fakir

Right, they are not meant to show posts in equal manner - freshness & hotness do matter in engagement and are indeed shown higher compared to other posts and comments. But still, a few posts from last night might have only a couple of comments, but since it’s already a few hours old, we don’t reply or engage with it. We judge engagement by these timestamps and so removing timestamps will lift engagement on all posts & comments.

I’d like to suggest removing timestamps on all comments, like you could still toggle a button to see the timestamp of a comment if you wanted to, but the timestamp shown on default doesn’t serve any purpose other than tell the users how fresh or how stale the conversation is. When the conversation is say only a few hours old, many users will choose not to engage because we assume the conversation is over and there isn’t any point in engaging further, so we skip altogether and move on. I can tell from my own experience I’ve done this more than a few times, I’m sure others have as well. When you only have a few thousand users across the world, unlike Reddit, we must preserve the freshness of the few conversations we do have so as to increase engagement from all.

Writing is our mirror. We write to reflect on our true self, to identify what is real and what is just a facade; being truthful and honest and deeply reflective and peeling layer by layer of what being a human is, what the human experience is and so on, because only when you fully understand who you are, will you be able to understand what your problems are and what your solutions might be. It is the underlying desire for (and path to) self-actualization - who are you, what is your purpose, what are your doing, and what you outta be doing. Spreading joy and how to be kind to yourself and to others around you is where I’d say most of that soul-searching takes us.
PS: I don’t write fiction at all, only my thoughts and ideas and reflections of reality

I really don’t think that’s possible if you’re neurodivergent and unmedicated. There are too many bees buzzing in our heads to be that productive.

Seriously, though, I’d rather be blind than deaf.

Woah, I almost wanna say the same too, but on second thought, I’d rather be deaf than blind - that’s because I think eyes are the windows to a person’s soul, and I can peer into anyone’s soul just by eye contact. Too bad my eyesight is aging faster than the rest of me.

Using a similar but different word?
It’s likely / mostly / rather possible / necessary.

Individual freedom is of utmost importance to us, but on our own, we feel lost & lonely. So we seek connection and comfort, but that binds us, so we run back to freedom. This is the see-saw or the yin-yang that applies to all life. Your cats for instance enjoy watching you from a distance, but stare back at them, and they will feel uncomfortable enough to walk away.

Being nice to nice people doesn’t take energy at all, instead it energizes us. But being nice to not so nice people, now that takes effort, i.e. use of mental resources, which can only be sustained for so long before the battery drains out, and you need a nap.

I think Math is the key differentiator. I saw my equally neurodivergent and artistic daughter stumble at Math just like I did at exactly the same age in middle school. It was fucking Algebra! We both didn’t have the most engaging teachers, were both easily distracted, and naturally both started failing in Math, just 30 years apart. I couldn’t memorize those damn equations no matter how hard I tried! My kid went even further to the point of hating Math, and thinking herself as less intelligent for not being able to understand it.

What helped me was my dad holding my hand and showing me that Math is a system that I can understand if I just applied myself. We are actually great at applying ourselves and thinking logically, so Math will come easy once we get over the initial hurdle. Of course I did my job as a dad too and became the supportive Math teacher that my kid needed me to be. My daughter also got over that hurdle, but many of her friends from that middle school that also stumbled at Math, did not get the support systems that they needed to get over the hump. As a result, all those poor kids will go their entire lives underestimating themselves, and thinking themselves as just weirdos instead of the geniuses that they likely are. It makes me mad.

The actual genius of neurodivergent folks lies not only in 1) being able to apply ourselves and thinking logically, but also in 2) how we thoroughly learn any system (like math, music, language, technology, tools etc) - we are slow because we take our time to poke around and double check every single scenario and calculation, but once we master it, we’re sure of every little aspect of that system, our opinions as good as facts, not open for argument or debate, 3) how we connect multiple such systems to solve complex problems, much like the geniuses of history - pattern recognition and strong observational abilities allow us to view problems ahead of time and from a higher vantage point - we see the forest too, and not just the trees, and 4) our higher sensitivity, awareness, and empathy naturally lead us to face head-on the true realities of all human condition, and prioritizing it over all the worldly facade of the status quo.

PS: I say neurodivergent as an umbrella term for ADHD, ASD, BPD, anxiety and whatnot because 1) who knows which exact condition causes which specific behavior, and 2) they tend to co-exist, different potion combinations make different magic.

Lol, good looks dumb cuz he dresses like a nerd, but he’s quietly a genius.

Are you saying batman always loses?

Correct, but remember the very old saying that good prevails over evil. It always has and always will, even in times when it’s hard to believe so.

This too shall pass! I’m personally familiar with the mental concoction of ADHD, ASD, BPD, PTSD, Anxiety etc that some of us carry, and how life can sometimes become so painful and unbearable that you can’t or don’t want to carry on anymore. Rejection and heartbreaks can be extra painful, especially at a young age like yours. So you turn to self hurt and substance abuse and other reckless behaviors. Many here have probably been there, done that. In that moment of misery, a better life seems impossible or even unimaginable. You don’t even care for a better life maybe. But believe me, things get better. Denial and anger will turn into acceptance and peace. The size of your grief will shrink as more things take it’s place. Life itself is much much bigger than any one individual event or feeling, it’s a precious opportunity to experience all that the universe has to offer. You feel you are all alone, as do many young men and women, but that’s not true at all, we are all here for each other. Lastly, I don’t need to even see you, but I’ll tell you that you are inherently beautiful and absolutely worthy of love, as is any living being. Hugs to you, please stay with us.

Paper beats rock.

Yes, idea is to spread power and not allow greed to take over. A Democratic Republic, i.e. a representative democracy is a good start but not good enough - we already have that in America & most countries worldwide, but that didn’t do much. What we need is widespread democratic socialism, i.e. market socialism i.e. co-ops, credit unions, open source etc.

A greedy sociopathic leader with lack of empathy will always cause starvation, be it capitalism or communism or any other system anywhere. Shitty kings, dictators, and colonialists have always caused this since the beginning of time. It ain’t about the system.

Not me, I’ve actually found my fucking mind, but you do have to lose it before you can find it. I’ve been in and out depression over the last few years. I’m no longer worried or anxious, but instead calm and at ease - because now I am able to make sense of the world, and I can clearly see that things will always be alright in the long term.

1. I will make infinite copies of myself, then 2) I will physically manifest myself in reality in all the different shapes, sizes, & colors I can imagine, then 3) I will experience life through the perspective of each of those infinite copies, one day at a time, one life at a time, 4) remove all memory of being God so the only memory I have in all of my life forms is the lived experience.

WAIT, I AM ALREADY DOING IT!

A goalkeeper in soccer or similar. It’s a thankless job, you save 10 shots, nobody notices. But you miss one and you’ll be called a bum by your own fans. As opposed to a forward striker, who might miss 10 shots, nobody notices. But you make one and you’ll be a hero being paraded on shoulders.

George Carlin, Carl Sagan, Fred Rogers, Alan Watts. These people showed the true nature of reality to me like no teacher or book ever did. These are my Gods.