... that restaurant?

I'm struggling with answering this question. I mean, obviously, I don't know. I could give an opinion on what I think is most likely to happen, but what does it matter? Like, legitimately, what does it matter? And I do mean it earnestly, what would it matter even if I just so happened to be right about my speculation?

We all certainly hope that 2025 will be better. But I think the important thing to remember is that 2025 being better is possible. In fact, I used to be a homophobic ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian bigot. In my remorse over the person I used to be, I noticed I felt shame rather than self-righteousness over my condemnation of people just being who they are. In my longing to undo the evil I committed in the past, I realized I have the opportunity to fight for good, even if it means fighting what feels like my own reflection. I got better. I still have a ways to go and even more internalized prejudice I need to demolish, but at least I know getting better is possible, because I did it before goddammit. And if a dickhead like me can be better, can't we all?

And even if things just turn to absolute shit, I know I can at least make my tiny corner of the world a little bit brighter if I can make myself better. And you know what? I think it's good enough for me to know that I can start doing something about that right now. Afterall, as Marcus Aurelius would say to himself; It is up to you!

Ooo man, this is a super underrated take. Too often people get caught up in what the law is trying to do, how people could get around it, and what the incentives/disincentives are, while not really taking into consideration how the law would actually operate. Sometimes people get all conspiratorial about it trying to point to ulterior motives, but man, most of the time it's more that bad-faith actors are taking advantage of what's already out there rather than actively creating the problems they want to create.

Civilization III Final Fantasy IX Valheim Kerbal Space Program Stellaris Empire Earth Borderlands 2 Morrowind Halo: Reach Rimworld

The must be mentioned: KOTOR Bioshock(and Infinite) Final Fantasy 4, 14, 5, 6 in that order AOE 2 Red Alert 2 Total War: Rome, Rome 2, Medieval 2, and Shogun Lords of the Realm 2 No Man's Sky Horizon series Space Empires V Battlefield 1942 Medal of Honor(the first one from the 90's, not that bullshit reboot from 2010) Smash Bros Melee, 64, Brawl in that order Crysis Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness Theme Hospital MDK2 Chrono Trigger

It was tough leaving some of those mentioned ones out of the top ten, but the top ten belong where they are for me for how definining they were/are for me.

I feel like you missed the point at the detriment of people taking your position seriously. Words and their definitions are very important in communication and I feel like semantics is something that is very undeserving of the flippant treatment it routinely receives.

If someone were to accuse someone else of lying, this also comes with an accusation of intent. It isn't sufficient for someone's statement to be false to be a lie, there also needs to be intent to deceive. Intent to deceive implies that the liar at least knows what they're saying is untrue, and possibly implies they know what is actually true depending on the context. However, if there is no intent to deceive, it's usually a case of that person just being mistaken. How frustrating would it be for someone to be accused of lying when they say something they believe to be true? And how seriously should they take their accusers when not only being told their view of reality is incorrect, but also being informed that their own intent is malignant when stating something they believe is true?

So, when it comes to describing something as a genocide, you're also describing intent. If you tell people that they're killing animals with the intent to extinct them, they're probably not going to take you seriously. It's probably better to have someone tell you what their intentions are rather than just assuming you can slap a piece of paper saying "this is you" on a scarecrow before drop-kicking it.

Oh shit! Independent Fundamental Baptist! I had to deal with living with that shit, too. At the end of the day, if the king james bible was good enough for Peter and Paul, it's good enough for me. Also, rock music is the devil.

Looking through your post history, you're either the worst kind of troll, by which I mean you're an extremely awful person, or you're way the fuck off base for one or multiple reasons. I personally think you're some young kid that believes they figured out some new age bullshit or something.

But also, you show lots of signs of psychotic episodes. Magical thinking, special knowledge, disordered thoughts/speech, etc. You doing okay?

Are you trolling, or are you just legitimately that oblivious to the experiences of others?

Hey, sorry for the late reply, but like... ya know, ADHD.

Sounds to me like you already practice some Stoic principles and that's fucking fantastic! I think you might also benefit from the writings of Epictetus, specifically in his Discourses. He talks about the Dichotomy of Control, which I think is something that would be beneficial to you to study. It's certainly been a world of help for clarity of thought for me.

What about it? It's not something we're in control of. It just kinda happens. It can be extremely disruptive to our lives, hence the qualification of it being diagnostic criteria for a disorder. For someone who experiences it as something destructive in their life, it's pretty fucking insulting to hear some jackass mythicize it as some "superpower". Especially after demonstrating a lack of knowledge on a subject they seem to feel entitled to have an opinion about anyway.

Bro, this shit is straight up insulting. Just shut the fuck up about things you very clearly don't understand.

Hello, so I'm not autistic as far as I'm aware, but I do have ADHD-C and have also greatly struggled with anxiety throughout my life. I hope my experience and knowledge can be of some use to you.

To start off, man, hard relate on both those fears. I mean different mechanism for me in terms of fear of trying new things since it's more of a "how much time and money am I gonna sink into this obsessively only to completely lose interest in an indeterminate amount of time?". And to your second point, yeah, the world isn't built for those of us who aren't nt. I could go on and on about many anxieties I continue to struggle with to this day, including worry about never truly gaining mastery over myself, losing access to healthcare and/or medication my wife and I need, and external events of climate change, political turmoil, anti-intellectualism, misinformation campaigns, and academics seeming to be losing their fucking minds when it comes to anything philosophy related. I just want to let you know that you're not alone.

As for how I've dealt with this in my life, it's primarily come down to Stoic philosophy. Especially when it comes to the anxiety, it's usually about the framing of how I think about something--much like how modern therapy looks for underlying beliefs and/or experiences that may be a root cause. Someone cuts me off while I'm driving, so I become angry, but it isn't the other driver that has made me angry, it's my opinion on the matter. While it's true that they shouldn't do such things because it's unsafe and can cause harm, it's possible that they didn't do that on purpose and/or out of malice. Even if they did, what would my anger truly accomplish other than increasing my potential to escalate the situation? In fact, if they truly are a 'dumbass' or 'idiot', why would I become angry with them when they act according to their nature? Ultimately, I'm not in control of that person, so why react in emotional futility? I'm in control of me and how I treat others with respect, kindness, and charity. I just give them some extra space for everyone's safety and move on. It's about what I can and cannot control. I cannot control these externalities of reality. It's reality, why not just neutrally accept it as such? I must keep in mind that I always have the option of not having an opinion.

I've always struggled with anxiety in my relationships and my marriage is no exception. I fucking love my wife. She my best friend, the best lover I've ever had, and my whole world. But I don't own her. She isn't mine to keep forever. As the bittersweet saying goes; this too shall pass. She could leave me, she could suddenly and rapidly decline in health, she could die today or in 3,000 years, we could be married for just one more year or maybe 100 more years, who knows? What I do know and can do now is love and appreciate her now, because, well, she is what matters to me and someday she will no longer be in my life. I must admit that despite my many years of therapy, bettering myself, and practicing Stoic philosophy, I'm certain I couldn't handle suddenly losing my wife right now. I don't mean that in the sense that I ought to be able to emotionally shrug it off, because that's insane, unrealistic, and counter to Stoic philosophy, but rather in the sense that I would lose rationality. While I recognize this is a problem, I have found that it's something that is too insurmountable for me to master on my own. So yeah, I still need therapy and I must accept that this is where I am in my efforts to master myself.

The important techniques I've learned that have worked for me that come from Stoic philosophy is daily self-reflection, mindfulness, constant reminders of what I do/do not control, reminders that I will inevitably run into daily troubles, and 'amor fati'(or 'love your fate', that is: to not only accept your life as it is, but to love and appreciate it while you have what you have). Constant self-reflection is crucial because no one truly "controls" how they immediately react to things, as it's the beliefs that will dictate the outcome of your reaction. I became more calm as a driver because of my end-of-day self-reflections in examining why I reacted the ways I did and honestly reasoning with myself about it, which led to me catching myself in those reactions more and more until the unreasonable behavior waned into the past. It's the same with my anxieties, although much more of a game of whack-a-mole and work in progress. But boy have those moles dramatically decreased their frequency in popping up and boy have I regained so much of my life by no longer ceding control of myself to them.

If you want further resources, I strongly recommend reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I can also recommend videos from The Daily Stoic with the asterisk that he can get a little... 'markety' every now and again. As I like to say; eat the meat and throw out the bones. And, of course, I always recommend finding a good therapist that you click with as this stuff is their specialty. I mean, obviously, sure, but I think it's worth mentioning that much of modern therapy finds it's roots in Stoic Philosophy. Anyway, I hope my wall of text is of some use to you or anyone else who took the time to read. I'm open to questions, comments, and any accusations... or just a shrug. It's up to you, afterall, I'm not in control of you.😘

TL;DR: Can relate, although not autistic. You're not alone, your feelings are valid, I recommend Stoic philosophy, I give examples of how it helped me, read Meditations, and I feel gross for using an emoji, but like ¯_(ツ)_/¯