While in the past, maiden voyages into mass surveillance with CCTV, VCR and PTZ systems, presented a clear benefit found in deterrents of criminal activity, and I agree that the collection of specific evidence through digital surveillance is beneficial in specific scenarios. However, in the modern era, with exponential increases in technological prowess and therefore surveillance capabilities (Flock cameras, AI facial recognition, etc.), I believe that there are diminishing returns on the increase in safety and conversely a decline in personal protection. I think that danger comes from the indiscriminate collection of all information on all activities from all people. An argument that I've heard many times is essentially "you have nothing to worry about if you aren't doing anything wrong/illegal." However, in a political system that has essentially taken most power out of the hands of the public, a holistic state of observation presents a potential threat because what is "good" or "bad" activity will be determined by an outside third party with interests other than safety. This creates a hypothetical precedent where, with easy access to complete information on a person and exceptional means to find them through idealized surveillance systems, anyone's actions could be deemed antagonistic. This presents a threat to personal speech, safety, and autonomy.

This is an open discussion! I encourage anyone who agrees or disagrees to reply and I will be available for a conversation.

I grew up in a single family house, in a quiet neighborhood. I've always had excellent sleep, and that was never an issue.

It was only after I moved to another city on my own, into a student accommodation, that I realized: I can't really sleep in noisy environments.

This had several unintended consequences in my life decisions:

- I decided not to pursue a masters degree in my field (because that would mean even more years living in noisy student accommodations)

- I can't really take risks on my career. I know that if I try something like starting a business or taking worse paying jobs in a different direction, and that fails, I would end up with no money. I would not be able to live in low budget appartments again — because poor sleep is extremely painful for me.

- I almost never travel: I can only stay at very good hotels that have nice accoustic insulation, or detatched cabins, etc, which are usually extremely expensive or require a car rental to access the place (if you fly there)

Has anyone else had a similar experience? I feel like this is a kind of literal disability that I have. And I realize people who sleep through anything have it so good!

I will do my best to stay neutral, despite being heavily emotional and judgmental about situations like this.

I am aware that there might be too little police or army available to effectively control the masses destroying cities in a.o. France atm.

I am wondering how much of self-justice is allowed in these situations? Wouldn’t any (and I mean also fatal) violence applied fall under self-defense (as shop owner). Democracy is nice and all, but this is disastrous and deserves consequences.

What can be done when faced with these neanderthals?

There’s an old Chinese idiom called 买椟还珠 (mǎi dú huán zhū), literally “buying the box and returning the pearl.”

A man bought a beautifully decorated box containing a precious pearl. He was so impressed by the box that he kept it and returned the pearl.

I’ve been thinking about this story in relation to AI and online discussions.

When someone shares an interesting argument, does it become less valuable if they used AI to help organize or express it?

I sometimes use AI to help communicate in English, which isn’t my first language. I also use it to explore different perspectives and challenge my own assumptions.

For me, the value of a conversation lies in what we can learn from it, not necessarily how every sentence was produced.

But I also believe there should be boundaries.
If AI becomes the primary source of our thinking and creativity, we risk losing something important about human curiosity, imagination and independent judgment.

That brings me to another Chinese children’s fable, 咕咚来了 (The Gudong Is Coming).

In the story, a fruit falls into a pond with a loud splash. One frightened animal runs away, and others follow without investigating what actually happened.

Sometimes our reactions to AI remind me of that story.
There are legitimate concerns about AI, including authenticity, dependence and the future of human creativity. But I wonder whether some of our reactions come from fear of the unfamiliar rather than examining what is actually happening.

Perhaps the challenge is neither to embrace AI uncritically nor reject it instinctively, but to understand where it genuinely helps and where it may undermine something valuable.

Does knowing AI was involved change how you evaluate an idea? And where do you personally draw the line between AI supporting human thought and replacing it?

Edit1: I had a feeling that revealing my Chinese identity would eventually invite some unwarranted attacks. As for whether China is good or bad, I don’t intend to debate that here. Facts speak louder than words.

Edit2: I think I’ve had enough discussion on this topic. Everyone is free to draw their own conclusions.
If a conversation has to begin with unfounded assumptions, accusations, or personal attacks, I don’t think it’s worth wasting each other’s time.
And if the moderators decide to remove this post, that’s their choice too. I respect that.

Edit 3: On sincerity and good faith
One commenter reminded me that we can’t always know others’ intentions, so it’s worth giving people a little grace.
I really appreciated his perspective. It’s how I approach people in real life too: start with goodwill, see how things go, and decide whether to continue.
Why should online conversations be any different?
Perhaps we could all give each other a little more kindness, patience, and benefit of the doubt. After all, genuine conversations are what make these discussions worthwhile. 😊

Thanks to everyone who engaged in a genuine discussion. Have a nice day (wherever you are)

Cards with my wife and chinese takeout sounded like a pretty solid evening. Food was fantastic. Afterward we opened the fortune cookies that came with it and found an ad on the little slips. Really? We put our phones away, sat down together and somehow the marketing department still found us!!

​

What Has Changed in Modern Society

• Evolving View of Authority.

• New Pressures and Technology.

• Shift in Parenting Styles.

• Changing Household Structures:.

• Honesty and Integrity.

• Empathy and Compassion.

• Responsibility.

• A need for instant gratification.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I've been wondering how many of us go through life without ever questioning who we are, what we want, and why we're doing what we're doing.

I am not talking about the types of goals where you check tasks off a list, or build insanely productive routines, or getting a promotion.

I'm talking about the deeper questions. The questions about purpose and self-discovery that philosophers spent their whole life writing about. Maybe you've spent 10+ years preparing to be a doctor and now you hate it and never had the courage to quit? Or maybe you found something you believed in so strongly that you decided to give it everything you had, and it changed your life.

I'm interested in hearing from the people who have confronted themselves honestly and followed through with a certain obsession / depth and learned something from it. Anyone is welcome to talk about their experiences, struggles, and discoveries.

If you never went deeper into yourself, this is your sign and now is the time.

I love old things much more than modern ones. I love the old life I lived 20 years ago when everything seemed normal. I hate this life I live now where people don't wish well for each other, everyone is preoccupied with their own affairs, and they don't care if someone falls in front of them as if they aren't human. How eagerly I looked forward to going to my grandmother's house and meeting my relatives! It was the dearest thing to my heart and the thing I loved doing. I used to love playing on my old PS2, and the games were so beautiful and fun back then, despite their simplicity. Now, with the PS5, I only turn it on once, and I hate turning it on and turn it off immediately. I no longer have the desire to play. Even with TV programs, I still prefer watching old programs over new ones. Is this normal for someone in their twenties?

Does anyone else feel like people have forgotten how to have meaningful conversations?

Lately, I’ve been feeling like everyone is so caught up in their own lives that we’ve somehow forgotten how to really talk to each other.

At home, conversations revolve around finances, daily routines, relatives, and responsibilities. At work, it’s the usual “How are you?” followed by “I’m good, how are you?” Or someone talking about their recent vacation, kids, or marriage. With friends, it’s often relationship problems, office politics, or the latest drama. And on the internet, it’s trending topics, hot takes, or conversations that are largely physical in nature.

But where are the conversations about life itself?

Where do we talk about how we're actually doing, beyond the automatic “I'm fine”? About the things we're struggling to understand about ourselves? About how we're changing, what we're learning, what scares us, what makes us feel alive, or why certain things affect us the way they do?

I miss the kind of conversations where you start talking about something random and, three hours later, you're discussing human nature, your childhood, your fears, your perception of happiness, or the strange ways our minds work. Conversations where you don't have to make yourself interesting, useful, funny, or even okay. You can just be.

Sometimes, I wonder if we've started treating conversations as transactions. We network to advance our careers, talk to vent, listen to someone's problems because we need to feel needed, or maintain connections because they might be useful someday. Even when we care about people, our interactions can feel so functional.

I'm not saying that everyday conversations or talking about mundane things is meaningless. There's intimacy in the ordinary, too. But I wonder if we've lost the curiosity to go beyond it.

Does anyone else crave conversations that aren't about getting something out of the other person, but simply about understanding life and each other a little better?

Or is this just a phase of adulthood, where everyone is carrying so much that there's barely any room left to be genuinely curious about another person's inner world?

When I look back, I realise I haven't really had the kind of friendships I've always wanted. I had best friends till 12th, but I feel like the attachment was one-sided.

I've started distancing myself from even my best friend because I never felt like a priority.

Now I'm in college, and I can't seem to connect with people here. I've made some hostel friends, but I doubt we'll stay in touch after college.

I know I'm still young, but it feels like I'm missing out on something everyone else seems to experience so naturally. I just want a few people who care about me as much as I care about them.

Out of the apps I use, TikTok seems to have the nastiest comment sections. Someone can simply be sharing their life or something that makes them happy, and people immediately start picking apart their appearance. It honestly breaks my heart.

There’s a saying that if someone can’t fix something about their appearance in five seconds, don’t point it out. Something stuck in their teeth? Sure, kindly let them know. Their facial features, height, body, or a disability? Leave them alone. And just because something can be changed doesn’t mean it needs your opinion, either.

“They put themselves online” isn’t an excuse to be cruel. Posting a video isn’t consent to being bullied, and calling something “a joke” doesn’t make it harmless. There’s a real person reading what you write.

You don’t have to like everyone or enjoy their content. But you can scroll without making someone’s appearance the punchline. People shouldn’t have to meet your standards of beauty just to share their lives.

Has anyone else noticed this on TikTok? What do you think helps discourage it without giving the nasty comments more attention?

I’ve noticed just within the last couple months how much more detailed Google search answers have become. Even looking someone up, details of this person’s life will come up. I’ve found most of it to be reliable info. It is continuously expanding its reach throughout the internet; learning and continuously advancing just by existing. It’s like if the internet started off sentient, it has now become omniscient. I honestly don’t understand a lot about AI but that is how I imagine search engines to work; sponge-like entities that absorb all the info that exists in the internet and conveniently presented in accurate, concise answers. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t imagine what future capabilities are yet to be acquired.

I wanted to share that i love my dadi alot and i have alot of memories with her , she has been in icu since start of october , had some lung infection , her situation did become better but now i got to know that she has got swelling and still she is on ventilator its been 20 days now and also mri is not completely fine , she has been a great lady always
Everyone please pray for her wellbeing please
I am missing her being well , us playing ludo , talking , enjoying , having food together . I want her not to suffer , now i have become numb as i have cried alot and i just want her to be fine i know its hard but she must not suffer
And i am coping up by thinking i also might not live beyond 80 , and one day i will unite with her after 80 years many of us cant stay thats max right so ultimately we will unite
Thats what i am thinking
But for now please pray for her
Please 🙏🏻
Waheguru meher kre
I love u dadi 🧿❤️🫂

I have see a lot of memes and reels on Instagram lately where people joke about pedophilia like it's nothing serious. Some meme pages even make Jeffrey Epstein look cool, using songs, edits and references to him just for laughs and likes. And honestly, I don't really get why this has become a thing.

The problem is, Instagram isn't used only by adults. Kids use it too, and they can come across this stuff while casually scrolling through reels. If they keep seeing people joke about these things or treat someone like Epstein as a meme icon, could it slowly make them take these issues less seriously? I know there's a difference between dark humour and actually supporting something, but sometimes it feels like people don't even care about that difference anymore.

Reddit has bots like AutoModerator that help mods filter posts based on certain rules. I was wondering why Instagram couldn't have something similar, where suspicious content gets flagged for review and genuinely harmful posts are taken down.

Obviously, not every joke needs to be censored, and automated systems can make mistakes too. But I feel like there should be some limits, especially when it comes to content that makes serious issues look normal just to get attention.

What do you guys think? Should Instagram have a moderation system like this, or would that be taking things too far?

I would say ppl has such popcorn mindset nowadays.

Sick mentality that this society has nowadays they want everything fast with a dopamine flush for every small effort or sometimes no efforts at all.

Also everyone thinks they know everything I mean chatgpt would help you guys in all sorts of ways in answer questions but having an opinion outside of this... Nobody has none.

And by isolating from everyone and thinking that nobody would realise what I am going through that's the funniest 😂

Dumbass ppl

From the day you're born, the two most important things that will matter for the rest of your life are your genetics and environment. Not to say we cannot choose how we adapt to our circumstances but our circumstances mostly determine the trajectory of your life and yet you have little to no control over it.

If for example, you're born in North Korea with severe disabilities with shitty parents in the lowest hierarchical parts of that society, your life is pretty much screwed because you're most likely going to suffer more than some kid born in a 1st world country with exceptional genetics with wealthy, loving parents in a decent community. And at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether you live a good life or not.

I'm not 100% anti-natalist but some people should have the moral decency to not have kids if they live in an environment or lack the wisdom to have their potential kids truly thrive and not just exist. Life should be a gift, not an obligation you're forced to suffer in.

Why is it that when people say we should are for people with mental health crisis and they share their mental health crisis and are honest about their struggles people don’t truly care or want to hear it?

I ain’t even know what group this is but like why is it so hard for people to single someone out like instead of saying some stuff like “I hate people who do (insert random deed here) because it hurts people or something ” but instead say some stuff like “I hate (insert some random group ethnicity, gender, or random physical trait) because SOME of them do (insert deed here)” like is it so hard to comprehend to actually to just single someone say you hate the deed or people who do the deed why are people so insistent on this f your pattern recognition the mere existence of a exception immediately proves whatever group you hate is not the problem so hate the problem no need to get people who are not involved in this well to get involved

Edit: prehaps I didn’t make this clear what I’m trying to say is people hating a group for some people in that group doing something instead of just hating people doing the action

We are often told to defer to experience, to respect someone simply because they have spent years doing something. But time alone doesn’t guarantee insight.

What if they have spent those years without ever questioning if they’re doing it well? What if they have never taken the risks that might have taught them something different, or explored the very things they hold strong opinions about? Time doesn't always challenge our beliefs, it often makes us more stubborn about them.

Why should someone’s conclusions always carry more weight simply because they have held them longer?

Familiarity can look like understanding, especially when neither has been questioned.

Maybe experience isn’t just about how long you’ve lived or what you’ve done, but how deeply you’ve engaged with it.

Whenever the phrase “God” is used, atheists always think OP is referring to religion. I understand that the term is associated with religion but “God” simply means a creator. Not a specific God from any religion but an infinite being.

For anyone in doubt of a God. Some simple math can prove it.

You, the person reading this, are connected to everything that was and ever will be. You are the product of 2. The 2 that brought you here, are a product of 4. That number will continue to double until it is infinite. Connecting you to everything.

I know this is much easier said than done, but I've realized that so much of my stress comes from me trying to control the things that are out of my hands.

I can spend hours worrying about what other people think about me, whether I made the right choice, what might happen tomorrow, or replaying conversations over and over. None of that changes the outcome. It just steals time and peace from the present.

My father is 70 years old now, and throughout his life, he’s always been an incredibly kind and helpful person. He’s always been there for his friends and helped people whenever he could, often without expecting anything in return.

But over the years, he’s become increasingly bitter and disappointed in people, especially when it comes to friendships.

He often tells me how few genuine friends there really are. Some people he has helped countless times over the years don’t even bother to pick up the phone and give him a call just to see how he’s doing.

It’s not that he expects people to repay him for everything he’s done. But after all those years of being there for others, it hurts to realize that some of them apparently don’t care enough to even make a simple phone call.

This has made me wonder:
Based on your own life experience, what percentage of people do you think genuinely have the character, empathy, loyalty, and willingness to be a good, reliable friend?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from older people who have experienced friendships over several decades.
Have you become more cynical about friendships as you’ve gotten older, or have your experiences been different?

This quote from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has always made me pause & reflect. We often measure progress through GDP, technology, infras or economic growth. But Ambedkar suggests a different yardstick: are women getting more opportunities, more representation & better outcomes than before?

Do you agree or is there a better way to measure a community's progress?