I think this might be it. The worst version of capitalism is the selling of nothing, loudly haha

Very agreed! I’m not much of a video watcher myself, but I do appreciate a well composed video. As I said to another commenter, I think I was just trying to express that sense of “icky” lol

I hope it didn’t come across as critical of content creators, I think I was just trying to share this sense of… icky lol. I believe genuine creators exist and aren’t just trying to make a quick buck :)

To the second part, strongly agreed. I just wanted to enjoy simple things and not have to produce all the time

I can’t uptoot this more

Is it just me or does posting videos to try to get views FEEL even slimier than standard capitalism? I sometimes ponder starting an influencer channel and immediately find it feels grosser than it does to offer a service/product for money. Just my perception?

I recently discovered fidget toys as a way of slowing my online shopping. Hasn’t stopped it, but putting it beside the phone decreased the phone time at least

Not to mention they started as a car lovers brand and are now just corporate for “I’m important”

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Looks to me like she did it in the bedroom with my two lost uncles who fled the country after ransacking the family mausoleum and stealing the family jewels

I love that you didn’t give up the complex creations. Unlike the other commenter I have no idea what a hurdy gurdy is, but I can appreciate the value of overmaking stuff. Glad to hear that you didn’t let the capitalisation of steampunk kill your passion 😊

Agreed. I don’t always need the author to explain the origin story of characters. Let me guess a little.

Shoot I don’t remember this arc, don’t suppose you can share a quick synopsis/analysis on your comment?

For good reason. Phenomenal series, it’s what hooked me into reading in the first place

Spinach needs love too! 🤔 Absolutely. It’s shocking how much clarity you get on human behaviour when you assume much of it is based on unconscious/animalistic tendencies haha. And yes, #2 is a good shorthand for this - I take a lot of heart from knowing we’re like other advanced life, makes complex existence a little less… existentially isolating, I think?

That reference is a nice touch.

Fear may be better said as “the unfamiliar”, but unfortunately I’m confident in this point haha. Did a psych degree, and basically our reptilian brain (fight/flight/flee centre) makes those snap decisions based on previous experience (familiar: friend or unfamiliar: foe/unknown). We can relatively easily override it (e.g. curiosity about the newest swiffer), but if we don’t know to do that, our brains default to “oh I’ve heard of that one before, is friend”

Also stressed ppl are better consumers. Less critical thought, more impulsive behaviour to alleviate anxiety

Psychological safety in play ^^ humans are animals, we trust what we know, fear what we don’t. All of marketing is geared to that simple fact

It’s been a minute since I read the books, but I think I remember having a similar theory. Maybe it was a missed opportunity by RJ, cuz I remember continuously wondering when the grand reveal would happen that it’s actually all Mat (and canonically, I can’t think of a reason that wouldn’t be as valid as other men’s memories, I don’t think the story arc ever kills that possibility lol).

Maybe you could help a new generation learn the value of intentional steampunk :) bring some of the passion back to the hobby, as it sounds like many just accept it as presented. Share it as a “when I got into this, we made this shit” and how you did it. I might be wrong, but I’m weirdly confident you’ll eventually find a cross section of steampunks that would be interested in the creative element

There’s also an entire subgroup that just don’t think that far. One of my very working class friends group has 3 kids, but when asked about his thoughts on the future has said things like “the climate is fucked anyway.” Somehow it hasn’t occurred to him his children have to live in that future…

Something about quantum physics and change the outcome by looking at it? There now it’s science