How about the government subsidizes the cost of the phone for needy customers rather than the reseller.

Are there any other industries where a product or service is subsidized by the reseller? What if, like dental insurance, there were a cell phone insurance company.

I mean, locking phones is stupid to begin with but if it’s for a small segment of people who want $0 / cheap AF phones, maybe there’s other options. I’m on ATT’s site and see a Moto Razr with a retail price of $1k and a payment plan of $6/month for 36 months ($216). The Ts & Cs to get there are lengthy and questionable. The whole industry needs more regulation for the protection of consumers - especially given how critical having a cell phone is in the 21st century.

I would have assumed that any advertisement tagged as “political” or “election” related would be removed on November 6th as part of the contract. Who would want to spend any money to promote an event after the event takes place?

Geico has not said anything publicly, one way or the other. I would generally lean towards believing Snopes but, with such little evidence other than “someone told us otherwise”, I could very easily see this being retracted. I mean, they could at least mention the name of the “corporate spokesperson”.

I think we should all be more skeptical of everything we read. It’s not at all rare for a reputable organization to retract a statement, as you’ve suggested yourself.

Most everyone has abandoned reality in favor of delusion. That’s the point. Everyone sees the world from their own perspective, or the perspective of their bubble or tribe or religion.

“The algorithm” mostly shows me left-leaning news. Aside from major news orgs like AP, any other source of information is pushing a narrative. They’re twisting the words of presidents, former presidents, other news persons, etc. to make it seem a certain way. Video clips are cut short or taken out of context. Headlines are grossly misleading. A minor inconsequential event or statement is flipped on social media to be today’s trending topic - which may very well sway an election. The entire world is flooded with lies targeting everyone, regardless of your politics.

Pushing people away because you disagree with them, or because you think they’re “crazy”, only fortifies the establishment of their beliefs among others. You’re putting them in a corner where they can crowd together and commiserate about being called crazy while they point at you and eye you up as the enemy.

People are afraid. They’re struggling to get by. They’re desperate for someone to listen to them and provide salvation.

We all need to recognize we’re being manipulated. Everyone is susceptible to mistruths, regardless of your education. We need to be more curious and empathetic and accept we may be wrong about something and that our perspective is not the only perspective that matters.

Well, this is interesting. I did come across that story but wasn’t interested enough to question it. Other than the larger point you’re making, I couldn’t care less. However, reading the Snopes article, the only evidence to the contrary is “A Geico corporate spokesperson told Snopes via email that the company has “coverage available nationwide for the Tesla Cybertruck.”” which feels a little flimsy to me. It would be nice if they’d post something on their site or socials to confirm.

Ladies, how do you feel about Competency and Maturity?

In the video, when he’s talking about the robot Optimus, he claims that at scale this will cost $20-30K and goes on to say “this will be the biggest product ever of any kind” and “everyone of the 8 billion people one earth will want their Optimus buddy”.

Dude. Most people on this planet can barely afford a $1,000 smart phone.

From my experience, it seems to me that 99.9% of people commenting on the internet lack critical thinking. Looking at Reddit in particular, it’s the comments that are the most outlandish or “popular” and often having little or nothing to do with the story they’re commenting on that are risen to the top. No one cares about the actual news. They’re engaged with headlines and chit chat. If the story takes a turn, if it no longer “supports their narrative”, they turn tail and move on to the next thing to fume over.

We’re generally focused on the maga crowd in the context of this story but the truth is that we are all subject to and fooled by misleading content. And when you, as an actual intelligent person with actual critical thinking skills, or just someone who read the article, tries to call attention to the fact that a headline is misleading or outright wrong, you get downvoted. So, why is that the case?

Also, fwiw, I have a shitty education, I’m not very smart, but I believe I have better critical thinking skills than the majority of people.

Thank you. This is the stuff we should all one made aware of. Some of the craziest conspiracies are founded in some truth. This is why I find it so concerning. It doesn’t take much effort for some people to become believers in the theory that “climate change” is a hoax.

Because information travels at the speed of light and crazy headlines like this are attention grabbers, millions more people are exposed to mistruths. This is why we are where we are today. Misleading headlines. Social media. Engagement algorithms. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or what your politics are. I see misleading headlines and stories written all day every day. Then people just go to the comment section to “inform” themselves without reading the article or the source material or the entire context of a video clip, etc.

Because if you just keep calling them buffoons without giving a flying fuck about them, you are responsible for the divide. If you believe you’re the more intelligent person, if you believe you are right, you have an obligation to listen to them and help them out of their mess. We have all been brainwashed for generations by corporate and government interests. None of us have a clear mind. We should all be working together and embracing each other in spite of our differences to rise up against our oppressors. Frankly, your question sounds just as stupid as they do. You can answer for yourself why you may or may not be interested being a helpful empathetic soul.

Nah. That’s bullshit. You don’t have to be a high school graduate to discern fact from fiction here. The issue is much deeper and broader. Anything the government does, the Democrat government does, is bad because they’re out for you. You need to dig deeper in to why these people are falling prey to the brainwashing of the far right extremism and conspiracy theories. A lot of these people are very well educated. Fear of the unknown is far more powerful than a college degree. I’m not knowledgable enough on the subject but I’m sure a handful of books have been written about how people fell for Hitler’s regime.

I don’t think it’s because people are choosing to be dumb. Knowing how to do things because you learned the hard way, because you failed over and over, or because your father taught you how to do it is praised more in this group. Gumption and grit is valued more than being told by “the elite” about how you’re supposed to do things. “Science ain’t got nothing on how my grandady’s done it”.

It’s really very sad. Some people are so anti-establishment that they’d sooner see their younger generations struggle to prosper than to send them off to a university to educate themselves to make abetter life for the future of their family. Let’s not even consider how they’ve been brainwashed to believe “republicans” are anti-establishment and in favor of the working class.

What I don’t understand is how easily people accept claims by random uncredited people on social media. It was not long ago that we all laughed at the people who took any cover of the National Inquirer remotely seriously.

Context and intent aside, what’s the difference between this Hurricane Helene has brought a flood of AI photos and conspiracy theories to social media and this Bat Child Escapes!?

Except there is a bit of truth to this. The government does seed clouds to impact rainfall. It’s not that far of a stretch for a regular person to believe getting as bunch of these planes together could plausibly nudge a hurricane into existence.

I’ve usually pointed towards our education system but I’m not so sure anymore. I think there’s more at play.

I think it’s more about the inherit individualism in America, “the American dream”, capitalism, and the definition of The United States. There’s a strong rejection of community support and social services. There’s a desire to have more than we need. There’s a fear of “others” who threaten your domicile and prosperity. The country was founded on a distrust of government with the formation of semi-sovereign states and multiple forms of checks and balances.

I think there’s an argument that to “be American” means to be in opposition to and skeptical of government. At first, in wake of the revolutionary war, this seemed reasonable. With slow moving news and a journalistic industry maintaining the fourth pillar of democracy, without the temptation of ad revenue or competition with social media, Americans were, frankly, sheep to a small group of organizations. As a 21st century first first world country, we really need to get together and reassess what the role of government should be and how to draft a constitution that meets the needs of a nation in an increasingly connected (and shrinking) planet.

We are not afforded the tools to be competitive with the future of humanity.

I actually believe our lack of faith in religion has had a negative impact. We used to be more connected with our community. We largely trusted one another. It was not that long ago that hitch hiking across the country was a normal practice for teens. I don’t believe in gods but I have respect for some aspects of some religious organizations. What seems to have replaced this is social media bubbles or tribes. Or internet forums like this.

We’re an increasingly fractured nation that holds distrust of all things in high regard.

Also, we’re a nation that defines wealth as the ability to acquire rather than the ability to give.

a stronger computer literacy curriculum in schools that actually teaches about the dangers and pitfalls of the Internet.

I grew up being told not to believe everything you read or see on tv. I still hold that belief while those who told me this 30 years ago are the ones spreading misinformation.

I agree with you but what do we do about the adults? I mean, Freedom of Speech only works when the public is educated enough to discern the difference between fact and fiction. I’m not opposed to people like Carlson, Jones, or Rogan speaking freely but the people listening should inherently be able to discern their falsities. People are tuning into this crap because it’s entertaining and engaging. This quickly turns to brainwashing with continued listening. And the streaming services know this and use algorithms to promote whatever grabs ya and keeps you on their platform.

How do you educate hundreds of millions of people around the world without coming off as One World Government propaganda?

In my opinion, the real concern here is that this may be the demise of the need to address climate change. Just as these wackos convinced millions of people that vaccines were a government plot, they’re setting the stage for the climate change hoax. There will be a large swath of people who convert to believe the government is in control of the weather and the change we’ve experienced in our climate. This should be a grave concern for all.

When has it ever been forced upon an industry to alter their product or service to make it less addictive? Hasn’t it always been the burden of the individual to seek help for their addictions?

This lawsuit will go nowhere. You can’t impose restrictions on an entire industry to target a small cohort. At best, you’ll get parental controls. At the worst, you’ll be required to sign in with a state ID. Devices already have parental controls. It’s the parents who are failing to use the tools, and responsibility, they’ve been given.

Contrary to common sense, most (not all) of the studies I’ve come across indicate there is little to no impact on mental health from social media.

Also contrary to common sense, parents apparently no longer need to parent their children.

mental health risks are posed to teens and children by compulsive TikTok use, including depression, anxiety, sleep loss and body dysmorphia.

This is called Life.

Honestly, I’m more concerned with the distraction social media plays on adults. Parents should be guiding their children to know right and wrong. But, from what I’ve observed, it seems parents are too preoccupied with streaming services and social media (often simultaneously) to deal with raising their children. How the heck kids are even on social media to begin with is a concern.

You have no right to complain or file lawsuits after you let an iPad raise your child for ten years.

We all know that social media is designed to be addictive. People continue to use it while complaining that it’s addictive and file lawsuits so the government can tell the service to be less addictive. You know as soon as it’s made less addictive you’re going to drop it for the next addictive thing. FCK, we are a dumb species.

I still find the whole bottled water thing odd. I remember a time when there was just Poland Spring and Deer Park and you only bought a bottle of water if you were absolutely dying. From my vantage point, it seems like consumerism, across the board, has skyrocketed in the past 20 years.

I was just having conversation with a fellow Gen Xer about how people just don’t know how or don’t care to do things for themselves anymore. As I look at all the subscriptions and consumer goods and delivery services that make headlines, it seems like we, as a culture, are spending a lot more money on what used to be called luxury expenses.

Some people legitimately have bad municipal water. They need to put pressure on their civic leaders to fix their gross negligence. For most other people, I would really recommend a filter system you can install either at the source of your water, under your kitchen sink, or in a pitcher in your fridge.

It’s worth noting that even the aluminum water bottles (Stanley, etc.) come with some health concerns. If you’re getting something from China, I’ve heard their manufacturing and raw material quality control isn’t up to US standards. Regardless, most if not all aluminum water bottles have a plastic liner. Your best bet is glass. If you have an aluminum bottle, don’t use it for hot liquids and try to keep it out of the sunlight for too long.

Although they’re a bit better than plastic bottles, all aluminum cans require a plastic inner liner.

https://www.plasticstoday.com/business/liquid-death-may-murder-your-thirst-but-it-won-t-kill-plastic-no-matter-what-the-ads-say

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W05yBVq18cY