GoodSarmatian
Jokerfied Western Male
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After the Kavanaugh thing I stopped following the trashy tragicomic soap opera that is American politics.
I feel so much better now.
I feel so much better now.
Random Thoughts IV: the Abyss Gazes Back
- Thread starter Traitorfish
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Timsup2nothin
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The anonymity of the internet allows for the "reset," in which one does not have to be accountable for how one has presented themselves in the past, but that experience holds little value. Perceptions can be changed, but it takes committed effort over time. The experience of doing that, in itself, may have value. The most constructive ways forward are seldom easy.
Plus, I'm one of the most volatile troll squashers around, and you've gotten me to look past your more abrasive presentations. It's obviously within your skill set.
Zkribbler
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Timsup2nothin
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I used to scream at Fox News. Then I discovered Breitbarf and was forced to acknowledge how close to the edge of rationality Fox plays it in pandering to the lunatics that make up their niche market.
hobbsyoyo
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If you stop being obnoxious, people will stop knee-jerk reacting to you. You are not Dommination3000, no one is going to explode just because you post something if you stopped going out of your way to get a rise out of people consistently.
Ryika
Lazy Wannabe Artista
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Certain people obviously do care, otherwise posts that were not meant to be obnoxious would not get such reactions, plus what is "obnoxious" and what isn't is a felt experience. If certain people go: "Oh, it's Ryika, saying something that I disagree with, hob obnoxious she is!", then there's nothing I can do about that other than not say anything, which of course I'm not going to
Anyway, different thought:
Recettear could be such an amazing game, but the formulaic haggling mechanic, and the strict time limit that doesn't allow you to stray too much from the intended formula really ruin the game for me. I wish there were a game that took the concept - running an item shop in a fantasy world and fueling it by adventuring - and combined it with a more open and sandboxy design.
Anyway, different thought:
Recettear could be such an amazing game, but the formulaic haggling mechanic, and the strict time limit that doesn't allow you to stray too much from the intended formula really ruin the game for me. I wish there were a game that took the concept - running an item shop in a fantasy world and fueling it by adventuring - and combined it with a more open and sandboxy design.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Are they on your lawn?
So then you have the power to change it, for the most part at least.
C'mon, even I can make serious posts.
Even so you must remain aware of what happens, lest AfD gain power in 'schland.
If so they should get off it, or whatever they say in Tagalog.
A couple of months ago, I went on a retreat in Minnesota. It's a pretty low-intensity event, a weeklong camp of about 60-70 left-wing pacifist types, mostly aging Boomers and their Millennial children. I was invited last year by a college friend whose family has been going since he was young, and I had a good enough time that I went back this year. Most of the people there are very friendly, thoughtful, and easy to get along with. I've never been in an environment with more than a few people where I've had less social anxiety or had as few issues with not having enough in common with other people.
One thing that really struck me while I was there is how little I wanted to spend time in front of a screen. There was internet in the main common area, and I had my computer, but beyond checking the internet for a few minutes each day to make sure there were no urgent emails and to check the news to make sure nothing catastrophic had happened, I had no desire to surf the net any further. Just about everyone else seemed to feel the same way - people would be on their computers for work-related stuff, and would check their phones occasionally, but nobody was constantly staring at their screens. Mostly people were talking, playing games, reading, etc.
I was talking about this with one of the other people there, and we came to the conclusion that people don't really like to stare at screens. They're addicted to it, because they find it preferable to just about anything else in an isolating and alienating world. Put people in a more positive environment, though, and computers and smartphones suddenly lose their appeal.
This more positive environment is a mutually supportive group of people that is a good size for a human band - enough to have a variety of people to interact with, but less than Dunbar's number above which group cohesion becomes difficult to maintain. It's almost like we evolved for that kind of world. Not the kind where we're atomized as individuals and nuclear families, among a teeming mass of strangers, in a world far too complex to understand or really contend with. Small wonder that mental illness is on the rise even as we become more prosperous and have far lower chances of dying an early death.
One thing that really struck me while I was there is how little I wanted to spend time in front of a screen. There was internet in the main common area, and I had my computer, but beyond checking the internet for a few minutes each day to make sure there were no urgent emails and to check the news to make sure nothing catastrophic had happened, I had no desire to surf the net any further. Just about everyone else seemed to feel the same way - people would be on their computers for work-related stuff, and would check their phones occasionally, but nobody was constantly staring at their screens. Mostly people were talking, playing games, reading, etc.
I was talking about this with one of the other people there, and we came to the conclusion that people don't really like to stare at screens. They're addicted to it, because they find it preferable to just about anything else in an isolating and alienating world. Put people in a more positive environment, though, and computers and smartphones suddenly lose their appeal.
This more positive environment is a mutually supportive group of people that is a good size for a human band - enough to have a variety of people to interact with, but less than Dunbar's number above which group cohesion becomes difficult to maintain. It's almost like we evolved for that kind of world. Not the kind where we're atomized as individuals and nuclear families, among a teeming mass of strangers, in a world far too complex to understand or really contend with. Small wonder that mental illness is on the rise even as we become more prosperous and have far lower chances of dying an early death.
You made me look, BJ.
'stoots, man, that happens to everyone. We don't hate screens, but it is true that Outside™ exists and is very much enjoyable. I think that what we really hide from, at times, is just other people. My neighbours have been blasting away bad-quality music for a large part of the evening and I think it's more that they don't want to hear anybody else than their wanting other people to hear them. As you said, it's an alienating world… a human world. What's alienating is simply the masses of people, above Dunbar's number as you say. It's a thought.
'stoots, man, that happens to everyone. We don't hate screens, but it is true that Outside™ exists and is very much enjoyable. I think that what we really hide from, at times, is just other people. My neighbours have been blasting away bad-quality music for a large part of the evening and I think it's more that they don't want to hear anybody else than their wanting other people to hear them. As you said, it's an alienating world… a human world. What's alienating is simply the masses of people, above Dunbar's number as you say. It's a thought.
Zkribbler
Deity
Turn off your TV.No, they're cluttering up my TV with stupid stuff.
Ryika
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This was recommended to me by a moderator, as a workaround-solution for a problem that has nothing to do with my outspokenness.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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I don't really think this is how the plot went.
GoodSarmatian
Jokerfied Western Male
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On the contrary. Looking at the USA just makes me more complacent because compared to that, things are fine over here.
That's how I was at science fiction conventions. I absolutely did not want to have anything to do with TV there (watching, that is; discussing TV shows was a different matter, and one of the primary reasons for going). I never turned the TV on in the hotel room and never bothered watching any movies in the video room. The one exception I ever made through the years was when the Thanksgiving weekend convention was held in Red Deer; I was part of the organizing committee, and helped out in the video room and my roommates and I hosted a "Doctor Who video event" in our room... a friend from Calgary hauled her Doctor Who VHS tapes here, we rented a VCR, and for 12 hours/day on Saturday and Sunday, anyone who had a convention membership and wanted to watch Doctor Who was welcome to come in, find somewhere to sit, and relax with fellow Whovians. We didn't have any set schedule; people could ask for which stories they wanted (easier to do back then, given that the Tom Baker episodes were the only ones available at that time).
As I explained to my roommate who was so obsessed with TV that she'd turn it on and then wander into the bathroom to take a shower (gotta wonder why anyone would do that; what's the point of having it on when you can't see or hear it), I can watch TV any time at home. But being at the convention, reconnecting with people I saw just one or two weekends a year, meeting authors, participating in filking sessions, costuming, and discussion panels... I didn't want any mere TV shows to interfere with those things.
Of course there wasn't any internet to interfere most of the time; most of my convention years happened before there was an internet like we know it. But even without it, there were plenty of screen-type distractions some people were into.
This is exactly why you shouldn't be so complacent.
GoodSarmatian
Jokerfied Western Male
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I'm still paying attention to German politics, just cutting down on the US drama.
I now get my clown farce fix from Brexit. At least it doesn't make my blood boil like the child camps.
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