No, I think they're being literal. There is value that they want in your privacy.

Kids are going to be weird and use their imagination. They'll pretend to be an NFL player breaking tackles as they run through a crowded school hallway. They'll pretend to be Optimus Prime and pretend to transform into a truck. Or they'll pretend to be iron man blasting bad guys with their lazer palms.

The issue is when your friends have aged out of that behavior and you think it's still cool to Naruto run up to them all the time.

I think it's important to consider why you think this. Try and explain what makes someone stupid.

I do tend to agree with the general statement that most people are pretty fucking stupid. If IQ were a meaningful number of intelligence, I'd wager that it's heavily skewed left. Meaning that the common saying of "think of how stupid the average person and realize half of all people are below that" is even worse when you use the median.

For me, what makes someone stupid is lack of curiosity, lack of drive to learn, and lack of critical thinking. I think stupidity is a learned trait, and our modern society is doing its damnedest to make sure children learn it as soon as possible. Never question authority, you only need to memorize so you can pass the test, and you will be spoon fed the information.

Then soon as you get out of school, you have to get a job and occupy most of your time with work or sleep, you'll likely get only two-three hours of time to yourself each day, meaning you'll lack the time to break out of the cycle. And the system compounds at most jobs. Your manager is likely stupid, meaning they want you to never question authority, just do what they tell you, and ask them very little questions.

I also think the trillions of dollars that are spent on advertising strongly influences this. And being constantly bombarded with psychological manipulation encourages stupidity.

I also think stupidity is compounding in and of itself. The less you know, the more you can just make hasty assumptions, then use those assumptions as fact for your next set of assumptions.

It's also contagious. Being around people who are less stupid than yourself makes you feel bad, so you aren't around them much or encourage them to join you in being stupid.

There is a massive difference between not knowing something, and choosing to not know something. Just about every person in the world has access to the greatest source of information that has ever been created. There are free courses on just about every topic you could ever desire to learn, fingertips away.

There is also a massive difference between knowing something and rote memorization. Being able to follow the logical chain of facts is very important, so is being able to critically think about a topic. I think being "bored" is great at combatting stupidity in this way. Spending time with no stimulation is great for engaging your brain in actual thoughts. Consider dedicating time to just thinking: no audiobooks, music, podcasts, video games, movies, TV shows, social media, books etc. Just sit and be bored for a while. Meditation is a great entry into this.

Are they fucking morons

Close, they are mormons fucking

Kinda glosses over how these perks add a couple dozen extra dialogue options, many of which are unique ways to solve a problem.

Honestly my favorite type of rpg "perk", one that gives a slight gameplay boost but also affects the story and/or dialogue in a meaningful way.

Having 25% more "luck" is cool and all, but I'd choose a perk that gave me 5% more luck and more ways to solve problems any day of the week.

It's one of the reasons I loved Prey. It seemed like every perk you got added new ways to get around, dialogue, and/or new combat techniques.

The dude is 61, not even retirement age in the US. You don't need to be dramatic just yet.

Ehh really depends on your boss. And honestly it depends on you also. If either of you can't separate work from personal time then you really shouldn't be hanging out. But for most of the bosses I've had, some lighthearted social time outside of work was perfectly fine.

Oh no! A statement which applies to the vast majority has some exceptions! Better break out the um-actually and technically-incorrect stamps.

As someone who has worked in IT, age has a strong negative correlation with tech literacy. Is every boomer tech illiterate? Of course not. Some boomers built the tech we use today. But most boomers are worse with tech than most ten year olds.

Congratulations on learning that words have no intrinsic meaning, and the dictionary is constantly changing. Prescriptive linguistics is a hopeless battle.

It's very akin to reddit ~10 years ago. Grammar nazis, "um actually" and pedantic debates are everywhere. You just have to not engage and consistently remember the other guy is probably a sweaty nerd who cares way more than you do.

Stories I've heard in the last year from my friends and co-workers:

• Bragging about how they got 5 hours of sleep last night because their newborn finally slept until 6am

• A "funny" story about how their 5 year old managed to get a hold of some chewing gum and got it stuck in their hair and all over a rug

• A potty training "success" story about how their toddler remembered to pull down their pants, but remembered mid shit they should have sat on the toilet, so they shat all over the bathroom.

• They found a juice box their kid bit a hole into and then tucked under their car seat... By smelling it rotting

Trojan just needs to get a group of parents together to tell stories about their kids and paste them word for word on the back of their boxes.

I love Japanese architecture and Japanese food. And I've watched my fair share of anime and read my fair share of manga.

Anyone who doesn't know how terrible Japanese culture is to outsiders needs to educate themselves, there's a reason they sided with Hitler. That culture never really went away like it did for Germany. Talk to an actual Japanese person, who went to school in Japan and see how much they know about their war crimes, and then talk to a German.