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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2500 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 21, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I don’t know, I don’t think it makes me a very cynical person. I enjoy my life a fair bit as you can maybe see from other posts on here. I think it just makes me a bit less naive about tying my future plans to economic growth. I’m still invested in the stock market, but have been trying to avoid the AI boom for example. I’m still going to finish my PhD, but maybe not work in academia when the whole system is going to fall part because of demographics and lack of surplus to pay for basic research. I’m thinking about how to continue to live my life without buying a car so I don’t have to worry rising fuel and associated costs. The future is going to be what it’s going to be: one of us will be right, and there’s very little either of us can do about it as individuals, which I think is what depresses many doomers. They see the doom and gloom as taking away things, I see it as freedom. Guess what can’t happen in a declining energy environment: woke police states, AI takeover (either through what we’re seeing now or AGI), or continued global homogenization. All the atomization, hyper stimulation and specialization that modernity has brought will have to be scaled back and I think that’s a good thing. By trying to build my life around those things, even if you are right about energy/material abundance, I think will end up happy.

Anyway, happy to debate this more another time. I will make a top level post on a culture war thread in a few weeks with my thoughts better laid out with more data and we can debate there.

I do believe you‘re a religious ascetic-mystic of some sort.

  • you starve your body of real food
  • you deny yourself common comforts like cars
  • you punish your body by extensive running
  • you limit your mating prospects with exorbitant restrictions like your dietary and mobility vows

lol when you put it that way I sound pretty crazy.

I’m thinking about how to continue to live my life without buying a car so I don’t have to worry rising fuel and associated costs.

Enjoy your pilgrimage, sinner. Your conception of happiness is being eaten by wolves, because then at least you‘ll never have to experience being eaten by a bear. Sure, we can discuss it another time.

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