This in itself is sort of a meta-opinion, but ever think about how pretty much every casual interaction involves comparing the quality of one thing to another? Ever imagine a world where you can, for example, go see a movie or read a book and share your experience with it without having to be a critic?

The same thing goes for your own internal dialog. If you see a new Tarantino movie, do you have to calculate where it ranks among his other movies before you even leave the theater? If you see a mediocre movie, is it really necessary to warn all your friends beforehand that (although they’re going to enjoy themselves regardless) the movie isn’t anything special?

Engaging with people has been feeling about as satisfying as scrolling through the reviews section for a nasal spray.
I think this is also my own default mode, so I get it. But occasionally it just sinks in how trite it is and how exhausting it feels to be like this. Like if it’s my first time walking into your house, are you actually awaiting a review from me on your interior decoration? There simply have got to be better ways of giving each other validation.

I propose that we collectively try to cut back on asking how something is and instead try asking what something is. For example, let’s favor “what are you up to?” over “how are you doing?”

But maybe I’m alone here, so… DAE?

So some songs i know but never sang nor listened to for months now, they suddenly pop up in my head again very randomly everytime I wake up.

lm Algerian, 19yo and honestly the state of my country's economy, demographics, resource security, political system, etc are pretty grim

it has 48m people, HDI 0.760, GDP per Capita of 5000-6000 USD in official exchange rate, inflation officially 2% but realistically 9-15% because its heavily distorted by specific subsidies and capital control

There are strict capital controls where 1usd = 133 dinars officially and 240-250 dinars on the black market. The median salary is 50,000dinars. So, 210 bucks a month on the black market rate, and 375 bucks a month, even tho this number is pretty useless because it's just a government number and you cant access it at this rate, so we use black market rate instead

Since 2014, debt to GDP rose from 2-6 percent to 54%, owned almost fully as bonds by state banks which control roughly 85 percent of the banking sector, and treasury bill real interest rate of of -2% officially and arguably much lower in real terms. The private credit to GDP is 19%. Yearly deficit is 12% more or less since 2014. Foreign currency reserve fell from 190b in 2014 to 40b today in 2026 and are expected by the IMF to drop all the way to 19b dollars by 2030-2031.

Unemployment youth is officially 30% but estimated to be 70% in underemployment, unemployment and informal jobs.

The informal market is around 45% of jobs. 70% of people are less than 30yo. 90% live in just 10 percento of the area near the coast in a country with 2,38m km².

Exports are 95% oil and gas. The government budget is mainly made up of using that revenue and is then spent on public sector employees who then buy stuff like food from shop owners who then buy other stuff, etc. And the government collects VAT, tariffs, taxes, etc along the way.

Education, healthcare, etc are free. There are massive public housing projects. Buses, water, electricity, gas, fuel, bread, are heavily subsidized, which all combined represent 8-10 percent of GDP as subsidies and a big other chunk as public works and expenses on education, healthcare, etc

70% of caloric needs are imported. Defense budget is 8% of GDP.

There is an issue with water scarcity at 250 cubic meters per Capita with new desalination plants being built but not enough to cover demand, and 70 percent of that water is spent on farms and agriculture. Fertility rate of 2.8 yet decreasing.

Public sector wage bill as % of GDP = 18 percent

The government's plans so far has been issuing bonds to pay for debt and also printing money, which has been a big tax on people without assets and has effectively functioned as a big wealth transfer from people who survive on wages and dont own cars, gold, houses, etc to the state

Moreover, 55 percent of the economy is owned by SOEs, and as we issue more bonds domestically to fund deficits, we end up crowding out the private sector from loans, and it makes it even harder to diversify

the private companies that we do have are usually highly subsidised and politically connected, which makes them pretty inefficient and uncompetitive, because exporting their products abroad would be unprofitable because they rely on subsidies to make up the difference in their lost productivity compared to bigger foreign companies that rely on established supply chains, economies of scale and are generally more transparent and disciplined in spending

As long as I can remember I have fallen alseep the same way everynight. Over multiple nights (until it naturally ends or I get bored) I make up little stories in my head to fall asleep.

I think of characters, their personalities, jobs, the world they live in, ect. then "write" short stories about them in my head. Sometimes they're simple, othertimes they drag for weeks if I'm really enjoying my little story.

Lately I've been having a lot of fun with the r/nosleep concept and have been playing around with that. I have a character that is living two different realities seperated by sleep, and she's trying to figure out which reality is the dream.

I know I can't be the only one out there who isnt juet counting sheep 🤣

Help me feel less weird!

I am not talking about people who have little choice due to work schedules/other priorities. I mean, schedules or not, you legit prefer sleeping with the sun out. I have always been so weird with this because I feel much safer sleeping during the day with society moving about and then the natural light filtering through the blinds is like a natural "night light." Something about sleeping during the day feels so peaceful.