This is a nice thought, but you can eat fish and feed your family, if you so choose. It helps to be good at fishing, which I am not, but my skilled relatives give away extra fish whenever they have a chance because they have more than they need. As much as I enjoy video games, there are more useful ways to have fun, if that's what you're arguing against.
As for wandering around the woods, the mountains, the sea... at a basic level that too gets at the same "fun" that, as you say, can be found playing a game or watching TV. But I think I can safely say that nobody has ever had a peak experience of total peace, fulfillment, and understanding in front of either of those monitors. I'm not at all religious, but maybe that's the sort of feeling they have when they're tuned in to whatever they worship. Maybe someday, when we can jack into realistic VR, we'll be able to do it from home, but until then you will only experience the most base levels of "fun" if you never get out of your chair.
I don't mean to sound accusatory -- if anything, I hope to encourage somebody to go exploring. Under the day star. I know, I know, it burnss usss, but I promise you that the payoff can be greater than any game.
Thank goodness! When I first read the post title, I thought "Sweet Jesus! It's unethical to test robot hands on babies! I know their squishiness is probably more dynamic than a Styrofoam cup, but someone has to draw the line somewhere!"
If you've been following the real estate market lately (we're patiently waiting it out for a reasonably priced first home), the sales of new homes were ALREADY being significantly discounted in many markets. But they didn't appear that way because developers were including fancy schmancy upgrades as opposed to price drops. So the price of the house/condo stays the same, but the new owner gets upwards of tens of thousands of dollars in extras. Yes, a 25% drop in price will impact the neighborhood values, but I would suspect that the areas where they discounted at 25% are due for a major dose of reality anyway. It's just a difference of keeping the price the same and adding extras vs. dropping the price and (I'm guessing) not offering extras.
Upset neighbors who bought a month ago? A lot of people buying right now need to buy for some reason or another, so while they're probably upset, they didn't have much of a choice. Anyone who can help it (in the declining markets) is waiting it out.
In short, in some markets a 25% "fire-sale" might only be a correction to the market value of the home! Yep, we'll keep sitting it out. Note to the vast majority of people: don't count on real estate investments to pay for retirement! Historically, long term gains in the stock market are far better than real estate! Plus it only costs $10 or so to dump a loser and you don't have to deal with a real estate agent!:)
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This is a nice thought, but you can eat fish and feed your family, if you so choose. It helps to be good at fishing, which I am not, but my skilled relatives give away extra fish whenever they have a chance because they have more than they need. As much as I enjoy video games, there are more useful ways to have fun, if that's what you're arguing against.
;)
As for wandering around the woods, the mountains, the sea... at a basic level that too gets at the same "fun" that, as you say, can be found playing a game or watching TV. But I think I can safely say that nobody has ever had a peak experience of total peace, fulfillment, and understanding in front of either of those monitors. I'm not at all religious, but maybe that's the sort of feeling they have when they're tuned in to whatever they worship. Maybe someday, when we can jack into realistic VR, we'll be able to do it from home, but until then you will only experience the most base levels of "fun" if you never get out of your chair.
I don't mean to sound accusatory -- if anything, I hope to encourage somebody to go exploring. Under the day star. I know, I know, it burnss usss, but I promise you that the payoff can be greater than any game.
PS: Boy, we got just a titch OT, eh?
Before he was 5... you mean, when he was 4? I'm guessing math came later. I keed, I keed... ;p
Thank goodness! When I first read the post title, I thought "Sweet Jesus! It's unethical to test robot hands on babies! I know their squishiness is probably more dynamic than a Styrofoam cup, but someone has to draw the line somewhere!"
You were just a little bit off: America is willingly training its competition in the global economy FOR MONEY. Because that's how we do things. :)
If you've been following the real estate market lately (we're patiently waiting it out for a reasonably priced first home), the sales of new homes were ALREADY being significantly discounted in many markets. But they didn't appear that way because developers were including fancy schmancy upgrades as opposed to price drops. So the price of the house/condo stays the same, but the new owner gets upwards of tens of thousands of dollars in extras. Yes, a 25% drop in price will impact the neighborhood values, but I would suspect that the areas where they discounted at 25% are due for a major dose of reality anyway. It's just a difference of keeping the price the same and adding extras vs. dropping the price and (I'm guessing) not offering extras.
:)
Upset neighbors who bought a month ago? A lot of people buying right now need to buy for some reason or another, so while they're probably upset, they didn't have much of a choice. Anyone who can help it (in the declining markets) is waiting it out.
In short, in some markets a 25% "fire-sale" might only be a correction to the market value of the home! Yep, we'll keep sitting it out. Note to the vast majority of people: don't count on real estate investments to pay for retirement! Historically, long term gains in the stock market are far better than real estate! Plus it only costs $10 or so to dump a loser and you don't have to deal with a real estate agent!