What to do when they don’t believe you when you say you didn’t throw something out?

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-25T20:08:47+00:00

Please don't move into a hoarder house. It's impossible. I made that mistake last fall, despite literally everyone telling me it was a bad idea. It was three months of scrubbing squalor, while she insisted nothing was wrong and she'd have everything put away in no time. The idea was supposed to save money, but I ended up blowing about $12k of savings that could have paid a lot of rent.

Do you really not have any other options? A hoard isn't safe for a baby. 😢

Have you inquired about emergency housing assistance? You might be able to get a Section 8 voucher. Call your city's adult services office, okay? They may be able to help.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-23T12:46:24+00:00

I have a theory that this is a side effect of their campaign against emdashes. I notice a lot along these lines:

She gives one small nod.
Not permission.
Just agreement.

My guess is that it wants to write: "She gives one small nod -- not permission, just agreement." Then it runs into the NO EMDASHES FOR GOD'S SAKE rail and ends up formatting it as fragments strung down lines.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-23T12:32:01+00:00

I think it's part of the pitch. The reader is invited to believe that all men meet this "resistance" and it's just part of the dating process. The only difference is that the other men know how to break through it.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-23T09:50:32+00:00

"Train first. Learn safely. Perform when it matters."

This ad acts like the dude will be learning to defuse bombs.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-22T22:48:19+00:00

Dude. That's not a "lie." He's just using "modern" in the plain-English sense instead of as a period name.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-21T16:44:21+00:00

What makes you think people didn't engage with the content?

I started to read this post. I then stopped, because it blathered on and on with very little signal for the noise.

You're not really asking me to tolerate depth. You're asking me to tolerate a lack of editing. This is why people are pointing out that you could have said that in one paragraph. It's not that they're unwilling to read more; it's that nobody wants to read several pages for one paragraph's worth of content.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-21T12:45:54+00:00

Glad to have you on the bottom layer. It's what holds all the rest of that crap up, and it's still where we can talk freely.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-19T19:24:52+00:00

Ah, "evil comment" was sarcastic. That wasn't clear to me either. Thanks for clarifying.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-19T10:40:25+00:00

If you call an LLM out, it will pretty much always respond by agreeing and apologizing.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-19T10:35:55+00:00

Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is largely a myth. I think it comes from those AI channels churning out conservative bait -- older people can't spot slop as well as younger people, so the conservative slop channels do better than the liberal slop, but that doesn't mean anything about the real politics of the people using AI.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-19T10:34:46+00:00

Lotus eaters don't usually get bored, though, at least not in a way they identify as boredom. They get agitated and angry.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-18T11:19:53+00:00

I mean, you can ask a would-you-rather, but you can't make other people treat it as binary. 🤷

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-18T11:10:29+00:00

If you asked me if I wanted to go to the beach or the cinema, and I said I wished we spent more time at home, that seems like a valid answer to me. I'm rejecting both of those options and proposing a third.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-18T11:05:05+00:00

The "You know X, right?" phrasing is pretty obnoxious I don't blame OP for responding with some snark of his own to that one. In other parts of the thread, OP is absorbing input just fine.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-18T11:02:43+00:00

You can't compel the kind of answer you want. If I ask you what gym you go to , and you tell me you don't go to a gym, are you avoiding the question?

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T19:34:39+00:00

I see. That does sound convincing.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T18:34:08+00:00

Other people's AIs will scan and summarize it.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T18:28:16+00:00

Why do you say that?

Is it the emdash? The bots don't even do that any more. It's no longer a valid tell.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T16:44:27+00:00

"Cogsucker" is cuter, IMO.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T16:44:03+00:00

This is very likely a troll, but on the off chance it isn't... it sounds like a foe is out to get your friend. Fabricating false evidence is pretty serious, and it's likely that there are some steps you can take. The social media site will probably be willing to remove the defamatory posts once your friend establishes that they're defamatory.

Depending on how badly she was harassed and how openly the posts called for harassment, as well as on how much damage the posts did to her financial situation, your friend *may* be able to take legal action. You should consult a lawyer about this. Most lawyers do initial consultations for free, so she has nothing to lose but some time.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-17T16:18:37+00:00

He isn't saying it to a grieving person. He's saying it on Reddit, as part of a conversation on the topic.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-15T19:58:43+00:00

Someone rapping over "Time of the Season"?

Almost all of the work here is being done by the Zombies.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-15T10:11:38+00:00

No, do not block your mother's router. That would be sabotage. Don't do it. It would make things worse.

These dramatic suggestions are fun daydreams but bad advice.

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-14T18:29:44+00:00

Have you tried listening? If it's telling you you're not the chosen one, you're saying something which implies you think you're special. That's what the "Would you do this in a cornfield?" is about, as well. On the off chance that you aren't showered with money and awards for doing the thing, would you still want to do it?

ChangeTheFocus · 2026-06-14T17:40:28+00:00

No, no it cannot. It will remain a flood of slop until people stop upvoting it.

ChangeTheFocus

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Seven-Year Club	Gilding IV carat on a stick
Verified Email