both things can be mostly true. therapy can help shitty people be better, and it can be wrongly used by shitty people to feel emboldened and justified in their actions. it is the need to have a definitive b&w hot take about the WORST person you know that pushes it into ridiculous territory.

unfortunately the link to all the other rejected designs is broken

cool! what's the trackball part?

I emailed them when they first introduced this AI nonsense and asked them to disable it on my workspace and they actually did it. I have zero AI on mine.

big assumption to think they can afford it

does it primarily benefit the poor? afaik it is prohibitively expensive to install and and run for most poor people in europe

I guess I disagree that it is a notable realisation, or that it says something about the genre. that's true of all games, not just simulation ones, and all media you consume. I don't see a problem with that because at no point was I lead to believe it would be otherwise.

what we occupy our minds with, what we spend time thinking about and feeling *with*, is a huge part of life, and it has function and meaning and immense depth beyond material reality.

you could say that last sentence about any piece of media; Mission Impossible only appeals to your sense of adventure and action without contributing to its achievement. Jane Austen novels only appeal to your sense of romance... nonsense.

sure, but there is intrinsic value to daydreaming and playing make believe about jobs or tasks you might enjoy. it can be inspiring and thought provoking, it isn't just mindless. I don't agree with this implication that if an activity isn't materially improving my situation it's a waste of time.

idk man the first hard evidence of democracy being compromised by tech, people's data being sold and used to manipulate them at a global scale... seems pretty important

make it a stern kettle wagging its finger

also why didn't they include a kettle in the picture? huge missed opportunity

I think the generous interpretation is that good design would make this padding feel more worthy of people's time & attention, unlike a purely impulsive-animalistic feedback loop. If you are learning something about yourself or others, or expressing something with it, serving more than compulsion.

sorry but you are wrong. it's actually pretty funny. try watching it again but removing your hater hat and putting on a good time hat instead, I guarantee you'll have a good time.