Outside of mating season, birds definitely do sing just for fun.

And even in mating season, I wonder if birds really consciously try to "get laid" or if they just sing, because it feels like the right thing to do in the moment and then getting laid happens. I mean, some start singing very young. How would they know what it's for the first time? Not all birds are as smart as crows.

This review paper looks at the motivation for both kinds of singing: intrinsically motivated (just for fun, all year round) and singing that attracts mates. In the latter, it's unclear, what triggers the motivation. The author supposes, it might be a combination of socially reinforced behavior and the vicinity of a mate, rather then the act of copulation, that triggers the reward.

Without medication

💊 🐦‍⬛ Just flying over to the ant drug store to get some fresh HCOOH.

Failing to reconcile their individualist existentialism with their political commitment to communism? It's not that easy, but Simon De Beauvoir kind of did it.

You mean actual manufacturing? Not just design and distribution like Nvidia? That's already been the case for a long time. The US doesn't manufactor chips on a level any where close to global players (mostly Taiwan) but also less then China:

You mean the struggle of always being right? For real though, any idea how to deal with it?

Well, he should consider himself lucky, since he's still in one of the early rooms. In fact, almost as good as the first one, since the amount of rooms with numbers smaller than 2×TREE(3) as a percentage of all the rooms, is zero. Almost every other guest has it worse.

Yes, I understand. I think maybe people with experience in social sciences are underrepresented in the answers to your question.

Thank you ☺️

Yes, new technologies in capitalism are adapted, because they shift the organic composition of capital towards fixed capital, initially increasing profits for individual firms but inevitably contributing to the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, leading to crisis eventually. A technology, that doesn't lower the socially necessary labor time will inevitably fail. So any technology that does succeed in capitalism is a technology that has the potential to be freeing us from labor under communism. Until then, it's impact depends not on the specific technology, but on how it changes the power dynamic between capital and labor. I agree, that for AI, this could go both ways.

To recycle my own comment from another thread: Take software development for example. It's a a field with unusually high wages despite almost no unionization. That's because it's organic composition of capital leans towards variable capital. The tools of the trade are cheap. Like a skilled artesian, a software developer can just take their laptop and walk, if their wage is too low. An engineer in a car factory might be just as skilled, but can't take the robots and assembly lines and walk out, their field has much more fixed capital. So labor in the field of software development has high individual bargaining power, even without collective bargaining.

But like almost every technical innovation ever, AI will shift the organic composition of capital towards fixed capital. This could lower the bargaining power of workers and drive down wages. That's why they push it. For example, if huge server farms to drive closed source, centralized AI models become the norm, software engineers won't be able to just take those with them and walk out as easily as before. On the other hand, small, cheap, specialized, easy to train, open source models (like China develops) might actually benefit labor power. It will be necessary to fight for democratic control over AI to decide whether it's a blessing or a curse.

I think instead of asking: "how can I best position myself in the labor market individually" we should ask: "how can I best position myself to contribute to collective labor power". Actualize your individuality by joining the collective struggle of the 99% instead of generating profits for the 1%.

It's great, that you have an interest in social sciences and you could certainly try to turn that into a job. The fact, that you're willing to let go of the privilege, that comes with the software field honors you. It means you're not just after the money.

But what if, instead of comodifying your passion to turn it into tiny cog in a profit machine for some capitalist, you find a way to use it to help some worthy cause? Maybe write articles about social issues to agitate fellow workers or use your interest in social science to figure out how an effort to unionize workers in your field could be successful. Or join an org, that could use your talents in some way.

And there might be a worthy cause soon: As a software developer, you're in a field with unusually high wages despite almost no unionization. That's because it's organic composition of capital leans towards variable capital. The tools of the trade are cheap. Like a skilled artesian, a software developer can just take their laptop and walk, if their wage is too low. An engineer in a car factory might be just as skilled, but can't take the robots and assembly lines and walk out, their field has much more fixed capital. So labor in your field has high individual bargaining power, even without collective bargaining.

But like almost every technical innovation ever, AI will shift the organic composition of capital towards fixed capital. This could lower the bargaining power of workers. That's why they push it. For example, if huge server farms to drive closed source, centralized AI models become the norm, software engineers won't be able to just take those with them and walk out as easily as before. On the other hand, small, cheap, specialized, easy to train, open source models (like China develops) might actually benefit labor power. It will be necessary to fight for democratic control over AI to decide whether it's a blessing or a curse.

So if you're asking about how to position yourself in the labor market, I'd say, wether in the software field or in the humanities, try to find a place where collective labor power is strong and try to find the way you can best contribute to that power in your own unique way.

Link to the comic

I wouldn't think of this as extra work but something I inherently enjoy doing.

Hmm, but that is extra work after hours whichever way you look at it. It sounds to me like maybe you've been gaslighted into thinking something is wrong with you for needing time for yourself.

Do you really believe, that "if you enjoy doing it, it's not work"? I feel like, work is work and deserves to be paid. If you learn to increase productivity for your company, that sounds like work to me. And work also requires rest. Wage labor is always exploitation and while some workers are more privileged than others, anyone who buys into the propaganda is deluding themselves. There is no magical job out there that makes being exploited feel enjoyable unless you live in false consciousness.

Maybe? Not sure actually. But if it's about learning the language, here are a few decent ones:

• jugendinfo has short articles on many topics with easy language for a young, leftist target audience. Not sure who's behind it, some Kurdish group probably. Lots of short daily news on various social media, only few select articles on the linked website.
• Activism Munich news, interviews and also lots of German translations from English sources. Anti-Imperialist. Also on YouTube and other social media.
• world socialist website it's a trotskyist newspaper. But still decent takes on many issues.
• Junge Welt leftist daily newspaper.
• Meinungsfreiheit Palästina pro Palestine news on different social media
• Medico International a non profit for humanitarian aid, that also publishes a short monthly magazine. Surprisingly good articles sometimes.

Careful if you search for leftist news sites on your own: many supposedly leftist ones are "Antideutsch" meaning zionist, imperialist, pro NATO, pro Genocide.

Yes, have you heard of Paulo Freires Pedagogy of the Oppressed? Some central points: liberation must come from the oppressed and not be imposed externally, rejecting internalized oppression is necessary to reclaim our humanity, awareness of economical contradictions in order to become active to change them, praxis as the combination of reflection and action. Also much more.

Okay, I'll be the silent part

Juggling. I'd find some nice stones or pinecones and teach everyone how to juggle and do some tricks. I also know an ancient game you can play with stones or knuckle bones. And I know some songs. And stories. People in the stone age had lots of free time to pass, so all of these would come in handy.

I think, Venice is still the only city literally charging an entrance fee. They do that, because they got more tourists, than the city could handle. But I think what you have heard might be about tourist taxes. Many cities charge those per night. But you won't notice it directly, it's just that, if you're staying in a hotel, they'll automatically add it to the price of the room.

I second Prague. It's beautiful and worth it whether you come for the history or the culture or the atmosphere.

Crows are so shy, it's too cute! They're like cats, if you stare at them or lock eyes, they get really nervous. So slowly close your eyes and look away to put then at ease. If you pull out food they like, like peanuts in their shell, you can almost see a little exclamation mark appearing above their heads, like 🥜 ❗ 🐦‍⬛

It's what limits their size. If insects had lungs, they could get larger. 300 million years ago, when the oxygen content in the atmosphere was temporarily higher, there were huge dragonflies with 75 cm wingspan (2.5 ft).

9% of people with only one x-chromosome:

It's also wealth transfer from bottom to top. They don't just write a free check. These drones and weapons probably come from British manufacturers. So they take taxes and cut services for the people and give to the rich, without threatening anyone's profits. If they were funding something non destructive, it would cut into someone's business.

Within capitalist logic, endless war totally makes sense.