It's actually pretty common to say 0th index, but it depends a lot on context.
JDubbleu
It is. There were tons of articles too about the concept when it first came out since it was one of the first in a major AAA game. People were super into it as well.
It's not just high school. That's just how chemistry is taught because it's extremely complex and requires many simplifications to be able to teach it to a lay person in any meaningful capacity. Good instructors will mention these simplifications, but it's likely your current understanding of certain things (especially organic compounds) is also overly simplified. It's unfortunately the only way to teach it.
The 1.6 update completed the game extremely well. A lot of the quality of life stuff feels incredibly natural, and I'm loving the new farm so far. Especially since it's forcing me to >!focus on animals instead of Uber optimizing crops!<.
Even then buying and selling stocks, having a 401k, IRA, etc. doesn't even make it complicated. You just have to fill out a 1099-B/DIV/INT and then list your contributions to your retirement accounts.
I don't know why people pretend it's so hard. You spend 30 minutes every year answering a few questions and punching numbers into boxes from a few documents that are sent to you by your broker/bank/employer. It's also only $15 at FreeTaxUSA.
Opening the accounts you report to the IRS is arguably more difficult than filing them on your taxes.
I went into this deeper in another response and having triple the salary while having a much lower effective tax rate is almost impossible to make up for. Not to mention I'd want to live in a big city if I did move which would make the cost of living a lot closer.
A lot of places put SF at 40% higher cost of living than Berlin, but the prices they list for things here are way too high. Assuming the numbers are high for Berlin too triple the salary with lower taxes easily beats the measly 40% cost of living increase. I'm sure engineers in Germany have a comfortable life, but the math doesn't work out in my favor.
As for lifestyles my friends and I almost never talk about work either as we very much want to leave work at work. I probably average 30 hours as do many of my friends so it's not like we're grinding. Just trying to do our time and leave.
I've noticed this too both in those around me and myself (mid 20s). I don't identify as queer and have always been "straight", but more recently the thought of sucking a trans girl's dick is kinda hot? I'm not attracted to guys at all, so it would have to be someone who is otherwise extremely feminine, but eh?
I don't know what to call it and I honestly don't really care to think about or try to label it because it's a worthless distinction. It helps that most of my friends are queer so I've had any and all stereotypes/expectations surrounding attraction completely shattered, and I've found this to be true of more people I meet over time who don't identify with queer culture at all. I'll be interested to see how this continues to change in the next 20 years.
I'm not saying it's a bad life at all, but I do not have to think about money at all in my day to day life because I make so much in the US. I'm really not trying to flex and genuinely live my life pretty frugally, but to drive the point I'm trying to make I bought $2500 worth of snowboarding shit and didn't even have to think about it. This was after donating $5k to my childhood elementary school for a yearly scholarship I started, maxing out a traditional IRA ($6.5k) and nearly maxing out my 401k ($18k). There's absolutely no way I'd break even in Germany given I'd have an after tax income of ~50k euros of which the above is over half and it's only April.
To go a bit deeper, I work for a healthcare data company so my healthcare is some of the best in the country with premiums 100% covered by my employer. My yearly out of pocket for deductibles is under $200 and my max out of pocket is $2500 in the absolute worst case scenario. I spend $40/month between life, dental, and renter's insurance.
Rent seems to be equivalent, maybe slightly cheaper, as I'd want to live in a big city and my current share of rent is $2000/month for a 148 sq meter apartment I share with my partner.
Then there's the much higher tax burden through things like VAT and extremely high income taxes in Germany.
The unfortunate part about the US is it is an amazing place to have a lot of money, and an awful place to be if you're poor. It would definitely make sense for someone in a lower income bracket, but once you clear $150k/year here most of the problems of the country no longer apply to you. I still very much want things to get better for the less fortunate, but I have no incentive or desire to leave given my current situation.
Edit: Someone mentioned kids. We don't plan on ever having any, but my partner and I have a combined income of over $400k per year so kids are more than feasible. Even just on one of our incomes it would be a comfortable life.
If the pay for engineers wasn't shit I'd genuinely consider it, but getting 1/3 of my current pay to leave San Francisco ain't worth it. Especially given all my friends are here and I don't need a car.
Anything for the gnar points
It's excessive if you're only thinking short term, but longer term it is 100% worth it. It's one of those things you'll kick yourself for in 5 years.
Not that they're the same, but this feels like not letting people be strippers because some people may feel degraded by it. I could understand having legislation that provides protections for employees through employer obligations to ensure a safe environment, but ultimately it's the choice of the individual if they're okay with the work or not. I don't have a dog in this fight, but this feels like Chinese conservatism forcing "modesty" on women.