The life changing magic of shutting up
Here’s a secret the people who run social media networks don’t want you to know—the one thing you can do to mess up their entire plan.
You can, if you want to, shut the fuck up.
It turns out, when something big happens in the news, you don’t have to react to it. You are not a politician, or a pundit, a fact that you should be grateful for every single day of your life. Do you think any of those people are emotionally well adjusted? They’re not. You can can be, though. You can shut the fuck up. You’re free.
No one is waiting to hear what you have to say; no one will criticize you for not having a take on whatever new thing is happening now. Talking about current events is not your job. You have the incredible freedom of not saying anything.
Do not misunderstand me: I am not saying that you shouldn’t talk, or that it’s bad to talk. Sometimes using your influence can have a very real affect. But you can’t be an expert on everything, and the great thing is no one is expecting you to. I, as a professional internet person, hereby free you from the burden of having to talk about issues you only sort of understand. You can, instead—if you want to—take the time to become informed before expressing an opinion. You can choose to only talk about the things you’re knowledgeable of and passionate about. These are options.
Even more revolutionary: you don’t have to talk about everything on corporate owned social media networks at all, if you don’t want to. You can talk to people in group texts, populated only by people you are choosing to talk to. Or in coffee shops, bars, parks, or a public library. You can talk about things in the living room of your best friend. There are so many choices.
You can use your conversations to connect with your friends in such a way that isn’t monetized or interrupted by bad-faith trolls. You can—if you want to!—just be a person. It’s an option.
Blog link to the above: The life changing magic of shutting up.
...and now here's a few more things I wrote lately...
Every subscription you can cancel by going to the library PopSci
Many libraries offer ebooks using Libby. That could, in theory, replace an ebooks subscription service like Kindle Unlimited. But what about the other subscriptions that you’re paying for? There’s a good chance you could save money on those services by utilizing the library system you already pay into. Read more.
Wait, are you supposed to shut down your computer? PopSci
I used a Kill A Watt to measure how much power my laptop uses when asleep. Leaving it plugged in and suspended from 4PM until 7AM the following morning—15 hours—used up 0.02 kWh of energy. That’s not a lot. Here in Portland, Oregon the price per kWh for residential use is 19.45¢, meaning leaving my laptop plugged in overnight cost me a little over one third of a penny. Over the course of an entire year this adds up to $1.42. That isn’t nothing, but it’s close to nothing. A single 60-watt incandescent bulb uses 0.06kWh every hour, meaning if you have even one in your home replacing them with LEDs will save you way more than you ever could by shutting down your computer. Read more.
A few more articles I wrote
'Psst' Is a No-Nonsense Spotify Player Lifehacker. Get yourself a music player that isn't a cluttered mess.
Someone Got GPT2 Running Entirely in a Spreadsheet. AI isn't magic: it's math. The proof: you can get it running in Excel. Lifehacker
Mandatory Mira
See you next week! If you can't wait that long feel free to follow me on Mastodon, where I tend to hang out. I also post links to my articles on Twitter, LinkedIn, or even Facebook.