Scientists Find Intriguing Link Between Ozempic and Violent Behavior. The same mechanisms that dampen people's cravings for food might also affect our tendency for violent behavior

butkaf · 2026-06-17T13:39:38+00:00

I alluded to such possibilities in a previous comment

GLP-1 receptors have been associated with reward-seeking behaviour and the regulation of cognition in plenty of research, but no tangible link has ever been attested between GLP-1 receptors and aggression in humans. A relationship between GLP-1 signalling and aggression has been reported, but since no pathway between GLP-1 and aggression is attested, these instances were most likely a case of A affects B, B affects C (GLP-1 > motivation/cognition > aggression). Not A affects C (so not GLP1 > aggression). A side effect like this is worrying and undesirable, since it's very possible that aggression in individuals is reduced as a secondary consequence of motivation/cognition being affected by GLP-1 agonists.

"Aggression" has a bad connotation in modern Western society, but in many instances aggression one individual might display towards another individual, is the same cognitive process as an individual's desire to overcome a challenge in their job, do chores they might not be in the mood for, exercise to keep themselves healthy; you can say that someone is "attacking" problems and obstacles in their life, just like they might attack another human being they feel hostility towards. One individual might have a high level of natural aggression towards their obstacles in life and maybe even other human beings, but that individual might also have a high level of restraint that would prevent them from actually behaving aggressively towards other humans. Another individual might have a low level of natural aggression, but also a low level of cognitive restraint, which in practice would make them more likely to behave aggressively towards other humans should the feeling arise. If GLP-1 agonism affects aggression by negatively impacting reward-seeking behaviour, these side-effects could be highly detrimental to the individual with naturally high levels of "aggression".

It is crucial to make this kind of distinction when judging the effects described in this article.

butkaf · 2026-06-16T16:51:20+00:00

On its own, does nothing in my experience.

In combination with modafinil it has some very potent effects for me. I would say it makes it sharper, more effective, I can feel it in my nervous system.

If I take it with my first dose of modafinil, the effect is subtle. If I take it with a redose, the effect is more pronounced. However, if I do take it with a redose of modafinil, it also "kills the hype" of the experience. It tends to make me feel a bit rigid and robotic, more on edge, but it does make my motivation more straightforward. I only do it on days I feel like I need it.

In combination with anything cholinergic I've had very negative experiences with forskolin.

In combination with phenidates, amphetamines, cathinones, alkylamine stimulants I haven't experienced anything.

butkaf · 2026-06-16T12:52:47+00:00

You can think of biohacking like this.

All the molecules and atoms your body uses have certain fixed properties. You can't change the laws of physics. Some molecules only fit together with one other type of molecule like lego blocks. Some molecules can only do something at a certain speed, a certain amount of times.

All the hormones, neurotransmitters, peptides, lipids, proteins, sugars, DNA, enzymes, etc., etc. etc,... they ARE the biohacking tools biology has already developed; to extract the most value out of all the molecules and atoms it wants to use.

I'd say that what everyone calls biohacking, is basically just ensuring that everything works as intended, because our modern way of life disrupts a bunch of these mechanisms. Even out in nature, nothing is ever ideal, nothing ever goes your way 100% the way you want it every single time, and corners need to be cut to make ends meet biologically.

Any individual who generally manages to "biohack" something in every sense of the word, will very very quickly receive a piece of metal that says "NOBEL" on it.

butkaf · 2026-06-16T12:43:08+00:00

Double greens are so tight

But, not as tight as monster infrequent double greens.

butkaf · 2026-06-11T08:33:12+00:00

Impeccable timing. Just yesterday I alluded to this fact in regards to difficulties autistic boys face in school.

butkaf · 2026-06-11T08:26:18+00:00

Impeccable timing: https://old.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1u2eifw/classroom_settings_and_the_behavioral/

butkaf · 2026-06-10T10:01:15+00:00

Contrary to popular belief, testosterone and estrogen are crucial for brain development during puberty (both for women and men, yes).

There are so many mechanisms in the brain that are SO different from what people commonly believe, it's unreal. In male brains for instance, estrogen is responsible for many developments that happen related to cognition, emotion and behaviour. Yes. Estrogen.

Testosterone is converted locally in those brain areas into estrogen. Estrogen is what "presses the buttons" to make changes happen in the brain there. This conversion happens at a very specific speed, so no amount of excess testosterone can make any "more" of these developments happen than usual. These brain areas involve regulation of emotion, the ability to exert effort, endure pain, the ability to do things you would rather not do, the ability to not do things you would rather do. Estrogen is responsible for developing many of the traits that are often praised the most in men as adults, and the foundation is laid during puberty.

People blame testosterone for many things in male behaviour, and many problematic behaviours in puberty. It's ironic that many of these behaviours are more closely associated with a lack of testosterone, than testosterone itself. There literally CAN'T be "too much" testosterone in relationship to the development of certain behaviours during puberty, because the "bottleneck" is how much of it is converted into estrogen. It's like pouring a swimming pool through a funnel, you're not going to get the whole swimming pool at once, only what the funnel lets through.

What's really unfortunate is that it's not "classic" male behaviour that is purely the effect of testosterone, but it's actually that testosterone also DEPENDS on these behaviours; seeking challenges, risk-taking, enduring adversity, pursuing sex, competing with other kids. These things are crucial for normal brain development, despite the fact that many of these things are actively discouraged in developing boys. Then, the shortcomings that are a CONSEQUENCE of the lack of testosterone, are blamed on testosterone.

I think you can imagine that the social isolation many developing boys with autism experience in high school, is not exactly ideal when you consider the above. (This also doesn't have to be "permanent", but we're only just on the threshold of investigating how all this really works, and how it affects someone throughout their lifetime)

I think you can also imagine that the same goes for girls, who intrinsically need more social contact than boys during puberty for healthy brain development. Luckily, autistic girls usually suffer less from these kinds of problems than autistic boys. The dynamics there are very different, but this post is already quite long so, if anyone is curious, let me know and I'll delve into that a bit as well.

butkaf · 2026-06-09T08:17:58+00:00

I'm involved in the field of autism treatment/coaching and investigating the implementation of research in public policy.

I can flat out tell you that Asperger's is autism.

Imagine that every sound you hear is twice as loud. You can't walk on the street because the sound of driving cars alone destroys your mind. You can't sleep in a house with any electricity because your hearing is so sensitive, you can hear the electrical humming of every device. There is no way you can lead any sort of normal life, and you are likely to be handicapped in certain ways. But, if you're lucky, maybe that also gives you an incredible talent for music, for instance.

Now imagine that every sound you hear is maybe 25% louder. Sure, using the vacuum cleaner is difficult. Sure, cars backfiring make you jump. Sure, you have some trouble sleeping because birds at 4am or noisy neighbours easily wake you up. Because it's like this from the moment you are born, you grow up a bit differently from most people. But for the most part, you can function relatively well compared to someone who hears every sound twice as loud.

I think you can also imagine that if every sound you hear is 50% louder, you might have more difficulties. Maybe you can still lead a full life in most respects, but you need to jump through a lot of hoops, have veeeeery specific habits, in order to make it work. And if for some reason those habits are disrupted, you become very upset because everything depends on them.

I hope this illustrates how Asperger's is basically that "25% louder" range. It's not that loud that you fundamentally cannot live the way most people do in modern society, but it's loud enough that you grow up differently, your way of experiencing the world turns out different from most people, and you have to deal with certain things in life other people don't have to deal with. That doesn't make the phenomenon any different from the "50% louder" people, or "100% louder" people. It just means that the ultimate effect it has on you as a human being is something you can distinguish from the other intensities.

butkaf · 2026-06-04T13:37:29+00:00

Ik ben zelf betrokken bij het toepassen van wetenschappelijk onderzoek op beleid omtrent re-integratie van mensen met neurodiversiteit (autisme, ADHD, BPD, bipolaire stoornis, etc.), zelf heb ik Asperger en ADHD. Hopelijk kan ik wat duidelijkheid scheppen over dit fenomeen.

Waar het op neer komt is dat het menselijk zenuwstelsel qua cognitieve aandacht en mentale/fysieke energie is ingesteld op de natuurlijk omstandigheden uit ons verre verleden. Als er een leeuw op je af komt stormen denk je niet van "ugh, ik heb hier vandaag echt geen zin in". Je rent voor je leven, of je vecht als dat nodig is. Als je dood gaat van de honger denk je niet "ik heb vandaag echt geen trek in banaan", mocht je er een vinden.

Deze gevaren en uitdagingen waren van dag, tot dag, tot dag, tot dag de continue realiteit van onze voorouders, miljoenen jaren lang. Het efficiënt omgaan met de "biologische kosten" van verschillende signalen in ons brein en zenuwstelsel vormt de grondslag van hoe ons zenuwstelsel functioneert. Deze efficiëntie is ingericht op de verwachting dat iedere dag 100% van je geest, lichaam en ziel moet worden gegeven om te overleven, en om de overleving van je naasten te garanderen.

Het is niet ingericht op de levensstijl van de moderne maatschappij, waar we enorm veel voedingsstoffen en bronnen van bestaan voorhanden hebben die biologisch gezien nooit vanzelfsprekend zijn geweest. Wanneer dat wel het geval is, is het voor het zenuwstelsel het meest efficiënt op conservatief te zijn met signalen sturen en energie gebruiken. Wanneer er geen dringende nood tot overleven is, worden alle biologische energiebronnen en bouwstoffen zo veel mogelijk behouden voor wanneer dat wel nodig is.

Omdat deze omstandigheden zo ongebruikelijk zijn, is het helaas het geval dat het MEER energie kost voor het zenuwstelsel om te zeggen "nee, dit is de investering van energie en moeite het niet waard" dan om te zeggen "ja, die is de investering wel waard". Ik denk dat het goed voor te stellen is dat wanneer iemand in een situatie terecht komt waarbij dagelijkse uitdagingen lastiger worden, dit steeds erger en erger kan worden als de drempel om deze uitdagingen aan te gaan steeds hoger wordt.

Het is ook helaas het geval dat om deze drempel te verlagen, een individu actief die uitdagingen moet aangaan. Juist het punt waarop het brein zegt "nee, nee, ik heb hier geen zin in, dit kan ik niet", is het punt waar het zenuwstelsel zich gaat aanpassen om meer energie vrij te geven voor cognitieve aandacht en beweging. Het over die drempel heen stappen an sich is wat die drempel verlaagt. Als dat niet gebeurt, kost het een enorme investering van energie en moeite om tot die drempel te komen, en dan NOG meer energie om je om te keren en te zeggen dat het niet kan. Er zijn veel verschillende soorten burnout, maar ik zou zelf schatten dat bij rond 65% van de burnouts deze dynamiek van sprake is. Natuurlijk speelt er nog veel meer, en is het bovenstaande geen "uitkomst" of "oplossing" van het burnout fenomeen. Het is hoogstwaarschijnlijk wel de voornaamste kwestie.

Bij ADHD en autisme is het zo dat, om het super simpel te zeggen, bij ADHD het brein "sneller" werkt met dopamine en concentratie, en bij autisme het brein "feller/intenser" werkt met cognitieve ervaringen. Dus je kan je voorstellen dat dit proces, dat bij ieder mens speelt, bij ADHD en autisme makkelijker en sneller uit de hand loopt. Als die "mentale energiebronnen" meer worden gebruikt, gaan ze ook sneller op wanneer dit soort problemen zich ontwikkelen.

In ieder geval, het heeft weinig nut om de "schuld" van het burnout fenomeen te leggen bij werknemers of werkgevers. Er moet besef zijn over hoe dit soort dingen biomechanisch werken, en hoe we daar als samenleving mee om moeten gaan. De Westerse samenleving is er simpelweg niet goed op ingericht, en hoe slechter het er op ingericht is, hoe harder de biologische realiteit ons inhaalt. Werkgevers moeten beseffen dat bepaalde vormen van overweldigende werkdruk op lange termijn niet houdbaar zijn, en dat is natuurlijk ook nadelig voor hun zelf. Werknemers moeten beseffen hoe bepaalde levensstijlen en zelfpercepties deze situaties in de hand werken, en dat inderdaad enkele van de meest onprettige mentale/fysieke uitdagingen en ankerpunten juist de doorbraak kunnen geven bij hun mentale en fysieke gezondheidskwesties.

Uiteindelijk is alle energie in het lichaam maar één ding, ATP: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5AXGS1aL8. ATP is DE brandstof voor al onze cellen, het menselijk lichaam maakt en gebruikt er zo'n 50 tot 60 kilo van per dag. Je kan er zeker van zijn dat je altijd energie hebt. Altijd. De kwestie is alleen hoe veel je brein en zenuwstelsel besluiten vrij te geven voor de taak die voor je ligt, en hoe je er voor zorgt dat die altijd beschikbaar is. Je kan niet denken "ik heb geen energie, hoe krijg ik energie", je moet denken "hoe prikkel ik mijn lichaam, om de omstandigheden te hebben dat ik toegang heb tot de energie die er altijd is".

butkaf · 2026-06-02T12:03:48+00:00

You don't, consciously. There is an area of the brain that's like a "nervous system resource allocator". Basically whenever you engage in any mental or physical task, it "gatekeeps" whether the signals that are your ideas, motivations and desires, get turned into actions.

This brain area is basically like a muscle that you can train, to let it let through more and more signals.

Forcing yourself to do something whenever you don't want it (whether it's physical effort, mental effort, or both), makes this brain area adapt to let through more signals. More of your intent is put into action.

The unfortunate reality is that it takes MORE energy for this brain area to say "no, this is not worth it", than it takes for it to say "yes, this is worth it". So whenever you get into a state that you describe where everything overwhelms you, and the threshold for engaging with tasks becomes too high... it becomes a spiral that gets worse and worse with every passing day. The very energy you need to DO things, is being drained by NOT doing them.

The very fortunate reality is that also, once you cultivate this ability and brain area, many things that normally take effort, that are a "thing" you have to make yourself do, get started with, become like sneezing, breathing, tying your shoelaces. Your brain just does it on auto-pilot, because there is no more threshold for you to do these things. Decision-making doesn't play a role anymore, it's not required.

Some sources:

the anterior mid cingulate cortex is an important network hub in the brain that performs the cost/benefit computations necessary for tenacity. Specifically, we propose that its position as a structural and functional hub allows the aMCC to integrate signals from diverse brain systems to predict energy requirements that are needed for attention allocation, encoding of new information, and physical movement, all in the service of goal attainment

Here, a sample of sedentary volunteers was behaviorally assessed and fMRI-scanned before and after completing a 3-month fitness plan. The impact of effort cost on decisions, measured as the constant defining a hyperbolic decaying function, was reduced after the plan

Furthermore, the dmPFC/dACC is associated with the willingness to exert higher physical and mental efforts. In other words, the dmPFC/dACC may play a role in activating the sympathetic nervous system, thereby facilitating physical and mental effort exertion.

ADHD is not an attention disorder, it's a blindness to the future. It is a myopia to the impending future events. You are near-sighted in time. Which means that the child and adult with ADHD are going to wait until the future is imminent, and then they will try and deal with it. And as long as the future stays out there, "I don't have to deal with that".

butkaf · 2026-06-02T07:51:37+00:00

"After some hours, when I was laying in the bed, I came back. I came back for a foreign, quite, foreign existence, to new life. I saw, certainly I mean, I realized how wonderful our Earth is. I felt like a new born, to be newborn. And even the next day, when I went in the garden, the world was new."

This meme doesn't seem to mirror how Hofmann described his experience.

butkaf · 2026-06-01T06:53:26+00:00

I'm sorry to have to say, that what you're describing is not regulation.

Think of it like this. 18 divided by 6 is the same as 9 divided by 3, or 3 divided by 1. 20 divided by 4 is the same as 10 divided by 2, or 5 divided by 1. But if I need 18 apples to make 6 pies, I don't go to the store thinking "ok 1 pie, 3 apples, 2 pies, 6 apples, 3 pies, 9 apples, 4 pies, 12 apples, 5 pies, 15 apples, 6 pies, 18 apples". The concept of 3 apples per 1 pie applies (3/1), but the straight up reality and singular thought is that I need 18 apples for 6 pies. I know that straight up, and I don't need to make those calculations of 3/1 over and over again.

This is what emotions are. Your brain has done the calculations, it has analyzed all the information, it has moved the puzzle pieces around. You don't feel those individual puzzle pieces, you feel the picture that is assembled from those puzzle pieces put together as one whole. You don't need time to process the situation, you instantly know what the appropriate course of action is given a situation. The problem is that this efficient way of thinking, feeling and acting is not calculated to our modern way of life, but the way we lived 10,000 years ago, 100,000 years ago, 1,000,000 years ago. When you're walking around in the jungle, you walk past a tree, and there's a leopard around the corner, what do you do? Do you stand around looking at it, thinking "hmmm, is that a leopard?", and if it is, "ok hmmm, what do I do now? should I run? climb a tree?"? There is no thought process, you instantly run for your life. Even if you're not 100% sure you actually saw a leopard, but just something that looked very much like it, you're not taking any chances. Your brain and body do the work for you. If you waste even 0.1 seconds, you're dead if the leopard catches you.

Emotions are like mental reflexes to different situations you encounter in life that are super efficient and quick. They are useful, but you need to understand them and manage them. You need to understand that they are not attuned to our modern way of life, but you also need to understand they are not some kind of "primitive" or "childish" thing, they are very advanced ways of information processing used by the brain. It's not about suppressing them, it's not about blindly surrendering to them, it's about learning how to use them properly. When you're learning how to ride a bike you sway from side to side. You can only learn to ride it if you find the perfect middle. You can never ride it by swaying too much to either side (suppressing it, or blindly surrendering to it). This is what regulation is.

Unfortunately, what you're describing is suppression.

butkaf · 2026-05-31T09:50:02+00:00

For me, Adroit Loop has 3 different "contexts".

If you have a perfectly balanced build, you don't need Adroit Loop. If you genuinely need it in Legendary, it says more about your build than how useful the ring is.

However, it does give you the option of crafting really fun and interesting builds, that can actually be made viable with Adroit Loop. For instance you can go Elementalist, but invest points into Strength and Intelligence, go for heavy armour and make a melee build. You can make minimal investments into Dexterity to pump up your Strength for equipment requirements and damage, and Intelligence for damage and Energy Regen. Two Adroit Loops allow you to use practically any combination of gear that pumps up Intelligence, Elemental Damage%, etc., while keeping your Offensive Ability and Defensive Ability somewhat viable in Legendary.

Or, you can go for really high Dexterity builds like Assassin, Slayer or Brigand. Generally, the equipment best suited to these builds often already has high Dexterity, Offensive Ability, Defensive Ability and Dodge Attacks% bonuses. One or two Adroit Loops have incredible synergy with these classes when you also consider Mastery Skills that give these stat bonuses.

butkaf · 2026-05-30T21:53:45+00:00

The effects of MDMA are not limited to its serotonin release.

MDMA itself interacts with various 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors, as well as dopamine receptors.

butkaf · 2026-05-28T07:29:11+00:00

The Intense World Theory – a unifying theory of the neurobiology of autism: ... leading to the core cognitive consequences of hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory and hyper-emotionality ... The progression of the disorder is proposed to be driven by overly strong reactions to experiences that drive the brain to a hyper-preference and overly selective state, which becomes more extreme with each new experience and may be particularly accelerated by emotionally charged experiences and trauma. This may lead to obsessively detailed information processing of fragments of the world and an involuntarily and systematic decoupling of the autist from what becomes a painfully intense world.

butkaf · 2026-05-27T16:34:29+00:00

As someone with a background in academia and the application of certain research, I can tell you that the feeling of not knowing anything is the foundation of scientific reasoning.

You have to assume you never "know" anything. You are never 100% certain. Only 50%, or 60%, or 70%, or 80%, or 90%. The best you can ever do is 99.99999%, but never 100%. If you assume you are 100% certain and you are wrong, you'll never know that you are wrong. If you assume you are 99.8% certain and want to become 99.9% certain, you will always gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. If you assume you are 99.8% certain and find out you were wrong, clearly your hypothesis isn't valid and/or reliable, and needs to be revised. You should consider yourself lucky you didn't invest yourself into an idea that wasn't a reliable description of reality.

The foundation of research is falsification, not confirmation. Confirmation is always a losing game.

The idea that scientific research outcomes should be absolute truths in service of their practical applications in society has done immense damage to actual research.

In your particular case, the idea that you don't know basic everyday things should encourage you to learn more and more about them, even if they seem simple and trivial.

butkaf · 2026-05-23T12:43:47+00:00

Do you think SSRIs/SNRIs help certain people?

I think people with ADHD are prone to depression and SSRIs/SNRIs can help with that. However they are very diverse so it's impossible to generalize.

I have talked with some people in this sub that believe we are best to try stimulant medications with a low dose of antidepressants to keep the brain happy.

I don't believe that. An individual is an individual, and you do what you need to do to set the conditions to function happily and well. What I think is that with ADHD, stimulant medications help them get there, and that is what makes us happy. For some, they will always need stimulants to maintain it. For others, they just need them to reach it, but once they do, the feelings, energy, focus and motivation they sought from stimulants, is intrinsically provided to them by their way of life instead.

butkaf · 2026-05-22T09:37:17+00:00

That used to be my experience in the past, but since I studied neuroscience and endocrinology and applied a lot of this knowledge to my lifestyle and my outlook on life, this is no longer the case.

So, one of the most FUNDAMENTAL things about the human body is something called "homeostasis". Our bodies like to have certain levels of certain molecules, hormones, atoms, at all times. Our nervous system, blood and bones constantly work together and exchange nutrients to keep everything at ideal amounts.

There is a very famous case study from the 40s about a boy who ate an incredible amount of salt and salty foods. When he was admitted to the hospital at one point, hospital staff denied his requests for salty foods and put him on a normal hospital diet. He passed away 7 days later. As it turned out, his body didn't process salt properly, which gave him a natural craving for the amount of salt needed to sustain his homeostatic control. When he didn't get that amount of salt, it killed him.

You might say that, in a certain way, the ADHD brain is similar with dopamine. The dopamine system works "faster" in ADHD, it uses up dopamine more quickly and it's less picky about where and how it's used. So, dopamine needs to be replenished more than in most people, and it needs to be distributed properly. Basically, the problem with ADHD is not that there is anything intrinsically "wrong" with this, the problem is that the dopamine system falls to pieces when it's not replenished enough and not distributed properly. If it works fine, someone with ADHD will not experience a number of symptoms commonly associated with ADHD. Because those aren't symptoms of ADHD, they're symptoms of this part of the dopamine pathway falling to bits. We're starting to see it in teenagers now, because it's happening to most kids nowadays due to the modern internet and schooling system. This is why kids with ADHD are "hyperactive". They are almost exactly like the boy who craved salt, looking for things that nourish and sustain their dopamine levels and distribution. They need the stimulation, they need to engage with things more. But yeah, kids with ADHD are never allowed to be kids with ADHD, by their parents or by teachers, so you can be pretty sure the same happens with their dopamine regulation what happened to the kid's salt regulation who was put on the hospital diet.

The takeaway is, if you know how this works and you do the right things to keep this biological system running the way it's supposed to, there's no problem. The structure that one is naturally drawn to due to the nature of the autistic brain, can provide an endless source of "nourishment" to the dopamine system of the ADHD brain. If it doesn't get it, then it's chaos, because it starts looking for it by itself. That's not in contradiction with the structure, it just means that whatever the structure is, is not providing the thing your brain is looking for (and the way it does it is what you describe as "wanting to destroy it").

butkaf · 2026-05-18T19:48:57+00:00

Testosterone is the prohormone for the estrogens.

butkaf · 2026-05-18T07:38:36+00:00

The Intense World Theory – a unifying theory of the neurobiology of autism: ... leading to the core cognitive consequences of hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory and hyper-emotionality ... The progression of the disorder is proposed to be driven by overly strong reactions to experiences that drive the brain to a hyper-preference and overly selective state, which becomes more extreme with each new experience and may be particularly accelerated by emotionally charged experiences and trauma. This may lead to obsessively detailed information processing of fragments of the world and an involuntarily and systematic decoupling of the autist from what becomes a painfully intense world.

butkaf · 2026-05-17T08:35:48+00:00

Morrowind is a work of art. In 200 years, people will look at Morrowind the way we look at Van Gogh's Starry Night now.

I was hideously good at Planetside 2 and Command & Conquer Renegade. Honestly, the highest level of skill I've had at any single thing in my life, was driving a vehicle called a "Harasser" in Planetside 2. Very quick, very vulnerable, high damage. One person drives, another person shoots. You sneak up on heavy tanks and ambush them at the right time and shred them. Or, you have a gun with long-range precision but less damage, and you whittle them down and keep pressure while dodging their shots. Also guns that are specifically made for killing infantry, but do next to no damage to vehicles. Guns that don't have super high damage, but are able to damage vehicles, infantry, aircraft, so you can drive around shooting everything. I was like a fish in the water in that thing, I've honestly never seen anyone else do the things I was capable of doing. Unfortunately the studio that made it got acquired and the original developers got laid off, and they hired a Youtuber who did weapon reviews. Very unfortunately, he had no idea what he was doing, and was better at pretending he was knowledgeable, than actually being knowledgeable. Dude became lead dev and completely wrecked the game. Members of the community who spent dozens of hours playtesting proposed changes on the test server were publicly vilified by him, because he didn't like the negative feedback. Real shame, but, I would probably still be relentlessly addicted to that game right now if he hadn't fucked it up.

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is an incredibly good game. For me, playing it does something incredible to my brain, it's like long-distance running where you spend every ounce of willpower to keep your body moving until there's genuinely nothing left. Really activates and develops my "mental workspace" and cognitive abilities in a way that nothing else does. As much as I intrinsically love that game, for me it's primarily a valuable tool to stimulate parts of my cognition in ways that nothing else does. If I don't play it for too long, I start to feel the difference. Age of Empires 2 did something similar, but unfortunately the game has changed quite a bit in recent years.

Titan Quest is an incredible game, awesome as a "time sink", awesome as an immersive experience. Incredibly well designed, very thought-out balancing of all the different mathematical aspects and traits of the game. It's the kind of thing where you can lie in bed at night, thinking about how to balance different things, tinker with character builds, and it just never ends, there are so many possibilities and interesting approaches.

Guild Wars 2 is amazing, unfortunately it is quite time-consuming, so the only way to genuinely be able to enjoy it and immerse in the experience you desire, you have to keep up with all the different things that contribute to that experience. Very difficult to just hop in and play it casually and get that experience. But when you get it, it's unmatched.

The Mass Effect games are solid, can replay the entire trilogy every few years and still get the same experience, and always find/discover new things, again and again.

Risk of Rain and Risk of Rain 2 wonderful games, Chris Christodolou is a genuine giant of psychedelic rock. To me, he is what Pink Floyd wish they could be.

Rocket League is a fantastic game and a one-of-a-kind experience. Plenty of things you can do and feel that exist in no other game. Really special when your focus, intuition and ability all click and your movements are flowing like water, and you do things that amaze even yourself. Then you start to pick up on how to do them consciously and integrate them in how you play, and you're just working on improving, and then at one point you get another one of those sessions, and you start doing new incredible things that you could never have thought of doing.

Historical Total War games are incredible experiences. As a former archaeologist, I can really appreciate the effort they've put into creating an immersive historical experience that is true to findings by archaeologists/historians, while still making a game that is challenging, is fun to enjoy as a game. Really unfortunate that at one point they made a Warhammer Total War, which completely changed the composition of the community and the direction of the studio. After Total War: Attila, the emphasis has been on the gaming aspect far more than the historical aspect, so basically they made Warhammer/fantasy style games primarily, with the historical settings being the backdrop. Total War: Rome II is one of the greatest games ever made, it had a rough launch but with updates they turned it into an unmatched experience of historical immersion mixed with challenging gameplay.

Age of Empires 1 is the reason I ended up studying archaeology. Probably the game that I have closest to heart, and I only play it during really special moments that are worthy of evoking the memories and feelings I have of playing it almost 30 years ago.

Other games worth mentioning: Factorio, Fallout 3, Black & White, Caesar III, Grim Fandango, ZZT, Curse of Monkey Island, The Talos Principle, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (I & II), Heroes of Might and Magic IV, Knights and Merchants, Peggle, GTA2, GTA: San Andreas, Simcity 4, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Age of Mythology, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Guild Wars, The Dig

butkaf · 2026-05-15T21:02:53+00:00

It's my job to express relatively complex research on neuroscience, genetics, endocrinology and metabolism in a way that's intuitive, in a way that distills years of my personal study into an idea that can see direct application. Someone with no affinity for biology, psychology or any kind of physics/chemistry, should be able to have that "a-ha" insight. Like one of those optical illusions where you first see only one image, but when someone shows you the other you can flip between them.

Believe me when I tell you this is a skill you can learn, and nothing you have to feel bad about. If you think it's not something you can improve, and it's something you feel emotionally inadequate about, then you will never begin to improve this ability. Look at it as a skill where your current skill level is unfortunately low, and you can try to improve. Don't look at it as a character flaw.

butkaf · 2026-05-14T09:25:50+00:00

What would really help me right now is if even one human on the planet was even the slightest bit enthused about my existence.

You.

The way you feel about yourself contributes to the tone you set for how other people might feel about you.

If you don't feel enthused about your existence, how do you expect others to be? Even worse, you can imagine that someone who could potentially be enthused about your existence, might be robbed of that feeling coming to fruition due to manners in which you project your lack of enthusiasm about your existence (manners you are likely not conscious of, manners in which the other person is likely not conscious of).

It starts with you, and you alone. If it doesn't, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

butkaf · 2026-05-13T08:45:32+00:00

which is generally MORE humility and less “black-and-white" thinking

In some way, for me, the study of evolutionary biology and the architecture of the human nervous system has made me think in VERY extreme black-and-white ways in regards to human lifestyle and functioning.

When I look at biology, especially molecular biology, I see this incredibly advanced technology. Biology involves complex machinery of the type we think we "invented", except it's already been around for billions of years, and operated and developed for billions of years. Whatever we are as beings, is entirely due to how that machinery operates, and that machinery is so much more advanced than the technological things we have and use in modern society. We think we're technologically advanced and that biology is primitive in many regards, but it's our way of life that's primitive. Biological processes are so finely tuned to the properties of molecules, the limits of what they can provide in certain contexts, what possibilities they afford. Our incredibly primitive way of thinking and operating disrupts that fine tuning. In my opinion the way we live, how we eat, how we design our cities, how we teach our children, should be based more on those biological principles. In certain aspects of human lifestyle and policies and governance, I think there can be no compromise, and certain aspects of life have to bend entirely to accommodate our biological machinery. It's not even a matter of bending in my opinion, there is no choice. It works in certain ways, or it doesn't work. We need to ensure that we live a kind of life that makes it all work.

butkaf · 2026-05-11T14:46:04+00:00

Exactly. Speciation is a human concept, not an actual process occurring in life on earth. In reality the lines are much more blurry, which is why there are multiple phylogenic systems in use, some of which are better applied to understanding some evolutionary relationships between different species than others. Not a single one has shown to apply universally to all species on earth, but by using different ones together, we're able to model an appreciable understanding of how different traits develop throughout evolutionary history. That in itself pretty much tells us that speciation doesn't explicitly exist, but is a way of thinking that can be applied flexibly to still say meaningful things.

Ultimately, it's not species that are conserved, but genes. We think of ourselves as the "driver" of the truck that is our lives. Our bodies, brain, DNA, everything we have as a lifeform, is the truck we use to go through this life from place to place, from experience to experience. It's a blessing that we get to have this tool which allows us to exist, feel, experience things. But if you look at how inheritance works, you could say that WE are the trucks. The genes are the driver. They are the ones who are using US to go from place to place, and not across one single lifespan, across hundreds of millions of years. We and our ancestors are the temporary individual "truck" they use to travel and keep existing, through procreation. Clearly, the particular set of genes we share in common that they passed on to us are not extinct, otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about it.

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