So far, Lemmy has been an oasis in a desert of outrage bait, ‘ackshually’ jerks, and the shitty gamesmanship of other platforms. I really hope it lasts.
Diets vary a lot, though. In a culture where processed / high sugar / high carb foods are the norm (and sodas) you probably need to clean your teeth more often than someone living in a ‘raw foods’ kind of culture.
Smoking is an ancient method of preserving food. It imparts a smoky flavor which many people enjoy (though some do not). The advantages of smoking vs cooking include being able to smoke large amounts of food efficiently using racks and potentially less and/or cheaper fuel, and greatly reduced risk of burning the food (or the racks, which may be made of wood in a primitive/camping context).
While smoked meats are what we often think of, many foods can be smoked including vegetables, herbs, spices, and almost anything if you like the flavor it imparts to the food.
Smoking does also cook the food, only slower. Also, some people do eat raw or undercooked meats as a culinary choice. It does increase the chances of acquiring food borne parasites if the meat is undercooked.
The lack of karma helps some. There’s no point in trying to rack up the most points for your account(s), which is a good thing. Why waste time on the lamest internet game when you can engage in conversation with folks on lemmy instead.
I went to high school with a couple of people who went on to do truly incredible, world class things. Both of then in fields I treated as a hobby / entertainment. Meanwhile, I’ve been midlevel mediocre at everything.
And I figured out years too late that I completely blew it when it came to three separate relationships, any one of which would have been life changing for the good. I was just very, very stupid and thought relationships came around like a bus service.
Now that I’m much older it grieves deeply me all the things I took for granted. All the missed opportunities. All because of some mix of laziness, lack of a long term perspective, lack of focus, lack of self discipline, and cowardice. Looking back, I realize many of my peers were more mature and focused.
I have to accept that I am a fundamentally unremarkable person and have burned up most of my good years of potential. I try not to dwell on these dark thoughts all of the time. But there’s no way to truly come to peace with it.
I don’t care much about “leaving a legacy”. Just wish I’d made better decisions, especially when it comes to finding and keeping a loving partner.
If you don’t register with an email address, I’m not sure there’s much privacy violation going on. We’re all posting to a public forum (like reddit, Meta, Twitter, Nextdoor, LinkedIn and countless other places) so use common sense and don’t post anything truly private or self-identifying.
Laws are inconsistent and don’t always make sense. My guess is they consider someone who actively chooses to go into a restaurant with the intention of not paying is more of a thief. Everyone needs a place to live (homelessness is de facto illegal in many respects) and failure to pay your rent or mortgage seems both more sympathetic (on the surface at least) and passive, because it may be due to circumstances beyond your control (loss of income, health problems, etc).