Bloatware is a huge problem on phones as you can't remove it w/o a root, and I understand the rhetorical problems with it, but can't one just unintall the software?

Oh I agree. We need to make it harder for one to sidestep the regulation set in place and break up the echo chambers of stormfront and reddit (although, I don't really know how that could be achieved sadly).

Honestly I think the rise in mass shooting is more coupled with a glorification of the act through the media than a rise in gun ownership.

Gun laws haven't lessened recently, yet the number of shootings has skyrocketed, so personally I feel that although it is an important issue it isn't the core of the problem.

We don't treat our mentally ill with any competency in this country, and the media infames the shooters. In my mind that is the core of the issue.

Thanks man, I just finished a rough outline today and am working out characters.

After making this comment I realized that no one is born writing, if I want to read that story I better make it.

Oh okay that makes sense. I read it as a demining "kids these days never talk to one another" instead of you talking about how you communicate. My bad.

That's probably it, I didn't even think about that. Such a foreign concept to me to not be able to access the net at all time, it's been that way for me all my life.

I have an idea for a book.

It's a cliche YA fantasy novel, where a group of kids are picked by prophecy to fight an ancient threat.

The spin is that the ancient threat was a little late, fifteen or so years late. So the teenagers have all become middle aged. Just the thought of a pudgy accountant swinging an ethereal claymore warms the cockles of my heart.

I dislike that middle bit of your last paragraph. I also have friends that I talk to, don't know why having a smartphone hints at my lack of friends.

Other than that, yeah we just have different ways of life. I embrace new tech as I see how it can help me and how I can incorporate it into my life.

Also all my information is backed up on at least two different hard drives (I quickly found out in highschool that the amount of copies you have of something is # of hard drives - 1). If something happened to my phone, laptop, or desktop I'd just get another and load everything back on. I've never dealt with a power outage that lasted more than 8 hours, the life of my phone.

Sweden.

My family moved to America around 1800 and I want to take the lineage home.

I'm jealous. I haven't lifted for a month due to illness.

How'd it go for you?

So simple I never would have thought of it. Sounds insane ha

Facebook is a pretty good IM device as most people have an account, plus it's easy to disable the streaming feed. Twitter is good for quick news, things that can be summed up in 140 characters. I follow mostly gaming devs and breaking news feeds from BBC and NASA.

My smart phone feels like another limb, and I really can't imagine not having it. I'd need a backpack to carry all the services it offers, even if offline.

As someone who only started using the internet around 2010, how does one find good blogs to read? I enjoy the internet of olden days he talks about, is there anywhere where it still exists?

We've never understood spending money on a wedding, it'd be better to save that up for our dreams instead.

The most expensive part will be the ring, and she's never liked diamonds so it'll probably be less than 2k + court fees all together.

The only movie I've ever watched more than once in a year is Mad Max Fury Road.

I've watched it at least five times since it came out.

This is the first day in like, two weeks, that I feel well enough to get stuff done so I cleaned the house and am proud of how it looks especially after two weeks of filth.

Also I got 50 xp on Duolingo yesterday (broke my old record) and for the first time understood a news broadcast in my target language which was awesome.

This is an article saying that racism is systematically present in America, and that many white people refuse to acknowledge this.

I don't disagree, but it's best when reading essays to also read essays from the opposing side, so someone saying that systematic racism does not exist in America, or that white Americans do not currently benefit from it. If there isn't an opposing viewpoint, then why spend time reading the essay? And if you don't read the opposing view then you're missing out on half of the discussion.

>I have no idea what I'm talking about

Don't worry man, no one does, that's the point of phylosophy

The problem is that if the mind and brain are one in the same, then you can't transfer it without transferring the brain. You can't take something out of it self, you know? If you think differently, prove me wrong, I don't want to be right haha

The idea is that if dualism is true then we can model the states that link the mind and brain in a machine and link it to the mind. No one really seems to believe in dualism so it's a moot point either way.

"Kevin Sutherland, a Liberal pro-gun activist, Stabbed to Death"

That's the caliber of titles I came to this site for, it get's the idea across without any agenda.

Sorry for being so brief, I'm not well read on the matter. It's been about a year since I've looked into it so sorry if I muck up.

Basically the question is "Where is the mind?" If you believe in a soul than you'd suppose that the mind is ethereal and only connected and communicating through the flesh of the brain.

The other opinion that I know of is Naturalism or something to that effect, which states that the mind is a representation of physical states of the flesh. Just the same way that digestion is done by the digestive tract and not etherically linked to it. This is the opinion I hold simply since I haven't read a convincing argument against it. Unfortunately if the mind and brain are one in the same, it is impossible to transfer, and any attempt at doing so would just be making a copy.

Just depends on where you stand on the question of duality.

If you think the mind and brain are separate, than it can be passed from one form to another, but if you don't agree with that then it can't be passed as it IS the brain.

Luckily that's a century old debate so there's enough literature to stand on. Unfortunately from what I see most stand on the side opposite of dualism.

I've always found it beneficial when reading articles like this to also read one from an author with the opposing view. Can anyone think of one?

I want to get into the Rocky Mountain biological lab summer program next year, this means that I must get my GPA up.

I failed some courses due to anxiety freshman semester, and now that I've dealt with that disorder I feel confident picking up the pieces of my life. So this next semester I'm re-taking those courses (on top of the 12 hours needed to stay on track of course). I will pass and the F's will be expunged from my record, which will shoot my gpa up high enough to where I can apply to that program without shame.

I also am doing an hour of duolingo / khan / and writing for my other goals of learning Swedish, advanced Algebra, and writing a book.

I'm reading leviathan, a young adult novel with a really interesting world.

I'm also reading Ulysses, although I haven't made much headway this week.

Also Strata by Terry Pratchet, it's a great read (as are all his books)