Ask Lemmy

Doomscrolling news headlines can make me feel depressed.

I've added a community to my subscriptions to counteract the negativity. Check it out [email protected]

Open source projects as proof that universally collaborative work can strive.

Despite the drama, Lemmy, and despite the continued dominance of proprietary software, the FOSS movement in general. I've been absolutely blown away with my reintroduction to Linux. And I've finally started getting job interviews. I'm starting to feel okay for the first time in a long time.

Lately? There has been negative news since forever. That's what people interested in and that what's generates clicks.

It's in my hands how I react to my environment. And I can't change other people. Knowing this and considering where the humanity is now, I'm pretty hopeful for the future.

It's a slim hope for humanity but a real one. We're approaching 80 years without a nuclear war.

In 1945, we dropped atomic bombs on two cities in the closing of a big fat war. Since then, countless states decided they too needed nukes, because on the international stage it's still about power and not ethics.

But nukes have been in the hands of idiots, genuses, cold calculators and red hot fanatics. And yet not a one launched in aggression.

The Trump administration revealed a thing, that its the underlings, the deep state that has made sure that every close call only got close, but the last switches never got connected. It's the rest of us, on whom war hawks and capitalist plutocrats depend who can delay, obstruct or sabotage the self destructive tendencies of our masters.

It's no guarantee we'll survive the climate crisis, the plastic crisis or the rising takeover of the transnational white power movement. But that's where the good guys have power to change the course of history.

Prozac helped tremendously. Seriously though, without it I wouldn't be here. So I'm thankful for doctors and drugs that actually work and which can make you feel better about merely existing for the time being, and enable you to enjoy what little pleasures you may be lucky enough to have.

I rejoice in the fact that my kids still want to give me hugs.

I have faith in my childrens' ability for compassion, and am proud of how they and their fellow kids at school demonstrate that compassion for each other. Their generation is infinitely better than ours was. They're just nicer people. And that's what truly gives me hope.

Perspective, really.

I've no hopes for humanity or our collective future. I don't believe I'll retire, or even live to the point where I'll be able to retire. I'm kind of 50/50 on society even still being around by the time I retire.

But, I'm moving next week. I'm very excited for that. The new area is lovely. There'll be a dog park pretty much right outside the door, and we'll be able to go for walkies next to a lovely lake. There's also a huge forest area nearby. So I tend to think of the immediate future and "live in the moment" so to speak because the future is going to be rubbish, and hopefully I won't be around to see it.

This here is the light of my life.

I found Lemmy when Reddit went to pot. That's a small good thing.

They fact that there's always been a lot of negative news and world ending crisises throughout history. Everyone always feels were in the end times but we keep making it through. Not only that, we consistently get through it and make things better in the process.

There are broken parts to the world but we are objectively better off now than at any other time in history.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by bad news, it's time to adjust your news intake.

One day I will die

For me personally the momentum of the neurodiversity movement makes me hopeful that society can change to be more inclusive and accepting of neurodivergent people. I'm also hopeful that a lot of the normative structures that have hurt so many groups of people will continue to be challenged and society becomes more accepting of all forms of diversity.

I focus on the good news, like a lot of medical breakthrough stuff. I just heard researchers think they’re close to a cancer treatment pill that will target only the cancer cells.

And the recent breakthrough in an artificial kidney! Only a very small fraction of kidney failure patients get transplants each year and this would be a game changer for the thousands who don’t. Plus no immunosuppressants and a much more normal life? Amazing!

The preponderance of evidence is that humans are generally, good, kind and helpful (most of the time). Our evolutionary superpower is fucking cooperation!

I genuinely believe that - in spite of the if-it-bleeds-it-leads news cycle - humanity is rising to the challenges of our time.

Our time is hard, but there are so many people working to improve the world. They don't get into the news cycle, but they're out there.

Mr Rogers related a story about his mother, who told him that when he saw disasters on TV, to remember to "look for the Helpers." They're always there. No matter how bad things get, the Helpers seem to come out of the woodwork whenever aid is needed. Look for them.

Extremophilic prokaryotes. Stargazing. Organisms that digest plastic.

Fewer people in abject poverty every decade, fewer people malnourished every decade, fewer deaths from preventable disease every decade, more access to information for more people every decade- to name a few.

I remind myself a lot that fear sells, so fear is manufactured. I carry on my life the way I see fit so I can enjoy it as if nothing terrible is happening. I'm not in politics, so all I worry about is voting for the candidate I see fit, I'm only me, so I recycle and don't litter, but I live as if the earth isn't going to burn up. I disconnect from the internet a lot and focus on the people around me and what they're going through. I take time for my hobbies and social life. I just enjoy.

Reading into the past makes me hopeful for the future. The ever consistent doomsday climate news has been going on for decades, and it used to be panic about the earth freezing, so I'm not putting a bunch of stock in the idea that we'll all be wiped out by boiling seas.

Despite the claims, Trump didn't turn our system into a dictoral wasteland. He tried to overturn the election through legal means, and the legal system worked. Biden became president when he was supposed to. I don't think Trump will be able to turn out system into a dictoral wasteland if he gets elected again. The system will see to it that the next will come into office after.

Some states handing down abortion laws is awful, but I live in a state where it's legal, and I'll move if it becomes illegal. With countries like Mexico making abortion legal recently, it makes those states look so backwards. I think abortion will eventually become legal everywhere in the US again.

People live through horrible times. We do what we have to do. I'm just one of them.

My kids are fucking awesome and I'm doing my best to raise them to continue being awesome. I hate thinking about the future we're leaving for them, but I know they'll be smart, capable and caring people in that future.

Generic vyvanse that I can afford.

Actually nothing.

I don't let external events impact my personal life. Only stress about things you can control. If the world blows up in nuclear war, so be it. Until then, I'm chugging along, enjoying the ride.

I'm hopeful that with the advance of technology there comes significant societal and political changes that will result in a more equitable society. It might get better before it gets worse, if history is any teacher, but there's potential for great things.

We’ve been through shit before, and were still standing.

Look, the universe will die a heat death, there is no God so everything is meaningless anyway. The only thing we can do is having a blast here and now within this short blink of an eye which we call life. If we're lucky then we can extend it a little bit by having children and grandchildren, but that's it.

So I'm hopeful because half a year ago my son was born, he is healthy and I have a ton of fun with him, and the older he gets the more fun he becomes. In addition to that all the other children around me are amazing people so even if climate change will make their lifes more difficult, I im hopeful that they will work together to tackle all the problems and live long and prosper!

To be honest, I'll be glad when all major missery won't happen within the next 50 years. I doubt I'll be here after that. No kids that will have to clean the mess.

Can't think of anything positive, apart from nature surviving.

-- cycles. Not that kind. Today’s swerve toward conservatives, isolations, hatred, is just backlash to too much change. It’ll come around again. Progress is inevitable

-- technology. To the extent technology can help reduce climate change, it’s finally happening. I do expect to see all electric vehicles on the road in my lifetime. I do expect to see mostly renewable energy generation. It may be too little too late to escape negative effects, but we finally have technology working with us and adoption is sjkyrocketing. Even in the US

— walkable cities are desirable again. I live in one. Yes, in the US

The growing hate for billionaires by the people, the growing manifestations of desire for equality from minorities in the west, South Korea and Japan starting to make peace because they can agree on the China problem. Also I can see how things changed in 30 years and can tell that within 5 years we have the ability to completely upend the world if we need to. Humans are so adaptable that we don't even notice how fast we're changing our world and ourselves.

That writers strike looks damn promising.

That everyday we move closer to finding a cure for male pattern baldness.

DMA and DSA regulations being implemented in the EU

While the world is a broken, unfair place, it's my hope that it doesn't have to stay that way.

We are all human, nothing lasts forever, but it also means that the world is capable of change. it makes me hopeful that by acknowledging that things doesn't have to be the way it is, we will finally make an effort to change for the better during our short time on this Earth.

Humankind will disappear and hearth will evolve to better. This is not pessimistic not optimistic, I just believe life is a continuous evolution. Hard to believe humans are the last step or we're so important to last forever.

I've been seeing a lot of articles lately about new renewable power sites going up. At the same time I've read that the world is going to hit peak oil demand next year and then it'll start to decline. And last week I drove home past a construction site with signs up saying it was going to be a green hydrogen supply depot.

I choose to believe we're not gonna die choking on our own diesel fumes.