<story><title>What Do We Want, Really?</title><url>http://thefrailestthing.com/2014/12/31/what-do-we-want-really/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>shutupalready</author><text>We need to be thankful that pockets of extreme nonconformity exist to show an alternative to groupthink. People are so eager to mock or crush any diversity. Average people can&amp;#x27;t stand the idea that there are places in the world with extreme differences like (a) much higher or lower tax (using the U.S. as reference point), (b) drug attitudes far softer or much worse, (c) political structures (even the &amp;quot;evil&amp;quot; ones, speaking from the American POV), (d) far different cultural attitudes about sex, marriage, drinking, and every other moral issue. If the world didn&amp;#x27;t have all this diversity, we&amp;#x27;d never know that there&amp;#x27;s an alternative to what we &lt;i&gt;thought&lt;/i&gt; was the best way.</text></comment>
<story><title>What Do We Want, Really?</title><url>http://thefrailestthing.com/2014/12/31/what-do-we-want-really/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>planckscnst</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t think my kids would be better off without TV, and I suspect most people don&amp;#x27;t actually think that, either.&lt;p&gt;TV (just as books) is a tool for delivering entertainment, education, and culture, and it&amp;#x27;s reasonably effective at that.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m glad I had TV when I was a child. The thing I value most is that it inspired an interest in science, math, and technology. Thanks, Square One, Bill Nye, Beakman&amp;#x27;s World, Discover, etc! Later on in life (teenage years), it taught me about time management; you can allow yourself to be entertained for many hours and not actually feel better for it, but actually worse, as you&amp;#x27;ve lost that time; you can allow yourself to be entertained for an hour and it will change your whole outlook on the day. Always be aware of what you are gaining and giving up for entertainment.&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I could go on about why I love TV (and these days, the Internet), that&amp;#x27;s the gist.</text></comment>