Hey folks, I'm just putting this out there to spark some discussion and gather some insights. Reflecting back on my Master's, I remember the tool being introduced to me and used it and it was kind of whatever, I didnt really think much about it (NVivo). In hindsight now, with some of my friends in the industry they consistently touch on how the tool aspect remains a pain for them. But why exactly is this the case if the intended use seems so straightforward (eg: coding). Do you feel existing tools are inadequate? What's been your experience, or have you found some nifty workarounds to make the process less clunky?

The whole AI bubble bursting got me thinking about profit and how it feels kinda exploitative. Like, $1 trillion just vanished overnight—how does that even happen? It seems like companies were way overvalued, and it makes you wonder if they were just trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of investors. It’s wild to think how much of the economy is built on this idea of chasing profit.

Digging into it, I found out profit wasn’t always like this. Back in the day, it was more practical—it was used as insurance for long-distance trade or just a way to account for labor costs. Like, materials cost X, labor cost Y, and that Y was called “profit.” It wasn’t about ripping people off; it was about making sure everyone got paid fairly. Resources were used for communal activities, and trade was more about building alliances and supporting each other. Profit wasn’t this huge, exploitative thing.

But colonialism changed all that—it turned profit into a tool to extract as much as possible from other societies and bring it back home. Now, with globalization, it feels like everyone’s trying to exploit everyone else, and it’s created this “me first” culture that screws over most people. Honestly, it’s kinda depressing. Even with all the tech advances, the way profit works now just seems selfish and broken. It’s like no matter how much we grow, most people still get left behind, and the whole system feels like it’s built on taking instead of giving.

I've recently been watching a number of videos regarding expedition Crews, getting trapped or lost. Sometimes it's just one person and that's fine. Madness can set in fairly quickly. However, I'm looking at one now the Greeley expedition which had 25 men in total. And they ended up eventually succumbing to some level of madness obviously due to supplies. Now food and supplies aside, how many people would you need to have secluded in a spot like that to prevent the feeling of isolation? We know that in Antarctica there is a lot of strict rules and protocols in place in order to prevent people from going crazy. I'm curious how many people would you practically need in one place to prevent this entirely?

I might be asking the wrong subreddit.

I´m doing a Masters on Counseling, and as I read for different clases, different topics and areas of research seem relevant for further deepening and research.

I wonder if someone has found an interesting way to jot those down in a manner that Is easy to recall and to somehow stay alive in my mind.

At the start of Christmas break i got an assignment to make a survey and I need 40 people to answer to it for my teacher to count it and give me a good grade. I would be grateful if you could spare less than 5 minutes of your time answering it. Google forms link: https://forms.gle/4U3BEyHiUFVGVsqC9

I tried using "SciSpace" and its AI writer tool that tries to a paragraph or sentence for you, but I don't find it very useful. In fact, I find it gets in the way a lot of the time and tries to fill my paper with "spongey" sentences. I do like its AI lit review search tools, however. But, even that doesn't seem to work as well as manually searching articles.

Does anyone know any lit review or AI writing tools that they think are actually worth using and maybe even paying for?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/targeted-parenting/202412/maybe-youre-not-an-introvert-maybe-its-a-trauma-response

I’m working on a college paper with thesis: "Effectiveness of Manipulation Techniques in Vulnerable Populations in 2024 and Their Ethical Evaluation." It’s a deep dive into how techniques like priming, operant conditioning, and emotional appeals affect decision-making in vulnerable communities—and how ethical or unethical these methods really are.

The survey is quick, anonymous, and designed to gather honest opinions. If you've ever been curious about how influence works—or want to support thoughtful research—this is your chance!

https://forms.gle/TED78T235WqSxHXS9

Feel free to share this with others, too. Every response helps bring clarity to this complex issue. Thank you so much for being part of this journey! 🙏

P.S. If you have any questions or want to chat about the topic, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!. If you want a copy of a finished paper, feel free to PM me your email, but note that final work is in Spanish.

Just to be clear up front, I'm not trying to pick a fight. This isn't a "gotcha" question, it's just an honest question that's been rattling around in my head today while thinking about the legal developments today with Penny and the CEO murder.

I am not on a crusade about justice, but I'm personally of the opinion that the not guilty verdict is a bit depressing. I certainly understand the views on both sides and am sympathetic to the fact that the other passengers on that subway ride were put in a tough spot. The young black man that lost his life had mental health issues and was acting erratically, but it still troubles me that he was killed and there were essentially no punishments for doing so. No repercussions.

My question is, what if our deceased CEO were the guy who was suffering a mental break? What if that same mentally compromised CEO got on that same subway car and acted in exactly the same way as Jordan Neely? Do you think 1) that he would've still been killed? But more importantly, 2) would the jury have reached that same conclusion?

I'm not one of those to make everything about race, but I think these variables would've probably created a different result. Especially if Penny were black. Hard to tell if a jury also might put more weight upon a life taken of a guy worth millions. What do you think?

I've been reflecting on the differences between Eastern and Western philosophical traditions. Eastern philosophy often emphasizes looking inward, focusing on self-validation through practices like meditation while prioritizing social harmony over individualism. In contrast, Western philosophy appears to lean toward external validation—such as prayer to a third party—and places a higher value on individual liberty.

Interestingly, brain scan studies show that Franciscan nuns and Buddhist monks engage similar regions of the brain during meditation and prayer, suggesting a shared neurological basis for these practices despite their cultural differences.

What does this say about how we define well-being across cultures? Are these philosophical approaches complementary, or are they in tension with each other in modern society?

I've been searching all over but I really need the book: Doing Qualitative Research by David Silverman. I can only find a few old versions and the course I'm taking is about the 6th or 7th edition. Anyone with a pdf that can help me?

Bless

https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/drug-overdose-deaths-effect-on-children/

This USC Dornsife study reveals that by 2019, 1.4 million U.S. children had lost a family member to a drug overdose. The research shows that children aged 10 and older were three times more likely to experience this loss than younger kids though younger children are increasingly affected in recent years.

So here's the deal. I've been accepted into UC Santa Barbara for geography. I am a little bit worried about the price of attending and how well I can actually do against students who are probably way smarter than me. I have heard that UCSB grades many classes in a way that makes it so only the top 10% can get an A. Is this true? I want to go for a graduate degree at a top UC. Should I just go to a local CSU like Stanislaus or Sac State? From what I can tell both have pretty good programs overall.

Hello, friends, I am watching a documentary about gaming right now, and I am thinking of analogies to sports and genre fiction with the basic idea being that as people experience less consequential action in the real world, they must escape to a fantasy world in order to experience more consequential, i.e. "dangerous" or extreme, situations. This has to do with repression and the kind of thing that Nietzsche and Freud were interested in, I think.

That made me wonder: are there examples of the opposite: reverse-engineering, as it were, forms of repression such that activities in the fantasy world were rendered unnecessary by more activity or more consequential, i.e. meaningful, forms of action in the real world?

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently written an article diving into the trends and insights on unauthorized immigration in the U.S. from 1990 to 2023. Here’s a quick overview of what I cover:

📊 Data on how immigration has evolved over 33 years.
🌎 Regional breakdowns: Which countries and regions dominate?
🏙 State- and county-level analysis: Where do immigrants settle?
💰 Economic contributions: Industries, taxes, and societal impacts.
💬 Public opinion: What do Americans think?

I’ve included a mix of charts, analysis, and sources to keep it informative and balanced. If this sounds interesting, feel free to check it out here: Decades of Change: Unauthorized Immigration in the U.S. (1990–2023)

I’d love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions. Let’s discuss it!

https://preview.redd.it/eodyogpwnm2e1.png?width=854&format=png&auto=webp&s=3162018fdd8036b681e0830639d55b6f85bea097

Hi everyone! I am in the process of applying for a PhD thesis which falls under the interdisciplinary category of humanities and social sciences. I am a Historian and have been offered to stretch my wings into the social sciences field and receive full training in it. But for now, I need some help from some experts here with a part of my application. In my plan I outline that I want to use the Connor- Davidson Resilience Scale and PCL-5 (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5) in order to quantify my research into exploring the prevalence of resilience and trauma- related symptoms amongst a selected group of polish women who live in the UK. The basic idea of the research is looking at historical intergenerational trauma and grief amongst Polish women. Would I be correct to state in my plan that these quantitative methods are the most useful in getting the results I want? If not, does anyone have any advice on other approaches I could use and read into and cite in my plan?

Thank you 😄any help will be much appreciated!

I’m looking for participants to take part in my social science research project! 

All you have to do is:

1. Read a short story (it's a quick read, I promise!)
2. Answer a 39 question survey related to the story

This study will take about 10 minutes to complete and can be accessed by phone or computer.

You must be at least 18 years old and live in the United States to participate in this study, and all responses will remain anonymous.

Click the link for more information and access to the study:

https://boisestate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4V058SlTX9ZVNr0