The Secret of Happiness

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“I'd far rather be happy than right any day."

"And are you?"

"No. That's where it all falls down, of course."

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Scrubbles

I think you're correlating people who have stopped engaging with people who don't care.

I have panic attacks when I think about the state of our world. I block out most posts that trigger me. If I didn't, I'd be a nervous wreck sitting in misery if I didn't. That doesn't mean I don't know what's happening, I'm very aware and I keep up, but I'm also not going to have a constant feed of anxiety forced in my face.

We used to be informed if we read a daily newspaper. Don't confuse "refusing to have constant anxiety" with privilege.

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Open mind to racists, homophobes, ....? Are you serious?

NaibofTabr

(what is "political" ?)

Anything that relates to the polity

in general it is important to talk about "politics" with people

Absolutely. People used to talk about this stuff in pubs and on the streets all the time. People used to literally go out and stand on streetcorners and harass everyone passing by with their opinions (soapboxing). Political structure and governance were common public discourse, with strangers, in public settings. The Federalist Papers were widely distributed and read because there was an interested audience, and they weren't the only example of political publishing for public consumption at the time, just one of the best-known examples.

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"This may alarm you...It scares the willies out of me."

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I don’t think they meant to bite at anyone. I feel compassion for anyone who has been beaten down by our system and doesn’t have any fight left. I still have a little, and I take that statement as encouragement to keep fighting. Despair and depression are brutal and I’ll keep fighting for both of us.

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Most of the time when I get into an argument with someone on Lemmy (formerly Reddit) it was for the people who may read it more than the other person. The best outcome in those cases is civil disengagement, not changing their mind. But the goal is to reveal some faulty logic and dismiss some disinformation for random strangers.

fxomt

Being able to participate in politics and democracy is a privilege in itself. Not as much as not having to do so anyway (under a democracy, dictatorships don't count), but I still think it's a privilege.

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Yes, I'm serious. Depends on if you want to actually change minds, or if you want to try to take a punitive approach to try to shout down narrow minded people.

If a black man can convert high ranking KKK members through conversation alone, then it certainly is possible. Daryl Davis was directly responsible for between forty and sixty, and indirectly over two hundred people leaving the Klan. Or if you want to hear detail about the process then there's a podcast episode about it as well.

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This is why the best use of your time is to go onto the 8chan boards and spend all your time posting.

That is some slick use of the statement and some thick sarcasm and it got a chuckle out of me.

Also terrifyingly enough I think probably the thought process of the people on those sites but viewing the rest of the world as the majority.

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Think like a scientist and you can have both. Being happy to learn you are wrong because otherwise would be inconclusive.

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It's the other people being wrong that's the issue

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I see it as further data to observe and explore. It's fine once you get past the nihilistic thoughts.

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I'm willing to forgo my happiness to snark at NAZIs.

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Great point. This is why I strive to stay vocal with my boring opinions like "all the trans people I have met were pretty chill and just want to be acknowledged" and "I'm not sure the average politician has the rest of our best interests in mind" and "truck nuts make me laugh".

DaGeek247

Ascetic*. I assume the aesthetic lifestyle is primarily shared on instragam.

merde alors

look at that privilege ☞

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I'm trying to take a cue from Trevor Noah (I didn't like his time on the daily show but I still think he has some good takes):

Read the news only a few times a week. That's enough to be informed. We created a 24 hours news cycle that makes us more anxious, angry, and scared than we need to be. Live your life, focus on those around you, stop yelling at people on the internet who have made up their mind.

It seems like a good balance of self care and being informed. You have to set boundaries.

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The older I get the more I wish I was one of those people who are able to completely ignore what's going on around them and completely invent an alternative for themselves. Those are some of the happiest people I know.

FlashMobOfOne

Me not posting about politics makes everyone happy, because I despise and criticize Trump. I also despise and criticize the Democrats.

So you're welcome.