Luckily, I know something that would probably help her get over the trauma…

Oh, so you’ve heard of this thing called “science” before?

We can get some idea of what their brains looked like based upon imprints left on the inside of the skull. We can get an idea of relative intelligence based on artifacts, like tools and art. If you know that cranial volume dropped, but you can see imprints indicating more folds, and you can see cave art indicating more sophisticated culture, and more advanced tools, then you know with reasonable certainly that you’re looking at a more intelligent creature despite the smaller brain.

Allow me to read the article for you:

As smaller and better organised brains were able to perform more complex computations, metabolically expensive larger brains simply became unnecessary

Tattersall believes that the catalyst that caused this change in thinking style was the spontaneous invention of language. This led to the neural pathways of the brain being reorganised in a more metabolically efficient way, allowing humans to get more “bang for their buck”.

In other words, as smaller and better organised brains were able to perform more complex computations, metabolically expensive larger brains simply became unnecessary.

Get out of the house. Pick up new hobbies and meet new people. I don’t know how old you are, but you sound young. Now is the chance to build the future you, with a wide variety of interest and experiences, and strong friendships. You won’t get any of these from passive consumption of media.

I think you misunderstood the parent comment. Admittedly, it was poorly worded.

How did you even find a 20 pack of Coke? All I can find are 10, 12, and 24 packs.

From what I’ve seen, it’s CRT televisions that are sought after by vintage gamers, not out-of-date computer monitors. There were so many truly awful CRT computer monitors out there before LCDs came around. I’m aware that there were plenty of cheap, low-quality LCDs, too, I just want to drive home the point about all the awful, .41 dot-pitch, flickering SVGA monitors with inconsistent, blotchy color that roamed the earth in the before times (i.e. the 90s).

I strongly recommend that you focus on maximizing time doing anything and everything real and tangible, preferably with other people. It’s really easy for games and social media to mess with your brain’s reward system, leading up worse personal outcomes.

I fully recognize the irony of me writing this to you online, btw. In my defense, I’m meeting with friends in two hours and going to do yard work right now. ;-)

Things like the 40 year old computer monitors have a negative value, unless they’re something special like a 21" Trinitron or an IBM T220/221.

Unless the furniture and furnishings are of a sought-after style (e.g. Art Deco), they’re basically worthless.

I sold most of my belongings back in 2009. Furniture and beds had basically zero value. A solid wood table retained decent value. Electronics were worthless unless they were vintage collectable (e.g. Rotel amplifier). eBay was the best place to sell things because people are committed. Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are a huge time-suck because you get so many flakes, low-ballers, and tire-kickers.

Oh, and another thing: if you’re reluctant to do something, such as reading, cleaning up, going for a walk, etc, then set a timer for 10 - 30 minutes and commit to it. A human can withstand quite a lot for 15 or 20 minutes. It’s how I was able to get through brutal HIIT cardio routines and feel good for the rest of the day. The Pomodoro technique works well for this sort of time and task management, at least for me.

You might want to read up on (or find some videos on the topic, haha) dopamine addiction. It’s not a real term, per se, but it will get you results about the problem you have.

I think that watching the videos 1) distracts you from reality and 2) gives you a little reward, either though little dopamine spikes (e.g. a funny segment, or some tidbit of knowledge), or through a false feeling of accomplishment.

Personally, I would recommend whittling down a short list of favorite YouTubers. Set aside a few afternoons per week to watch the videos, and try to pare the time back further over the course of months. Focus on real-world hobbies and interests. Leave your phone at home, go to a coffee shop, and read a book for an hour.

On the subject of reading and attention spans (which is often a core issue here), I read about a study a long time ago. They had students read from a book every night. They were to read for as long as they felt like it, and then read one more page. At the end of the study, the students reported that they were reading far more per sitting, and that their attention span improved.

There’s also a lot of recent information out there about dopamine resets, where people cut out technology and take walks while focusing on the world around them. This would probably benefit you, too.

The 2025 US GDP was $30 trillion. The US economy is 70% consumer driven. Advertising allows organizations to shave a miniscule slice of that off for themselves, which is still a sizable amount of money.

Before Chick-fil-A built a restaurant in this area, they had a food truck that passed through every week. It was fantastic. Delicious, hot, efficient, and the employees all seemed pretty happy.

After they built a location here, and after the long lines died down, I tried it. The sandwich was barely warm. I spent the weekend with food poisoning, unable to leave the house because I was pooping constantly.

I tried again at a location in California, on a road trip. I again got a sandwich that felt like it had been sitting out, cooling for a long time. No food poisoning that time, but that’s the last time I went. Now I buy a few bottles of their sauce when it’s on sale and make my own chicken sandwiches.

Nothing cuts weight like Flight Milk!

I worked with some former Microsoft people. It was ridiculous. So much drama. They were constantly pushing initiatives that made no sense. They cared more about their weird culture than they did about making great products. I think that Ballmer broke Microsoft. His endless stacked-ranking made people focus on corporate politics and resume padding over quality.

This is tangential, but I recently learned quite a bit about hospice care in Oregon. I was dating someone who worked in the industry. She said that private equity was buying up the industry, intending to bill Medicare for as much as possible. I asked why she and her hard-working co-workers didn’t start up their own hospice. Don’t quote me on the specifics, but 1) a new hospice here has to generate no profit for the first X years and 2) you have to have something like half a million in reserves in order to be allowed the license to start one.

The laws were well-intentioned, but they end up being a way for the wealthy to continue generating income on the backs of everyone else. If you have the industry knowledge and funding to start a hospice, you can do it, then sell it off to private equity after a few years. Rinse and repeat. The rich get richer and we all pay for it, largely via Medicare.