Actually they’re very well defined economic terms. Standard of living measures how well your basic needs as a member of a given society are filled by that sociey. Quality of life measures how nice your shit is.

Pretty simple.

So yes, taxes effect both, but standard of living more directly.

I think they’re actually right about this one, taxes tend to cover things that give you high standard of living more than quality of life.

Everything you said is great except for the rock metaphor. It’s more akin to a gun in that it’s a tool made by man that has the capacity to do incredible damage and already has on a social level.

Guns ain’t just laying around on the ground, nor are LLMs. Rocks however, are, like, it’s practically their job.