Michael

Let’s not kid ourselves. Publicly available information is invasive and a violation of privacy.

We have corporations who have effectively set up mass surveillance networks and they call it “adtech”.

There is an entire economy surrounding “publicly available information”. There are corporations that act as as data brokers and people search websites that compile way too much sensitive information about private individuals. Newspapers systematically report on events that aren’t really of public interest concerning private individuals; e.g. arrest records and these articles hang around forever even if the arrest doesn’t result in a conviction or the crime is expunged.

If this was employed by the government or law enforcement, it would absolutely include data that extends far beyond the reaches of publicly available information — and it’s worth pointing out that the US has a mass surveillance network in the form of the NSA/PRISM.

There is zero way you could convince me that AI, prone to hallucination, would be well served to predict crime or criminals. Even if it didn’t hallucinate, it still wouldn’t be possible to predict crime - only potentially anticipate a crime. We aren’t 2D characters following a script — anything can happen.

Law enforcement is already very unhinged. Let’s not cheerlead the addition of any tools that aid in psychosis to their arsenal.

This is about as psychotic as governments using AI to predict crimes.

We didn’t have internet or the means to properly educate ourselves (at least to today’s standards) for much of the 20th century. And now, we’re finally at the point where laypeople anywhere can simply look this stuff up with relative ease. Though, few do or are aware that common corporations are responsible for atrocities.

Thanks for doing your part in spreading that awareness, even if that’s not the point you were trying to make.

The company did not answer whether it or the outside firm it hired communicated or consulted with the Israeli military as part of its internal probe.

In its statement, the company also conceded that it “does not have visibility into how customers use our software on their own servers or other devices.” The company added that it could not know how its products might be used through other commercial cloud providers.

Microsoft said the Israeli military, like any other customer, was bound to follow the company’s Acceptable Use Policy and AI Code of Conduct, which prohibit the use of products to inflict harm in any way prohibited by law. In its statement, the company said it had found “no evidence” the Israeli military had violated those terms.

Those three quotes stick out to me as proof that they are pleading ignorance.

A military is not “like any other customer”. Forbid access and fact-find some more or stop pretending that you aren’t complicit in AI being used for harm.

Nobody wants to live in an age of unregulated AI use besides the power-hungry and the short-sighted — and even those people probably won’t like the consequences once the boomerang comes back.

Let’s not throw the boomerang, please. Do better.

Just because protests aren’t being covered by the mainstream media doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And a significant portion of liberal spaces are becoming radical in sentiment, even if some are still constrained to hoping Bernie and AOC will save them in 2028. You aren’t going to hear me praise anything going on as being sufficient, though.

It’s definitely warmed my heart hearing your thoughts and insights.

I do actually think Quorn is around in some retailers, but it is expensive - it’s not terribly expensive though. I liked it when I consumed it in the past and it agreed well with me. Beyond/Impossible have a small amount of amount of problematic ingredients (like avocado oil in one of them - which I am allergic to, not just sensitive to), but the main issue I simply can’t afford them.

I recently moved back to a rural area and I don’t access to a Kroger/Whole Foods/Wegmans (not that supporting any chain is really something I’m proud of), so admittedly my options are limited. This interaction prompting me to find out that chickpea tofu is available locally and that pumfu is available (though a bit far from my location) is completely life-changing.

I’ll have to get nutritional yeast, I didn’t realize it was an (albeit small) protein source - it’s a great seasoning. The defatted peanut powder seems very good to order in bulk. I had no idea about lab-grown dairy protein, it sounds great and I will consider it as well. I didn’t realize quinoa had a modest amount of protein, so I will have to incorporate that. And I’ll have to trial oats to see if they bother me. I take a plant-based multivitamin for vegans (Ora) already so I should be good to transition over anytime I want to a fully plant-based diet.

I have always aspired to go vegan, and was a practicing vegetarian for many years. It was wrecking my health, and I really almost didn’t know what to do. It took me a while (and many years in denial) to realize wheat and soy were the culprits that were specifically bothering me. So for many years, I have mainly ate fish, a moderate amount of beans, some cheese, or ate some free-range eggs, and small amounts of poultry (which does not bring me any joy to admit). None of the aforementioned (besides beans) are things I’m particularly fond of consuming for various reasons (which we likely are 110% on the same page on), but I admit on some levels I’d had given up on trying to find what agrees with my body.

Our interaction has renewed my interest in exploring my options though. I probably misread your intent too, I know I err on the side of naive optimism and that usually doesn’t result in the best interactions with people who are informed on the state of the world, but damn it, I’m just tired of giving up and seeing others give up.

Thank you for exposing me to your knowledge once again. I am sorry to have reacted strongly earlier too. It was unfair to you.

Thank you. I am very grateful for your insights. I haven’t asked for help much at all in my life and I appreciate it more than you know.

I am unsure what generally causes my discomfort in the bean department. Soy and tofu cause very awful non-allergic reactions, but I will look into this further. As for wheat, I highly suspect it’s more than a sensitivity, though I don’t particularly want to pursue a diagnosis for celiac disease if I can just avoid it.

I tend to do fine with moderate amounts of pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, and a few others, but admittedly it seems like there are more beans that I can try and vary. Lentils seem to give me some trouble though, which is unfortunate because I like them more than most beans.

Pea protein and peanut butter seem to be fine. I will look into pumfu (sounds life-changing) and defatted peanut butter and incorporate those into my diet. I tend to do fine with pumpkin seeds and peanuts, but I also have issues with high fat content food. Great suggestions, I had no idea they were a thing. I don’t really care about taste, I just want to be healthy and make choices that align with my ethics.

You put a smile on my face. Sorry to be perceivably negative, the situation on this planet is incredibly frustrating for everybody with a desire for a better future and I don’t want to alienate anyone. Thanks once again.

Edit: Apparently chickpea tofu is a thing too. I will have to try that because chickpeas are a bean I tolerate the most. I just never shopped at the local retailer that stocks it. Pumfu is proving hard to find near me unless I go 36 miles to obtain it, but maybe I can stock up if I ever have to go that way.

Could you please help me figure out protein sources that are non-meat and don’t include wheat or soy? I have trouble digesting large quantities of beans. It’s affecting my health.

And of course I greatly appreciate you. I realize you aren’t seeking approval. I think wanting to ease the suffering of others that exist is also admirable. People like us are attempting to trailblaze a better future and of course it’s worthy of recognition.

Well, as it stands the vast majority of the world is coerced or propagandized into consenting to governments and regulators for them to do nothing and let disaster manifest. They are mostly all blissfully unaware.

Give it a couple years of Trump’s reign to see how people react to somebody taking away their rights before you completely give into cynicism and close yourself to the possibility of garnering hope.

Your personal choices are your own decision, but I do think it’s admirable for you to claim personal responsibility.

Though, shaming or judging others for wanting to have a family and continue their genetic line is not something I advocate for.

Your small steps to reduce your impact simply aren’t enough. Even if they were bigger than they are, it still doesn’t put you on a pedestal to look down on others for their decisions. You are free to do so, but you won’t get my approval.

We need worldwide change. Vastly reducing animal agriculture and non-essential industry is imperative.

Choosing to not consume meat doesn’t solve the major issue. It doesn’t make even make a small dent and virtue signalling about your choices doesn’t do anything either.

People buy this stuff because it’s usually cheap and readily available. It’s cheap and readily available because there is almost no regulation.

Slowly phasing out factory farming and animal agriculture and replacing it with lab-grown meat is necessary. We also need to explore non-meat protein sources more seriously, the options that exist just suck, they are expensive (besides tofu), and many products contain common allergens, like soy and wheat.

Well, fortunately Trump is doing a pretty good job at radicalizing everybody in the US (and outside the US) against the status quo/world order and those who uphold it.

Hopefully we will never resort to that sort of violence to address our problems though.

If this was about what personally upsets or offends me, and not the fate of the world and everybody who lives on it, maybe I’d agree with you.

I don’t block others, just block me if I bother you so much to accuse me of stalking you.

It’s the same thread. I’m not following you. I have never talked to you before the past hour to the best of my knowledge.

I’d like to kindly request that you not drag anyone down with you in the process. I respect your right to feel the way you do though, and I wish suicide was more accessible and humane for individuals to explore.

Doesn’t change the fact that we can scale those vertical farms tomorrow and power them however the fuck we’d like to (in the short-term) to mitigate disaster.

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I should’ve just reported. D’oh.

Continue spinning the tales of the rich, it’s no sweat off my back to call your fantasies out. Nobody wants to live in a world that is scarce and violent. Next.

Well, as it stands, we have more solutions and technology on the table than ever before.

Like the recent breakthrough: sodium-ion batteries. Or proton batteries.

If we utilized the products of desalination and put it towards energy storage, vertical farms could be scaled sustainably and powered solely by renewables/solar. Energy storage with non-rare earth materials is groundbreaking.

This gives us some breathing room to stop inputting wasteful amounts of water into agriculture and deal with our topsoil. Vertical farms don’t necessarily need water input like typical agriculture and solar panels are cheap to make. This also mitigates the climate’s effect on agriculture and yields.

Hey, you’re the one who said not having kids is giving up. Weirdo.

I did not, re-read:

Is it not selfish to throw your hands up and give up because governments are choosing inaction and corporations are out of control?

I meant spreading awareness and taking action on any scale you are able. We all have a responsibility to do so.

Humanity needs to die, but good job trying to make this into a rip on capitalism. Gonna toss some genocide in there? Go back to ML

Are you okay? I’m not a Marxist-Leninist or an authoritarian. The personal attacks keep coming, but you aren’t hitting the mark.

Regardless, I’m sorry you feel that way. Check out r/solarpunk or slrpnk.net to see more nuanced discussion on the issues our species faces and what we can do.