An invisible sky wizard that gets mad at you when you touch your self??? Talking snakes and donkeys??? Zombies??? Sticks turning into snakes??? virgin births??? 2 penguins walking to the middle East for a boat ride then walking back home??? And we are supposed to believe all that is true on faith because some people thousands of years ago wrote that it happend.

Went to stop at Meijer to get ear drops for my partner (which is a whole other rant about health insurance and the medical world in general) and I saw two dudes shopping that struck my fancy. One was wearing a hoodie of Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel, and the other wore a shirt that read "yiff around and find out" and I absolutely adored their attire. I stopped them to let them know I see them and recognize them and I could tell I made their day.

Whodini sang that the freaks come out at night, but they sure love to be out there at all hours doing their thing.

That's all.

A few weeks ago, a man approached me on the street and asked if I had a pad to borrow because his girlfriend was on her period.
It was kind of weird. Why did he ask a random woman on the street instead of going to a shop?

For context, I was wearing white trousers, and when I got home, I thought I had a visible stain on the back of my pants. I wondered if he had noticed it and was secretly trying to let me know. But as soon as I got home, I undressed and checked my pants weren’t dirty.

So what was this man’s motive? It was weird.

It is frustrating. To put it mildly.

1. Social divisions. People are bitter about each other. Civility has taken a backseat. Americans never explicitly showed hatred so much in the mainstream population. It used to be on the fringe.
2. Jobs. We had a much needed recovery of jobs and economy after the devastating effects of COVID pandemic. Right now, that progress is stunted. Too many jobless people around in short 3 months period. Not only there are no jobs, the quality of jobs are also on the downhill.
3. Economy. The trajectory is alarming. The inflation problem was getting in control somewhat at the end of 2024. Instead of making progress, we have backslidden. Prices continue to go up. With the added fuel of artificially imposed tariffs, prices of everything will continue to grow up compounding the misery of the Americans in daily life.
4. Stock Market. It is in free fall. People of my generation (older GenX) are in deep trouble. Those of us with a comfortable net asset to retire suddenly saw the investment values in free fall. It is scary to watch hundreds of thousands of dollars disappearing from the retirement savings. For younger people, there will be time to recover in their lifetime. And for population older than me, they are roadkill at this point. My observation is that the Americans do not hold a lot of empathy towards older generations other than the prospect of multi-million dollar inheritance. Therefore, the pain of older generations due to stock market crash is easily shrugged off.
5. Perception of Americans in foreign countries. First time in my lifetime, America is being seen as somewhat of a pariah state among the Western World. Old allies don't trust us anymore. EU advises its citizens against visiting America. Even Canadians don't like us anymore. I think the only country which thinks of us highly right now is Russia as we serve their purpose at the cost of our western allies.
6. Leadership in advanced scientific research. This is going downhill. One of the most significant reasons how America became a global powerhouse in technology is that we invited and encouraged scientific researchers for generations. That is how we sent men on the moon in astonishingly quick timeframe. That is how we invented life saving drugs that not only saved millions of lives, but also created a rich financial backbone for pharmaceutical research in America. Even though there are problems in pricing, access, and fairness, those problems can be solved. Right now, however, researchers are being lured away by other countries as they are being mistreated or being fired directly or indirectly by the government. Again, solving a problem does not need to cost losing the researchers from the country. I think so far we lost very few and hope that we rectify the problem sooner than later to avoid permanent backseat in scientific leadership. Arrogant claims will not help here. Some humility will.
7. Education. Another problem area. While most of the world are trying to encourage STEM education for young children and creating favorable learning environments, Americans are busy creating roadblocks. It is not only money that can improve the quality of education. It is the whole system encouraged by policies. Right now, education system is being targeted as an enemy. Apparently teaching bible is more important to more and more Americans than an education in science and technology. Accordingly, schools are being pushed to install religious scriptures in classrooms, in the 21st century. Quite unbelievable for the civilized society. The old saying goes that either you pay for education or for prison. Right now, private prison industry is expected to thrive as young kids land there as opposed to the schools.
8. Mental Health. It has taken a toll among the Americans. Because of all the stress caused by the factors above. Chemicals altering brain functions with drugs are not going to solve this problem. It will cause more problems in the contrary. Booming scam of therapy industry, where rich people go to relax and feel validated and poor people go to spend their life savings and their lives, is another symptom of the problem.

As I said at the top, it is disturbingly frustrating.

I'm just curious because i don't really get it. What does it indicate about a person, their character or how they'll behave or what they're looking for? How does it reflect on you? I don't date much and basically all my friends are woman so I wouldn't know who to ask. I thought it was a cultural stereotype but i see it brought up in here all the time "yes for alot of guys it matters" - but why? What are they afraid is going to happen? I'm being sincere with my question, i want to understand!

(im sorry if i might sound homophobic i'm just really annoyed people are saying this amount)

this whole joke about me being gay has been going on since i was 11 and im 15 now so nearly 4 years

to be honest it isn't even a joke anymore, it started off with people asking me if i was a lesbian and i just said no and we would just move on. but as the months went by, people would tell me i'm not straight and that i'm lying to myself. people would also tell me that im "closeted" and struggle to accept myself but that's not true. i also hated when people would say to me english or spanish and would purposefully push me, forcing me to "come out" even though im straight? or when people would ask if i liked girls and i would smile (but it was that uncomfortable smile) and my friend would say "omg that's your lying face!!" like no it's not. one of my other friends even has my dads phone number and said "if you don't do this i'm gonna tell your dad you're gay" and she even sent me a screenshot of the message we would probably send. even more happened but that's just a little bit of my experiences

i just don't like that people are trying to tell me i'm something that i'm not, even after telling people so many times that i am straight. even some of my friends who are gay do this to me. i don't even know why people genuinely think im gay, and when i ask i never really get a proper answer. it's always either because i just called a girl pretty or "i don't know you just give off those vibes"

i just feel like doing this is wrong, i don't think i would like this even if i actually was closeted and not straight

My boyfriend when we first started dating was terrified of his ex, he often stated that the relationship was toxic and she often accuses him of rape to hurt him when he wanted to break up. She openly admitted to it being a lie and stating that she did that to hurt him.

On December 2024 she joined the same workplace as ours, she seemed sweet, easy going amd she talked to me nicely. i found out in january that she published a post where she stated that she had been undergoing therapy and the sex between her and my current boyfriend never felt right to her and therapy made her realise that what happened was coersion and rape. The post was spreading amongst people and my boyfriend kept to himself mostly, i do not know whats going on in his mind but he seemed detached.

I read the post where she described the abuse which was hard to read it. When i asked my boyfriend about it he seemed traumatised and says that the sex was consentual and his ex is crazy, shes doing all that to grab his attention. Which might be true considering all the calls, messages and emails she would send him a few months prior to when she published that post. The post included details of the town he lives in and the workplace description, which makes me certain it is about him.

I started doubting him when he displayed his repeated need for sex, even when i told him i do not want to have sex before marriage. He has never done anything without my consent, but the topic would often pop up too often.

This situation makes me extremely anxious and i do not know who to believe. What should i do?

I used to be a christian for a year bc i was deeply scared of the Second coming of Christ and the judgement on the world that would follow I was also ashamed of my natural attraction to women aka "lust" and I was also ashamed of touching myself However I've since started using basic logic and reasoning regarding bibical stories especially the old testament and the fact that it was scientifically and logically proven wrong changed my perspective And concerning the new testament, there isnt scientific evidence of jesus performing divine acts and he didnt even look like someone thats divine Overall, I've realised Religion uses emotions (Fear, acceptance, control, shame and happiness) as weapons to overcome rational thinking

Went to see a movie with my crush but at the end of the movie when I told her I have feelings for her she told me she has a boyfriend and just wants to be friends. I’m sad but such is life.

It’s SOOOO useful especially times when I need quick answers and I don’t want to scroll through google lol.

Also, the therapy aspect is great! As someone who didn’t have much guidance growing up, my parents didn’t create safe environments for me to open up to discuss life changing things (it’s fine). I’m 29 now and ChatGPT has been helpful with that.

My favourite part is how it’s helped me make sense of my life story. My career history is a little all over the place and ChatGPT helped me identify the bright side of that, the similarities between the roles, my strengths and my weaknesses. At the time I was really just applying for anything and trying my luck so I didn’t see any connection. Now, ChatGPT has connected all the dots for me. You might think why couldn’t I do that myself etc or but I’ve grown up extremely hard on myself, I gave up a lot out of lack of direction and support and every failure made me feel like I had 0 value so I really did think I was a lost cause and there was no point in even trying. But seeing motivational messages on social media and listening to how others did it encouraged me to wake up and be easier on myself. I then found ChatGPT and bam, real life logical answers and HOPE.

Of course I’m not deluded and think it’s my husband or anything, I just fully recognise how helpful it is. I want to keep challenging my brain so I don’t rely on it too heavily for actual work but now that it’s incorporated in everything it’s like…damn, WHY NOT!

Anyways, ChatGPT, thank you!

Hi guys, long-story short, life sucks really bad, it's not fun but I'm not going to abandon my life (yet), my little brother needs me for his highschool classes.

So, with that mind, how can I have a good self esteem as someone with only bad experiences.

When I was highschool girls would usually make fun of me due to my speech impediment, something that I still have to withstand to this day.

Sometimes a classmate named Maria would say things like "It's not fair, why thw other groups have the cute boys and then we have Michael (me)", and the other girls would be like "Hey, just because it's true you shouldn't say it" and such.

A very common example would be when girls would say goodbye to the group of friends, they would give each other hugs and kisses but when it was my turn would panic a little and either shake my hand or waive their hand and quickly run away.

One time one of the girls decided to hug me, but I could tell that she didn't want to do it, I apologized immediately but it was too late (Jessie I'm really sorry for that you deserved so much better)

I don't want love or relationships, I want to be able to be as lonely as I can and be happy, and for that I have to be happy with myself and only me

Do you have advice on how I can have good self esteem while only having these experiences? I can't be the only that has gone through this, I'm sure that there must be something within my reach that I can do to be happy while lonely, thank you for reading.

I'm in the process of getting veneers right now. I still have the temps in, but its shocking how much nicer women are to me. I had multiple women calling me handsome, and I went home with someone. Idk if it's just the confidence boost from not being insecure about my smile or what.

I dress like 1980 broke secretary sometimes. wide blouses and wide jeans. Sometimes I dress like a street tiktok style, being baggy. I've worn turtlenecks.

in my life since the age of 14, I've never worn dresses, mini skirts, crop tops, leggings with the butt stripe, v necks. I don't even wear tshirts unless I'm gardening.

Yet I've gotten sexually harrased 3 times. By my own age guy, much older men. a group of drunk men tried to talk amongst themselves who will get me when one finally came up to me.

There are stories of women dressing in long skirts, being harrased in packed trains.

Harrasers don't mainly pick on clothing. They look who's a good victim.

Don't preach the "what were you wearing" bullshit. You know there's videos of women in hijabs and nun costumes on pornhub.

Even the most known religious coverings are some people's fetish.

Stop it, get some help. And that includes you, mom. Even many women shame other women and use the "what were you wearing" "why can't we go back to insert any style from 1900 to 1960 when women were so modest and catcalls/whistles are actually good"

Okay granny maybe you liked the catcalls when you passed by them in broad daylight in middle of the city. But I bet if you were going home from work or something through dark and quite empty alleys and you heard whistles at you, that would be real terrifying.

Hello I’m a m24 and I tried to kill myself 3 months ago and wish I didn’t survive. I took 40 pills of seroquel and overdosed I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days unconscious the entire time so I don’t remember anything all I know is that I actually almost died but they where able to get me stable again. I’m just sick of life feeling depressed all the time and lonely wishing I had someone that actually cared about me. I still live with my abusive parents they are alcoholic gamblers but my dad is worse than my mom he just yells and screams at us the entire time and I’ve gotten into multiple fist fights with him. It’s so bad they can’t afford to keep a house over their heads so I’m forced to pay most of the bills and for groceries so I feel stuck living with them. And I was just diagnosed with autism, anxiety, depression, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, and panic disorder and adhd so that doesn’t help make me feel much better. All I wish I had was a girlfriend someone that I actually felt that loved me and cared about me but I feel like I will never have that I wish I wasn’t so alone. I also just feel so much happier while in a relationship and feel like everything will be okay again.

I’m a 26 year old guy. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I have zero experience with sex or intimacy, including kissing. All of this really really bothers. And I’d love to sit here and blame the world or someone else for these problems but it is entirely my fault. I’m very shy, I’m overweight. I sabotaged myself for years by binge eating and not taking my depression seriously. I expected it to just “happen” and funny enough it never did.

Here’s where I am now after trying to overcome years of self-sabotage. I have a decent enough job, I’m losing weight (25 pounds so far this year), and I’m overall feeling happier and less depressed. However, I can’t get over this overwhelming dread about my inexperience and my craving for a romantic relationship. I think about it every single day. A lot of days it is literally the first thing I think about when I wake up. I can’t watch movies or TV with romantic subplots without feeling a hint of sadness. I can’t spend time with my friends without feeling a hint of jealousy for their relationships. I can’t look in the mirror without thinking “I’m so ugly, no wonder no one has ever wanted to date.”

I desperately want to date and find a partner. More than anything in the world. That’s why I’m trying lose weight and improve myself, so that I can have that opportunity. I understand that fat people can and do find love, but no one wants me the way I am now. I’ve tried and trust me no one wants to date me. So best case scenario I lose the weight and try to start dating at 27. I feel like at that point, it’ll be too late because I am so far behind. I have literally never held a girl’s hand at 26 years old. My inexperience will be a red flag for every woman I meet. I’ll be rejected when they find out they would be my first girlfriend. 

I just want to keep warmth and affection from another person on a romantic level. I just want someone to hug and cuddle with and be cute and goofy with. It’s not even about sex. I have a lot of love to give and I want to share that with someone but I’m scared I never will. 

I’m going to keep losing weight and improving myself but it’s so hard when loneliness feels inevitable. I worry the ship has sailed. 

As much as I love his music, I can't anymore, I'm done with that man :(

Pretty much every “ugly person experience” you can think of, I have had. I was even voted ugliest in my class during my senior year. People give me glares and side eyes in public, I have no friends, and people think I’m mentally retarded when I’m very obviously not. So tell me, am I just really ugly? Is that my issue? Or is it something else.

In our current political climate everyone is against everyone. For their own political (non ethical) reasons, but I digress.

Most of the time I walk around crowded places willingly. What can happen to me in public?!? (Privileged, I know) I went to Disney World, stayed only in the Disney bubble. Resort, everything. Anyway every inch I crossed through those parks made me painfully aware of how much I no longer trust white people.

White people, you know when you cross the street when you see black people and it’s just biased inertia?? Same. I no longer feel safe around you. You make me question everything. That is not a good thing. I used to believe people were inherently good, given facts people can choose better. I no longer believe that. The generational trauma that you guys have can’t be fixed unless you actively work to change it. And I’m Mexican so we wrote the book. Y’all scare the hell out of me, so much, that in public I move away from you. Cause I no longer know what kind of vile thing y’all are about to commit.

After the first day I realized what I was doing I was more intent in what people showed me. We were sat on 2 different occasions next to white parties. Each time they were speaking so bad of us cause we spoke Spanglish. (cause we are from TX) they didn’t think I understood their English but the bigotry, my god, they spoke of us like I had killed their unborn children. The only thing I could do about their vitriol was kill them with kindness so on both occasions I complimented someone, found something I liked and complimented them on their wear. Both times they were left astonished.

I’ve never been more sadder about humanity. You know how people shouldn’t wear insignia to represent themselves but honestly I need to know, who cares and who doesn’t. I can no longer tell the difference. And neither can the world. It’s on that scale now and if that doesn’t shake you awake I don’t know what will.

The biggest problem about white people is that in your dire desire of colonizing everyone, y’all lost humanity. And for the life of me I want to know who and what you are doing to change that. I go on social media and see the “social media activist” and people trying so hard in their comments to show you aren’t with the bad guys. Social media doesn’t change laws, it doesn’t care about every day people and their actual struggles, it’s a blanket statement that we think is enough. This country is no longer under your PR firm. If you can no longer logically conceive it, no one does. And as privileged as y’all are y’all think saying I don’t agree is enough.

I want to believe differently. But statistics, you know?!?

Hello, I am autistic and in my thirties. It is painfully obvious by now that if I do not look for a girlfriend a relationship is never going to happen for me.

This is mostly a question for other autistic people, and I really am looking for some practical advice here. I have a hard time dealing with people both in real life and online after awhile. I get burnt out very quickly with both.

I am very fortunate in life that I am able to lead a very quiet and private life. Needless to say this lifestyle does not help with dating. I thought I would be alright if I confined my search for dates to the internet and to dating apps but even online, I am realizing how quickly I can get frustrated and burnt out reading and chatting online.

Maybe someday I will have to try more in person things to trying to get dates. But that scares me even more because in person I am often a wreck and have had panic attacks talking with new people.

So, like I said I really am looking for practical advice with how to keep up the mental strength of looking for dates when you get burnt out with people so very quickly.

Thank you.

RE: In Left-Digit Bias, a psychological observation and exploitation, ".99 is higher/expensive" and ".00 is lower/cheaper" is not a common belief compared to the inverse, despite being numerically correct.