• 2 Posts
  • 226 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: June 14th, 2023
  • Rolando@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyz•Varanasi gouldii burrowsEnglish
    15·
    8 days ago

    That’s very interesting… because in these memes, anything can be absurd except for the Saddam-9/11 link; in this way they tacitly propagate the lie that Saddam was connected to 9/11.

    Over the past 24 hours I’ve seen memes about the absurdity of saying that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio. But if conservatives wanted to counteract that, they’d adopt the Saddam-9/11-meme approach: propagate memes that similarly involve absurdities but that tacitly assume that immigrants do eat pets in Ohio.

    Maybe I’m thinking too much like a scientist. There’s probably already a principle something like: To spread a harmful lie, hide it in a harmless lie.

    (edit: I don’t mean this as a criticism of you in particular, @fossilesque@mander.xyz ; on the contrary thank you for keeping us all up-to-date on the latest memes.)

  • Rolando@lemmy.worldtoPeople Twitter@sh.itjust.works•Tarot reading expert
    46·
    10 days ago

    So there’s one approach to fortune-telling where you convince them that you have some magical ability to figure out their secrets, and then you use cold-reading techniques to trick them into thinking you have mystic powers.

    But there’s a better approach where you give someone an open-ended set of symbols, and you use those to help the person think through the issues in their life. You’re giving them the opportunity to reflect on things from a new perspective.

    • a Tarot card might have symbols for “loss in worldly matters” and be in a position that represents their past
    • another card might have symbols for “an older person, very patient” and be in a position that represents their current circumstances
    • another card might have symbols for “the end of a time of plenty” and be in a position that represents the conflict of their current circumstances
    • another card might have symbols for “gain through cooperation” and be in a position that represents their future

    So you talk to the person and describe what each card means, and they think about how it applies to their life. They might ask questions like: “does ‘loss in worldly matters’ mean money?” and you say “sure, it can, or it can mean something else like being reprimanded at work.” and they might say “oh, I think in my case it means (whatever).” And then you can think together how that applies to the rest of the reading. People have a lot of things going on in their lives, things can just slip by, and this gives them a chance to step back and think it all over.

  • Rolando@lemmy.worldtoNo Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•Where do you even meet people anymore?
    102·
    15 days ago
    • Do you have a religious affiliation? A lot of people go to the social events of their local church/mosque/temple to meet “safer” people. You don’t even have to be that religious, it’s often just a cultural thing.
    • Are there any team sports you are interested in? A lot of places have amateur or informal leagues. Similarly, martial arts classes can be fun. If you have a local rec center (local government, not private), check it out.
    • edit: if you don’t like participating in sports, consider becoming a fan. Pick a local team (maybe pro but better minor-league) and join the fan club, start going to their matches and cheering for them. Alternately, find a local fan club for a foreign team, e.g. the local English Pub shows the Premier League games and the Manchester United fans meet up every game.
    • What kind of music you like? Local bars, cafes, even some restaurants may set up musicians, and since they’re not some huge concert they can be free or cheap. Support your local music scene!
    • You aren’t going to college, but you may want to check out community college. They’re usually inexpensive and you might as well take a class in something you’re really interested in.
    • Check out your local public library, a lot of times they have free talks or movies or reading groups.