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Young people are flocking to astrology

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Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in various "alternative" industries in my youth. One day I was having an informal diner with people that, in another context, could have been business partners. One guy was making a killing with an astrology service by phone. He started with those text message based games, that were popular in the 2000'. Remember? "Send 'love' to this number to know if he loves you". And eventually created a full phone call…

Can attest to this, all folks that I know are into this are women. Even seasoned doctors. And the response? 'Yeah I know its not rational but you know....'. Some form of quick reward system gets invoked in the brain with this apparently. Well still better than looking for tobacco kicks or chocolate instead.

ironically enough, a fairly large number of doctors/nurses smoke, at least from what I've observed.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#322
post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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I dislike Apple as well, but judging people just because they work with their software stack is... inappropriate? May I ask how you make a living in modern society? Lots of people contribute to walled gardens to produce the food you eat. Heck, the constructor of your roof literally contributed to your walled garden... I don't think anyone has a choice, unless you go back 10,000 years and live like a hunter gatherer..…

I think you're simply not asking yourself hard enough questions. I'm making a pivot away from "lol nothing matters so it's everyone for themselves" now largely because my values are not aligned with how I've engaged with society so far.

I reduce my burden on the environment by buying used rather than new whenever I can (for some reason no one wants to consider the upfront heavy burdens of manufacturing things like e-bikes and EVs when the used markets for both are so healthy). I try to avoid contributing to the workplace suffering of others and the normalization of antisocial, anticompetitive business strategies so I try not to encourage those practices by giving money to those who violate those (e.g. Amazon). I shop at overstock groceries (Grocery Outlet) and department stores (Ross, Marshalls) to circularize the economy that much more.

Everyone has priorities, and especially as we emerge out of the pandemic and I observe the working and spending habits of those around me I see that many people value personal, individual conveniences often at the expense of dignity and comfort for others. I want to think I value those things for myself and others and so try to live in accordance with those values. Everyone must compromise but that doesn't excuse at all where exactly we end up drawing that line.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#323
post #163

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Maybe you are right. I still belive in science but stopped trusting anything experts say unless majority have the same opinion. Politics ruining scientific community I belive

" stopped trusting anything experts say unless majority have the same opinion" I wonder what Copernicus would have to say about that

Think about it as odds. Unless you have the time to become an expert yourself, following the majority is more likely to be correct than following fringe opinions. Sue, sometimes the fringe opinion turns out to be the correct one, but which fringe opinion?

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#324
post #163
post #90

the reason this is happening is science and rational thinking has really let them down in their lifetime, especially during the pandemic. they (and people in general) dont know what is real anymore, what to believe any more when everyone seems to be making up things as they go along, especially the so-called experts. why not review everything they have access to but told by the experts not to pay attention? ie they w…

Maybe you are right. I still belive in science but stopped trusting anything experts say unless majority have the same opinion. Politics ruining scientific community I belive

I hope you mean a majority of experts, not majority in general.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#326
post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m a 61-year-old software developer. It’s been interesting (and infuriating), experiencing some of the conclusions that younger techs have reached about me, due to my gray hair. I’m also a developer of Apple device software. That has resulted in even more abuse. There’s serious hate for Apple amongst techs. Human nature likes pigeonholing other people into simple “sort buckets,” and we have many ways to do that. It…

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Are you suggesting the "we take all your data"-ecosystem of Alphabet is preferable? Or are you so hardcore, everyone not working on *nix FOSS is judged?

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All female software devs reading this just got extremely uncomfortable, and this comment chain no doubt brings up childhood body image issues — issues that men can’t know what it’s like. I point this out from the sidelines in case any thoughtful devs reading this might want to reflect on their behavior. It wasn’t till I married one that I started to reevaluate mine.

>childhood body image issues — issues that men can’t know what it’s like. Excuse me? Men have their own flavor of stereotypical body images foisted upon them: Macho, six-packs, muscular arms, upside-down triangular back, etc. For what it's worth though, men seem to care significantly less about body image than women do. Food for thought.

While it’s true that men have body image issues, when’s the last time you’ve seen them objectified the way a woman was in this thread?

That might happen too, but not with the same frequency or casualness. Worse, men tend to refuse to believe it’s a problem, and file it in the nonsense bucket.

One of the primary roadblocks for women getting into tech is that they’re not encouraged to the same way men are. And once they do, they constantly worry if they’re being treated specially just because they’re a woman — and if they don’t, they wonder if they would’ve gotten in if they looked just a little bit prettier.

I’m relaying this from a woman who refuses to participate on HN (for so many reasons). Men seem to like this dynamic we’ve cultivated here. I liked it myself. But those of you who care about equality should take a hard look at our behavior and how we express ourselves.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more and more difficult to detect sarcasm these days but in case you are serious yes, we all treat people differently based on their looks, and it happens especially in sexual relationships and is not limited to humans.

All female software devs reading this just got extremely uncomfortable, and this comment chain no doubt brings up childhood body image issues — issues that men can’t know what it’s like. I point this out from the sidelines in case any thoughtful devs reading this might want to reflect on their behavior. It wasn’t till I married one that I started to reevaluate mine.

> childhood body image issues — issues that men can’t know what it’s like

Thanks for negating my childhood experiences, much appreciated.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#329

I had an argument with a girl the other day who was adamant she wanted to know my star sign. I said "you tell me" and after 10 guesses I finally told her. She then went on to tell me what I must like etc - most of which was complete bollocks obviously. I told her her beliefs were akin to racism. Just because of when I was born she thought it was acceptable not to bother to treat me as an individual but as automatical…

From time to time I mention the 13th "Ophiuchus" star sign to astrology inclined people. It is quite interesting how they react.

How do they react?

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#330
Honestly, astrology could have been something neat, like everyone born under a certain star sign could go to a club with activities and the like and overall just be a silly excuse for people to meet up and mingle.

Its the so called "professionals" that charge money and give advice leading often people astray that I find deeply immoral.

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