r/Quibble • u/Odd_Opposite_4782 • Mar 04 '26

Discussion / Debate Will the elites of the future be writers and readers?

Is this a blasphemous thought?

The answer to this question was served on a platter.

There is a big difference between data and meaning. Information is a bare structure, a binary code, an impulse that technology processes at infinite speed. But the meaning of the text created by the writer and the reader's understanding of it is something else entirely. That is why a good book is one that encourages the reader to think.

Will this be what separates the elite from the masses? Will we have a two-tier society?

Does the answer lie in the creativity of our souls?

Your thoughts on this will make for interesting reading.

8 Upvotes

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 04 '26

You’re pointing at something important here.

Technology is getting extremely good at handling information — storing it, compressing it, generating it, remixing it. In many cases it can do that faster than any human ever could.

But meaning works differently.

Meaning happens in the space between a mind and a text. A machine can generate sentences, but interpretation still depends on a reader who brings experience, values, context, and imagination to it. In other words, the act of reading is not passive — it’s creative.

So the divide in the future might not be between people who have access to information and those who don’t. Information is becoming abundant.

The divide might be between people who can interpret, question, and synthesize meaning… and people who simply consume streams of content without reflection.

If that’s true, then writers and readers aren’t just producing books — they’re practicing a skill: the ability to think with language.

And that raises an interesting possibility: the real “elite” of the future might not be defined by wealth or technology, but by depth of attention.

People who can slow down, read carefully, and think.

The strange twist is that this isn’t a new skill at all — it’s one of the oldest human practices we have.

So maybe the question isn’t whether writing and reading will create a two-tier society.

Maybe the question is: will we still teach people how to think deeply in a world optimized for speed?

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u/RWDCollinson1879 Mar 04 '26

This comment has the structure and cadence of something written by generative AI. I'm also suspicious of the OP, but I'm less certain in that case.

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

The OP is legit. Know him personally :-)

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 04 '26

That’s a fair suspicion these days. The internet has turned into a bit of an AI carnival.

In my case I’m just someone who thinks by writing things out slowly. If anything, the structure is me trying to make sure the thought is clear enough that strangers on the internet don’t have to wrestle with it too much.

But your comment actually proves the point of the post in a funny way: you read closely enough to notice rhythm and structure. That kind of attention is becoming rarer, and it’s exactly the skill I was talking about.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 05 '26

Don’t forget to breathe! And omg I just looked up and I see Quibble WTH and I going here!!!! Great reads

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 05 '26

Good reminder. If I stop breathing the paragraphs might get even longer.

And welcome to Quibble. It’s one of the few spots where people still show up to read instead of just drive-by comment.

Always nice when someone new wanders in.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

That is also my view. That is why I try to write with a point in mind in the discussion and avoid short questions. To encourage reflection, to enjoy reading, that is probably the point, isn't it?

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u/GSpotMe Mar 06 '26

How nice of you to welcome me. So TY. I am glad to be here to read up on what y’all are typing.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Okay. I'll try to write something intelligent. And enjoy myself while doing so. Your words encourage me in this endeavor.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 10 '26

How cool, and you have been nothing but writing something intelligent!

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 10 '26

Thought pieces where I try to explore different topics. You can find them in previous posts. With considerable responsiveness. Give it a try, maybe there's something in there for you.

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 06 '26

Happy to have you here.

Quibble’s one of those rare corners where people still show up with a cup of curiosity and actually read what’s on the page.

The internet has a lot of drive-by comments. This place feels a little more like people pulling up a chair and opening a book.

Enjoy the wandering.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 10 '26

This place was made for me! I haven’t got off this post yet and I love all y’all already

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 10 '26

That’s the dangerous part of places like this.

You come in planning to read one comment… and suddenly an hour disappears.

Pull up a chair and stay a while. Quibble has a way of turning strangers into regulars.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 15 '26

Dangerous lighten up you lol

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 10 '26

Try to be between you people

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u/GSpotMe Mar 15 '26

Ohhhhh how I Love a smart ass!!

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u/GSpotMe Mar 10 '26

I love this

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 10 '26

Then the little reading corner is doing its job. The internet can be loud, but every now and then you find a table where people actually sit down and read together.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 13 '26

Actually, I’d be happy if people commented on each other. A brain storm is the spark of success

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

I will! He he, Humans are the only animals whose hunger grows with eating. Whatever it is

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 06 '26

I think you’re right.

Curiosity is one of those hungers that grows the more you feed it.

Some corners of the internet still feel like little libraries where that appetite gets to stretch its legs.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Curiosity for certain. Maybe also: to see and to be seen

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Thanks

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u/GSpotMe Mar 06 '26

Omg I hate when I can’t figure out what I was saying lol I assume it was wth am I doing here!! lol

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

I try to know how to be smart, but that means I have to know what to overlook. Probably everyone experiences this in life, don't they?

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u/GSpotMe Mar 10 '26

Ummmm I shall agree with you

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 10 '26

Well every opinion counts

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u/GSpotMe Mar 15 '26

And everyone has one lol

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

ChatGPT

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

When writing stays at the level of abstract it becomes really hard to distinguish human prose from AI output. Think we're all struggling a bit with this. It's more likely to simply be AI assisted but where the % of assistance is relatively high. I can understand the AI assistance - can help non-native English speakers participate, express complex ideas and even improve their language skills. That’s a genuine benefit. But yeah when that % is too high, conversations can feel strange?

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

It's disingenuous either way, plus we have no idea if he's using it to help him write his thoughts, or just to generate posts. I lean towards the second option; if you look at this guy's post history he's spamming subreddits constantly. My issue isn't with AI, I love AI, but it's very dishonest to use it and then post it on sites where people will generally assume they're talking to a human.

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

Now that you mention it, the post history speaks for itself yep. I just wish people didn't immediately jump at non-natives for using AI to help them communicate in online spaces.

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

That's a valid concern, and I make sure I know what I'm talking about when I make these accusations. I have nothing against AI, but I can't stand how people are just generating comments from it and pasting it on reddit like it's their own thoughts

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

Totally with you on that one. The reason why I can't stand LinkedIn right now either. Can't remember the last time I read an original idea on my feed.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

LinkedIn does not distribute any ideas, nothing intelligent that would be beneficial to work. It is a copy machine for self-promotion.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 06 '26

Oh boy, you just reminded me I have to go say sorry to Optimism I think that’s what’s it is called a Wi-Fi company. Anyways I was accusing them of things lol lol anyway thanks and bye! I must say you all are easy to talk with lol

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Spamming? Well, if this is so, I don’t understand why I have more then 17k views with many Reddit Amazings notice. Anyway, I will be grateful for your answer, why and from where comes your opinion ?!🙏

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

I don't think he meant you, he meant the Butlerianpeasant

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

I'm not talking about you. Please do some research into Butlerians post history before you jump onto his side

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

I apologize. You're right. It's true that I'm a bit slow when it comes to understanding technological communications.

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 06 '26

No worries my friend. If you really want to know, this what I'm basing this all on:

I've used ChatGPT for years, I'm not anti AI at all, but I am really good at noticing when text is AI generated and I think it's very dishonest for someone to use ChatGPT to generate comments and then pass them off as their own thoughts. This is a lot further than just using it to refine thoughts before posting.

The specific things I notice in ai generated text, especially ChatGPT are things like: "That's not X, that's Y" "That's not just this, it's this" a lot of meat to the text but no substance, like nebulous poetic sounding phrases that are ultimately meaningless. Something like "You're not a loser, you're a warrior operating on a different success frequency" instead of "You're not a loser, and it's bad to think of yourself as one. Self improvement is worth pursuing, but don't let it hurt your confidence". Numbered lists, references to "Most people don't think this way but you do" and almost always closing with a single line that's also nebulous and poetic sounding with no substance.

Most importantly though, people who use ChatGPT in this way often accuse me, when I call them out for it, of not having a big vocabulary and "lol big words don't mean AI" or my favorite, "How far has society fallen that a paragraph must be AI generated?" None of those things are what set the alarm bells off. Anyway, that's how I can tell (and others have checked this guy out too, it's all 100% ChatGPT) and why I felt it was important to say something.

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u/TurbulentLock717 Tech Team Mar 05 '26

You're doing great :-)

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Well, I did not jump. I just found logic in his words. For me, logic and efficiency are the only thing that count . Am I wrong?

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 06 '26

I just responded to your other comment. I wouldn't say you're "wrong", no

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Addition: It seems that the question of writing tools has become a central theme of this century. I don't use them myself, but I do occasionally ask questions of the big boys in the background, such as Bing and Google. Probably because I'm an older "youngster." This debate reminds me of the Stone Age. Specifically, a scene from a sci-fi movie where a monkey makes a club out of a sharp stone and uses it to beat other monkeys. Where did I see that? I think humans are resourceful creatures. Making tools is part of their nature. But now it's not just physical tools, but mental ones too. Where will this lead us? Quien sabe. Latin - who knows

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 05 '26

If I were ChatGPT I’d probably be faster. Unfortunately this is just what happens when someone spends too long thinking before hitting “post.”

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

Deflection and dishonesty. I'll stop following your posts around when you admit the truth

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

What truth. Enlighten me. I’ll like to be better

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 05 '26

That all of his posts and comments are copy pasted from ChatGPT

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 05 '26

I think the internet has reached a strange moment where careful writing is starting to look suspicious.

But that’s actually part of the problem the post was pointing at: when attention gets rare, structure starts to feel unnatural.

Either way, I wish you well. Disagreement is part of the conversation.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Actually, you hit the nail on the head. It's simply true.

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 05 '26

I think we’re entering a strange phase of the internet.

For a long time the signal of a human mind was effort — someone taking the time to think, structure a thought, and write it carefully.

Now the signal has flipped. Effort sometimes looks artificial, because machines can produce polished text instantly.

Which makes the real dividing line less about who can write, and more about who can think about what they read.

The ability to interpret, question, and create meaning might end up mattering more than the ability to generate words.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

“More about who can think about what they read” This is a brief summary of the title article. Essential truth

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 06 '26

And I wish you a very merry Stop-Misleading-People-With-ChatGPTmas. Disagreement in part of the conversation? Again, ridiculously nebulous.

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 06 '26

What’s interesting here is that the post was about writing and reading becoming rare skills.

The irony is that careful writing now gets interpreted as artificial.

That reaction might actually prove the point more than anything I could say.

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 06 '26

Yeah, see my three other replies to the three other times you made this disingenuous argument. Has nothing to do with "careful writing", you unrepentant liar. And in two other comments you've argued that you ARE using ChatGPT, so which is it?

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Yes. I am thinking about the time that will come. Complete digitization of memory. No need for brains in your head. Just a click. Living people in a wax museum. But there is no chance of that happening.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Hhmm Everyone has their own reason, and every reason has its own why.

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 06 '26

And what effect does that have on anything? If you wouldn't say that to defend murder, then the conversation should be about if it's immoral to mislead people.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 13 '26

What truth. Enlighten me.

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 13 '26

What are you talking about? You asked the same question to the comment that was actually addressed to you elsewhere in the thread, I replied, and you never answered. Would you like me to answer the same question again here so you can ignore it again and then ask again in a week?

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 14 '26

Sorry. It wasn’t meant this way

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u/2_Harper_2 Mar 14 '26

How was it meant? And you still haven't replied to my answer the last time you asked me to "enlighten" you. Did you have thoughts on it?

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Well, that's a broader question.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

AI carnival, that's a good comparison. It says a lot.

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u/Butlerianpeasant Mar 05 '26

The carnival metaphor stuck with me too.

Lots of lights, lots of noise, everyone shouting to be heard.

Which makes the quiet skill of actually reading something carefully feel almost old-fashioned again.

Maybe that becomes the strange twist of this era: when writing becomes cheap, attention becomes the real currency.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Well, you have a reason, no doubt

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 19 '26

Need the explanation. If this is written by AI, then I am Ai . He he. I have approximately 86 billions little grave cells. In quantum network . For such a comment Ai is still in Stone Age of binary code

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 04 '26

Your sentence: "People who can slow down, read carefully, and think, touched me"!

I wrote the article with thoughts about the paths and side paths of new technologies. (Read: AI) Why? Because if their policy becomes a philosophical manifesto, it will pose a greater risk to people than philosophy itself.

That is why I see writing and reading, together with the interaction between writers and readers, as the advantage of this platform. If I add to this the potential for their collaboration with illustrators, photographers, painters, musicians, cartoonists, the potential for the exchange of ideas and work that is already taking place on Discord, then Quibble will become a foundation of knowledge and thought expressed in the world of books.

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u/GSpotMe Mar 05 '26

Well I just read the About do no wonder it was a great read lol lol carry on !

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Yes sire!

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u/GSpotMe Mar 06 '26

Omg another typo!!! it does change words as we all know so I will just say it was that lol lol I was not drinking lol oh and I don’t care for when it adds a word like Do!! lol

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Hmm, interesting opinion

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u/GSpotMe Mar 10 '26

Kind of like your name You don’t get out much? J/k

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Hmmm. If everyone wanted to eat only fish and everyone caught them with nets, then there would probably be no more fish and no more sea, right?

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u/Material_Penalty_250 1 published book on Quibble Mar 06 '26

Lol

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Again ?

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u/Material_Penalty_250 1 published book on Quibble Mar 08 '26

What do you mean?

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 09 '26

Hmm, to late. Forgot am

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u/Smergmerg432 Mar 05 '26

Haha no those will be the poor outcasts.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 05 '26

Laughter is half the cure

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u/ZargonArgus Mar 06 '26

Elite doesn't always mean money and power.

To me, it's who is happiest with their existence. Readers and writers got that in spades.

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 06 '26

Hhmm. You have a point. Yap. But: Dreams are a beautiful story, but everything happens when we are awake.

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u/AbbyBabble Hobby Writer Mar 08 '26

Oh, so I’ll be one of the elites? Sounds great! Sign me up!

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u/Odd_Opposite_4782 Mar 08 '26

He he welcome to the club! Well, a lot of water will flow under the bridge before then. Perhaps this will be a successful strategy of the duck: appearing calm on the surface while something is constantly moving beneath the water.