Shitposter while I tend to two babies. Maybe when I have my life back, I’ll help us get a few more niche communities back?

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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: July 8th, 2023

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  • Genuine answers from what I’ve heard regarding laws at least in CA:

    1. There is a precedent that you should be going with the flow of traffic, which is technically safer than going the speed limit when everyone else is faster-- but mostly only on freeways; I rarely the flow going that fast on streets, so the rule doesn’t apply to that one jackass going 60 in a 40 zone. And yes, you’ll just get to the red faster (good cities time popular traffic lights to the speed limit so it’s even stupider to speed).

    2. I’m pretty sure they also set the limit to what older vehicles can pull off safely (assuming you don’t tailgate, anyway). They have upped the limit in some areas, however, which I found upsetting. Like, 70mph up from 55mph over a few decades, which feels fast.

    3. Traffic cameras are used, but there’s an interesting issue on legality. If you don’t acknowledge them, they can’t actually say you got the ticket (they come in the mail). I forget the details, but something about seeing your accuser? LA itself more or less decriminalized them, but your mileage may vary based on local government.

    4. Places do, in the form of speed bumps, stop signs and curved roads. Not using those is probably more a mix of old roads and poverty-- new suburbs use windy, wide roads. Wealthy neighborhoods install speed bumps and add tons of stop signs. I don’t see it in my neighborhood because “it’ll hurt business” which feels like code for “you don’t matter enough for safety,” hence I think it’s a wealth inequality issue like most things in this country.

    Anyway, that’s the best of my knowledge as a CA resident. Honestly, the bigger danger to me are people who tailgate, road rage, drive on sidewalks, and do stupid things to get to an offramp. That last one? Just last Wednesday I saw a guy, car totaled, who tried to hit an offramp they missed by sharp turning into it, going up a 55 degree slope, and getting t-boned by another guy going up the normal way.

    Idiots, I swear…




  • It certainly matters on who they put in your algorithm. I get more of the basic feed of political stuff and it’s like… Gavin Newsom with AI abs or some stupid slop and liberal boomers going heart eyes, lol.

    I wouldn’t mind the artists and creators more, though. It did trickle in for a bit then uh, a few nsfw popped up unblurred and for some reason saying no to that made them all stop popping up. If I really cared though I’d probably actually follow people more, lol


  • To give a non Fediverse answer (we’re awesome), of the mainstream-ish platforms I’ve found Bluesky very non-toxic-- perhaps, I dare say… not toxic enough? You’ll get really dumb takes or sloppy AI posts without a hint of pushback.

    But I’m with people in these comments, I like this place most. Call outs aren’t always considerate, but at least it keeps it from being utterly stupid. Polite corrections though are a treasure. That, and Never Slop kitties.


  • There are a few conflicting frameworks, plus what I describe is normative behavior rather than people with diagnosable conditions (depression in abnormal psychology tends to be more a dysfunction of the brain). I teach social psychology to undergraduates, so I’m familiar with the other frameworks at a fairly broad level-- the one the person you responded to is a bit of an older perspective, but the direction you’re taking I’ve heard discussed.

    Still, it’s difficult to get into the details in a Lemmy comment on a shower thoughts thread.

    None the less, I mostly don’t like the fragile/secure ego approach because it’s harder to measure something like that, meaning there’s less evidence that’s what’s going on.

    I will say more generally though, our brains seek out acceptance and avoid rejection, much like we do physical pain (fMRI confirms it’s the same part of the brain). That includes good things, like behaving cooperatively, and bad things, like confirmation bias. Self-esteem, similarly, cuts both ways-- it makes us feel better without needing external sources of esteem, but it also rejects external threats to that self esteem.

    I simply worry that excess of anything leads to bad outcomes, like certain politicians we’re dealing with now. But now we’re getting more into my opinion and less about the research.

    If you’re curious, the textbook I use is open source. https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/

    It’s not perfect, though. I find it covers the topic well enough not to need to force my students to buy a text.





  • Lots of good comments here. My favorite is parenting vs childfree groups. I’ve literally seen the communities back to back on my feed. It’s mostly funny to me, a parent, because I agree with both communities and they aren’t actually in opposition.

    Second favorite are those guys who are all “THIS IS NOT A MEME GTFO” when someone posts a twit or tumbler post or what have you. Lol




  • Where I am, it’s taught you’re actually supposed to favor your driver side alignment. There’s a couple of reasons:

    1. It’s safer for parked cars and the odds of someone hopping into the lane (via car door or from around it) make pedestrian danger real. Same for bike lanes. Those on the passenger side are always more vulnerable on city streets.

    2. You inherently have more control over the driver’s side than the passenger side; same reason you’re also supposed to pass slower vehicles on that side (trucks can see you better on their drivers side, although I feel like they mostly drive with mirrors for that).

    Unofficially there’s also: 3. Some intersections have an unspoken rule that you can allow right turners a lane if everyone favors the driver side line. It’s typically a parking lane that ends, so it’s not always as wide as you’d like. I’m not 100% on its legality, though.

    Plus, let’s be honest, nobody can be pure center. Luckily it mostly doesn’t matter unless the roads gets really narrow; most highways in the US at least are wide enough where it barely matters where the fuck you are in your lane… although some pickups eat up that whole lane anyway nowadays so who knows, lol.

    Edit: oh and the next generation might be screwed. My little sister who’s ten years younger just lets her car’s lane detection steer her wheel. Her car just fucking bounces from left to right to left like a game of pong. Absolutely maddening!



  • Happened to me yesterday, actually, that a large truck stopped suddenly at the end of an intersection and I, behind them, had to stop in the intersection without knowing when or if we’d move again since I couldn’t see anything ahead of the truck. A good seven or so seconds later and the light turned yellow so I had to cut to the right (mostly parking) lane to avoid gridlock. Went ahead a few cars to an opening to get back into a driving lane, cutting ahead a little.

    My “I’m sorry” horn is really just my shy hand wave out my window though. I don’t use AC nor have tinted windows so I think they generally see how I feel, I think. More often than not, it’s a “thank you” horn though, as people often have to let me out of my own driveway since I live on a major street and there is rarely a time there aren’t cars idling outside waiting for a light.