Ah, yes. But here’s the thing.
If you make a polite and reasonable comment about veganism and it’s met with hostility, you’re more likely to come across as the good guy and those attacking you come across as arseholes. People reading the exchange are more likely to think that the guy defending veganism or animal rights may have a point.
If you come in all guns blazing, and attack people, people are just as likely to think you’re the arsehole.
Oh, of course. But once you accept that all humans are flawed, you’re more likely to empathize with people who make poor choices, relate to them, and become more convincing.
So for example, you don’t call people hypocrites and a murderers, which will inevitably cause them to become defensive and double down. Especially in a conversation where people are already expressing that they dissaprove of animal abuse. Instead you say something like:
“Same here. Animal suffering also makes me sad, and I couldn’t help but think that I was part of that. I slowly transitioned to eating no meat a while back. But I know it’s hard to make changes. If anyone wants tips, just ask. No judgement.”
Or perhaps:
“Yeah. Food’s really becoming expensive. One thing that does help, is that I eat vegetarian curries. They cost less to make and it’s not that hard. I found this cool recipe and use a rice cooker so I can take care of the kids while it cooks.”
I mean, imagine people who own a fairphone and buy only fair trade chocolate, went around calling the rest of us cunts. They might have a point, but it really wouldn’t help them win the argument.
Now read the rest of the paragraph you chose to ignore.
I’m vegan and have been for years.
Your moral pontificating may be good for your own ego, but at the end of the day Burger King’s vegan nuggets have done more to promote veganism, than lectures from the terminally online. Be honest with yourself. You’re not doing it to convert people. You’re doing it to feel good about yourself. Vanity. It’s the Devil’s favourite sin.
You know how I convert people? I make them nice food and give them recipe tips.
Imagine you’re about to eat an ice-cream. You see a kid drowning in a pool. You could save him, but instead you choose to eat your ice cream. You put short term pleasure before saving a child’s life. Evil, right?
Now imagine that you can’t see the kid. You know he’s going to die, but instead of donating a bit of money to a charity, you buy that ice cream, drink that fancy frappucino, buy that t-shirt or overpriced gadget you didn’t actually need to buy. You put a short term endorphin rush above saving a child’s life.
This is you. This is everyone. Humans are all evil to a degree. We are all hypocrites to a degree. We allow that kid to die, those workers to get abused, those animals to suffer. The only excuse we have is that we are animals and that we largely act on instinct, even if we rationalise our choices afterwords, often telling ourselves we’re not bad people.
Once you accept that basic fact, mostly because life experience has forced you to come to terms with your flaws, you hopefully become more humble. You gain character, wisdom, and honesty. And here’s a silver lining: once you realise that you’re also deeply flawed and approach fellow humans with humility, you often end up becoming more convincing.
Of course, the first step is to accept that convincing people to be less evil, is more important than vanity and holding to the idea that you’re somehow better than them.
Here’s Norm McDonald telling a joke about hypocrisy:
Not if you go through old.reddit.
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“oh, I know that language too!” from someone. And… They don’t.
Prime example: according to numerous surveys more Dutch people speak French well than Belgians.
Belgian is half French speaking, French is taught in Flemish schools from an early age, and many Dutch/Flemish speakers work in predominantly French speaking Brussels, and/or have French speaking friends/relatives.
But it’s understandable: a Dutch person thinks their French is great if they manage to order something in a French restaurant while on holiday and have the waiter understand them. That’s more than enough for their purposes. A Flemish Belgian thinks their French is bad, if they’re unable to write a letter in French which respects rules like those about accord COD/COI (Elle a pris des photos. Les photos qu’elle a prises. Elle est allée prendre des photos. - Hope that’s correct)
That and Dunning Kruger. If you have little competence in foreign languages, you don’t know enough to know that you don’t know enough.
AFAIK European law isn’t often based on common law, but Napoleonic Code / civil law. Ie. precedent is less relevant.
Also, given Meta’s been fined 2.5 billion euros in the past few years, it sounds like they’re going after the big guys first.
Sometimes I wear headphones/earbuds without the music on, just to drown at the noise.
Get ones that isolate noise well.
As the article mentions, the trains previously ran on naan bread.
They also conveniently forgot to mention that almost 80% of their electricity generation comes from fossil fuels, increasingly from coal. But hey, no problem. Net zero by 2030. Coughcoughcoughcoughcoughcough.
Bit of a tangent, but I find it a bit funny when people say what China’s doing in Africa isn’t colonialism, because they’re investing billions in infrastructure.
Imagine if the British government defended the brutal colonisation of India, by going on about how much they’d invested in the railways they used to ship out all the resources they plundered.
AI.
I’ve also had that experience, but it really depends on how well it’s been narrated.
For example, Stephen Fry’s version of Harry Potter (yes, I know, but it’s really well read) it’s immediately obvious who says what and he’s well spoken. Unsurprising as he’s also a good actor and that does matter.
Some audiobooks the narrator rambles, doesn’t enunciate clearly, and doesn’t make it obvious who said what.
They also have a lot of dramatisations on there. That means different actors read the different parts, sound effects, etc. It’s basically like listening to a movie.
Let me know if you need help finding somewhere to begin. The BBC’s been around for a while and they have A LOT of stuff on there, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg as they regularly change it.
Hell, why not start with some Terry Pratchett. Mort. That’s not on the BBC sounds site at the moment, but here it is on Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/mort_20220604/01+Episode+One.mp3
https://archive.org/details/mort_20220604/02+Episode+Two.mp3
https://archive.org/details/mort_20220604/03+Episode+Three.mp3
https://archive.org/details/mort_20220604/04+Episode+Four.mp3
Or perhaps you want to show off. Here’s a dramatisation of Dostoyevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00y9455
Stars at least one of the actors from their adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Mort, funnily enough.
I have dyslexia, ADHD (focus issues) and my eyes physically shake leading to me skipping over entire paragraphs unless there’s enough white space between the lines
I read A LOT. I have a couple of degrees.
Ignore snobbery. Listening to an audiobook is just as valid a way of enjoying a book as reading it. I suggest starting with something you think you might actually enjoy, maybe a genuine classic, not this overly long blogpost.
Listen to a chapter before you go to sleep. If people are snobs about audiobooks, don’t mention you listened to it, just say you read it.
I recommend looking on the BBC sounds app/website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/
It’s free.
If you want to use imessage on android:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-imessage-android/
(includes self-hosting options)
If you want to use whatsapp:
If someone else has an old (and/or prepay) sim which can receive texts, you can authenticate whatsapp that way. IRC you can also authenticate with a landline. Install whatsapp using the landline number, wait for SMS authentication to fail, then it should ask to call you. Say yes, and you’ll get a call with the authentication code. Et voila.
My nieces and nephews are all young children so i definitely want to encourage/educate them to get off corporate controlled communications channels
Good luck with that, is all I can say. Kids are very susceptible to peer pressure, especially as they enter their teen years. It’s only when they’re in their late teens that they’ll open up again and start becoming more critical.
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