How much metadata is leaked through posts and images/videos on Nostr?

As a very big fan of anonymity, is there anything I can do to enhance my privacy other than using vpn/alias? I am aware of tor but am not familiar enough with it.

There have been a few occasions where I have wanted to post interesting pictures from travels etc but am concerned about the metadata they may have attached.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

#asknostr

An extension of your quote would be consider that governments not only pay no price for being wrong, but they actually profit most by creating human suffering.

Governments thrive when the masses are maximally scared, poor, and uneducated.

But hey - the masses will also repeatedly fall for misdirection, security theater, and the promise of something for nothing. So we are not blameless in this equation.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

I personally like 100% self-custodied BTC since MSTR just dilutes the underlying asset pool in my opinion. But everyone should just do what they think is best and not worry too much about how others choose to save their money/time.

Thinking about it, I suppose even I have real estate holdings that provide me with nice places to live and other forms of personal property that enhance my existence. Financial decisions are after all best made by those impacted by them.

Yet another reason why I can’t stand the concept of government.

Theater.

Not sure who on here needs to hear this, but the only votes that matter are the one you make with your wallet and your genitals.

Just say no to Fiat and to producing more slaves for the Fiat masters.

What freedoms we have left are pathetic and base, but fuck it, we few can still resist.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

People can grasp the fact that pets can be engineered to be docile and obedient.

But humans? Naaah. We have free will and are always at the apex of evolution. We are immune to such basic manipulation. Surely if things got bad enough, we’d recognize it and do something about it right?

Right??

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

One could argue that the bulk of human problems occurred when we stopped being able to easily move away from one another if needed.

Thank you for a nice reply. :)

I can’t remember where I read it but I like the idea of there not being singular “correct” answers to human problems. Instead I like to imagine a whole bunch of possible solutions or approaches, each with their own imperfections. Intelligence or wisdom in this model becomes about learning the “wrongness” in as many approaches as possible, instead of only learning the “rightness” of one.

I think I understand where you are coming from and often share your frustration.

That’s why I like the expression “the butterfly only remembers its time as a butterfly, never as the caterpillar”.

Give people time. Most will sadly likely never come to the same conclusions as you. But some will. You were also wrong at some point about something and had to have the time and space to figure it out. Give others the same courtesy and be helpful when/if the opportunity presents itself.

The thing that can really never be overstated though is always leave room for error in your most core beliefs.

If the thought of being proven wrong about a core belief fills you with anything other than sheer excitement, you may still have a ways to go yourself.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

I think the obvious answer here is both.

We all have it within ourselves to be kind, selfish, helpful, rude, etc.

That said, can an animal be good or evil? Cuz we are just animals after all. The distinction may be a false one on the surface.

Sure, that could work. At a certain point it gets down to semantics though.

The important distinction for me is between the culturally programmed version of meaning that so many people aspire to without questioning (like work, religion, kids, military service, etc) and the version that uniquely benefits the individual by producing joy.

And it’s not that military service or work can’t benefit the individual or lead to joy or a “legitimate” sense of meaning. It’s just that I’m very suspicious when these things also serve to make others rich or give them the ability to exert control over others. For this reason, they have always seemed hollow for me compared to the other items on my list.

This was fun btw. Thank you again. :)

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

I forgot to add:

7. Introspection and personal growth

And I’m considering adding:

8. Perspective

Perspective is interesting because it is a joy modifier/synergist for all the other things on the list. It will be VERY exciting for me to add this to my list since I organize my entire life around it.

I would encourage everyone to build such a list of their own and please please let me know if you have anything else for me to consider adding or taking away.

Hey - genuine thanks for considering another point of view. That’s not an easy thing to do and it makes me happy to come across someone capable of it.

To answer your question, yes, I think my entire existence is meaningless. The only thing that is real to me (and I could argue for anyone) is my own internal state.

My internal state doesn’t depend on anything having meaning. It depends on me doing enjoyable things.

I could take a lot of heroin, eat a lot of fatty or sugary foods, etc but those are not sustainable sources of joy for me. The sustainable ones that I have found work for me (and I suspect would work for most people if they had the time to stop and think about it without all the things that keep people distracted) are:

1. Nature

2. Exercise

3. Good relationships

4. Art/creativity

5. Accomplishment/self-sufficency

6. Efficiency

None of these require meaning, hope, or purpose. They are available to almost everyone and just require awareness or a little effort.

If I wrote a book where the main character had all of these things, it would be hard to say that character wasn’t extremely fortunate or happy.

Thanks again for a nice conversation. :)

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Again, I’m not suggesting that you need to think the same way I do and I’m happy that you find meaning in your life.

I’m just pointing out that it is possible to find life meaningless and abandon any quest for it and still be happy. That’s the case for me and it is quite liberating.

Once I abandoned the search for meaning, I also realized how much the search for it did me no good but did make me a great target for “meaning” merchants. These merchants are those who promise meaning via religion or piety, via reproduction, via service (especially military), via sacrifice, or via employment. All have the common thread of doing nothing for me except providing something labeled as “meaning”. All those things do make others a lot of money though, or give them a lot of power to control others.

So yeah, I don’t need meaning to enjoy nature, exercise, good relationships, accomplishment, etc. These are the things that bring me joy and make me truly happy. They also don’t benefit anyone else other than me.

The same goes for the concepts of hope and purpose as far as I’m concerned.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Sounds good. :)

Thanks for a fun discussion and idea.

That sounds awful and I’m sorry you had to go through that.

As long as there are too many humans on earth though, governments/religions/systems of control will rise out of our tendencies toward fear, laziness, and greed.

The only way to counter these innate flaws is too have enough space/resources for each of us to live that we can be fearful, lazy, and greedy without impacting anyone else.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

What do you mean by moving forward? I agree that belief and a desire to explain/explore the unknown drives humanity towards technological advancement and new knowledge/theories.

I don’t think that this has moved us in a good direction though. I think it is part of a larger evolutionary shift that is actually going to lead/has led to our downfall.

The planet (or universe for that matter) doesn’t care that our species can make fire or build an interplanetary spaceship. Nothing has meaning or purpose on the cosmic scale and we just fool ourselves and make others rich by believing otherwise.

For this reason, I’d be careful assuming that our species is moving forward when we have lost the ability to control our numbers or coexist with ourselves and other life on the planet without massive systems of control and surveillance.

Sure we have internet/cars/toasters/etc now. But I can’t do anything without someone watching what I do and trying to profit off it.

We have lost so much over the last 10000 years and we’re just too fucking stupid to see it.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Heh heh heh. Well done Sir. :)

That looks like fun. Way to go. :)

That’s great if that’s working out for you.

If another approach ever becomes necessary though, just know that it’s entirely possible to be very happy living a meaningless life also.

Hope, meaning, and purpose are not the requirements for a happy life we are programmed since birth to believe.

They’re great if you’ve got them, but the quest for them (more often than not) leads to dissatisfaction and the making of the global elite even more rich.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously