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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 10th, 2023

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  • I think AWD is widely unnecessary for most people in most climates. It is just an unnecessary feature to sell you a more expensive car.

    I have lived in snowier climates my whole life and have also driven 2WD vehicles the entire time. I have only gotten stuck once, and I know that for a fact because I remember it being surprising that it had never happened before. You really don’t need it if you just drive carefully when conditions are suboptimal.

    AWD gives you a false sense of invincibility as well. It’s important to keep in mind that “all wheel drive” does not mean better stopping. If you’re going to stop, more wheels with power doesn’t help. And in terms of dangerous situations, it’s usually the lack of stopping that’s the problem, not the lack of going.

    There are also issues with fuel efficiency to consider. AWD vehicles generally get lower fuel efficiency compared to 2WD versions of the same car.

    Overall, no, you really shouldn’t get AWD unless you really need the feature.



  • I’m sorry but that’s still the meaning of the term. I know it is colloquially understood to mean a “poor” country, but we shouldn’t ignore the original intent.

    Also, please don’t tell me how my country is. I quite literally live here. I can read every article online that you can, plus I can go outside and see it for myself. We know we have problems, we aren’t ignorant to them - at least not all of us - and they’re nowhere near as bad as some commentors on this post believe they are.







  • I feel like you’re weirdly aggro about this discussion. I don’t want my message to come off as criticism or hate, I’m trying to express that I’m concerned about another person. If she really is happier because of her path, then that’s great and more kids should attempt this lifestyle. But I just don’t have enough evidence for that fact, and I would like to hear more. Most of the positive evidence is from a short article.

    Right now I have more anecdotal evidence saying this is unhealthy in this comment section than I do the contrary, so I want to be proven wrong. I don’t want to be correct that someone had a bad experience.

    Your other questions are answered in the article.

    They really aren’t. Of course she’ll say she’s thankful, most people would when talking to a reporter. I don’t imagine many 17 year olds would immediately start bad-mouthing their parents right away, especially considering I’d expect the parents to be present in the interview process since she’s a minor by U.S. standards.

    And of course the instructors are complimentary, you’d hear the same compliments about any student who asked questions and went to office hours. They aren’t particularly unique for her experience, frankly. I wouldn’t put too much weight on them being evidence of her happiness.

    Perhaps down the road she’ll give an interview and talk about her experience more, once she’s more independent and had more time to process and reflect. Then perhaps my questions will be properly answered. I can only hope so, and I can only hope she reflects positively.

    A kid who blew it all on Minecraft missed out on a lot as well if we’re going to be honest.

    I never said anything to the contrary. Both can be true, they aren’t mutually exclusive. I would agree spending too much time glued to a screen is also not a healthy lifestyle for a child





  • Excellent point on the peers, I was thinking about that as well.

    Humans love to talk to other humans who have shared experiences. People get excited when they find someone who went to the same school as them, even if they were years apart. Those shared experiences help us bond and connect with others.

    Who in the world can she bond with? Few people have experienced anything close to what she has. I worry that it will lead to somewhat of a lonely existence, at least until she’s old enough that she has some more experiences under her belt and can begin to relate to others more. Until then, the experience that 95% of Americans share is missing.

    I’m hoping it’s something that will balance out as she gets older, but I don’t see it being a fun time for the first decade at least.


  • The US has a lot of bullshit in their labeling requirements. My wife studied food science in university and some of her biggest complaints are:

    • Serving sizes aren’t always the entire package*
    • “Natural” has almost no meaning on a package, it is just a hand-waving word
    • They can hide a lot of things in the ingredients under umbrella terms like “spices” and “flavorings”
    • “Made with real juice” does not mean it was made with the juice on the label. For example, a pineapple fruit juice may be more apple juice than actually pineapple juice
    • They can round down to 0 calories if the actual amount is below 5

    The most egregious example I’ve seen lately was a jar of pickles I bought where the serving size is 1/3 of a pickle (now the website says 1/2). That’s just so that the sodium doesn’t get out of control and, in all likelihood, because an entire pickle may be more than the 5 Calories allowed to say it’s “0 Calories”.

    *This is changing, slowly. Manufacturers now have to put servings for the entire container if it’s small enough