tifik

Yes, I know. Parent was proposing a hypothetical scenario.

I think the point was that since they banned gas leaf blowers, they might as well have banned all leaf blowers, leaving nothing but hand tools. Of course someone could invent a hand-cranked blower or something... would be interesting to see exactly what loopholes in the legal wording people would find.

Where I live, I can own a gun if I want to, provided I pass rigorous psychological examination, and repeat it every few years. But because there is practically no guns on the streets, I dont feel the need to. Admittedly, it would be difficult to reconsile my opinions on gun ownership with the need for personal safety if I lived in the US.

But yes, I absolutely do appreciate there being a control structure that prevents psychopaths from going to walmarts artillery section and shooting up a school every other week.

Following the same fallacy you used previously, should we abolish all laws because everyone should be able to excercise their free will completely unrestricted?

No, that's a strawman. You have to draw the line somewhere, and most of the civilized world agrees that not giving general public access to devices that can kill by twitching ones finger, is not above that line. Same as requiring people to wear seatbelts.

Your fallacious argument aside though, you are correct, you can provide support resources without taking rights of others away, and in the US that is the case. Congrats. I will stay in a country where, if I am ever depressed, the support structures have a higher chance of saving me, because it will take more than moving my finger by 2mm to literally explode my head.

> Providing a suicidal person with the right resources to help them avoid suicide

Where in this sentence do you read anything about enforcing anything?

I agree, I didnt question the reason behind the suicide, I just wanted to point out that not all suicidal people can be labeled as burdens to society.

> Live as they see fit

So in your opinion that includes killing oneself, even in cases that could be avoided if access to appropriate help could be provided? (Not enforced, provided as an alternative option to suicide)

> there’s very likely a net economic/social gain.

I see your point, but I strongly disagree. Providing a suicidal person with the right resources to help them avoid suicide will (imo) yield a net gain over the rest of that persons life, as opposed to the gain from selling a gun and a bullet and giving him a quick out.

One example that comes to might right away is Alan Turing. Whose contributions to modern society can hardly be overstated. And I know he didn't use a gun, I'm making a point about helping people out of depression, to oppose your opinion about it being beneficial to let them kill themselves.

Yep I believe that is a pretty well established cognitive bias called Illusion of Control [1]. Going down the rabbit hole of cognitive biases is a fascinating journey, and lot of them are relevant when driving a car.

One I found especially interesting is specifically about how improving safety features may not reduce accidents as much as it could, because when people feel safer, they tend to take greater risks [2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_control

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation#Peltzman_eff...

Had to have a second look at the chart after reading your explanation to understand the variables. Thank you!

Would it be somewhat correct to say that the Sun (or generally stars of similar type) is approaching that Q=inf at this stage of its life?

Why would you prefer it the US way? Doesnt the data show that the humane approach is actually reducing recidivism?

Yes, but my point still stands. The money that ends up with the state didn't originate from a local.

> citizens - ummm the folks who actually pay for police salaries

I was always curious about how true this statement actually is. I understand that the state runs primarily on money from taxes, but what part of that is actually coming from local citizens pockets? I imagine there are places where most money comes from tourism or goods exports.

> it's no different than eg. the war in afghanistan.

I agree. But that doesnt mean that we should care less about Ukraine though (which still makes sense bc its closer to 'home'), it means we should have cared way more about the same war happening in the middle east.

Long distance logistics (should) use roads. Not streets. Urban societies should develop around streets, not roads.

> If my company starts dicking me around I'll quit and find another job.

I agree with this sentence - because of the current state of the job market, and the level of seniority I have attained. However, if you are entry or junior, or if the market changes (good times don't last forever), just working a 'skilled labor' job won't give you the job security we enjoy atm. In that case, looking for a new job would be much more daunting, and working on improving your current work conditions might be a much better option.

(edit - improve accuracy of which part of the statement I agree with)

I stopped using the YT app and just use the website with ublock origin enabled. Didnt see a YT ad in years.

Edit: typo

There are browser plugins that automatically dismiss that dialog for you. YT with that and ublock origin is a completely different experience.

Exactly. Crypto largely removes the need for institutions, and with anonymous wallets it would be very difficult to link a specific person to one.

Edit: I am again talking about capital gains. Yes, the money has to come from somewhere, but you can break the traceability easily by using non-kyc means of getting crypto. E.g. bitcoin ATMs.

You are talking about income tax. There are other taxes, e.g. capital gains tax, that most crypto makes much more difficult for governments to collect.

But that is the total revenue for all ads. You hardly made up anywhere near 0.1% of that. I do believe that if you actually calculated the value that you contributed to that sum, you would agree that the value you got back was greater. I can't imagine I'd be even 50% as productive at my job if I didnt have access to the tools google provides for free.