• 3 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • “Science” isn’t a monolithic entity like a deity is. It’s simply a belief in the natural cause and effect of the universe we live in. In other words, science is merely a way to describe and explain our world, derived from repeated observations. When people say they “believe in science”, it’s not blind worship- the idea is to present findings and observations in such a way that anyone could theoretically replicate the experiment, given the proper equipment.

    On the other hand, faith is the opposite- “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (“Religion” is a system of hierarchical institution based on spiritual faith or beliefs, btw.) Scientists ask questions about the world, and strive to find the answers, but religious folks are content to let those answers simply be “because God”.

    So, to disbelieve in science- rather, the scientific method- is purely a rejection of reality. You can, in fact, reconcile spiritual beliefs with scientific truths to an extent but ultimately, learning more about science leads to its own kind of spiritual understanding and beliefs that tend to reject religion. This is upsetting to diehard religious folks because hierarchies demand constant subjugation of inferiors, and to reject that “place” in the hierarchy is an act of major rebellion in and of itself.




  • In short, no. To explain: you have a bunch of beneficial bacteria living inside your digestive tract. These little guys help you digest your food, and in return they get a free meal. This basically means that the food you eat ferments into poo. Fermentation always results in gas being released (think how the plastic wrap on a bowl of dough can puff up as it proves.) So to sum it up, unless you drank a strict water-only diet, anything you eat can give you gas. (Even then, you would probably still naturally swallow some air with the water, and some would make it to the other end as a fart.)














  • So far I’ve been using Mammoth and Metatext. I like them both but Metatext is edging out at the moment.

    Pros of Mammoth: *Plenty of customization options *Nice interface *Translation features

    Cons of Mammoth: *A little clunky *Some trouble uploading pictures *Custom emoji/emojos don’t show up (on my phone at least)

    Pros of Metatext: *A bit smoother *Nice interface *Custom emoji appear

    Cons of Metatext: *No translation options (that I’ve seen) *Some errors when starring posts

    Both are pretty decent apps, but once I get around to updating my iOS I will probably try a couple others on for size.



  • Unfortunately money makes the world go round. Part of the meaning of “no ethical consumption under capitalism” means that no matter who you are, no matter what kind of service you employ, no matter what you try and do for yourself, somewhere along the line capitalism comes in and causes someone to suffer. It’s pervasive and insidious.

    If instances are completely supported by user donations, that’s great. But they will never match the billions of dollars that corps can toss around.

    The only real way to prevent corporate influence on anything is to abolish corporations and/or capitalism. In the meantime, though, we as users can take steps to mitigate their influence: discuss proactively, agree to defederate at a moment’s notice, and server admins can refuse bribes/offers/etc.



  • I don’t have an issue with social media companies entering the Fediverse, at least on the surface, because it’s ultimately more users and it’s in line with the ideas of free exchange of information and content. My problem with it comes in when they try to buy instances, communities, or what have you. No one should have a monopoly on the Fediverse, and it shouldn’t be pay to win.

    So, my answer is this: because no one can stop anyone from making their own instances, users decide whether to defederate their instances from Meta’s, or Twitter’s, or anyone else’s. Join an instance that doesn’t federate with Meta, or start your own if you have the know-how. Just like anywhere else on the internet, you don’t have to interact with content you don’t want to interact with.