For awhile it was single downvotes, but it seems that moved up to 2-3 on each comment. Even the most benign stuff gets hit, the pattern is clear.

Can I find this person and block them from seeing my posts? Never really delved into how lemmy works.

Probably doesn't matter much because after awhile the forget and leave me alone for a bit.

I see this on Imgur and Bluesky as well. Here's a great example, and the one that prompted me to finally ask. My daughter has autism and ADHD. She takes speed to slow down. Best friend is ADHD, same deal. But they're basically "normal" people. I'm truly sorry is this comes off as insensitive.

• It's normal to be aware of how people perceive us. We are apes. Need I elaborate?

• We ALL mess up more when someone is watching. Forget the word, but it's a well-known psychological tic.

• Yes, we all conform and hide parts of ourselves in public, doesn't mean you can't "be yourself". Want to see someone who doesn't mask at all? Trump.

• If you're not aware of threats, Darwin would like a word. And yes, many things we perceive as threats are dumb monkey perceptions. We're all silly in this way.

• Uh, I double check my door locks. Not paranoid, but my situation in America makes that a simple, smart move. Some people live around lots of strangers, checking your private space is a normal thing.

• We all hate being stared at. That's a monkey threat. We evolved that way.

The "suspicious sounds" thing is the only part I'd pick out as a bit strange. But who hasn't jumped when the ice maker kicks in? I've often thought someone crawled in the dog door. (A bear did one time, a hybrid wolf another, so let me slide on that one.)

I can go on /c/autism and pick 100 other memes for examples. Almost every single thing I see there, "Yeah, we all go though that/feel that way/do that thing." Here's one:

https://piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone/posts/6k/Lb/6kLbDigyQuftk4k.jpg

Doesn't everyone do that now and again?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Serious questions:

• Does lemmy have an above normal number of autistic/ADHD people?

• Is this perception a way for young people to feel special and different?

• Maybe young people don't realize just how fucking weird growing up is and think they have a problem?

• Do people not realize that even after adulthood, we all have weird foibles?

• Are people so socially isolated that they think their weird thoughts are uncommon?

Just want to start the discussion. Help me understand.

Also, they're sensitive to moving shadows. As with motion sensors, if you move slowly enough, they cannot sense you. Slowly circle behind them and they jump into your death mitts.

Anyway, this has worked out better for me than a Bic lighter and hair spray. But that works too.

For those not in the know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room

Very first words:

The Chinese room argument holds that a computer executing a program cannot have a mind, understanding, or consciousness,[a] regardless of how intelligently or human-like the program may make the computer behave.

😆

Wife and I stopped at a gas station to use the restroom. Pulling up I noted an old SUV on the side of the road that seemed to have one or more cars pulled over (4-5 total vehicles), blue flashing lights on the interior sides and interior rear. Y'all, blue lights are cop only, with some jurisdictions allowing ambulances and fewer allowing fire, not filthy unmarked 20-yo SUVs.

There was a young man standing by the driver's door talking to someone in front of him, but he was the only human I saw when we drove in and out. Plain clothes, but his position and body language said the flashy car was his.

Say it was a dumb kid with illegal lights, purposefully impersonating law enforcement. This was in the country, but it wasn't in the middle of nowhere. Legit cops would have been all over his ass.

The infuriating part? I have a legal, brown, immigrant wife and live in a country where that well could been an ICE agent hassling people. Or a rando hassling people.

Also infuriating, the Republicans told me my whole life that the Democrats wanted to turn America into Soviet-style communism. Now my wife has to carry her fucking papers every time she leaves the house, comrade. And even that doesn't protect her from arrest.

Can't imagine anything else this could have been. I've seen hundreds of plain vehicles over the decades, this was not one of them unless it was a seriously deep-cover thing, and if it was, the officer wouldn't have fucking lights.

Cannot think of a rational explanation except ICE. Am I nuts?!

EDIT: I should note the dumbest part: Saw no one with a mask. Is it really legitimate law enforcement if they're not masked?!

At first internet advertising was a no-brainer. Agree to host ads, get revenue to keep your site afloat, make a profit, expand. Fine. But now we're inundated with ads to the point people are turning off. Hell, there are ads I'd be happy to see, but I never will because I've blocked them with a Pihole and Ublock. The vast majority of people aren't doing that, but are they actually buying the advertised products and services?

Guess I can't get my head around the logistics. Seems like all the money in the world is available for advertising, but are these companies actually seeing a return on that investment? Reddit's basically bots advertising to bots, and the stock market rewards them handsomely. Nobody involved is stupid, they know this is happening, yet companies are still throwing money around. (Someone will relate this to the AI bubble, but it's not really the same thing.)

There was a great article posted here about how 40% (?) of ad views are bots. (If someone can find it, that would be great!) The issue came up to the author because he was tasked with finding out why the advertising spend wasn't getting expected sales. The number of clicks didn't jive with sales results. The advertiser was seeing some ludicrous clicks vs. sales that was 1/10th of what it should be.

And companies are paying for these dismal results?! Think of a time where you were responsible for results at a company. If your spent $X on a thing, and didn't get at least $X dollars back, you would back off that spend or your boss would pull the plug. (Sure, marketing often takes time to get a foothold, I get that.) That's how capitalism fucking works. And for all the bitching about capitalism, the players don't seem to be doing that thing. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Is internet advertising a sort of bubble? Doesn't seem to be as it just keeps going.