I'm not going to try to say what I actually believe, because I'm honestly not sure. I'm just sharing perspectives here. I wrote too much already, mostly about greed rather than empathy (I think they're related), so I'm posting without editing; maybe someone will read some of it or even click a link or even respond.

> Acrushinglack of empathy,
> is the most dangerous behavioral trait
> that has ever emerged
> from a new generation of humans.

I don't necessarily disagree, but I try to consider all possible perspectives. Human beings really are just animals with advanced capabilities (brain complexity, hand dexterity, consciousness, and so forth). Many animals don't seem to have empathy or even compassion and it's not necessarily dangerous in those species. So maybe it's partly our use of tools that make us so dangerous, and our consciousness that leads to the greatest suffering.

I hope that your perspective about the younger generations is not completely accurate. In some sense, our species has always been the way it is. When there were more resources available, maybe it was easier to maintain certain facades. The Beatles wrote "I me mine" as far back as 1970. Warnings about greed go back at least to The Instructions of Shuruppak (c. 2600–2500 BCE) ("unbridled greed and ill-gotten wealth bring ruin, undermine community, and invite divine or social retribution...dishonest or greedy gains do not last."). The root of greed is actually fear (for example, not being able to feed one's children), but it gets carried away. And the people that have everything really don't seem that much happier. I mean, can someone else enjoy a beer or an orgasm more than me just because they have more wealth? Research shows that after a certain base level, wealth doesn't really have any impact on happiness, but our society seems to prioritize concentrated wealth above all else. I think social media makes the situation much worse, constantly seeing others posting about their wealth and meals and vacations and beauty and never about the problems in their marriage. This all just causes envy, which may be another factor to greed.

Maybe we're actually the ones that were wrong by having been raised in an era that promoted empathy. I personally would feel better with less empathy. I'm not saying that I'm going to change or give up on empathy, but I do find myself intentionally trying to care less as I get older, because so many people really do seem to be worthless or worse, everything significant is outside of my control, and caring does not help me personally. This leads me to feel more self-centered, which may be the optimal approach in what I see as deteriorating society. But honestly, I think things are worst within the USA. Much of the less developed world doesn't have the awareness or capacity to address the problems. USA intentionally keeps its population misinformed. For example, how much "news" and social media posts promoting perspectives that don't argue against consumption of oil (or anything, really – almost any form of modern consumption basically has negative effects, and there's a direct correlation between oil consumption and GDP by country) are from or sponsored by people that profit from these activities?

And why should those younger generations hope or care? Their parents and previous generations have really made a mess of the planet. It seems natural to avoid potential resulting hopelessness by focusing on personal concerns over societal concerns. There is some kind of balance here in every person and society, the conflict of the "needs" of the individual compared to the "needs" of the collective. The collective has to win because the individual cannot survive without it, but we seem to be too stupid and self-centered to realize and do anything about that.

Another perspective is that even if I don't use the oil, I'll suffer from the collective's use of it regardless, so I might as well benefit from its use.

It is probably better for me to share this relevant video rather than trying to summarize or share additional personal perspectives. Basically, our species is screwed regardless.

> A young single never-married childless person,
> cannot grasp the love a mother or father has for a child.

I can see your point, but I also believe that childless women often socialize their mothering instinct, which can have positive impacts.

Daniel Schmachtenberger - Why We're Creating a Future That Nobody Wants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

This also caught my attention today. It's not necessarily that we've lost empathy, it's that we're normalizing a complete lack of empathy. Interestingly, one of the most suggest topics for meditation is compassion for all sentient beings.

Some Americans don’t believe all people are created equal. Their movement is going mainstream, this author says
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/0...

I also recently found this interesting and possibly relevant. It's not just about woke, but societal change in general.

The GREAT FEMINIZATION: The Real Reason Everything Went Woke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I thought the purpose of the "virtual" panopticon was to prevent bad behavior, because the prisoners never know whether they're being watched. So this would be different, because it actually is always watching, and we've already proven even that doesn't prevent bad behavior. And it's quite fallible as well, not to mention that there are ways around it. So its intention may be punishment, possibly some misguided intent of prevention, but really it's just surveillance in general for any purpose for which some entity will pay. It seems there are about 20 ways to locate any human these days, even without things like flock. There are "ai" camera cars driving around phuket using facial recognition to locate people that overstay visas. This will never stop; the human species will turn the world into a police state. It's clearly already happening.

It's only worth following the sit-down comedians, including reading the comments on their posts and following some of those people. These fellows come to mind, but there are many:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ir...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ma...

There are others, but I've deleted as much of my content as I could (including many good jokes), so it's not easy for me to find those people at this point. I tried to delete my entire account, but somehow that didn't work.

LinkedIn is 100% slip, whether or not "AI" was involved. I spent about a year trolling there. I'm quite confident in my percentage estimate.

Some people actually want the climate to heat up, for their personal comfort. I've also seen arguments that increased CO2 helps plants grow. People are amazingly good at rationalizing whatever behavior they like, including attempts to use its negative consequences as justification.

Oh man you definitely delete the browsers before crossing. I even delete YouTube and of course Gmail.

Definitely. As a USA citizen, it's best to come from Asia through Vancouver and clear customs and passport control there, and then the flight to USA is considered domestic. But I think "they" will shut that system down soon.

Drugs would be evidence of a crime. Can they prove there was evidence of a crime on his phone before they wiped it?

Err, I meant..."what I would have done".

Not sure it would work, but I generally store everything - especially anything sensitive - on proton and remove the apps before crossing. I don't have anything that should be illegal, but you never know what they'll find suspicious or how long they'll detain you while looking. Of course, proton could just be a front for one of the USA TLAs. There really is no such thing as a guarantee of privacy. And proton mail only works if you only exchange messages with others that use proton and follow similar procedures anyway.

In Portland, Oregon, he would have been circling on a unicycle playing flaming bagpipes.

https://youtu.be/cnVjkE87FDY?s...

What does it mean if one generally doesn't like very short videos? I find them rather annoying. I use YouTube for longer content and find it frustrating when they push short clips, possibly because it's clearly mostly useless crap, but also because I just don't seem to engage with it in the same way as I do with longer videos. But even for most long videos, I would prefer a transcript or captions. So much wasted time, but then hey, what is time for?

He must not be thinking of precedents that could be set for false.social.

I was on twitter in the mid early days. I would tweet whenever I published a blog post or links to other useful technical information about a software product I used. There were hashtags for community events. Otherwise it was just humor. There was value, but not in conversations. Like anything, it was better before it went completely political. I haven't been there in almost fifteen years and I'm certain I haven't missed anything of actual value.

Same with LinkedIn, even if you change your settings and unfollow. There are clearly insiders or the entire site is a psyop. Think what kind of business and other value they can get from the information they have, including "private" direct messages. I have collected evidence that proves they're reading them. A class action there seems appropriate.