Surely here on Lemmy, this is the real dean

My parents side stepped having this conversation by letting their first child serve as a negative example for the rest of us

I have a deslopped setup that I’d recommend, but keep in mind all of my stuff is a few or more years old at this point so the newer models may not behave the same.

• an LG oled that has never been connected to the internet, though I did do a firmware update when I got it using the usb port. If I remember right, the factory loaded firmware was limited.
• an nvidia shield tv pro with updates disabled. These are android TVs so they can run the real netflix/prime/whatever app that you want, but they’re unlocked enough to let you put custom apps and disable system apps as you like. Updates needed to be disabled because the current version of the launcher added ads, but you can alternately use a custom launcher if you want to keep updates enabled. I keep mine separated on the network to limit any damage it might be able to do if there’s any security issues.
• a logitech harmony companion remote. They stopped making these a while back, but they continue to be supported. I may swap this for a Flirc Skip 1s if it stops functioning.
• a minipc running linux. I have a sort of nostalgic channel surfing interface video player thing I’ve been working on that runs on this, but you could also use something like this in place of the android tv entirely. A good mini-pc will be small and silent, a usb IR receiver will let it read commands from a remote control, and the GPUs in new ones are even capable of gaming directly, but can especially handle streaming well if you have a gaming PC elsewhere. If you want that, make sure you find one that can do 4k@120, a lot can only do 4k@60, and will only do 120hz at 1080p.

No ads, no bs buttons on my remote, it all works together with my audio setup and it’s the same experience every single time I turn it on.

We have to remember that all we know of LotR comes from the hobbit’s writings. It’s possible, even likely, that having been slighted by Sauron, the hobbits set about to destroy and defame him. For all we know, he may have been completely the opposite of what we think. He did, afterall, make a bunch of rings, containing his very own power, and then gave them away. Perhaps only to people who he thought wouldn’t abuse it, unlike filthy lying hobbits, whose fame comes from being excellent burglars.

My library does streaming now, don’t even need to make the trip, it’s pretty awesome.

I think this is a problem inherent to this style of communication, whether massive social media or individual niche forums. People used to talk a lot about groupthink, though I don’t hear that term as often today. It seems to be a fundamental thing for human beings to come to a consensus as a group, and then for some individuals to react to that negatively. When positive this looks like science, accepting consensus as truth to have a foundation to work off of, and individuals rejecting the consensus to build stronger foundations.

Outside of the Internet we have much less ability to change our environments, so there’ll naturally be more diversity within groups of neighbors, coworkers, students, etc. But here, there is so much less friction to movement, similar people tend to group up more quickly.

The solution is probably not to expect opposition within a group, but to be a member of many separate groups. You are definitely in an echo chamber, but at the end of the day what you choose to accept as true is your responsibility.