Spoiler: Black Mirror episode in which soldiers have neural implants providing augmented reality. Or, rather, altered reality.

Did someone accidentally load the Hebrew spelling dictionary?

This is a matter of debate among actual historians and constitutional scholars and surely will not be resolved here, but the Supreme Court seems to disagree with you, in District of Columbia v. Heller : "It ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms -- unconnected with service in a militia -- for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home"; and in McDonald v. City of Chicago , the Court ruled that "the right of an individual to 'keep and bear arms', as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment and is thereby enforceable against the states." Agree or disagree, this is established law at present in the US. The Supreme Court has always left the door open to gun "regulation" but has never explicitly defined the limits.

For more background, see The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People, or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, by Stephen P Halbrook (2021). The author is clearly biased in favor of individual ownership of firearms, but the scholarship is first-rate and comprehensive, covering arguments and legislation on both sides.

So, some time after "Real Soon Now" but maybe before "Never".

That might be true, or it might be that particular person was just trying to discourage you, or was testing to find out whether you'd be discouraged. In case anybody wants my advice for some reason, I would say, to the extent that people are just saying things, try to ignore it, avoid them and try to find people who will build you up instead of tearing you down. Everybody wants to feel superior to somebody, Some try to do that by making themselves bigger, and some do it by trying to make others smaller.

It's worse if they have control over your income or some other power over you. To anyone in that situation, all I can say is try to get out and find a place where you're appreciated, if you can. Don't expect anyone else to change.

"I wouldn't buy you a college education."

I probably wouldn't pay the entire cost of your college education either. I might give you a loan if I thought it was a good risk. Or I would be willing to pay part of the cost of your education. I happen to feel that education in valuable in both philosophical and practical respects, even if the direct financial benefits are not easy to quantify. I believe at one time this was assumed to be true.

In the US, the legislators make laws which everyone, in principle, is required to obey. The legislators are elected by voters. Is it better to have ignorant voters or educated voters? Is it possible you might derive both practical and financial benefits from educated voters? I've had formal education in logical reasoning, logical fallacies, propaganda techniques (including advertising), and various types of decision-making. I believe this has improved my ability to make decisions, which benefits me and indirectly benefits society. So society has a stake in education, even beyond purely job-related education.

Do you believe that education is just indoctrination? Or that it should be nothing but job training? Or is it possible that you might derive some benefits from a more-educated population? If the latter, how much would you pay for everyone's education?

I already pay quite a lot in taxes to educate other people's children. I'm not given a choice. Is that morally wrong? Are you only opposed to paying for university education, or also K-through-12 education?

I have pondered this, but I still have absolutely no idea what that means. How did they check your weaknesses? I could guess, gut I might just go off in the wrong direction.

And I bet the cats were underage and didn't give consent.

I did not know that. Thanks for the information. Jain vegetarianism: "The Jain cuisine is completely lacto-vegetarian and excludes root and underground vegetables such as potato, garlic, and onion to prevent injuring small insects and microorganisms. Other vegetables that have a higher chance of containing small organisms such as cauliflower, eggplant, mushroom and broccoli are also not consumed. The diet is associated with practices that aim to minimise harm to plants, such as avoiding the uprooting of entire plants during harvest. ... The objections to the eating of meat, fish and eggs are based on the principle of non-violence (ahimsa) ....

I'm not clear on who is injured by eating eggs, at least non-fertilized eggs.

I can't say I'm necessarily opposed to the injuring of microorganisms, especially since my body does that constantly whether I like it or not. (I like it.) I also kill mosquitoes and roaches whenever I get the chance. I accept that karmic burden.

Glass can be recycled, but recycling doesn't save much energy compared to producing new glass (ignoring issues like transportation and waste disposal). Also generally recycled glass is always brown, unless the various colors are separated and recycled separately.

Glass can also be reused. Back in the olden days, stores sold soda (pop) and beer in glass bottles. Buyers would pay a deposit of a few cents for each bottle. The deposit could be redeemed if the bottles were returned to place of purchase. The bottling company would then collect the bottles, wash, and refill them. The bottlers considered this an extra unnecessary cost and preferred single-use plastic, so they started a big advertising campaign touting the wonders of recycling plastic, and how people shouldn't just throw their used containers out into the countryside making the fake Indian cry.

So now here we are, and it gets worse: "Research out of Scotland suggests that the chopping, shredding and washing of plastic in recycling facilities may turn as much as six to 13 percent of incoming waste into microplastics -- tiny, toxic particles that are an emerging and ubiquitous environmental health concern for the planet and people."

Adding the Resin Identification Codes used in recycling:

PET or PETE [1]: Polyethylene Terephthalate (soda bottles, polyester clothing)
HDPE [2]: High-Density Polyethylene (Milk Jugs)
PVC [3]: Polyvinyl Chloride (Pipes) ... one type of vinyl ... PVC was created accidentally when flasks of vinyl chloride were exposed to direct sunlight.
LDPE [4]: Low-Density Polyethylene (Plastic Bags)
PP [5]: Polypropylene (car parts, medical devices)
PS [6]: Polysterene (Styrofoam)
Other [7]: including polycarbonate and plant-based plastics. I assume that includes casein plastic, which is made from milk

They are underground and so more difficult to poop on than, say, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, or apples (birds).

Could help reduce obesity: 2025 Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry: "Rotem Naftalovich, Daniel Naftalovich, and Frank Greenway, for experiments to test whether eating Teflon [a form of plastic more formally called “polytetrafluoroethylene”] is a good way to increase food volume and hence satiety without increasing calorie content."

"Polytetrafluoroethylene Ingestion as a Way to Increase Food Volume and Hence Satiety Without Increasing Calorie Content": "Animal feeding trials showed that rats fed a diet of 25% PTFE for 90 days had no signs of toxicity and that the rats lost weight."

I've liked several of Stephenson's previous books. Thanks for the pointer.

Military applications?

Isn't that problem common to both trailers and autonomous followers? Trailer technology has also addressed the problem of the lead vehicle slowing or stopping by using electrically-actuated brakes in the trailer. It also wouldn't be hard to have the trailer measure the distance to the lead vehicle and hit the brakes if the distance falls below a threshold.

And a trailer could do the same. In fact, both of these could react to a rapidly-approaching vehicle even before being hit.

That seems like too far: the system wouldn't work if vehicles get in between the lead and follower.