In addition to the replies you got already, discord has screen sharing/streaming. An experience kind of like zoom (I don’t use it and dont see the appeal but maybe someone who does can elaborate more. My partner uses this feature sometimes).

Sorry, I thought this was in another thread that was actually talking about IQ. I’ve clicked through too many articles.

This article doesn’t mention IQ at all, even though your response does. IQ isn’t an absolute quantitative measure for intelligence even though many people conflate them - this is probably why the article doesn’t mention it.

I’d dig into the Financial Times article that this Neoscope article is about but it’s pay-walled. The neoscope article makes some case for intelligence declining (I don’t have time to read those citations right now), but I’d point out this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with less intelligent parents having children. It could be evidence that the material conditions for us ordinary citizens is declining as a whole (I think we would both agree on that point). Cost of living is up, people are working longer. Long COVID probably has something to do with it, and stress.

Im not going to write some big long podt, just two things:

1. people, on average, are not getting dumber. Anything you noticed observationally about dumb people having more children does not seem to have any effect on the world. Human nutrition has improved vastly over the past 100 years, as has education, etc.

2. IQ increases every year. I don’t think this is evidence people are getting smarter because I think IQ is a poor measure of intelligence. I’m pointing this out to you because your statement about “IQ drifting toward the bottom’” is factually untrue.

the kneejerk reaction that the statement always gets is annoying.

I agree with everything you said, but I’m going to point out something. If there is a common kneejerk reaction to some particular topic, there’s probably a reason for that. You yourself said its annoying? I suppose its predictable then. If you can predict that people are going to react in some way, you can write with more explanation to clarify that you aren’t actually supporting something like eugenics. The poster I’m responding to did not do this.

I took this lack of explanation as support (which, on reflection, might be leaping to conclusions). The overall tone of the comment is rather judgemental.

The commenter is also wrong; IQ hasn’t been “drifting towards the bottom”, the average IQ increases every year. Its why they have to constantly adjust the tests, because 100 is meant to be an average score by design. This is primarily why I chose to respond to him. He’s not saying " which is why we should invest in family planning" or “we should invest in children’s education”, he’s making an untrue statement, and then pretending that this will cause some sort of feedback loop. Dumb people making more dumb people.

IQ is not some absolute quantitative metric of intelligence. The people who treat it like it is… I find that a lot of them are pushing some sort of angle or simply don’t understand it.

This is the plot to a fictional movie. Intelligence is a factor of many things, and most of those factors are not genetic.

Your observation seems close to the opinions of old school eugenicists. “The wrong people are having children”.

I agree, we shouldn’t be coddling folk triggered by messages like “Everyone is Welcome”. They need to toughen up and learn to accept messages of inclusivity.

They SHOULD feel uncomfortable if they don’t like this sign. It’ll put hair on their chest.

Yes exactly. Without writing too much more, I’ll just say I wish it had been done a bit different, and there’s no shame in critiquing a finished product for what it is (within reason. I’m not a huge fandom person so I don’t really know how toxic this all got for some people). It’s still quite good.

Yeah. Valid. I’m just going to leave it up and take my downvotes.

I’m sorry to do this but “its a children’s cartoon” isn’t a reason to not think critically of this show. It takes itself VERY seriously and deserves serious thought. We’re not examining the Deep Lore of Spongebob here.

The critique was overblown but its still not wrong. If we weren’t shown the planetary destruction/genocide the Diamonds (the antagonists) were doing, I would agree entirely that people were thinking about a cartoon too hard. But the show makes a point to explore the destruction, the genocides and “human zoo” and its effects. It tells us directly why it happens and who is responsible. It takes it seriously, dwells on it, and then expects us to move on. Its reasonable to ask why the show chose to do this.

Someone chose to write this show this way. We don’t actually need Steven’s mother’s family to be literal fascists (they are the heads of an alien government if you did not watch the series) on top of being emotionally constipated and abusive. Pick one plot thread or make more characters. Send the Space Nazis to Space Jail for their Space Crimes.

There’s plenty of good in the show, though. That’s why people spend so much energy complaining about it. If it were simply bad people would have forgotten about it immediately. The haters are fans whether they will admit it or not.

The problems with Steven Universe are similar to the reasons I hated Harry Potter as a kid. I knew what slavery was, and I knew Hermione was right to fight it even when the author tried to frame her as a silly busy-body. It wasn’t even the only problem I had with the series as a kid, just the last straw. Kids are thoughtful and deserve good media.

(Steven universe is better than that series, just an observation)

Are you talking about plan B type pills? They are not an abortifacient. Common misconception (important to correct though).

Per FDA link:

Q. Is Plan B One-Step an abortifacient (causing abortion)?

A. No. Plan B One-Step will not work if a person is already pregnant, meaning it will not affect an existing pregnancy. Plan B One-Step prevents pregnancy by acting on ovulation, which occurs well before implantation. Evidence does not support that the drug affects implantation or maintenance of a pregnancy after implantation, therefore it does not terminate a pregnancy.

I nabbed this from some meme chat earlier:

You’re being disingenuous.

During the Iraq war/invasion of Afghanistan the american military was being treated as “defenders” of our nation. Public schools frame unjustified wars as justified to this day. I personally was taught that dropping nuclear bombs on Japanese cities was morally justified, and I didn’t learn until I was an adult that the Japanese air force/navy was obliterated at this point and the nukes were completely unnecessary.

What I’m saying is, pretending that being 18 means the average person suddenly views military personnel as murderers is completely loony toons. That’s not how this works.

Ah yes, all those 18 year old kids who bought into propaganda produced by a massive state run machine totally deserve it. Especially the ones from poor families in economically depressed areas that thought they could pay for college by enlisting.

When I left my tiny home town to go to the mall in the nearby economically depressed city (Flint MI), they had army recruiters just posted up outside. Trying to catch suckers in the wake of 9/11.

That town still doesn’t have clean water.

People don’t just decide they want to go kill brown people. You have to propagandize them, tell them they’ll be heroes. Tell them they’ll be rewarded. Force them to grow up in conditions that leave them with few choices.

Fight against wars for oil. Fight against american imperialism. The vets themselves are almost entirely working class. Choose better targets for your vitrol.

Disgusting. Why the FUCK would you talk to our allies this way? The guy is a polish government official.. (I mean obviously I know why, Elon is a megalomaniac).

“Small man”??? WTF. I hate it.

This conversation is great.

(in case it does not load there is a picture in this reply)

But he also said he wanted cuts, and that Musk would remain a power center: “If they can cut, it’s better. And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”

Its not time for celebration. This is just to take heat off Elon. Now the media will be able to spread the blame around or excuse it. “People inside the department know how best to make cuts. Everything is normal”.

I think that you should keep posting with your signature if it makes you happy. I have some sincere doubts it will force a corporation to exclude your content from any aggregated data, though, nor do I think anyone is giving up their rights by not properly licensing their comments here. Copyright is automatic in the USA. The problem isn’t the licensing, its the fact that no court is properly enforcing these rights. And, too few governments have data privacy laws on the books.

I’m not interested in relitigating those points though, I’m sure you’ve heard them. I guess I’m just typing that up so you know where I’m coming from.

I do think your signature is valuable when it makes people consider who owns their data, and why the CC license is important.

Personally I think you should put an explanation in your bio. I think your message will be served better if you can point to a pre-written explanation (or even an old style FAQ). But, I don’t think you’re obligated to do so. Its all gravy. People are going to fight you regardless.

Did you see that post from that guy mad about a period character on slashdot? Lmao

Hm, interesting. So this guy was posting all weird on slashdot, and you remember decades later? And you carried that with you, and it inspired you to type this comment. That’s a lot of commitment on your part for a stray period.

That’s pretty funny. Thank you for sharing.

Yes, thanks for catching my errors.

I wrote my comment too hastily, you are correct. My comment has been edited, probably while you were typing yours.