This feels basic now but I used to be very 'pro tech' and would have latest-ish phones, getting smart gadgets, etc.
Now I consider those features to be negatives and refuse to buy things with internet, if possible.
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I used to be a conservative Christian. I was vehemently opposed to things like gay marriage and abortion.
Then I actually moved to a larger city and met gay people and, well, that became the crux of my deconstruction. Turns out people are people, no matter where or how they're born, or what they choose to be or identify as.
My views on abortion have changed, to the point where I very much do not believe in fetal personhood, though I still think late-term abortions should be shied away from if they can be avoided. Regardless, it makes no sense to remove a woman's right to choose how her body is used. It's hers. If she doesn't want to put her body through childbirth, or doesn't want to take on the immense burden of raising a child, she shouldn't have to. But, at the same time, dudes should be aware of what they can inflict upon a woman just because 'it doesn't feel as good' with a condom on. Wrap it before you tap it, boys.
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After the October 7 attack I was very pro isreal. Of course it's totally unacceptable for a neighbor to enter one's territory and kill hundreds of innocent civilians. You can't commit such an act of terrorism without consequences. However I have seen that the Israeli invasion has been all but moral and the use of the word genocide feels more and more justified. It has gone way over board and I have staunchly become anti isreal. The war was supposed to be a war on Hamas but the innocent civilians in Gaza have had to bear with unbelievable suffering which I no longer believe justifies the war.
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The flu vaccine (pre Covid). Always been pro vax in general, just never saw the need since I never had symptomatic flu. My immune system is good enough, right?
Well, it was like a switch flipped in my brain. One day, I suddenly realized getting the shot isn't about me. If I don't vaccinate, I get the flu, and I don't have symptoms.
That makes me a carrier. I'm a disease vector. Somewhere throughout my day, I'm going to pass it on to some immunocompromised person, and I will be the reason someone's grandma doesn't make it for the holidays.
"Just the flu" still kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.
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Noisemakers in electric cars. I thought it was a conspiracy of the incumbent manufacturers to make EVs as shitty as ICE cars. But I've had plenty of situations where people were unaware that I was driving up to them and that's not a good thing. Just to be clear, I don't expect pedestrians to jump out of the way when I come along with my car but situational awareness is an important factor for avoiding accidents.
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I used to think US police were probably good guys making the right call most of the time. When something fishy hit the news I tended to think "they must have had a reason."
Then there was the killing of Walter Scott.
That put a crack in it for me, but it was 2020 that really spun me the rest of the way around. And not just George Floyd himself. It was how police conducted themselves during the protests - every day I saw clips of cops escalating or being brutal to protesters. And several more high profile cases of police brutality happened during the same time. I admit I can't remember a lot of the names now but I remember them - the kid with the sandwich shot in the back as he tried to enter his home, the guy with the phone in his hand shot in his friend's garage, the old woman who had her arm dislocated and was then mocked while the cops replayed the video and bragged about it. And others... And always it was that the cops were shown to be liars by video evidence.
I ended 2020 with the view that I believe nothing cops say about any situation without video evidence to back them up. I will never again assume they "must have had a reason" or assume they are making a good faith effort to be truthful. It's been far too consistent that every time there is a controversy, a video makes liars out of them.
Used to be a Mulder. Now I'm a Scully.
Alien life, although likely to exist somewhere out there (Its quite literally mathematically impossible for it NOT to) in some form, even if microscopic.
But it has never and will never pop by for a visit. Its never been here. And has no reason to ever come here.
A civilisation that is technologically capable of making the trip is, by default, also technologically advanced enough to not need anything from some hostile primates on a malfunctioning planet.
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That progress is inevitable.
gestures wildly
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Israel.
I used to support Israel, until I heard about them executing children in Gaza.
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People are inherently good.
Then COVID happened.
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Universal healthcare and confederate history in the South.
When the Obamacare talks started I thought it was a terrible idea because all I’d heard was how has the government was and didn’t know how bad healthcare and insurance were. Now I think universal healthcare is a great idea, but I still think we’re dumb for trying for it at the federal level. California is as wealthy and populous as Canada and it makes a lot more sense for them to go their own way and have like minded states follow than to try and convince states like Florida it’s a good idea.
Confederacy in the south is weird. I was raised learning about the biased southern version, calling it the war of northern aggression, going to battle re-enactments and daughters of the confederacy get togethers. It wasn’t until I looked into the real history on my own that I discovered how terrible the South was, that they fired the first shot and most importantly that the whole celebration of the souths history started late in the 1900s as a rascist response to try and white wash history.
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When I first learned that people were transitioning their gender, I was very much "live and let live," but took exception at having to call people their preferred pronoun. It seemed like a rigged game to me, like they wanted you to guess at what their gender is, and if you got it wrong, you're a bigot.
Then my wife was like "what harm does it do to call them what they prefer?"
And I thought about all the hurtful names people teased me with at school, and how I wished they would've just called me by my name.
So I said "OK," and that was that. It hasn't been as hard as I thought to recognize what people wish to be called. Unless you're dealing with a "they/them," then they gotta tell you. Or if you're dealing with a butch lesbian that dresses boy-ish. On those occasions, I just try not to use any pronouns or talk to them extensively for fear of messing up.
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literally yesterday a book changed my mind about how much alcohol I'm comfortable consuming
since I've started getting horrible hangovers in my 30s I've limited myself to 1-2 drinks in one evening, once a month or so, and that worked for me
the book detailed how alcohol absolutely wrecks your sleep. yeah i think I'm done drinking for the rest of my life now lol
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