Tech needs a union. Yes, tech workers get paid pretty well. But we really need more say in how the products of our labour are being used. I don’t know how to work in this industry and be an ethical person anymore, and “change from within” doesn’t work when you don’t have a seat at the big boys’ table.

When I started my career, I thought the internet would bring knowledge and enlightenment. It was a just cause. I guess I was just another brainwashed tech utopian. Now it’s getting hard to find a job building something that isn’t an obvious scam or a way to fuck over the working class.

Aren’t they all?

Oh and potato chips? Forget about it. Dill pickle, salt and vinegar, ketchup… We can’t be expected to go on without ketchup chips. Looks like big red has got us this time boys. 😋

No because AI doesn’t exist.

Because every time the US elite needs to distract the crazies they whip out the UFO circuses and the rubes lap that shit up. Honestly it’s getting embarrassing for all parties involved.

You wanna know why aliens don’t visit this planet?

** Gestures broadly in the direction of entire planet ***

We could die a little faster if it helps.

Yeah but you guys still have the guillotines in storage or something though, right? Might be time to dust them off.

So until ~2030 then? 😅

Nah I can’t do supplements, and the B12 in nutritional yeast isnt naturally occuring. Some microorganisms do produce B12 but not the ones they use to make nooch. I know, I was surprised to.

I did some more research though, and I do have a source of B12. Remember I said I was using seaweed for fertilization?

Boom: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11430774/

I can just eat the seaweed. 😂

In fact, it appears my people have a long history of eating seaweed: https://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/all-about-laverbread/ (didn’t know that existed!)

So I guess I’ll go vegan. You win. The crickets will be disappointed that they’re getting evicted but I’m sure they’ll get over it.

I’m going to go 6 months eating just seaweed and potatoes, while doing blood work to check my nutrient levels. I’ll let you know if I don’t die 😅. Thanks for all your help.

Can I just say… It is a joy to argue with you. I mean that sincerely.

Okay, I read up on what sentience actually is and a few studies on insect sentience, social lives and capacity for pain. Having spent a lot of time with the little critters, I can see their point. Like they’re obviously social for one. Sometimes they really seem like they’re thinking. I don’t know.

Let’s say in principle I agree with you. How am I supposed to not die of anemia from lack of vitamin B12? I didn’t want to do laying hens for obvious reasons. Mushrooms have some B12 and I do grow them, but it’s not gonna be enough to keep you healthy long term. And don’t say supplements or fortified foods… I need something I can grow or forage locally.

What am I missing here?

PS. I dunno know about the taste buds thing, they’re okay but not delicious 😅

I’m nice to my crickets though. You don’t have to hurt them, you just place them into the freezer and they fall asleep like it’s winter time. And then you roast them and mill them into flour. Okay that part does hurt them, but they’re asleep. Seems kinda peaceful.

I get that hurting a mammal with complex emotions is very unethical, but where’s the limit?

What about fermented food? Tiny bacteria are alive when you eat them. They probably don’t feel pain but I can’t imagine they’re thrilled to meet their doom.

How about mushrooms? They aren’t plants, and they apparently communicate with the trees. How do you know they don’t possess some kind of sentience?

What about harvesting plants? Everytime you run a combine through a field it’s like an insect genocide. Even if you’re only eating plants you’re still eating insects because they get caught by the harvester and milled into the final product. The FDA allows up to 50 insect parts per 1/4 cup cornmeal.

What about hurting a tree? They’re not sentient and cannot feel pain but I still believe it is unethical to harm a tree. Do they not deserve our empathy because they lack our human conception of sentience?

Being a good human is hard. I feel like in principle you’re right but I don’t know how to exist and not hurt anything ever. You’re right, I don’t know you. Maybe you’re just a better person than I am.

I raise my own crickets on the farm and grow my own vegetables. It’s basically a closed system, I compost everything. I add additional nutrients using seaweed.

How far do your plants have to travel to get to your plate? Last time I checked so-called modern farming uses a lot of petrochemicals. Organic farming isn’t any better–they use so much plastic to block weeds and pests.

Also, most plant material I grow is not edible by humans. I cannot eat corn stalks. Maybe you can. It seems wasteful to compost all this biomass as there is still so much nutrition left over.

Sounds to me like your carbon footprint is higher than mine. Maybe you should try to create a farming system yourself. One that yields 100% of the daily nutrition humans require. It is not so easy.

I am glad you are vegan. Much better than eating cows. They drink too much water.