I’m interested in getting a foldable eventually, but I think it’s still too soon and too costly.

Not sure Im for invading Russia directly unless they attack a Nato member.

I’m pretty sure that’s exactly the attitude Russia is counting on. Personally I think it’s time we start treating propaganda and disinformation aimed at destabilizing other countries as literal acts of war on par with physical attacks.

You’re clearly giving it too much thought. It’s just stupid, blatant lies. There is no point in entertaining them or even questioning them.

Sorry dude. I know you really really want to be taken seriously, but it’s just not gonna happen. Defamation laws have been around for millennia (50 years of case law? Lol) and they’re just one tiny example of regulation of speech. If you don’t believe political propaganda on social media should be regulated exactly the same way, you probably lack the mental acuity to understand the concepts of cause and effect. Or you’re just arguing in bad faith as well. We could go on for hours about the excesses of extra-woke cancel culture and how they are detrimental to discourse, but since you decided to open with “Nazi propaganda is free speech” I’m pretty sure it would be a huge waste of time.

No, I definitely cannot read. Can write, but can’t really read, sorry. My lack of mental acuity doesn’t help. Libel and slander? Oh my, I wonder what those words mean. Are they, perhaps, social constructs that exist to prevent the consequences of harmful communication? Like… Regulation of speech?? Like… laws? Wait, but isn’t speech supposed to be free??? Why are they taking away our rights like this???

I suggest you call the nearest mall and tell them you placed a bomb in there. It’s just free speech, it’s not like you actually put a bomb there, you’re just saying it, so it’s fine. If they don’t like it they just can hang up and move on. I think it will be a totally fun and safe experience for you to try and that there will be absolutely no consequences for anyone involved, because that’s how free speech works.

Or maybe, I don’t know, you could pick someone you don’t like and start telling people that they’re a pedophile! It doesn’t even have to be true, it’s just free speech. You are free to say whatever you want! And if someone wanted to do the same thing to you, it should absolutely be their right to do so! Free speech for everyone! It’s literally free!

That is absolutely not surprising, it’s clear that this group absolutely worships the guy, and clearly he enjoys the attention. But to say this proves the narrative in the post or that he’s directly involved is still a huge stretch without actual evidence.

People should definitely be made aware of the dangers both a16z AND ai16z pose, but not by buying the conspiracy theories they’re spreading around to further their interests.

We’ve seen shit like this happen in crypto again and again and again. Every shitcoin and crypto fad comes with its own purported vision of the future it’s supposedly powering, with Bitcoin it was financial privacy and independence from traditional currency, with NFTs it was a utopia of creative ownership, with the metaverse it was a virtual capitalistic reality, with this it’s apparently some crap about accelerating progress through social engineering (basically disinformation). But really, what they’re most likely going to do, is to use chatbots to scam people into buying their coin. Because that’s all this is about.

I need to reiterate: that Substack post is literally an ad. The person claims to work for Twitter but also claims to have been provided the tool externally by Andreessen (it describes Eliza as some sort of mysterious highly advanced technology: it’s not) and then also claims to have the authority to leave publicly available “breadcrumbs” in the code of Andreessen’s tool? And then they also claim to be a junior dev who doesn’t understand the technical side of it, but also claims to have worked at Twitter on a H1B visa? Closely enough to Musk to be enrolled in this high level illegal conspiracy against the public? It’s literally badly written fiction.

It’s a crypto scheme, they’re using this AI agent project to promote their coin. This is what crypto schemes do all the time, claiming that their coin is powered by or is powering whatever latest tech buzzword thing. Few years ago it was NFTs, then the metaverse, now it’s AI agents. It’s also extremely common for them to claim to be affiliated or funded by Elon Musk, for obvious reasons.

AI agents, especially if used like the project creators are implying through this fabricated narrative, are absolutely a threat to society. But that still doesn’t mean that this narrative isn’t fabricated.

Please, please, please, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Fact check everything, especially everything that sounds too good or too bad to be true. This is exactly how we got into the situation we’re in today, and our ability to verify information is exactly what they’re trying to take away from us.

We all saw relatives, friends and coworkers turn into conspiracy theory spouting zombies back in 2020, as they were willing to believe literally every piece of disinformation they were exposed to as long as it aligned with their fears. Then we saw many of those same people continue to spiral further into the alt-right’s destructive narrative and propaganda. We must NOT fall into the same trap. The war that we’re all fighting in today is a war for the meaning of truth.

I did a bit more research into this.

You’re confusing a16z (Marc Andreessen) with ai16z (the people who made this and claim affiliation with Marc Andreessen). It’s a crypto scheme, they’re using this AI agent project to promote their coin. This is what crypto schemes do all the time, claiming that their coin is powered by or is powering whatever latest tech buzzword thing. Few years ago it was NFTs, then the metaverse, now it’s AI agents. It’s also extremely common for them to claim to be affiliated or funded by Elon Musk, for obvious reasons.

AI agents, especially if used like the project creators are implying through this fabricated narrative, are absolutely a threat to society. But that still doesn’t mean that this narrative isn’t fabricated.

Yes, and 2+2=5

I personally think that everyone should be allowed to end their lives if they really deeply want it. But this should never be expected, actively promoted or pushed for. And I think it should involve at least a consultation with a medical professional to avoid hasty decisions due to a temporary crisis.

I mean, yes, but I really don’t think anyone is arguing for the opposite when talking about legal euthanasia and I find it disingenuous to even suggest it. Let’s not forget that almost anyone can commit suicide regardless of it being legal or medically assisted and this has been the case and will be the case for the entirety of human history. Look at Japan and similar countries/societies where the cultural and societal pressures already have the consequences you described without it being legal.

Arguing for legal euthanasia is really just saying that people should have a safer, more informed and more dignified option if they really intend to make that decision, and guaranteeing that even the people who currently can’t end their lives on their own can still exercise that right if they want to. If you want to prevent pointless suicides the right way to do it isn’t to take away the possibility entirely, it’s making sure that society doesn’t give people reasons to want to kill themselves.

EDIT: I’ve just realized that I initially misread OP’s question which specifically asks about “voluntary” euthanasia. The comment I’m replying to is more relevant to the original discussion than my response. Still can’t shake off the feeling that speaking about something like this even purely hypothetically can only do more harm than good in current times, as it’s very easy to imagine that once the concept of “voluntary euthanasia” begins floating around, people who want to argue in bad faith against legal euthanasia will just conflate the two to make the rational side look like a death cult.

The whole point he’s trying to prove is that he can do something like this with no consequences, including having to apologize. He hasn’t apologized and he won’t.

The reason he can do that with no consequences and you’re left here wondering what the fuck just happened and why the response you normally would expect isn’t coming, is that the western political environment has been artificially and methodically polarized for years in preparation for a stunt like this. Cognitive dissonance is an effective tool.

I absolutely think you’ve hit the nail on the head in terms of his personal reasoning for it and the way the left is being manipulated as always. The terrifying part isn’t even the act itself but the lack of an appropriate response from the public and media, and all the blatant gaslighting that ensued. Ultimately he doesn’t need to believe he is a Nazi to make all the self-aware ones feel empowered and validated regardless. He was trying to prove a point and he did.

He did the Nazi salute twice, intentionally.

He said “my heart goes out to you” because of plausible deniability. He was giving his followers an argument to deny that he did it intentionally, both to themselves and others.

He has not directly denied it nor apologized for it.

European leaders are acknowledging it for what it is. Neo-Nazis are acknowledging it for what it is, and they loved it.

People who are sincerely on the fence about this, admitted they actually exist, need to wake the fuck up.

I know this is a joke, but as someone fluent in two languages, trust me when I tell you that translating anything Trump says effectively is borderline impossible, and that’s a huge problem. It plays in his favor because people in non-english speaking parts of the world don’t get to fully see how ridiculously incoherent he actually is; they only get the sanitized version of his ramblings.

Personally, it’s been REALLY hard these past few years hearing and seeing the shit coming out of his mouth in its original language and at the same time not being able to at least share my worries with other people in my country without sounding crazy. It’s very easy to underestimate the gravity of the situation from the other side of the world if you can’t grasp how low the standards have sunk and still believe DT is just an average Republican president, and not living proof that the actual meaning of words has no value anymore.

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I kind of gave up on Japanese years ago, but I’ve been trying to learn Korean for a couple months now. I started with Duolingo (great for basics like the alphabet, and in general for reminding you to practice everyday), then added YuSpeak (similar to Duolingo but way better paced/structured and with some useful systems to keep track of your weak points and review words and concepts effectively. Their Japanese course has even more features).

Although the apps are a great way to start, like other commenters said, they really promote memorizing over understanding/using the language, especially Duolingo. So the greatest addition for me so far was actually ChatGPT (GPT 4). Now I can learn a new concept on YuSpeak or Duo and then immediately go ask ChatGPT to go over it together and make up some exercises for me to do. It really works surprisingly well, and in just the few days since I’ve started using it, it feels like my ability to write and read the language has improved exponentially compared to when I was only using the apps. I also fare much better in the apps themselves.

Of course ChatGPT is not 100% accurate, as we all know, but it opens up so many learning avenues that it doesn’t really matter, especially if you’re a beginner to intermediate student. Obviously it also can’t completely replace an actual teacher (on the other hand, it’s available 24/7, unlike an actual teacher, and it’s much cheaper too) and it won’t help with listening or speaking, but using it in conjunction with apps and a YouTube video here and there really creates a pretty effective and proactive learning environment.

TL;DR: Check out YuSpeak and consider using ChatGPT 4.