this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
45 points (94.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

39515 readers
1117 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Whether it's economic, cultural, political, religious, ideological, whatever, what are some ideas that you believe in? I think friendly (very important!!) discussion of these could be good as to understand the views of others. Pluralism and the acceptance of many beliefs is generally a good thing.

As long as you don't believe in implausible conspiracy theories or say anything that is listed on the rules of most Lemmy communities and instances (in which case, don't say it), I think the opinions of others should be respected!

Please don't devolve this into a hot political argument, holy war, or similar. It ends badly for world powers (all of them), and it will end badly here with no winning sides. Friendly debate is ok as long as you don't go nuts, make sure you give good supporting arguments with evidence!

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] carbs@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Be excellent to each other.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 5 points 3 weeks ago

And party on, dudes.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

Inaction is still an action. Not improving the world around you is a choice to accept it. You need to choose your battles, of course, but choose none and I will judge you accordingly.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] rosco385@lemmy.wtf 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Unionism.Bosses will always try to screw you over, but the workers united will never be defeated.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

"Paying it forward" is fundamentally the most important weapon we have against the oligarchy, and simply refusing to participate in the endless cycle of new technology.

A long time ago, I kind of stumbled into a habit of "paying my hardware forward". It started because it was simply a pain in the ass to try to sell something on ebay because your first ten offers are scam artists.

So when I upgraded a drawing tablet that I was using, I had a friend of a friend that was looking to try digital drawing and said "Here you go. The only thing I ask is that when you upgrade, or when you're done with it, give it forward to someone else who could make use of it."

Later, the same thing happened again with a camera stabilizer. I had bought one that it turned out was too lightweight for my DSLR. So I had to buy a heavier weight one. Meanwhile, a friend's son was a budding filmmaker just using his cell phone to make stupid movies with his friends and I said "Hey...he'll like this. The only thing I ask is when HE upgrades, or whatever, he passes it forward to another person"

Even something as simple as a dog ramp I bought for my aging dog. After he passed, it hung around in my shed until a friend of mine's dog needed an operation and couldn't do stairs. When her dog recovered she asked if I wanted it back and I said, no...just pass it forward.

I've done it with spare monitors. Old laptops that someone has needed for school, etc...

So what started as me just being too impatient to deal with ebay became something that literally makes me feel good knowing that I'm helping someone out, or even better, supporting another person's artistic passion.

[–] monokel_franze@feddit.org 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I really admire your habit of paying it forward. It reminded me of a belief I hold: instead of paying for everything, you can try to create a kind of exchange circle with the people around you.

Person A does something for Person B, Person B helps Person C, and eventually it all finds its way back to Person A. Everyone benefits without directly paying for each individual service, it fosters a sense of community and mutual support and there’s an added bonus: no one pays taxes.

For example, when I help someone move, I simply tell them, “Just do something similar for someone else, and one day it will come back to me.” Maybe that means someone helps change the tires on my car—or something entirely different.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Exactly. I think this is what we've fundamentally lost in our communities. People helping neighbours.

We're all taught to distrust one another and to be self-sufficient, but that's never how our society evolved in the first place. Cities evolved because cooperation was needed. Division of labour, etc...

I'm lucky that I live in a small city that still mostly has some of that going on. But it's getting more rare every year. Elderly lady that lived across the alley from me had too small a backyard for her usual garden, so I said she was free to use mine because I wasn't needing the space for anything. In return, I got to know my neighbour, and I got veggies come harvest time. She unfortunately passed away two years ago, and the young family that bought the house...haven't even met them yet; they ignore eye contact whenever we're both outside.

Maybe I'm just weird because I grew up in the country. We had a small acreage within a cluster of small acreages. And we all knew each other. The family down the way was a mechanic looking at our vehicles for us. When hay baling needed to be done, we would all pitch in and help. My dad was a construction worker, so he'd go help the neighbours build stuff. It's just how it was for us.

[–] Rivermoonwolf@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

One of my biggest beliefs came from Star Trek : IDIC, or Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. The idea that one homogeneous whole is not only undesirable but simply wrong has shaped damn near everything about me. It may seem sad, but the science fiction I consumed as a kid shaped the person I am today

[–] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

I didn't think that's sad.

[–] tangible@piefed.social 12 points 3 weeks ago

It's fine to change your mind. The world is to be understood through the lens of power and money, but that doesn't mean that you have to agree with it. Assume good intentions. We're all hypocrites to a certain extent and it's okay. Be kind to yourself. You're never too old to learn. Being right all the time gets you nowhere. It takes time to get good. Adopt a thankful mindset, even if you don't believe in a higher power. Never give up. Say 'yes' more often. It's your life and you're in the driver's seat. Live and let live. Worry less. Kämpfen bis zum Verrecken.

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I think that we should call # a hash, not hashtag. Hashtags are social media tags with a hash in beginning, the character itself is not a hashtag.

[–] YoSoySnekBoi@kbin.earth 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Pretty sure it's called a pound sign, no? Maybe I'm just old

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

"number sign" is quite boring though, three syllables too. Pound sign is another name for it (online searches say it's American origin, interesting) and I think it's acceptable. Hash is much cooler sounding though, one syllable, the name describes its appearance (hashing sounds like hatching, cross threading parallel lines), and it isn't easily confused for a different symbol. "Pound sign" could also be the symbol for the pound sterling £ in the UK (probably why the phrase only stayed in the North America, which uses dollars)

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

We also use # for the weight measurement pounds.

Like, I need 5# of potatoes.

[–] crimson_iris@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] HamsterRage@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago

It is an "octothorpe".

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 3 weeks ago

Most people would rather cooperate & help than compete & hoard

[–] JakoJakoJako13@piefed.social 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You know how dog people say there's no bad dogs, only bad owners? Same thing with kids. It's way more nuanced than that. It's true up to a certain point. After having a giant boom of babies in my life recently, nothing has changed my thinking more than watching a blank slate of a human being be morphed into whatever the parents molded that child into. Sometimes it's rough.

[–] cranakis@reddthat.com 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

While I agree with you, I'd also encourage you to stay tuned to those children. It seems to me that certain traits come through on children regardless of parenting, as if the child was just wired for that certain personality quirk. Also, children sometimes become pretty self aware in their teens (certainly not always), and those teens tend to reverse the negative things their parents put on them. Just my experience so far.

[–] bustrouffi@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Kindness, curiosity and a firm belief in treating everyone like they are actual real human beings who can do what they want. It's important to ask people why they do things.

Anarchist with a small 'a' (that is, never going to be vegan, and I've had a managerial position [no, I don't think anarchism means no leaders but I do feel gross about taking part in the paramilitary office structure, and how much I loved the money and status and power]).

The controversial one is ’if you have disposable income, your day-to-day problems won't be real problems'. Most problems are not real problems because money addresses them. Existential, emotional difficulty? Great! You can afford to go to therapy whilst still not suffering any real day to day problems because you have the money 👍.

I'm also fed up of weird consumerist attitudes around 'if I dont get to do everything I want, I'm struggling for money 🥺 I'm poor'

That needs to go fucking yesterday.

[–] AskewLord@piefed.social 5 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

spoken like someone who has never dealt with problems money can't solve.

[–] bustrouffi@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

No, no, that would come under "real problem" because money can't solve it.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] felsiq@piefed.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

One value that really shapes most of my other beliefs is that my moral system should be internally consistent. It’s caused me to try to consciously rethink all of my beliefs and values, and discard or refine any that are inconsistent and add others that were missing.

I don’t really think I’ll ever get to a point of all my beliefs being conscious ones and all my values being objective, that’s not really my aim (or even realistic imo), but it’s changed a lot about how I act and view right and wrong and it’s a process I don’t plan on ever stopping.

[–] zxqwas@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Politics: practicality before ideology. My (your) favourite ideology has flaws. Policies that are effective should be enacted, policies that are ineffective should not, regardless of being left or right.

Religion: Don't care.

[–] jaycifer@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

To add onto this, an ideology is an ideal to be strived toward, not a goal to be jumped to.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Aatube@piefed.social 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

the flippancy you find especially across threads on political news across the fediverse is awful because it drives people away without accomplishing things other than virtue signaling

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] gdog05@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm no politician. I'm just a fella. I think that beer should be cold and boots should be dusty. I think 9/11 was bad. And freedom, well, that's just a little bit better.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Shellofbiomatter@lemmus.org 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Heavily depends on the subject. Of course trying my best to be reasonable person, then many opinions can change over time due to new information or perspectives. So if you specify a subject, i can give my perspective on it and feel free to counter it, as it's rather useful in testing out and refining opinions/perspective.

In general, live and let live(with some exclusions), just try not to make the surrounding area worse than i found it. Sometimes it's even possible to leave it slightly better than i found it. Similar applies to people, while i might be an asshole(ASD, social difficulties) with a fucked up sense of humor, i do try to be helpful and try not to be purposefully malicious(abuse/take advantage/hurt) towards other people.

Some of the more controversial ones: Supporting transhumanism, leaning towards cybernetic augmentation of the human body, but as trans people fall under the same umbrella they get my support as well.

Regarding food: food is just fuel. There's minimal emotional component to it. Daily eating is just another chore to maintain this biological meatsuit. Efficiency to get in a somewhat a balanced meal is the primary concern.

[–] insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafe 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'm non-spiritual, though I do believe something similar to dualism* in an abstract sense (I see it more as 4*, along with different levels of granularity depending on the type of interaction). Though in reality also am about as disconnected as one can be (so I'm not even on the chart).

Transhumanism: leave my brain intact (remember: no copies) and I'd roll the dice if I could do so without techbros. Ideally I'd have more microbiomes/(types of)living cells to keep me alive and stable+clean (and synthesis maybe) rather than the tech-only life-support model often seen in sci-fi.

Somewhat disagree on food, I think cooking is a useful skill and can see utility in art and celebration. Though yeah that's less-and-less common for me, I've eaten a lot of not-great frozen burritos. Even if I didn't need to eat food, I think it'd be nice to have an excuse to eat decent food at least sometimes.

EDIT:

* I'm not actually sure if dualism/non-dualism is the best term here (I'm talking about organisms only, not mind/body or rocks etc). The 4 I mention is roughly: self, other, friend, unknown. Something like a jellyfish would be the unknown. Though things can move in that chart, and will obviously be different for survival vs society.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] First_Thunder@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 weeks ago

I believe that the human race is stupid, egotistical, irrational and self centred. Yet it is still able to create beauty, still able to show sacrifice, kindness.

I believe the world will only truly be lost when I (from my personal POV) stop believing in it. Until then, my corner of the world will be kept as clean as possible. To quote Charlie Chaplin “as long as dictators die, humanity will be free”

[–] jaycifer@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

The first thing I remember learning in philosophy 101 is the principle of charity, which has been eternally useful during discussion:

  1. Assume the other person has something worth saying
  2. Questions of meaning come before questions of truth
[–] YeahIgotskills2@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

A little bit of 'Be Kind' with a twist of 'Kill billionaires'

[–] AskewLord@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I'm a pragmatist.

It means everyone hates me because I don't agree with their ideology and principles. I also acknowledge change and limits, which also pisses people off. I don't argue from or compare reality to utopian ideals, because that's inherently hypocritical, as I am not ideal.

I think principles are cool, but stupid when they are self-defeating, and a lot of ideologies hold to their principles to the point of stupidity and self-defeat.

I think idealism comes from insecurity and a lack of control over oneself and a projection of that lack of control onto others.

I also think pop psychology is demonic and destroying our social fabric, in the USA, at least.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I believe there are fundamentally only 2 types of people:

  1. People who were slapped too much as children.

  2. People who were not slapped enough.

I came up with it so clearly I was not slapped enough.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I believe that men wearing shorts/trousers and women wearing skirts/dresses is abhorrent and a crime against basic logic.

Quite simply, skirts are for people with testicles. They're kept outside the body in a special climate controlled sack that's kept at a lower temperature than the body. Skirts and dresses allow airflow in the groin area, assisting this process.
Conversely, shorts and trousers restrict and insulate the groin, perfect for people who don't have to worry about keeping their genitals cool.

I don't care if the hegemonic gender paradigm disagrees, it's categorically incorrect.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

For my own beliefs, I think that family relationships are important. My siblings will always be my siblings, and even after arguments, we have to come together in the end. We are stronger together!

Of course, I understand some people have family who aren't very nice. Simply being family shouldn't be an excuse to be mean I think. I'm very lucky to have mine, they push me to work hard and help me achieve my goals!

I also believe that people of all backgrounds, cultures, etc. should have equal rights, no one group of people should have more than the other. Unfortunately, this is not the case in most places in the world. Women are still underrepresented in many fields of work, racism is still a large problem in most parts of the world, the rich get away with crimes while the less fortunate are punished hard, etc., and we should work to achieve equality for all!

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I wanted to write something but let's say basically star trek. 😂

[–] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I value and believe in honor, which feels countercultural these days.

I value the story. If something good happens to me, bad happens to me, as long as it's a good story that's ok.

load more comments
view more: next ›