Non-Monetized Together

Article also available at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/update-44b92ef9e16?source=friends_link&sk=e0a0f5959e59a7585dd26d6c8108b4a5

I have been saving this community’s Medium comments onto its write.as articles and vice versa. If you made a remark.as comment to this blog but don’t want it cross-posted to Medium, send a comment or PM to my discuss.write.as account and it will be taken down. Same applies for preventing Medium comments for going onto write.as, except you would send a private note in that case.

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You can also view this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/this-writing-strategy-will-prevent-people-from-misunderstanding-your-argument-59bad7d9535c?source=friends_link&sk=c9385350b8d6d09c90db2e195c539701.

The background information in a piece of persuasive writing can easily be misinterpreted by readers as supporting evidence for the main argument. Less commonly, the supporting evidence for the main argument can be misinterpreted as background information. In reality, background information and supporting evidence serve very different purposes. Poor communication between reader and writer can arise when the writer fails to clarify which sections are background information and which sections are supporting evidence.

So, what’s the difference between supporting evidence and background information? Supporting evidence provides an answer to the question, “why is your main argument sound?” It can help readers grasp why someone could think your main argument is worth considering. Readers can decide whether they agree with you by comparing your main argument’s supporting evidence with the supporting evidence of other theories.

On the other hand, background information is used to clarify the supporting evidence and/or the main argument. Background information contextualizes the rest of your text, helping prevent you from running into communication problems revolving around different meanings of the same words. It precedes your supporting evidence so readers can get in the same headspace as you when they read the supporting evidence.

To prevent people from confusing your background information with your supporting evidence, you can organize your text into three sections: background information, main argument, and supporting evidence. If you choose to use this method, each of these sections should have their own paragraph, with a heading that states which section each paragraph corresponds with. Otherwise, it might not work.

Mixing up background information and supporting evidence results in a complete defacement of what the writer was trying to say. Once it occurs, the reader and the writer are understanding things so differently from each other that the cause of the conflict can be difficult to detect. Before cancelling someone over something they wrote, make sure to confirm with them which parts were background information and which parts were supporting evidence. You might be surprised.

Since misinterpretation can happen in any environment, these guidelines can be applied to any form of written communication. If I were to apply them to this post, paragraphs 1-3 would be background information, paragraph 4 would be the main argument, and paragraph 5 would be the supporting evidence.

 #Communication #Writing #PersuasiveWriting #Miscommunication #WritingTips

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Photo by johnhain on Pixabay

You can also view this article on https://medium.com/illumination/overcoming-life-challenges-by-working-on-emotions-348e13e40ec0?source=friends_link&sk=27f30551226ea96415db5e6f2069990d

I have some papers with important messages displayed on a wall in my bedroom. These messages are designed to help me navigate life’s challenges and allow myself to feel happier.

One of the papers says, “deal with the world as it is, not as it must or should be.” I can see how this motto applies when people lose their temper after disagreeing with each other. In this case, an example for “dealing with the world as it is” would be to resolve the disagreement peacefully and respectfully. When people show their anger, they lose sight of that goal. Then, it’s no longer about coming across as someone that others would want to accept. Instead, it completely becomes about having things their way.

The statement “deal with the world as it is, not as it must or should be” does not necessarily advocate submitting to the status quo. You may find that your beliefs and values are at odds with the establishment, who are defining what “must or should be” the way to do things.

Another paper lists five components of emotional intelligence:

1. Knowing your emotions

2. Managing your emotions

3. Recognizing emotions in others

4. Managing emotions in others

5. Motivating ourselves to achieve our goals

I like to conceptualize this list’s fifth item as a tool to manage the first four items. Some form of motivation can definitely be useful considering how challenging it can be to keep track of four things at once. What makes it especially hard is that sometimes when applying one of the skills in the list, you may find that it makes an impact on how a different skill on the list should be carried out. This could mean that even if you already think you had one of the components handled, you may need to return to it and revise your decision in a way that cooperates with other components.

This is a perfect example of why emotional intelligence is such a demanding skill. No wonder people don’t always succeed at it. It’s important to decide what matters the most to you and consistently use it as motivation to succeed at emotional intelligence.

Another one of the papers has four tips: speak with honesty, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. The older I get, the more obvious it is that following these instructions will reduce miscommunication and conflict. I also think they are the keys to a successful online community, so I set them as standards for Non-Monetized Together.

Thank you for reading this article. I appreciate your comments, but before you respond, please remember that I’m not some sort of self-help guide or expert. I’m a student in life, just like you. It wasn’t me who wrote the messages on my wall, either. I just found them useful and I wanted to share them with you.

#SelfCare #Emotions #Relationships #Reminders #OvercomingChallenges

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You can also read this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/always-stay-one-step-ahead-of-ai-what-can-you-do-that-ai-cant-9841b6cf114?source=friends_link&sk=16421f4939e358d4a831d8a8fa7266fa

To prevent artificial intelligence from taking away people’s jobs, intelligences, and agency, people can find ways to explore, improve, and deliver skills that cannot be replicated by AI. If you want AI to support human activity instead of replacing it, you might want to start working on these skills immediately and develop them as much as possible. All it takes is for humanity to put more time into developing themselves than the amount of time that is put into developing AI.

Even if one person reads this article and commits themselves to this concept at their job, their methods may inspire other workers at the company and make a difference in how the business operates. If you succeed at finding ways for humans to outperform AI, you can give the company reasons to justify the extra cost of human workers. You can make a difference in the lives of many.

I think that pretty much everybody would think this idea’s worth a shot, but some people, especially anti-centrists, may feel like society needs to do more than that. So, this article’s comments section has two purposes. One, readers can share ideas for how humans can stay at pace with AI. Two, they can add any other suggestions they may have on what to do about AI. These suggestions can turn into action by being read by others and influencing readers’ real-life decisions (https://write.as/non-monetized-together/how-online-discussion-offers-more-potential-for-social-change-than-irl-activism).

I think customer service is one of the most important things to be protected. If the company you work at uses AI as customer service, maybe you can do something to serve customers who deserve something better. Maybe work after hours so you can provide an alternate service for people who want a human to do it for them. This may not be the best idea, so I hope people who read this article can collaborate so they can make a better one.

Another one of the biggest examples is how AI shapes our opinions and how we view the world. I’m mentioning this because it’s already been in full-force for years now with corporate-driven recommendation algorithms deciding what you see. This makes it only more important to avoid generalizing entire groups of people. I also suggest to remember that people are sometimes recommended different content than the content you receive, which may have influenced their thought process. This is why it’s important to give people a chance to explain why they feel the way they do, so you can provide a response that you can be sure applies to them.

This form of AI is easier to resist if you use search engines instead of social media, since with search engines you can search for viewpoints that challenge yours or specifically choose results that are lower-ranked on the search page. Search engines are tailored to the user’s preference too, but in my experience, it’s not as influenced by them as social media. Of course, there’s also read.write.as, which does not run ads and sorts articles by most recent, ensuring everybody gets their voice heard.

Do you have any ideas for techniques to research information outside of AI’s influence?

Now this is write.as, so I can’t leave without bringing attention to the fact that AI can now make blog posts. How can you make sure your posts compete with that of AI? Keep in mind the things AI will able to replicate a long time from now, not just today. Well, AI is trained off pre-existing information, so you can try writing in an original style. Then, you’ll be able to innovate before the AI can. You can write about topics that have barely been discussed on the Internet. AI would have trouble writing about those topics.

What can you do to prove that your blog posts are not written by a robot?

What else is there to say? You know I love challenging dominant power forces, but when there is a shift in society, I also adapt my methods in doing so. That way, I never admit defeat and I’m ready for anything.

#ArtificialIntelligence #Economy #Power #Technology #Society

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This article was originally published on January 14, 2022 at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/you-dont-need-to-go-viral-to-make-an-important-post-online-5b3f99e1c00e?source=friends_link&sk=4f40ea7de73ae401902bc679722b8c1e

I’m serious, participating in online discussion could be the #1 way an ordinary person can cause some change in the world! I get the sense that others think that very online people are wasting their time arguing with strangers. No, it’s a big deal. And it doesn’t just have potential to result in social change — it IS social change. People remember what others say online. It has an impact on others. Even if it’s just a small amount of people, like a few dozen. You won’t likely get that type of exposure in “real life.” If your post has few views but is effective, it may impact the reader’s attitudes and behaviours, which impacts other people! And you can make hundreds, or even thousands of these posts! The thing about viral social justice campaigns is that they are under pressure to conform to norms. They just make people feel like they have their beliefs validated. That’s not social change right there. Social change is being honest and not worrying about being popular. Most people aren’t even aware of this and use Internet discussions negatively! If you use it positively, you stand out. Oh, and remember, you have the chance to view even your most heated online debates as a learning experience, not a boxing match. Sometimes a learning experience for you, but not always. It can be a learning experience for those who you are interacting with, those who can join in, signed-out “lurkers,” or even readers from the future! Even when the discussion feels “hopeless,” it’s not. There are also people like me who like discussing things online because I have the freedom to type things out, make sure I’m saying how I really feel, and organize my thoughts. I don’t have the opportunity to think things through in a real-life debate. Hopefully, YouTube’s removal of the dislike button will encourage people to contribute their part to the necessity that is the comments section.

Oh, and I forgot to mention! Going on the Internet can help you learn about problems in society you wouldn’t have been able to know about otherwise!

#Change #Progress #InternetDebate #InternetDiscussion

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I came up with a new idea for a mind puzzle game we can play in the comments section. I hope that this game will help us get better at grasping unfamiliar thought processes, which can allow you and I to gain empathy for people who think differently than us. We can then use the empathy to make others feel understood and welcome, which can result in them returning the empathy back to us, leading to stable social interactions in Nonmonetized Together.

It starts by someone asking what I call a “pathless question.” By this, I mean a question that has two components that are completely unrelated, making the question so nonsensical that one can’t even begin to answer it using typical forms of logic and reasoning. For example, “what is the most Wednesday city on earth?” Days of the week and cities have almost no relation to each other. Another example is “which type of cheese is most similar to fencing?” You could also ask, “where’s the best baseball stadium to think of gorillas?”

When you’re playing the game, it’s not just enough for the questions to be about two unrelated things. The questions must also be completely illogical. Shakespeare and KFC may be unrelated but if you asked if Shakespeare would like KFC, you might be able to guess the answer by studying the diets of wealthy artists in Elizabethan England. So that would not count as a pathless question in this game.

Once somebody asks the pathless question, the other players would have to come up with the answer that comes closest to making sense. Each of the other players must also come up with an explanation as to why they chose their answer. There may not be anything inherently fencing-related about cheese, but by finding a convoluted way to link types of cheese to fencing, the players might be able to find which one is most similar to fencing. The winner is the person who provides the least convoluted, most accurate, most logical answer.

Basically, the point of the game is to link two concepts that are usually comprehended differently from each other. The game can help you link concepts together in new ways, which can strengthen your skills in problem-solving and creativity. It also gives you experience with thinking about things in a different way than you normally would, which can help you grasp unfamiliar concepts more easily. Plus, the game may improve your ability to understand a wider range of perspectives.

This game can be played anytime anywhere. Why not give it a try in the comments section? Commenting with a pathless question is probably the rare opportunity to make a Medium or write.as comment when you aren’t in the mood to get into a complex discussion!

This article can be viewed at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/i-created-a-game-that-could-boost-your-creativity-your-empathy-your-ability-to-understand-others-25ca1623a2f2?source=friends_link&sk=1bcb3b8621764eb3f8ab3b18de6f58cc

#Logic #Game #Puzzle #Empathy #NewPerspective

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I read an article that was in written in a really cool format and it inspired me to write a different article in the same format. Thank you, Scott Ryan-Abt, for writing the article I linked to.

This article is going to be made up of 10 questions about aesthetic preferences. I will answer them and invite commenters to do the same. Maybe this article will help strengthen the community aspect of Non-Monetized Together. We’ll see what happens.

1. What’s your favourite wall colour?

My favourite wall colour is black. It’s really striking and has a novelty factor.

2. What’s your favourite album cover?

New Order’s Republic by Peter Saville. Two images that promise boldness and excitement. Beautiful colour contrast and a font that oozes confidence.

3. What’s your favourite colour pairing in an alternating colour striped pattern?

Purple and teal. It’s the rare colour combination that’s as good as one colour plus the other colour.

4. What do you think of the logo for Twitter’s new rebrand X?

I think it lacks character or any sort of identity.

5. What is the most aesthetically pleasing food?

Waffles.

6. What is your favourite style of architecture?

Postmodern architecture. I find it really complex and inviting.

7. What is your least favourite style of architecture?

The type they use to make houses. It just doesn’t spark a reaction in me.

8. What country has the best flag?

South Korea because of the colour combo and the interlocking shapes. I also like the white background because to me, white represents the concept of nothing, so putting a shape in the centre makes it feel like the background isn’t bothering to compete with the shape for attention.

9. What’s your favourite aesthetic in a movie?

Maybe it’s because I don’t watch many arthouse films, but I can’t really think of many movies that have a great aesthetic. I remember Predestination having a somewhat original and beautiful aesthetic palette, so maybe I’ll go with that.

10. What’s your favourite aesthetic in a music video?

I’ll go with Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime.” I’m not even a huge Talking Heads fan but even today, the aesthetic for this music video is either unintentional or creative to the point of genius. The way all the elements of the video (even the camera) move around is satisfying to watch. While the cinematography would be ugly in most music videos, the way the movement is orchestrated somehow makes the cinematography memorable and artistic. The photography of the music video kind of looks like it was filmed off a TV screen, but all that does is just make the video feel postmodern instead of cheap.

Thanks for reading and I hope you share your answers to these questions.

This article is available on Medium at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/lets-talk-about-our-aesthetic-preferences-with-each-other-6a6cf2f8cda9?source=friends_link&sk=9987bb64b5800a662ef593990cbaa747.

#Design #10Questions #Aesthetics #Favourites #Art

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Ava Sol/Unsplash

If someone on Nonmonetized Together dismisses someone else by calling them mentally ill, I will ask them what mental illness they were referring to and why it is relevant. If they do not have an answer, then that shows that they did not mean “mentally ill.” They meant another adjective, but they used “mentally ill” as a way to give their statement more weight. So in this case, I will ask them what they meant to say when they called the other person mentally ill.

My intent is not to argue with them, attack them, or act offended, and I will make sure they know about that. I also don’t want to act like they should have known already. Instead, my goal is to tell people to express themselves more clearly in the hopes of resolving conflict and having a productive discussion. If people are willing to open up and talk about things, then we can weaken the stigma of mental illness.

I will make it clear that in the Nonmonetized Together dialect, “mental illness” means nothing but “mental illness” and any attempts to make it mean anything else will simply not register. They could keep on using it and be as edgy as they want about it but it just won’t mean a thing, but only on Nonmonetized Together, as its goal is to be a fantasyland free from the social diseases that persist in the rest of society.

So, if I catch you using the term “mental illness” to mean something else, there is no need to run and hide or fight back. I’m not trying to silence others. I will forgive you.

I am just trying to help you communicate more clearly so the discussion goes better. If you run off or fight back, that will raise some questions. So don’t do that.

If not enough readers commit to using language this way, my attempts to neutralize the language of mental illness may not succeed, not even shaping how language is used in this tiny corner of the Internet, but I hope that you use the words “mental illness” in the same way when you’re on Nonmonetized Together, and I will link this article in the comments whenever the topic comes back so more people can understand.

If you don’t use language the way I do when you’re on here, I suppose nothing’s stopping you. I try to avoid censorship on here because this is a place to solve problems, not pretend that they don’t exist. I will still give this a try though. I hope this works.

Do you have any other ideas for how you will fight stigma on Nonmonetized Together? This can be stigma of any sort. Make sure to let everybody know by sharing your ideas in the comment section.

This article is also available at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/how-this-online-community-fights-against-the-stigma-of-mental-illness-39e1b528821f?source=friends_link&sk=3378f022ee2d95dbedd5670626e360ef.

#MentalHealth #OnlineCommunity #Language #Communication #Stigma

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Sometimes I think about how out of anybody who has ever existed, I’ve only ever been in this body. What makes me special and important enough to see things from my perspective in a way that will always be different than seeing it from someone else’s?

And how can everybody else have existences if I can’t access them? Are others really conscious of their lives the same way I am? If so, why can’t I access their consciousnesses?

It is a really impressive feature of our existences. Oddly I can’t find any discussion about this through a Google search. What inspired me to write about this what that I accidentally came across a thread where somebody mentioned it but nobody in the chat really got what they were talking about. This was the first time I heard anybody else reference this idea, except for possibly my brother. But for a fact this crazy, how are people not acknowledging it? This concept was as obvious as day to me since I was a very small child.

Photo by Peter Conlan of Unsplash

I personally find that this understanding of existence can knock me into a trap of feeling like I’m some sort of chosen one. Up until recently, my instinct was to assume that I will obviously be a successful and important person once I graduate from university. Why else would I be the only person I have first-person access to? But then I started to feel differently. Do you want to know what caused this change?

The biggest factor wasn’t an understanding that I am human just like anybody else. It was a change in career preferences.

Even with my previous career plan, which would have meant a more public life, I would try to get myself to understand that I may not reach the heights that I would naturally assume. But I had a lot of trouble believing it. I don’t know the number of living, conscious beings on earth, but it’s a really big number. So big that it would seem that if I was just a normal person, I wouldn’t be experiencing myself any different than I would be experiencing others. What would make me special enough to never take control of anyone else’s life?

Anyways, this illusion is very powerful and dangerous because if we don’t directly experience or sense something, it’s not as real to us. I can’t truly believe other people’s lives are real because I can’t sense their existence the same way I sense mine. And if I am not special, then why do I directly experience my life and not anyone else’s?

Photo by Mauro Mora of Unsplash

But if I have a more anonymous career, I have a much lower chance of experiencing something that would validate my sense of uniqueness. I would likely have an average paycheck, average hours, and not gain any fame. Even though I am still an undergraduate student, it has already been starting to humble me more.

But I won’t reach the point where I 100% truly understand until late in my career. This is because, as mentioned earlier, you don’t believe something completely until you actually live it yourself, through your own consciousness. I will only find out my true destiny when I am much older.

Except not everybody will have a career out of the range of public eye. That’s fine, we shouldn’t judge people for that. The point is, real life is the best form of motivation so it’s important to not let our perspective overtake reality.

This article was originally posted onto Medium on April 25, 2022, when I was still an undergraduate student (https://medium.com/illumination/one-fact-blew-my-mind-but-the-other-fact-stitched-it-back-together-5640702ad7d7?source=friends_link&sk=1b5cacbc4680952502f155d0f365a64f).

#SelfPerspective #Humility #Perspective #Consciousness #Careers

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Photo courtesy of geralt/Pixabay

I listen to lots of electronic music but haven’t been to a nightclub. I just don’t see the purpose of them in today’s society and am surprised they are not viewed as obsolete. I can’t think of a single purpose they would serve that the Internet doesn’t do better, even without the pandemic.

If you want to find new music, you can get a streaming service and discover new music with the algorithm feature. Or you could search through music review websites (such as Spin, Consequence, or Pitchfork) or music databases (like Discogs, RateYourMusic, and last. FM) to find something that interests you.

If you want to socialize with friends, you could hang around at someone’s house and play music there. This seems much better than clubbing to me. You can play whatever you want, bring whatever you want, it’s free, and it’s safer.

If you want to meet new people that have similar tastes in music, you could just hop onto social media and look them up there.

I’d love to hear what anybody else thinks of this.

This article was originally posted to Medium on May 16, 2022 (https://medium.com/illumination/how-have-nightclubs-managed-to-survive-the-internet-3ee9d2cf0f55?source=friends_link&sk=ffc5e9f53047dca859594a9e6d9363e6).

#Technology #Recreation #Music #Culture #Sociology

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