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I don't really understand which bit of the quoted phrase is opposite. Do you mean we're at the giving end of a huge gift? Or something else?

Your accomplishments? For me playing music is for joy, not for status

No, that's not what he's telling us. Read it again

A novel? You sure you're talking about the right book?

I kept chickens for 15 years (mostly free-roaming in my backyard, unless there was a fox lurking, so not in overcrowded small spaces) and I disagree. To me they seemed pretty stupid, and pretty mean to one another

I don't know anything about cyclone rain, but nobody in Ireland needs to be taught that the endless dark grey days of winter and their accompanying cold wind-driven rain are unpleasant

tl;dr

A dream is just a story you have made up, and the main character in the story isn't even the real you. Following a dream means sacrificing real happiness today trying to manifest imaginary happiness for an imaginary character in an imaginary future. Engage with your real life instead.

I once spent 2 years working on a book about why you should give up on your dreams.

Couldn't find anyone interested in publishing it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Distilled it down to 1. a 3-min song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDnpZJI7jKw 2. a 5-min talk https://youtu.be/U4ZnfCmTJMY?si=Ac_jVKnR-ARQilLu

I've had a few "Cinderella parties" in my house over the last few years - there is dancing, and the party ends at midnight

It works well for us. I have the music timed so that a tolling bell comes over the soundsystem at midnight and I just kick everyone out. The curfew means people will arrive and get up and dance early, and nobody gets too messy

I was at a rooftop party in Dublin once, and when the cops showed up to shut it down the band started playing "I fought the law" and one of the cops jumped in behind the drumkit and played along

> There's also a lot of "universals" that people take for granted as universal when it really isn't universal.

We have no idea if it's universal or not. You being able to imagine something does not mean it's actually possible

In my cutlery drawer we have a couple of mismatched forks, and one of them in particular is weird-looking. Somehow I don't like saying that it's weird-looking if it can "hear" me (i.e. if it's on the table rather than in the drawer)

Another example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse

I agree with some of what you say about the "self", but

> you really can’t suffer if you have no sense of self

... there's no way to know if this is true.

Is it not true that non-illegal immigrants are experiencing more harassment from ICE? And that foreigners entering the US are more likely to be detained, especially if they have anything that might be perceived as anti-Trump on their social media?

I don't live in the US, so I have no direct experience (though I travel there for work once or twice a year)

Or it could be - you figure out why you smoke in the first place, and have to accept that you can never quit

My dad is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and it's made me think of what I'll do if I find myself in the same situation

Assisted suicide sounds like a fine option until you think of its impact on your loved ones. Imagining putting my wife and kids through my deciding to die, and the process of them bringing me to the place where it happens - or imagining one of them doing the same thing - just fills me with horror

Let's see how you handle suffering when it comes knocking on your door

> There are ALWAYS business reasons that cause technical projects to fail

So it's always business folks' fault, and never the nerds' fault? My experience has been different (full disclosure - professional nerd for 30 years)

> The covenant with god has been a key ingredient for centuries

In some cultures yes, but pair-bonding is a lot older than the idea of god

> where I'm from, it's a pretty common saying that sex is for prestige and a wank is for joy.

!!!

Where are you from?

A judge will decide the above. That's how the law works

"Not to be rude" my hole. What @CalRobert said is 100% accurate - only we are allowed to criticise Ireland, and criticism is especially unwelcome from Brits and Yanks

> Honestly something that was a bit galling was that the Irish would moan about Ireland morning day and night but the instant a foreigner made _any_ observation that wasn't rainbows and sunshine we were out of our lane and needed to shut up

Haha nail on head here. On behalf of my fellow Irish people - sorry!

hmmm ... but forests don't actually sit there for millions of years, right? and either way soils get eroded and ultimately end up on the ocean floor

https://ijw.org/wild-carbon-storage-in-old-forests/

if it's half, then corn ethanol is totally worthwhile, right?

I don't think that's true - my understanding is a forest produces soil continuously, and that's a carbon sink

Why? Because it goes against the general sentiment of the comments?

Interesting! Would love to see a reference for your percentages

+1! wtf!