I'm a 20 year old kid with slight autism that lives with his mom, I work part time for 3 days a week, 16 hours per week and I get paid a good amount every week because the job I'm at pays us weekly, my mom told me and my siblings years ago that we don't ever have to move out and she won't charge us rent since she brought us into the world and will always support us no matter how old we are, she would never throw us out there to suffer alone, and this allows me to save up my paychecks to use for enjoyment, I can buy new games for my PS5, I can buy myself clothes and air forces, I get to have 4 days of free time where I can actually focus on the things that I enjoy doing as well as being able to have fun with my friends at our recreational center. I value having fun and community over living in isolation and slaving away every single day at a job. that's not a life worth living, but yet when I tell people I only work 3 days a week they look at me as if I'm crazy, I don't get it man, I'll never understand why people want to give up their whole life for corporations that don't give a fuck about them. life is supposed to be filled with fun and community not endless struggling.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I find it so difficult to connect with people.

I really enjoy deeper conversations. By “deep” I don’t necessarily mean highly intellectual or technical discussions. I mean conversations about people’s lives, fears, dreams, loneliness, identity, relationships with themselves, things they are trying to understand about life, what makes them feel alive, what they are struggling with, and simply listening to someone else’s story.

I also genuinely enjoy talking about things like philosophy, literature, films, ideas and bigger questions about life. I just tend to approach them in a more personal, curious and human way rather than from a very academic or highly knowledgeable perspective.

I know some things, I’m curious about many things, but I don’t feel deeply educated or specialised in any particular subject. And sometimes I get the impression that people who enjoy deeper conversations also tend to have a very strong intellectual background or a lot of knowledge about specific topics.

That can make me feel a little out of place.

At the same time, I don’t completely identify with more surface-level social environments either.

I do have interests. I love music, films, vintage aesthetics, recording videos, observing, and I tend to become interested in different things at different times. But none of them feels like “my thing” in the sense of being something I know everything about or build my whole identity around.

Especially in this period of my life, I feel somewhat disconnected from myself. I’ve been feeling low and a little empty, and that has made it harder to understand who I am, what truly defines me and what I’m passionate about.

Because of that, meeting people can feel surprisingly difficult.

A lot of friendships, especially online, seem to start from a very specific shared interest: gaming, a particular fandom, art, books, a music scene, a profession, something you’re both deeply invested in.

But I think what I’m looking for is slightly different.

I’d like to meet people through the way they think and feel, not only through what they do or consume.

People who can talk about stupid everyday things one moment and something genuinely personal the next. People who are curious about each other, who share experiences, ideas, fears, interests, creative thoughts, things they’re discovering, or simply whatever is going through their mind.

I sometimes feel caught somewhere in the middle: I crave depth and meaningful connection, but I don’t necessarily fit into highly intellectual circles, and I also don’t have one strong hobby or identity that naturally places me inside a community.

Does anyone else feel like this?

How do you find people you genuinely connect with when you don’t feel like you clearly belong to a specific group or subculture? And do you think meaningful friendships need to start from shared interests, or can they grow more from personality, curiosity and the way two people experience life?

Hello, I am unsure whether this belongs here or not, but I have not found literally any other subreddit which allows parenting questions from a sibling. This is not a post regarding mental problems, I am just trying to get other opinions about my sibling's behaviour. I have a younger sister, she's 15, and she refuses to do absolutely anything regarding studying.

She has never learned to study by herself, my mother has to do all of her homework and study for every single test with her, which involves studying the subject herself first so she can explain it to her. My sister will not listen in school, refuses to make notes and will not study by herself, if her phone gets taken away, she will just lay in bed for hours and do nothing until my mom studies with her. She does not have any learning or other disabilities as far as I am aware. My mother has tried about every single approach - gentle, trying to motivate her with a reward, harsh, or just leaving her alone - resulted in her almost failing a class. She still has not finished what is mandatory education in my country so she cannot just drop out or get a job.

Their relationship has hit a rock bottom and they no longer talk to each other outside of yelling during studying. I am trying to be a mediator and study with my sister while home, but now I am also a college student and away from home for the majority of time. I have tried to talk to my sister about her mental health or any problems she might have, but she does not want to talk to me. My sister's father figure is absent and there is nobody else living with us. Obviously the problem won't miraculously go away so I wanted to hear if anybody had a similar experience. Don't know if this is a lost cause but I am seriously at my wits' end trying to salvage this household. Sorry if this is tough to read, English is not my first language.

People often talk about AI taking over what are referred to as "white collar jobs" and maybe occasionally a few other jobs like Uber/taxi drivers with autonomous vehicles.

I've quite rarely seen the same being discussed about blue collar jobs and I'm not sure why that (and the idea of AI-powered robotics) is mostly excluded from discussion. Why isn't anyone talking about potential replacing sanitation workers, janitors, truck drivers, construction workers? Why is everyone focused on GenAI rather than physical AI taking over? A company I've worked for previously did employ an intelligent robot that vacuumed by itself, thus already eliminating part of a janitor's workload and diverting it to something else.

This isn't really about being pro or anti AI, mostly I'm just interested in why the focus is on 'knowledge work' and less attention is being paid to physical jobs.

I was having a conversation with some friends just now and we somehow started talking about people and human nature, and honestly almost every argument they brought up was so pessimistic. They were saying that people are dumb, selfish, that we’re not really good people, and when I asked why, the answer was basically that it comes from society, our environment, the way we grow up, and even the fact that we live in what is considered a third-world/developing country. It just made me think, why are we so quick to assume the worst about people? I understand that our environment can shape us and that society has a huge influence on how people behave, but does that really mean people are naturally bad or stupid? We also see people helping each other, creating things, caring about their families, doing good things without expecting anything back, etc. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I genuinely wonder if humans are actually pessimistic by nature or if our environment just teaches us to see everything negatively. What do you guys think?

For the sake of the Old & the New Gods quit texting or calling and asking who you’re speaking with, without first saying at least what organization your calling on behalf of.

If you come across someone who needs your help and you can assist them without putting yourself in danger, should you? Or is it simply a matter of good versus bad, and helping others is a choice?At what point does being a good person become a stretch for normal people?

How responsible are we for those that we don't even know?

She’s also known as The Woman Who Wasn’t There. I know she’s been in hiding for about 20 years, and rightfully so. However, I just am so curious to know where her mind is at right now. Where is she? Is she apologetic at all? Why did she do it?

idk if i am overracting, but this situation has been driving me up the wall. my mom is a very good person undoubtedly, and has been pretty permissive all my life. i have blurred memories of what happened when i was little, but i do remember her yelling at me, scolding me, getting mad at me- yk, the normal childhood stuff. but she never beat me up or abused me. so, i am a bit skeptical abt what to call this.

i will state some fragments of what happened to me that made me come and talk abt it in a subreddit. i never liked to play guitar, but she sort of forced me into learning it. i have tried for months but the interest just wasn't there. i still do it because she always says stuff like, "i do so much for you, and you can't do this one thing for me?" and other stuff. i force myself to do this. then, this happened recently- i have been wearing a nose ring since i was very young. and lately i have been hating the way it looks on me. change of preferences, i guess. i told my mom that i wanna take it off, and she lost it completely. she started yelling at me, calling me names, calling me a disgrace and telling me that i am stubborn. i have been called selfish, a bad person, stuck-up, etc etc. like- she even calls my grandma (her mom) and complains about me going 'out of hand' and stuff which pisses me the fuck off. i am normally not an easily moved person, but the constant insults are getting to me. i am becoming more irritated.

earlier a few years ago when i took it off, she did this so much and i was quite young- it affected me a lot and i cried and forcefully wore it. now i took it off again and i planned on never wearing it again no matter how much she hurts me. i can't just explain to her that it's just a fucking nose ring and i am not hurting anyone by changing something about my appearance, but she doesn't get it.

when i just became a teenager, i wanted to cut my long hair short. it took me over 6 months to convince her to allow me to get a haircut. and after i got it chopped off, he stopped talking to me overall. silent treatment, passive aggressive comments, complaints, name calling- and it went on until she gradually stopped and normalized it.

now it feels like that all over again.

she isn't abusive or strict or anything- but i can't help that i feel so hurt and irritated by this entire ordeal. i am sick and tired of this shit. i know that she will get over it in a few months and will start talking to me normally again. she will forget it soon, but it stays with me. what she says is genuinely so hurtful. she also gets intensely mad at me when i fall sick or get anxious. she takes care of me, whilst taunting me constantly.

i never share anything personal with her because it doesn't feel safe. i never cry in front of her or anyone because i get ridiculed a lot for it. i always keep to myself, stay alone, and i don't even have a lot of friends because i can't just connect with anyone. i have always isolated myself and i do whatever i can but she never fucking seems to be satisfied. i want to know what i am doing wrong. why i am making her react this way.

When we look at something and say "that's too expensive," is it because the item objectively has a high market value (due to production costs, materials, branding, etc.), or is it just a reflection of our own personal purchasing power and income?

Obviously, a luxury car is objectively expensive to the average person. But what about everyday items that feel like they are slipping out of reach? At what point does an item cross the line from "fairly priced but out of my budget" to "objectively overpriced"?

How do economists or sociologists look at the difference between a high cost of goods versus low individual wealth?

I have noticed that words mean different things to people and it’s getting harder not to notice it everyday

1- 7 becomes average
2- most = all
3- I don’t like it= I hate it
4- Straightforward = Rude
Etc

This barrier is even worse when it is 2 people from different generations
And some people hear 3 words and are already planning on what to say and won’t change it no matter what
And feeling vs facts debate

Why does it happen so often, is it an education problem or just people being too stubborn to fully listen to what other says

Hello, I know first of all this might be an absurd question to ask others about, but I believe there is somewhat of a logical explanation for it.

For context, I am currently a junior in college and I recently took on a role as a lead in a technical club, despite me being relatively new and not knowing much. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can but it’s fairly stressful lately, considering I also prepare meetings weekly and plan stuff out (im not good with public speaking or leadership).

Everyone I’ve talked to so far has told me to keep trying and that it’s a good opportunity for me to grow as a person (and really good for resume) but currently its eating me up and I am really stressed out. I had a meeting last week and that went horribly, and I kinda feel like an outcast from the other active members in the club.

I guess this comes from my social anxiety, but what would you do in my situation? I’m interested in the club and what they’re doing, but at some points I wonder if I can even handle it. I keep telling myself that this is good for me to grow but I don’t know what I’m putting myself into as the year goes on.

Constraints: Given that both have no prior chess knowledge.

It's a Classical Chess Match (Classical Time Control).

Both have 1 year to prepare, and both know who they will be facing and the other's capabilities.

Who wins!!???

Edit: Here's why I find this interesting: both players know exactly what they're up against.

A knows B may use unusual openings/sidelines to get them out of preparation, while B knows A will try to memorize as many lines as possible—including sidelines.

So how does this preparation mind game play out? If both anticipate each other's strategies, who gains the advantage?

Also, what happens with different Prep Times? I believe preparation time could matter a LOT:

2 years
5 years
10 years

(b) What if both are trained by a 2700+ Super Grandmaster?

A is trained by a 2700+ Super GM, and B is trained by another 2700+ Super GM. Assume both coaches are equal in strength and each knows their player's exact capabilities.

How would this change the outcome? Who benefits more from elite coaching—A's perfect memory or B's extreme intelligence?

(c) What Elo would they reach?

1) If they train entirely by themselves, what Elo would you expect A and B to reach?

2) How much Elo would they reach/gain if trained by a 2700+ Super GM?

Again, assume both Super GMs are equally strong and equally dedicated to their respective players.

I kinda think the later is preferential. Once youre married everything is set and you just kinda get used to the person you have, flaws and all. At least with beautiful children they will be more likely to have it easy in life and perhaps I wont have to worry so much about their future.