No doubt. Mistakes and bad decisions happen. I rarely choose to do harm. Even when I have done harm, it was usually an unforeseen product of better intent. I can only assume that others share these sentiments. So it’s easy for me to rationalize the concept that:

1. Were I to confront an alternate but identical self, would I feel that I had any reason to deceive and would I be receptive to understanding or even empathy? No and yes, respectively and obviously. Therefore…

2. Were I to confront my closest friend, would I feel that they had any reason to deceive and would I be receptive to understanding or even empathy? Again, a no-brainer. No and yes. So…

3. Were my closest friend to confront me, should they feel that I had any reason to deceive and should they be receptive to understanding or even empathy?

I know what the answer should be. Self-empathy is tough. I exist in a place of love where I have no reason to deceive because forgiveness is guaranteed and empathy is the norm. But I still resist my own empathy because of learned trauma.

And I just realized that I wasn’t really sharing this for you because my brain went down a thought that you didn’t actually convey. 😆 I suppose this was moreso practice for my own mental health. My therapist is going to be so proud.

This is me and myself about to pat each other on each other’s back at the same time. 🙅 Good job, me!

Speaking for myself, I grew up in an extremely toxic environment. Honesty, misunderstandings, and dishonesty were punished equally. So telling the truth about three transgressions guaranteed that you received the punishment of each. Getting caught lying made little to no difference. But getting away with anything meant less punishment. This created an environment where it was ALWAYS beneficial to lie. This made me very good at deception as a young child. That made it very easy to manipulate those around me. I didn’t want to so it wasn’t that important to me, but it helped me survive and adapt.

But I got away from that place and met my partner who taught me complete trust and opened. No matter what I say, we work together and support one another. I have no incentive to deceive. Every once in a while I forget that no one is going to hit me for messing up and I start to lie. But even that is immediately accepted and appreciated. Additionally, we also have standing agreements that nothing is obligated. If you don’t want to talk about something, you don’t have to. And if you want to lie, you can. But after two decades, I love telling the truth. I feel so supported and safe.

Now, there are times I lie (to others mostly), but it is used as a tool more than a survival tactic. It is something I take my time with and decide to do.

Maybe your environment is not one that is safe to exist in? That was my issue.

It indicates low confidence. In this context it is because the response is an absolute hail mary wild guess.

I love your brain. Lawful chaos icon. Never change. Unless it antagonizes someone, that is.

My parents are not abusive

I said this for decades. My parents never drank and were devout christians. My father was a committed husband and my mother rarely laid her hands on me but they were equally abusive. After confronting these things and joining group therapy, I have been horrified at the things they did that I didn’t think was “abuse”.

You sound young, and I’m not saying that you are not capable of wisdom or discernment of truth only that you may not have an open perspective on the scope of complex emotion. I would recommend really exploring what you define as abuse before you land on such a conclusory judgement. Because the things you describe in your own words are vile and toxic. Not just the representations of your parents - and I don’t mean to reproach - but even your own representations are troublesome. And to be clear, none of that is important to my point or even matters to me beyond the concept that your perspectives do not seem to be that of a healthy, non-abusive relationship.

So for the purpose of your own self-empathy ask yourself: If you were able to raise the child that you were, would you treat that child in the same way? Would the child deserve to be treated that way? Would your sibling ever describe you the way you have described yourself? Do you deserve to be described that way? Would you describe others that you care about in that same way?

And if I’m wrong and way out of line then feel free to let me have it. I’m not trying to judge you in any way, but I remember being so young and misguided and some of the things you portray remind me of who I used to be. I wasted so much of my life on anger and regret. Good luck!

I don’t have the slightest clue what concept you are trying to elicit, but regardless you’re taking my words out of context. It’s in bad faith and I’m not the least bit interested. No thank you.

But that catharsis is blinding, vile, and destructive.

My friend, you’ve got the right stuff. You have a very smooth and relatable style of communication and I really do value when those like you say something that I espouse and would otherwise butcher.

I won’t tell people not to celebrate because I know how disliked that sort of sentiment is on a thread like this. But you’re absolutely right and it sucks. They know that they just hit the “not crying wolf” lottery and will never stop banging that drum.

I’m frightened for whom the bell tolls.

It’s a dash the length of M. The smaller one is called en dash.

Value is not the same as importance

Butterfly affect. You literally just made it rain here. Do you have no decency? How dare you!?!

It just blows me away how many people are just responding to this without addressing it…

Careful, the last person with a modicum of common fucking sense almost got flamethrowered by Beef Supreme.

“Hey, I just thought of something crazy, maybe DON’T kick yourself in the balls?”

one-of-us^one-of-usone-of-us^one-of-usone-of-us^one-of-usone-of-us^one-of-usone-of-us^one-of-us

I think you missed the bus.

I’d rather not reward manufacturers that include that just to raise the price

Cool cool, you do you homie

and track and sell your data with my money.

If you didn’t connect the device to the internet… Then… There is no “data”

This isn’t a difficult concept. The device didn’t ship with your WiFi broadcast ID and password preset in the firmware. Are you saying that the product has a sim card that will just relay info back regardless of whether or not you connect it? And the manufacturer is cool just paying for this connection? What “data”???

Yet again, don’t willingly and intentionally connect it to anything that has access to the internet. JFC, is it really that abstract of a concept that confounds all others? I don’t think I needed to be told this. It’s the very definition of self-evident.

What the absolute fuck is happening? Did everyone eat brain tumors for breakfast?

Have tons of devices that can connect to the Internet. Apparently I’m the only one here resourceful enough to not connect them

Lol,

First of all, it’s spelled ‘paragon’. And second, if we condone shit heads they’ll choose to be less bigoted because they’re clearly and historically scrupulous. That’s why we must capitulate - because of their fair, peaceful, and rational idealogrogy… Wait, BRB, I need to feed the brain worms and they are starting to look emaciated.

What an absolute twat you’d have to be to suggest something so unimaginably proposterous.

Brain-rot exists. I constantly have to remind my right-wing shit head coworkers that they have more in common with liberals than I do.

"Well whatabout™ this lib rep or that one???”

Great, go get them. Drag them into the street and eat them to absorb their power or hang them in your basement with a ball gag for all I care. They are you’re homies, not mine.

Someone’s print failed…

The electrical industrial machinery that are used to manufacture this specific product includes names like “scum sucker” and “meat pump”. These are pumps that were designed to move fluids, and the “meat” moves like a fluid under pressure. The chutes that move the solids - before they become… a sort of slurry - collect lighter fats, skin, and scales and they form a sticky gelatinous stalactite. They grow up to a meter or two before they break and fall.

It is a sight to see. My favorite cannery was on an active volcano. You had to take a hovercraft to get there; or a helicopter in high winds; and if the weather was too bad you had to hitch a ride with the haulers. Those things walz through extreme swells like it tickles. Not far from dutch harbor. I think it was akutan. Pretty wild though. Still can’t eat the stuff, I took one of those fish tentacles down the back of my shirt, and I threw those clothes away. They also made fich sticks. Same recipe I suppose.

Maybe it’s ketamine 🎶

Haven’t played the other two, but have been playing monster hunter for almost 20 years now. Capcom is wysiwyg when it comes to monhunbo. And the recent releases have had exclusive pre-release gear (albeit ones with short lived usefulness). And while they and hello games are still releasing new content for free, they can have my money any time they want.

I trust my credit card more with Sean Murray than my wife.