Thanks for the reply.

“inherently probabilistic and can’t be determined” is just another way of saying “random” or “we don’t know yet”.

If reality was not deterministic, the reliability of models and predictions in physics would be upended.

In a deterministic reality, where all things are due and subject to causation, there can be no free will. If we did not live in a causal reality, we’d never be able to make accurate predictions or models.

“Randomness” is not free will either. If you’re not in complete control of your influences, then you can not be said to have free will. Randomness does nothing to help the argument for free will.

With that said. Regardless of the existence of free will, what does exists is your awareness of what it’s like to be you. To be in the circumstances that currently govern your life. And in that awareness exists the boundless capacity for compassion. Once you understand that no one is in control of their lives, that all things are causal, it allows you to be less judgmental.

"If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, he will not become angry. He will simply guide his boat around it.

But if he sees a person in the boat, he will shout at the other to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, and the boats collide, he will curse the other person.

Yet, if the boat were empty, he would not be angry."

— Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi)

I wrote a simple explanation of determinism in a blog post earlier this year (there’s an audio version available as well.) https://mrfunkedude.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/following-the-strings/

Thanks. Feel free to share them with your friends.

Here’s a playlist. There used to be more but when I moved instances I had to run them back for storage space. https://davbot.media/w/p/uyr57kXBK9WQBZYdoVYHJ4

I have hundreds of short form videos which are designed to uplift, encourage, and speak positively about mental health issues. I’ve had lots of people tell me that my videos in some small way encourage them to take the next step in their mental health.

In other words, it’s not the form of the video that matters, it’s the content.

As for the cost of the server, I think the videos will expire after a certain amount of time. Something like Snapchat.

The great thing about the Fediverse is that it offers options. Is this going to be exactly like TikTok? Of course not. Will it serve a purpose for some? Time will tell.

I don’t think it’s gonna be here in a week. They are still accepting people for the beta.

What I was looking at was the percentage of registered democrats that vote. But even if I am wrong, and your numbers are right, it would seem to me to be even more of a reason to widen the gap and help people to register to vote blue.

I only said “the left” instead of “the dems” to be more inclusive. If that was wrong, I apologize. My intent was not to “blame the left for liberal apathy” but to suggest we need to do more together.

And yes, I agree that liberals should embrace leftists more, they are the ones who are trying to stand up for the rights of others more then any group in my opinion.

So let me ask, what would you say is the best most actionable thing we can each do when it comes to safeguarding democracy this election? I mean that sincerely.

I honestly don’t think “education” is the key. It’s been well established that people don’t make decisions according to “the facts” as much as we do our emotions. You can’t “convince” someone that they are wrong unless you give them an emotional carrot to lead them.

Give them the facts, but give them an emotional grounding to those facts. “This is your chance to make a fascists day shit.” might work better then “You need to vote because of X,Y,Z.”

That’s exactly what we need.

We each get one vote, but together we get to keep democracy.

The Fedi is what you make of it. Since there’s no algorithm telling you who to follow or pushing posts to your feed, it’s up to you to curate who you follow.

My feed is a mixture of shit posts, memes, cats and dogs, flowers, a little politics and a little tech. Chaos is why I’m here and who I follow reflects that. If your feed is full of info you don’t care about, then you’re following the wrong people.

People still use Opera?