Ursula Le Guin.

Something like this would probably work.

To be a little blunt here, someone who thinks using an LLM is equivalent to being in a relationship with a real person probably shouldn’t be in a relationship with a real person.

Probably, but my PhD is in philosophy.

My take is that patriotism is a corruption of the feeling of belonging we get from community.

In 2018 I was offered a job managing a retreat center on the shores of Lake Superior. The job would have been to keep the place looking nice and, very occasionally, cultivate a restful space for people who needed it.

I went and got a PhD instead. Not a huge mistake, but I’d probably have been happier with the retreat center.

That college professors are turning young people into communists.

Dawg, I can’t even get them to read.

Personally, I like Simone Weil’s idea that total freedom of thought and expression are only truly possible in the absence of propaganda, political parties, and deception.

That is to say, it’s not really free thought if we’re just parroting what the party, news, etc. say.

Kenya. I have friends there, which would help.

I’d definitely be the obvious foreigner, given that I’m pale and ginger, but that’s worked in my favor when traveling before.

I’m also supposing here that there wouldn’t be quite so many other American expats to compete with.

Rereading Le Guin’s Earthsea saga.

Personally, I think she might be on par with Tolkien and actually surpasses him in a few ways. The 4th book (about a tired mom just trying to get by and care for people in a fantasy world) is the best one, but you need to work your way there.

There are a lot of great answers here, but I’d like to add one that I think is often forgotten in these conversations:

Purposeful incompetence around supposedly non-masculine skills.

It drives me up the wall every time I hear some dude talk about how they don’t know how to do basic tasks of living because the women in their lives take care of it for them.

Guys who act like laundry, cooking, dishes, changing a diaper, gardening, grocery shopping, etc. require arcane knowledge they just don’t possess.

I throughly enjoy my time at the gym. 6 days a week I lift weights, run or swim a little, and then soak in a hot tub.

I’ve found that it makes me feel better, and not just physically. I’m less stressed with regular exercise than I was without it.

It’s also time I get to spend totally alone. Yes, other people are around, but I have headphones on and don’t have to talk to anyone. I teach for a living, and so it’s just nice to have a little time each day where I don’t have to be “on.”

Seeing yourself get stronger is also feels fantastic in ways that I don’t think really make sense until you do it. I could only bench 95 lbs when I first started lifting; now I’m pushing 225. That’s something I’m proud of.

I used to live in walking distance from a national forest.

Next to a lake in that forest was a little patch of moss and tree cover that you could only reach by crossing a natural bridge made of downed trees. Less of an island and more of a ball of roots with enough moss to be soft to sit on.

As far as I know, I was the only person alive who knew about the spot. I’d spend whole days there enjoying the quiet.

“So, Greg, what do you do for work?”

“Uhhhh…. I’m the control group for AI toilets.”

So just a mix and match of partial truths about multiple Ancient Greek philosophers?

Exactly.

Authoritarians of all stripes love to lay claim to eternity.

We don’t have to believe them though.

I teach philosophy for a living these days.

I’d probably keep doing that, but less of it.

I’d also do a lot of writing.

Make your a salami sandwich with the following steps.

1. Toast the bread.
2. pan fry the salami slices til their a little crispy on the edges.
3. spread hummus on the bread once it’s toasted.
4. add the crispy salami, some lettuce, and seasoned tomato to your sandwich and enjoy.

People look at me sideways for using hummus as a sandwich spread, but it’s delicious.

Academia, USA.

You’re getting the exact same quality of education for introductory classes at a community college, state school, and private school.

I know because I teach the same suite of classes at all 3 as an adjunct. Same book, same syllabus, same schedule, same assignments. The only difference is the price tag, and I’m hardly alone in that.

Actually, scratch that. You’re getting a better education at the community college because the people in charge there bother to remember that I exist and treat me as an equal.

I’m absolutely convinced that there’s a certain threshold of money/power/privilege that just destroys a person’s humanity.