So it’s not a “brain disease”, it’s a disease of the immune system… In the brain. And it’s not that the beta amyloid plaques are bad! They are good actually, except that in this case they are attacking brain cells and that is bad. So the prevailing wisdom that we should focus on the plaques is actually correct, right? The theory is interesting, but this article is very badly written.

Not sure why you’re getting down voted. The OP wasn’t explicitly about the US but Bernie Sanders got 13M votes in the 2016 primary and he is very clearly in support of taxing the wealthy. That sure is a lot of “insane” people isn’t it?

What is unreasonable is assuming that taxing wealthy individuals is, on its own, enough to solve all these other social problems. There just aren’t enough billionaires for that to work.

I suspect it’s worse than that: most people have multiple natural talents they never discover. That is why I encourage my kids to try all kinds of experiences, and not label themselves as “not a science person” or “not outdoorsy”. You don’t need to be good at just one thing.

I relate to this, though I am not autistic myself. My wife and I certainly worry about whether our own personal challenges are going to impact our children. For example, we are both introverts and having to take a kid to a birthday party, mingle and make small talk with other parents is awful, it ruins the whole weekend. Of course, we still go, but our kids don’t have as many play dates as other kids do. You know what, though? They will be fine. We play board games and video games and read.

All kids have advantages in some areas and gaps in others that they will have to work on as they grow. You can’t teach them everything, and yet they will become fully functional adults anyway. You’re doing a great job taking your kid to therapy and getting him help he can’t get from you, that ~~shows that you love him and can take care of him. Focus on passing on your strengths and not trying to avoid passing on your failings.

I’m sure there is a point being made here about the Mormon church, but I just have to say if this is the argument being made, it flies in the face of common sense and probably undermines the message it’s trying to send.

First of all, “code switching” is a totally normal linguistic thing that people do when they’re in more than one social circle. Do you greet your kid, your best friend, your lover, and your father the same way? There is no reason why your speech patterns have to be consistent no matter who you’re talking to; we all do this naturally without even thinking about it.

More broadly though, I find the idea of “authenticity” to be more often than not an excuse for people to not bother learning the norms of the group they are in. If you come to work and spend all your time “hanging out” like your coworkers are your buddies, you’re going to have a bad time. Be a good worker at work, be a good friend to your friends, etc. If you don’t like what’s expected of you or it doesn’t align with your principles, then by all means reevaluate whether you want to be part of that group.

Didn’t work! I used my identity matrix and I’m exactly the same as I was before.

I have been around some of the tech elite you’re referring to, and I propose that the disconnect arises because Silicon Valley uniquely revolves around Scale (how many people you can reach) and Impact (how big a dent you can leave in the universe). It’s impossible to overstate how ingrained it is in the culture, and it is very explicit when you talk to folks at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for example: the ability to measure and prove the impact of your project is as important as the project itself.

I admit to being a member of this culture, if not wealthy.

To me, the types of art you mention - art galleries and live theater being good examples - are extremely limited in serving relatively small populations concentrated in city centers where there already is a lot of culture. The generation that created the Internet is, for better or worse, much more interested in bigger investments that can reach everyone on the planet and hopefully improve lives in some measurable and long lasting way.

I’m sure the wealthy here in California contribute to the local arts community just like anywhere else. But there is no equivalent in the arts to curing polio worldwide or giving every child access to the Internet, so I don’t personally disagree with prioritizing these agendas in a coordinated way.

All these comments are correct but also missing the fact that gas-powered engines do also have a separate starter motor, which is powered by the car battery, whose purpose is to start the gas engine’s crankshaft rotating so it can start burning gasoline and sustain ignition on its own. It is only used for a few seconds, unlike a hybrid car’s electric motor which is used continuously while driving.

All these comments are correct but also missing the fact that gas-powered engines do also have a separare starter motor, which is powered by the car battery, whose purpose is to start the gas engine’s crankshaft rotating so it can start burning gasoline and sustain ignition on its own. It is only used for a few seconds, unlike a hybrid car’s electric motor which is used continuously while driving.