Zero-Shame Zone

Causes & Suggestions

Use free software 🐧🐂. Take ownership of your data 💽 by rejecting "cloud" services ❌☁️ in favor of data and applications stored on your own computer and under your control.

Do not use Library Genesis or Z-Library to download illegal books 📚 🏴‍☠️. It's better not to read a book at all than to read a pirated copy. Remember, copyright lasts 75 years after the author's death — to incentivize creative progress, of course.

Similarly, make sure to avoid Sci-Hub and associated browser add-ons that provide illegal access to scientific papers. Instead, spend $50 to get one paper or $50,000 to become a student at a University with institutional access to the journal. Even though scientists provide journals with manuscripts and peer-review for free, that doesn't mean they're free to read! If you can't afford to read a paper yourself, just trust journalists and bloggers to tell you what it says – they hardly ever misrepresent research findings.

Go Vegan 🥦. If there's just one food stopping you 🧀, try being vegan except for that one food.

If you care about animal suffering but aren't yet ready to give up all meat, start by giving up chicken ❌🐓. Chickens are subject to worse conditions and provide less food per death than large mammals.

I don't believe that there is any ethical level of meat or dairy consumption, but the less you eat, the better you're doing. No one is perfect, and diet is just one moral challenge we all face among many. I'm proud of you for each step you take. 💚

If you're not sure if you're trans 🏳️‍⚧️, find a way to try out different pronouns and see how they make you feel. I realized I was a woman based on the warm glowy feeling in my chest I got when people first called me "she."

Donate to well-researched charities that distribute cash and cost-effective medical treatments in poor countries. Givewell.org currently gives good recommendations. Avoid charities that operate in rich countries, give animals as gifts, fund programs in schools, or build alters to hypothetical robot Gods.