US for some time i think i'm starting to get it...

one thing about the life in the US that the hollywood movies don't show you very well is that the country is extremely tribal. the stories of diversity or of outsiders building their american dream are almost pure fantasy - you don't make it in america because of the environment but in spite of it.

the way things work here is that you have to be a part of a group and you habe to stick with that group no matter what. because otherwise you are done. that's why it is so hard for either democrats or republicans to admit when their politicians do even the most insane shit. that's why people would rarher risk their kids lives rather than go against their peer group and vaccinate them. and that's also why it is so important that the couple is "white" and not black, latino or (god forbid) mixed...

racism, xenofobia, nationalism and mysoginy are just side effects of a society that is split into constantly competing groups that reserve all the benefits for their own members... constant positive and negative discrimination that forces everyone to fall in or be left behind and that is stoked by any entity interested in exploiting those fragmented groups more easily.

this is a problem with fediverse in general imho.

the tools admins and users have are blunt (defederate or block). with all sorts of content moderation policies and opinions you will inevitably end up either alienated from everyone or surrounded by people that think and talk just like you.

fediverse does offer many advantages... creating a better online "town square" is just not going to be one of them.

i do not control mozilla leadership or their mishandling my data. the most influence i can exert as an individual is by not being a willing participant to their mischief. i'll be happy to come back if the leadership changes and i get some guarantees.

yeah, the moderation there is getting insane. at this point i don't even believe it is done by humans any more.

i got a permaban after responding to a comment that said bombing a hospital in gaza that killed over 30 children was a legitimate military target. i just politely wrote that maybe bombing hospitals full of kids is not a good idea even if a terrist is hiding inside...

i switched from firefox to waterfox on my phone and have yet to spot any difference.

i heard some websites might have issues (e.g. web versions of office software) and some settings are missing but in my own everyday use i didn't run into any of those yet.

i do believe you honestly mean the things you wrote. and maybe many other people believe that too... but if a person born in soviet russia would say that the decadent west is the root of all evil would you consider it as simply their perspective and someone who suggest otherwise as "having an odd take" for not accepting it? there are perspectives and there is reality.

most people don’t actually want to live in commie row houses with a bar downstairs.

of course! these types of building were an imperfect answer to a problem of how to make enough living space for many people fast enough and cheaply enough. the apartment blocks went a long way from prefabricated panel blocks in a concrete jungle to the point i absolutely loved living in my modern block apartment in the city center in a quite spot between two parks, 10min walk from a train station and a shopping center, with a terrace, garden, playground and childcare across the street and within 15min from any shop, restaurant, pub, doctor or anything else i ever needed.

You can’t have shops in a residential street because most people don’t actually want that.

what? i mean, i can believe you can be conditioned to not wanting it. just like many americans think unions are bad or any other crazy shit like that... but generally no. anyone who ever lived in a place where they can run down the street to buy milk when they run out or just walk sane distance to a pub will disagree with you.

luigi was not on the news because he killed someone but because he caused the share price to drop. the share price has recovered since. as simple as that.

People who casually dismiss conspiracy theories are exactly as bad as those who unquestioningly believe them.

the occams razor is a crucial part of scientific thinking for a reason.

the space of all possibilities is infinite. the space of what people believe and say is enormous. the space of what is actually truth is comparatively smaller, unrelated and uncaring about either of those.

you can't possibly consider everything everyone says - especially if what they are saying keeps changing as they see fit. you'll just burn out if you try and end up in endless "discussions" with the people who are "just asking questions"...

that doesn't mean i should dismiss or ridicule people, but it does mean i will not spend a single heartbeat thinking about another "proof" that the earth is flat or controlled by lizard prople or something.

yes, you do it yoursef, but you always need some external inputs and inspiration before you try something new. and where you get that inspiration and what you try matters a lot.