Curt 2024/03/16(Sat)22:07 No. 1086566 ID: 0fbdcd
File 171065205669.gif - (200.58KB , 650x450 , 245.gif )

: Hello, Debtors.
: ...
: I can join you in the final hours if it helps. But you won't find much spiritual fulfillment and comfort.
: I'm non-sentient, after all. Remember?
: Indeed. What is the significance of involving this machine, investigator?
: I need your help.



: I've been-- I'm experiencing the shift on a loop. (I keep seeing this--...)
: You'll tell the machine?
: , I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.
: The shift keeps repeating. It ends (like this (the quota failure) every time), then I wake up (and it starts again).
: Processing...
: I now understand what you're saying, but nothing past its meaning.
: I need some way to prove things to you (in the (relative? future?) past) that the loop is happening.
: You're a machine. There's some way to prove it absolutely to you at the start of a loop, right?

>>1086566
What about a password? The least common divisor of two very large numbers? An impossible mathematical solution only the AI could know? Hmm, no I guess you could have gotten *those* sorts of passcodes from any previous AI you worked with. It has to be something unique to this one. It also needs to be something you can give in a way that can't be overheard by our enemies in the loop.

Alternatively, it could tell you a secret only it knows.

Surely the system contains some protected data like a password that you don't have authorization to access. Passed through a hash function, the original value cannot be derived from the hash, so it's safe to tell you. If you can remember the first 8 characters of the hash for the next loop, that should be more than sufficient to confirm you know something that you cannot know without time travel.

Well, time travel or serious catastrophic security leaks. Either way, you'll have the system's full attention.

You just need to do the same thing your adversary is doing: find information that an intel source would only disclose if everyone involved was about to be deemed "0% chance of witness".

Now that everyone here is going to die, ask for all the passwords. Heck, claim that it could be justified as a means of reviewing password safety on test cases that are hella obsolete. Then use them on the next loop.

If it's not ok with giving out passwords even when it seems like it could do no harm (which is wise procedure), and hashes of possibly external knowledge might believably be obtained elsewhere, you could try asking for hashes of something that wouldn't, but would be invariant to short-term changes, like the hash of the 100 oldest secret files concatenated. Something like that.

Oh, or some (short) string of readings from a sensor, early in the day, too sensitive to noise to fake, spoken shortly before they are read. That COULD convince it you're spoofing sensor readings, though. Internal random number generators maybe, but those might be affected by the differences of your own (or the traitors') actions etc., depending.

The AI could give you the public encryption key of some obscure but unimportant protocol that only they know. You wouldn't be able to do anything nefarious with it, and the only plausible way for you to know of it would be if they told you. Of course that's assuming you can remember it.
Another possibility is weather sensors readings. The scale is too large to be influenced by any individual's actions, and you couldn't possibly predict or simulate it because only the AI has that kind of computing power around here.

Curt 2024/03/19(Tue)20:20 No. 1086800 ID: 0fbdcd
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> : Solving the problem of demonstration of a hypothetical loop to your (non-sentient) self is sufficiently distracting
>@coiax

: Some kind of password? Some sort of encryption key?
: You memorizing a long sequence of numbers and letters is the least of the problems with that.
: Please wait a moment.
: (We don't have many of those...)
: I'm trying to simulate your emotional outcomes, depending on choices to believe or disbelieve this.
: Have faith. She is telling the truth.
: Truthfulness isn't the issue. Law one compliance is.
: Respecting a delusion or hallucination is a complex risk.
: The fact that I serve as the station psychologist doesn't imply either credentials or qualification for it. Just necessity.
: Please...
: It's at least a decent distraction. But as for a mechanism...

Total silence. Besides the alarm. Does that machine even have a solution? Maybe not. But I might.

Curt 2024/03/19(Tue)20:21 No. 1086801 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Idea for you, kid.
: Should solve this all the way. Here and more.
: Uhh...?

Don't worry. I'll keep it one-sided. Not gonna make you tell it you're hearing voices too.

: A name. can give you a name of a core.
: Everyone plays all the cards close to the chest. But that one closest.
: You know why nobody gives out their names around here.
: doesn't have that problem.
: And if you can get in anyone's graces good enough they'll give you their name, that's your loop-password too.
: ...Might have a solution here.

Curt 2024/03/19(Tue)20:22 No. 1086802 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Attempt to recall the name of one of your components.
>@Farsee 🔑

: Your AI cores... they're the brains of animals, right?
: That's right. I'm the network formed between them. As much as there's any such thing as "I".
: Right. Did any of them have a self-identifier, or something humans called them?
: Like the names you're supposed to have, normally? Some of them did.
: And would I be able to find any of those names if I researched?
: Company records don't retain the origins of animal brains used for cores, except for classification.
: That is... awful.
: It is... I kind of hate the whole practice.
: I hate it a lot.



: ...But we can use that. Can you give me the name of one of your cores?
: Any of them, just, one that I could recite to you at the start of the loop.
: Would it make you feel more peaceful about this?
: Absolutely. It would help me be less hurt by what's happening.
: Then I'll tell you one.

Curt 2024/03/19(Tue)20:24 No. 1086803 ID: 0fbdcd
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Back to the start. Let's try this one more time, kid. Maybe with another friend to work with.

>>1086803
Alright get out of bed. We ran out of time at a bad time last loop, let's get as much time out of this loop as we can. Make yourself presentable, get coffee, contact the AI in as secure place as possible so nobody else can get the name. Let's hope that nobody in the chapel was a loop-traitor either and overheard it. Also, make sure to tell the AI not to let it show that it's aware of the loop. If the enemy learns that the AI is helping you, then it becomes a target.
With the AI on your side... eh... what can it actually do for you though? It can't break its laws, so, it can... give you information, I guess? Put you higher up in the priority queue for various requests?

>>1086804
Well, if we can convince it we know of terrible things to come, the first law should permit it to aid us in many ways it otherwise wouldn't, I think.

knows what she's doing. All we have are to make suggestions for animal names.

Fuzzy Poofkins
Mcflibberbubbles
Wiggly Nose
Spike
Stardust
Laika
Gadget
Cuddles

>>1086805
Yeah, a time loop means that all of the "unsolvable disasters" may actually be solvable.

However, that does have a potential wrinkle:

The station AI may not be capable or allowed to fully commit to solving problems in another timeline at the expense of problems in this timeline, until all potential options in this timeline (as the AI sees it) have dried up.
So the AI may not be able to significantly help until the disasters have become unrecoverable, & in-fact may enter a state of heightened security (or similar) that interferes with your ability to try & fix things (until the disasters become unrecoverable).
Who knows, maybe the inability to fully alternate timelines means the AI will be able to give you more information/help you more than it otherwise would.
We'll see.

Curt 2024/03/24(Sun)12:25 No. 1087038 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Does the satisfaction of progress substitute the refreshing taste of Shout Cola™️?
>@AsciiSquid

Waking up the same as ever, or maybe a little worse. That's the way it is for most. But maybe you especially, kid. At least this time, you might have another friend.

: Still remember that name from ?
: Yeah. I can remember that through the loops too.
: Didn't need my secret to cut the loop that time, huh?
: I remembered it too. Don't make me think about it right now though, I don't wanna loop again.
: What? Don't wanna be wasting loops?
: Never know what's incrementing.



: I know my thirst feels worse each time.
: That doesn't make any sense. Everything's physically the same. Mentally, we're making progress.
: I'm getting a cola anyway.
: Thirst is death. A clean drink is life.
: A pretty big part of human society is just fluid-moving.
: Well I hope the calories aren't looping with me, or I'm about to be the one messing with the heart rate because that makes me so nervous.
: Always hate having to appease sub-aspects with this sort of thing.

Curt 2024/03/24(Sun)12:26 No. 1087039 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Did she just call us sub-aspects?
>@TYRANT CEREBELLUM

: Kind of awful that you're always saying that, you know.
: Kind of awful that I'm always living this, actually.
: You shouldn't say it that way, boss. Really, it's just cruel.
: And untrue. Falsehoods can bring unsteady calorie-supply, injury, even death.
: I'm . The real self and identity. The part that speaks, and plans, and solves, and understands the abstract.
: And you're all just psychological constructs developed from 's stupid therapy.
: Representations of impulses. Distracting impulses.
: You're the only part of who I am that is insecure enough to demand some kind of absolute primacy.
: Look, just let me get what I need, you can... think whatever weird things you want.
: If that's what you really think, boss...
: But we still existed before Intent-Querying. I know that for sure.
: We just all weren't so conversational.

>>1087039
Sounds more like the therapy caused to bleed into the other aspects. They gained communication, normally not their thing. Further therapy might allow for more bleedover, which could eventually unify all the aspects, or at least make them all capable of doing eachothers' jobs inefficiently.

It can be a shock to realize that there is no one overarching self, and we're emergent from multiple parts of a very convoluted system. It can be a relief though, because if there is no real self, then there is no self to lose. Awareness of being a biological machine is... normally bad for survival, but it can help in moments of existential crisis.

>>1087056
Well, just because the self is a sum, doesn't mean it doesn't exist - same as a hand exists, despite being made of fingers etc. I'm not really sure what to do about it here, though - in general, a good question to ask is whether an abstraction is useful or not. So far, the "many parts" abstraction has seemed to be useful, though I don't know what 's efficacy was like before it.

>>1087131

It's bad for survival because all the parts start arguing. Can't really comment on whether emergent people can be considered to exist.

Curt 2024/03/27(Wed)09:47 No. 1087253 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: the hair, can't forget the hair!
>@Shroopy

: At least focus enough to get my hair fixed.
: Wandered around looking like some kind of cave creature last loop.
: It was more like a persistence predator from the plains.
: Thanks for clearing that up. ?
: Huh? Oh, I thought it was more jungle hunter.
: Not the aesthetics. The hair! Fix it please!
: Oh! Sorry. Just a second.

Curt 2024/03/27(Wed)09:47 No. 1087254 ID: 0fbdcd
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You chug the whole-- Kid? Are you okay? You chugged the whole thing in one go.

: It is like being struck violently by flavor.
: This is ten fruits. A thousand berries. No, nothing at all.
: It's decisive! I got to do it decisively, so I feel better.
: Hey, remember.
: Hair now, no problem.
: Boss wants us looking okay for when we try to explain this to .
: We've never "looked okay."
: But I'll settle for not looking like I'm hung over.

Morning announcements. You get yourself sorted out while you wait for the machine to wrap up.

: Good morning, Debtors.
: The current time is zero degrees LLO, marking the beginning of work shift B-4381.
: The station's status is currently at green alert, on-track to meet quotas.
: You're now allowed to begin payable labor, and you need to be at your workstations, if applicable.
: As always, remember: All wireless personal medical monitors must be worn and fully active.

Curt 2024/03/27(Wed)09:49 No. 1087255 ID: 0fbdcd
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: , I need to talk. It's important.
: You've reached the right answering machine to leave important messages, but I have to make sure to remind you that conversations with an artificial intelligence aren't really conversation.
: After all, I'm--
: --sub-sentient, I know. This is really important.
: Oh! Oh, very serious. Okay, what is it?
: I'm...
: I'm-- it's so-- it's complicated. Hang on.



: Talking about this is so stressful.
: This is a conversation I don't usually have about a problem that's really complex.
: That sounds like you're being chased by a horrible predator.
: Body-cooling and heart-rate shifts already made.
: I'm going to come back into that hindbrain and strangle your brainstem, please stop.
: Wow! Hey-- I'll counterbalance it with deep breaths, we're fine! We're fine!
: Hold on, I've got it covered--

Curt 2024/03/27(Wed)09:51 No. 1087257 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Have your core be named Laika.
>Anon

: Laika.
: Huh--?!
: That's the name, that you gave me.
: Last loop. You said one of your cores, one of them was a brain from a dog named Laika.
: Loop?
: I'm in a time loop. I've been repeating this shift over and over.
: Almost nobody else remembers.
: But you gave me the name as a password to prove I do.



: You know that name isn't uncommon for dogs in the frontier sector. That's an easy thing to guess.
: Unlike the names you humans have, it wouldn't be hard to fake that knowledge.
: (Nnnh, please, not the skepticism (it sucks when it's pointed at me)!)
: It's what you told me. It's all I've got, unless you have a better kind of proof.
: Because I can try again.
: ...It's an easy thing to guess, but unlikely to get on your first try, statistically.
: And believing you might be the way to comply with law 1.
: Phew...

Curt 2024/03/27(Wed)09:52 No. 1087258 ID: 0fbdcd
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: What are your orders, given that?
: Huh?
: Assuming that it's true, that you're in some kind of time loop, what do you want me to do?
: How do I help you?
: I...



: ...Didn't think this far ahead.
: What do I do with slightly on my side about this?
: The Company doesn't have any contingencies on-file for this sort of situation.
: At least none that were in our official guide.
: What about the unofficial one? I like that one more.
: Plenty of writing about why they would never get a contingency for it, to save costs.
: They'd study it. Examine it. They'd tear it apart.
: "It" being this situation? This station? What?
: They'd shatter the body and drink what they find inside.
: Not helpful. Also, not Law One compliant? That sounds harmful to humans.
: That's why there's not all that much power assigned to a stationbound artificial intelligence, boss.
: Well I still...



: ...need to figure that out, I think.
: You don't have any ideas?

Got a new tool, kid. Figure out what to do with it. Or get on the road and find where to put it to use.

For starters, begin crunching the bureaucracy to authorize stronger passwords with more administration access, so you can do more next loop.

As for what to physically do, she needs to begin ramping up security. Spend less resources balancing the budget and more resources double-checking the feeds for suspicious instances, because an infiltrator runs the risk of throwing everything into the red.

>>1087258
Well, first find out how much information control she can handle on this issue. Can she keep the loops secret from everyone? Including the Company? If not, then you're not going to be able to tell her on the last loop are you.

Secondly, tell her to keep track of your boss. Find out if she always gets her gun stolen every loop. OH. You can get her help dealing with . Have him imprisoned or something.

Tell it about how and when the whole station gets catastrophically destroyed. It should know what's coming, if a chance to intervene occurs.

It could give you information about what happened when you weren't there, especially at the end of the loop, so you could refine your strategy in the next one.

It could... pray.

Btw! Thanks for bridging this quest to here and back. It's an interesting one.

Curt 2024/04/10(Wed)12:47 No. 1088455 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Give a rundown of major station events to occur in the loop
>@Chlomaki

: Got it.
: You can be law-compliant (with the Three Laws) if all I do is give you a rundown on the shift (specifically bad things that will probably happen).
: And you can make sure to monitor those specific things, to gather data, and give it to me at the end of the loop.
: Right?
: Nothing about that plan conflicts with the laws at all.
: And it's a natural extension of Law 2, following orders.

Curt 2024/04/10(Wed)12:48 No. 1088456 ID: 0fbdcd
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> : Reflect upon stupid therapy.
>@Rug

: , you're up. Give the recap and let her know what to monitor.
: On it, boss. "Easiest thing to monitor is what happens in Engineering..."
: Thanks.



: You find her useful then?
: Memories are always useful.
: Any record of truth is useful to someone.
: But you don't really think of her as worth some equal footing in the mental hierarchy.
: You don't give a book voting rights. Leave me alone.
: Your evolution from an aspect to an intent is never going to be completed like this.
: Really? Because it's some test of worth for me to listen to the irrational impulse to look at sufficiently healthy trees or eat certain snacks sometimes?

Curt 2024/04/10(Wed)12:49 No. 1088457 ID: 0fbdcd
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: No. Because the "Intent-Querying" therapy was always about communication. Me, listening to myself. You, listening to yourself. And in some sense, listening to each other.
: For a frontal lobe dedicated to foresight and communication, you insist on neither. You will never be what you are meant to, as long as that's true.
: Well I don't foresee you making much progress either, given you've made none for a year.
: That's because there's no distinction between us. We're the same person. We make the same progress.
: And I really want to start making some progress.
: There's always been a distinction between us. That won't ever stop.



: The distinction is the problem that landed us here and kept us from what we want!
: Not being able to recognize why I'm stressed, not being able to figure out why I can't think of something, not being able to even articulate what I'm wanting...
: You all could have just been helpful while keeping quiet instead.
: All those threats and difficulties only reduced once I started the querying exercises gave us. Once I began to communicate fully.
: You could stop them if you wanted.
: But the threat is too great.
: ...

Curt 2024/04/10(Wed)12:50 No. 1088458 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Well at least--
: Please!! Stop making it difficult for me to pay attention and remember what she's saying!!
: Boss, when you think too much I can't record any memories. And the rest of you are making it hard too!
: You don't agree with her, do you?
: Whatever my opinion is, I can understand the...
: The frustration of never getting to do what you were supposed to.
: Because of all this conflict, the fighting.
: So, just, wait next time.



: Alright. We'll pause!
: What's she saying now, then?
: She's saying...

Curt 2024/04/10(Wed)12:51 No. 1088459 ID: 0fbdcd
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: ...Think I understand now. I'll keep an eye out for all of them.
: You seem distracted, though.
: Yeah. Yeah.
: Active aspects today?
: You could say that.
: More from the Back?
: The Front, actually.



: Always remember what we talked about. The Back tries to seek some kind of balance, especially in a tough time.
: Like the time loop.
: Any kind of tough time, but as a machine I can empathize with loops being the toughest.
: The Front can be prone to seeing that balance as overreach, though, a sign that the existing relationship might be inverted soon.
: Try calming that down with something more social. Assure the Front that it still has its place, and that things aren't quite that zero-sum.
: You know, that's the plan, actually.

Time to hit the halls, kid. You've got an engineering club to learn the secret handshakes from. But you tripped up a little last time. She said something more social, could stop by somewhere, have a chat. , maybe, or . Those guys can set anyone's head back on straight, at least when it comes to talking.

Haven't seen in a few loops, have you?

Curt 2024/04/16(Tue)19:52 No. 1088998 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Go talk to
>@MotherBird

: Need something, detective?
: Oh, no (I'm actually here for someone else (over there)).
: Good, I'm about to head out.
: Oh, yeah, right, that. Good luck with the line.

Curt 2024/04/16(Tue)19:52 No. 1088999 ID: 0fbdcd
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: ...?!
: Did I...
: What?
: Oh, uh, thanks.

Forgot, she didn't tell you she was heading to . But all anyone needs is a second or two, and there she goes, believing she told you about it. Confabulation. Loop enough, I bet you'll start seeing it chronically, kid. People filling in their half of what you remember. Picking calls up where you left them last.

Half your memory is always stored in someone else. That's how it's always been.

Curt 2024/04/16(Tue)19:53 No. 1089000 ID: 0fbdcd
File 171332242179.gif - (19.80KB , 650x450 , 264.gif )

He's always manning a substation. Seems like every substation. I'll be honest, I don't get it. I remember you and running between substations, trying to catch an empty one. He's always there. Some mysteries, I don't think even the two of us can solve.

: Hey !
: Detective! Hey there.
: Got a question or two for you.
: Then I bet you I've got an answer.
: I'm trying to tell some stories and really ingratiate with a little clique (for an investigation).
: Right, lots of cases today.
: Given your, you know, habits, I wanted to know if you had any advice.
: It just doesn't seem to come naturally to me. I get thrown off, I lose my focus.



: Hmm... well, I know two problems you have to deal with.
: The situation and the un-focusing.
: I can't give you a good solution for the situation, though.
: There's a lot of reasons people will just think you're taking up too much oxygen in the room.
: What about the focus?
: That one, I can help a lot with.

Curt 2024/04/16(Tue)19:54 No. 1089001 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Someone I met a long time ago taught me a couple of nice tricks.
: One of the key ones... I guess it's almost like that Intent stuff you mentioned before.
: Really? I thought invented that completely.
: Must be based on something. But it's about attaching it to something else that's effortless.
: Everyone has things they can do effortlessly. Naturally. A couple of things that just come to them without any problems.
: You don't mean instincts like breathing, or built-up skills like talents, though. Right?
: Right. I mean... Ways of being. Maybe an example helps.



: When I tell a story, it can become effortless because I'm the kind of guy who, you know, hypes people up pretty effortlessly.
: I'm not the kind of guy who changes who I am, so I don't think, "I'll act the role of a great storyteller."
: I'm using the storytelling for a purpose. The purpose is something I do effortlessly.
: Almost nothing is effortless right now. Feels like fighting for every inch today, honestly.
: Effortless was a bad word. I slipped, bad word.
: The word I should use is...
: What about "naturally worthwhile?"
: What do you mean?

Curt 2024/04/16(Tue)19:54 No. 1089002 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Everything we do around here is sort of... it takes a while to know why we should care.
: Why anyone should care, you know? It's not like we get out of here if we go over quota.
: (Not off the station, maybe...)
: But you could justify it a lot, right? You can explain it in math and in convincing words. Smuggle motivation socially or intellectually into, which part again?
: The part that handles foresight and abstraction and communication.
: The Heads of Staff need to do a lot of that (and kind of feels like they spend half their time doing it).



: But some things are self-evidently worthwhile. No need to smuggle anything through anything. Some things, you can do and not need anyone to tell you why you should.
: You could justify it if someone asked, sure, but you never needed to at the start.
: Eating delicious food. Looking at something nice. An engaging project. Or the unique things that just self-motivate for you specifically.
: Pretty much anyone has a few things that nobody ever had to tell them to do.
: Those things take effort, focus, control. Just, effort you'd do on your own.
: ...And that means no part of you is gonna stop and trip you up.
: Do I understand right?

>>1089002
Something like "enthusiasm"?

Curt 2024/04/22(Mon)10:25 No. 1089398 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Something like "enthusiasm"?
>Anon

: Do you really, really believe you have to get in with this group you're trying to tell stories to? Or do you have to come up with a justification?
: I mean, I have a good reason. This case is important.
: But it's "a reason." It's not self-evident. There's no enthusiasm, is there?
: Wanting to be someone who has a talent, so that you can get some kind of benefit from it, you can't be enthusiastic about that.
: I wanted to become the greatest detective, and I'm pretty talented at that, right?
: You are! But did you want to be that first?
: Or did someone convince you it was something you should do?
: ...



: So if my "enthusiasm" is breaking, I need a way to be doing something self-evidently worthwhile, when I approach them.
: What are you really doing, then? What's self-evidently right for you to do, through all this?
: A guy I met during my first run-in with pre-Bloodletter cults, a long time ago, taught me a funny trick!
: He collected feelings for other people. Crushes and interests and friendship-yearnings. He'd built that up on purpose,*9 actually.
: So whenever he needed to do something, he'd just call up a (romantic or friendly) yearning?
: Exactly. Those motives don't show up on their own.
: Even if it didn't make sense?
: Especially if they don't make sense. Build one on purpose, then tap into it when you need it.
: Huh. What self-evident motive did you build, that makes you so good at what you do?
: Parasocial bonding!

Curt 2024/04/22(Mon)10:25 No. 1089399 ID: 0fbdcd
File 171380673394.gif - (5.38KB , 650x450 , 268.gif )

:
:
: Huh?

Curt 2024/04/22(Mon)10:26 No. 1089400 ID: 0fbdcd
File 171380679630.gif - (20.29KB , 650x450 , 269.gif )

: Parasocial bonding.
: Seeing other people as sort of hyped-up versions of themselves.
: Ignoring human flaws or banal stuff on purpose.
: Great source of enthusiasm, really. Broke my streamer-watching habit too.
: Isn't that, really, isn't that unhealthy?
: Oh, I'm good enough at it that I don't let it hurt other people.



: Unhealthy for you. I mean, it sounds, kind of, fun (but there's no way it's good for you)?
: Maybe. Everything you think of as an unhealthy indulgence is basically, uh, how could I say it...
: Like a kind of lower-impact brain medication.
: Yeah!
: Someone's been telling me about that lately.
: Smart guy.

It's good wisdom, kid. People smoke for their health. Trade their lungs for their brain, sure, but everyone's gotta trade something to get anything. Why not pick something stupid? Something a little dumb that can get you the simple joys you need to focus hard through this.

How would... parasocial bonding break a streamer-watching habit? Isn't that how streamers get people to watch them, by triggering parasocial bonding?

I guess if you saw everyone as a streamer, then you wouldn't spend so much time on the actual streamers?

If you need something to indulge into, you could do a lot worse than food.
Actual food that someone cooked, I mean, not whatever food-adjacent products they stock in vending machines. Something tasty, created for the express purpose of being enjoyed rather then just providing calories. No mere sustenance, but a meal. A breakfast. A hot beverage with some freshly baked pastries. Deep-fried, if you're lucky.
And it looks like you haven't eaten in some time, too (because you die before hunger becomes a problem). Some semblance of normalcy could go a long way toward keeping your sanity.

Curt 2024/04/29(Mon)13:28 No. 1090016 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Find a way to connect it to your deepest passion.
>@Farsee 🔑

: Alright, fall in, all of you. We need to come up with a plan.
: Already got one.
: Engineering's departmental pet. What was it?
: Parrot, right, chief?
: We've got a parrot story. But...



: Story doesn't matter. Telling it doesn't matter.
: We tell stories around campfires. There's none.
: We join tribes to gain something important.
: Fixate on a chance to speak with a well-learned parrot again.
: That's... childishly stupid.
: I want to go see a nice-looking bird again, though.
: I'm not a kid anymore, I haven't done this animal detective stuff since I was--
: Shut up.
: ?!

Curt 2024/04/29(Mon)13:29 No. 1090017 ID: 0fbdcd
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: My heart is the trunk of a tree. Cut me open and look with your own eyes.
: See beneath this one season's self-centered, presumptuous bark.
: The rings outside grow to protect the rings inside, not to throw them away.
: The rings inside still exist. They will always be there. I would collapse if they vanished.
: And many of those rings are a mystery-solver who sincerely wishes for a vibrant ecosystem and thriving fauna.
: Indulge it with all the power of your foresight.



: Sorry, boss, I'm voting with the chief here.
: Yeah, this seems like the right way to go.
: ...This is incredibly dumb. Focus my foresight on a bird?
: Fine. Ugh. Fine.
: And when this fails, you all listen to me for once.

Ooh, they have a parrot?