1.Lifestyle choices 2. Stratification

Note: 1) If location button by chance does not work be sure to go to 87 Forest Park Drive, not Forest Park School (for August only). Note: 2) The start time is 7:00 not 6:15 (for August only. Sept back to Forest Park School for a 6:15 start). Note: 3). We may be outside so dress for the weather and consider bringing a beverage - there will be cookies.

a. LIFESTYLE CHOICES/LONGEVITY MAXING

“Life is short and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,” to borrow a line from a poem by Maggie Smith. Do you smoke? What about drinking wine, sometimes too much, eating sugar, sometimes too much, drinking too much coffee and not enough water loving McDonald’s, scrolling when you should read, spending more than money is wise, being selfish rather than relational? (Free Press May 30th paraphrased from Jen Zoratti).

**If one considers these (and other) behavious as “Being bad” and that they are on a spectrum, where do you land maximizing health practices (LONGEVITY MAXING) or attaining to the adage "everything in moderation?" Here is Bob Dylan writing about being 80, “**The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It’s freedom from that lie that anything was ever under control. You don’t chase the parade anymore. You’re an old king from some vanished country. You’re harder to program. You’re not rushing to become anything and you’re not haunted by things that you did. You’re haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would.” Does his writing affect your lifestyle choices?
b. STRATIFICATION
Making money out of stratification:
Questions:
1. What is and what are examples of stratification? (See below).
2. To what if any extent should we accept stratification?
•Airlines:
First class (lounges/lay flat seating/ boarding/food/drink/bathroom/high ratio service)
Premium Economy (2 seats/boarding...)
Economy (charge for seat selection, baggage, canceling/cramped/pretzles)
•Movies:
Charge for online booking/ premium seating.
•Concerts:
Narrow seats higher up vs box seats/skip the line -i.e Disney experience. The great equalizer that many could attend is now a stratified place. Front of the line available at higher cost.
•Subset of TECH enshittification:
Phone tree to reach services further exasperated with an A.I. gate keeper.
Subscription model vs. buying product - Word/heated seats...
Social media lets us see this stratification and creates a constancy of comparison of not only wealth but looks and experiences of every kind, more so than TV dramas. Furthermore, often the stratified real life presented is a hyped, fake, curated life.

•Experiences
-Streaming costs more to get no ads.
-A.I.
Without or with ads and substandard free versions.
Wealthy people can be more empowered creating a digital divide with higher level A.I. getting the best deals and accurate information vs. hallucinating manipulative results.
Algorithmically, people will be sorted (stratified) out.
Social mingling will end.
A.I. as agents for the rich and erotica and the simulacrum of companionship as well as entertainment 'slop' for others is a dystopian possibility (current reality?)
Info is from Ezra Kline podcast June 2, 2026