I agree, and am in favour of decriminalisation of marijuana, but I will present the argument against as I think it's more nuanced than some people will make out.
Alcohol is a substance that is indelibly intertwined with our culture and rituals. Our socialising at bars, pubs and clubs; our celebrations (champagne!); and our meals (taking a bottle of wine to dinner with friends). Marijuana, by contrast, is in the UK a relatively new introduction. It doesn't currently serve the same social function.
If each were to do the same level of damage and carry the same risk, it wouldn't make sense to spend your political capital trying to ban alcohol (look at how prohibition turned out!) as it's simply too deeply ingrained in our culture to try. But you could seek to prevent marijuana from reaching the same level of cultural necessity through stigma and criminalisation.
From a public health perspective, this would make sense; less cost to health services from related health conditions. So you don't decriminalise, and at the same time take reasonable steps to try to reduce the harm to public health caused by alcohol.
Where I think this argument falls down is in the criminalising aspect. Does it truly prevent weed from reaching that status, and are your disincentives targeting the right people? To me it seems far more sensible to treat people as adults and educate them on the health risks of both alcohol and the devil's lettuce.
I'm gonna say the dog did a good job this time. If there's someone unstable in a building with a gun, I'd rather a robot go in and either negotiate or use non-lethal force than a person do it, since a remote operator is much less likely to overreact than someone in person.
The issue for me isn't with the technology, and more with who is applying it and why. It should be explicitly for harm reduction purposes, and they shouldn't be equipped with lethal force.
That being said, for anyone in the UK who is interested in getting into foraging, the wild food UK YouTube channel is really good for showing what to look for in wild mushrooms, and there are certain mushrooms that are reasonable to go out and ID (for edible vs inedible, not necessarily down to species) from those videos. Hedgehog mushrooms, for instance, I'd consider incredibly safe for someone that's seen one of those videos to go out and look for.
No substitute for an in person teacher, but it can be really good to get up to speed before going on a course.
I do feel like mushrooms get a bad rep compared to plants -- there are certain mushrooms (in the UK at least) that are very safe to forage. Boletes (if you check for staining and red on the stem), agaricus, hedgehog fungi, blewits, shaggy inkcaps...
Others I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, even if I'm 99% sure. Any of the small white funnels (miller etc.) I'm not interested in, and likewise amanitas I won't go near.
But obviously the point stands that using AI, rather than books or trusted sources, is a non-starter. Always use multiple sources when foraging (message for a general audience).
Depends on the mushroom; certain mushrooms (e.g. beefsteak polypore) are incredibly distinctive, while others require microscopy to tell apart.
One thing you didn't mention that I think is a major drawback with id apps is smell. If you're looking at agaricus for edibility, yellow stainers are distinguished by smell if it's cold and the staining is less obvious.
Other things they can't use for id are texture (slimy cap Vs waxy etc.), staining (so you know what to look for -- boletes it's necessary to check for blue staining), brittle gills/stem (does it snap?)... All sorts!
Oh don't worry -- I didn't get that from your comment! Only the original one I replied to. And I don't think having difficulty with romantic relationships or necessarily friendships makes you an asshole. I hope you're able to find what makes you happy.
You might find you fit under the aromantic umbrella, if you're looking for others in your situation. It's certainly a valid state to be in, and I hope that not having to seek out romantic relationships has made your life more fulfilling.
What I'd caution (or what I found particularly irritating in the comment I initially replied to) was implying that one is superior and all others are vacuous shells of human beings, which just comes across as pompous and arrogant.
ballad of general ludd, in case it's of interest