Random Thoughts IV: the Abyss Gazes Back

[The_J]

Fair point.
My 9th grade math teacher probably didn't smell of vodka at 8 a.m. before he graduated...

...actually I'm sure he did ^^. (my sarcasm detector might not be working here, not sure)

To expand: There are 3 stages in your science career:
#1 you are unimportant, and everyone knows that
#2 you would like to be important, and everyone needs to know that
#3 you are important, and everyone knows that

In #1 and #3 you can dress as you want, nobody gives a rat's rear end.
In #2, you need to dress up at the right occasions.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I'm sure fiction will adapt. I'm sure what this guy is actually saying is that the things that formerly formed the basis of plots can no no longer operate (but that fiction will find its way to new kinds of plots). (I myself have an idea for a short story that is just one side of a cell-phone conversation.)

There are a few ways to fix that.
If there's only one character they forgot to charge the phone and the battery died.
Or they're in a place with bad or no reception. Works pretty well.
Or the invading aliens/demons are blocking the signal.

 

[bernie14]

the CIA and DOJ should be infiltrating the caravan and offering asylum to anyone who rats out criminals and potential terrorists.

 

[Takhisis]

I know what he means and I find it deeply disappointing that you don't.

Damn you sexy folk and your secret knowledge. Your time will come. Baby oil reserves aren't limitless.

It's not Snerk's fault, it's just that he is Scandinavian.

...actually I'm sure he did ^^. (my sarcasm detector might not be working here, not sure)

To expand: There are 3 stages in your science career:
#1 you are unimportant, and everyone knows that
#2 you would like to be important, and everyone needs to know that
#3 you are important, and everyone knows that

In #1 and #3 you can dress as you want, nobody gives a rat's rear end.
In #2, you need to dress up at the right occasions.

Stage 4) you're unimportant…

There are a few ways to fix that.
If there's only one character they forgot to charge the phone and the battery died.
Or they're in a place with bad or no reception. Works pretty well.
Or the invading aliens/demons are blocking the signal.

At least two out of those three are completely realistic.

 

[Snerk]

Dat turtleneck tho. Noice!

 

[Ryika]

Gish Galloping is one of the most interesting "debate tactics" that I know of.

It's so easy to spot if you're aware of its existence, so entirely useless as a tool for getting closer to finding truth, and yet such an effective method when it comes to making an audience that has only casual knowledge of the topic that is being debated think that you're pummeling your opponent.

I believe seeing debates in which Conservatives list half-truths and mostly unrelated statistics for a minute or so, get a ton of applause from the audience, and then leave their opponent at an immense disadvantage, is the main reason for why I changed my opinion about the usefulness of public debates from "They're pretty good!" to "They're as good as the audience is informed on debate tactics.", which in societal discourse is usually not very informed.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

It's a bit weird when you finally get around to looking up the Wikipedia article of a musician you like and find out they've been dead for years.

 

[Birdjaguar]

It's a bit weird when you finally get around to looking up the Wikipedia article of a musician you like and find out they've been dead for years.

Yeah, John Lennon died in 1980.

 

[Ryika]

Two random low-level tips for parents who always lose against their 6yo children in the 'concentration' game:

If you think you know two matching cards, always flip the one you're less sure about first. That way, if your memory is incorrect, you get a second chance to possibly remember a matching card if your memory on that specific card was wrong. (Unless told, children NEVER seem to do this; they have brilliant memory but no strategical thinking)

If you flip a card and you don't know where the copy of that card is, flip a card that you're sure was already visible, but you're not sure what it was. That way, you get back that information that your kid is pretty likely to still remember, and your kid does not get any new information (and you don't give them new information that they can use immediately on their turn). Of course you give up the chance to be lucky and randomly find a matching card, but that chance is so low anyway, that on average, you'll get the ahead by using this strategy. For this reason, it is most valuable when there are still a lot of unknown cards left, because your chance to locate a match by accident is so small.

 

[MaryKB]

I don't at all understand why you'd be so concerned about defeating your small child when you're playing a simple game with him or her. I mean, how ultra-competitive do you really have to be to be upset if you're losing such a game?

Last night I started feeling odd about my birthday next week and turning 36. I've never really paid much attention to my age before, but for some reason I just started feeling like I'm turning old, like I've passed a milestone or something. I guess I sort of liked thinking of myself as being 35, and 36 just feels like "late thirties" to me. I'm finding it a weird and unusual feeling, and suddenly I want to stay 35 lol.

 

[Live trash can]

Religion is a force to be reckoned with!

 

[Ryika]

I don't at all understand why you'd be so concerned about defeating your small child when you're playing a simple game with him or her. I mean, how ultra-competitive do you really have to be to be upset if you're losing such a game?

I don't at all understand why you'd not care at all about offering a decent challenge to your kid. I mean, what kind of a terrible parent do you have to be if your engagement towards them is basically to entertain them for a few minutes, when with a bit of extra effort, you could actually inspire them to perform as well as they can?

Moderator Action: Infracted for trolling. --LM
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I don't at all understand why you'd not care at all about offering a decent challenge to your kid. I mean, what kind of a terrible parent do you have to be if your engagement towards them is basically to entertain them for a few minutes, when with a bit of extra effort, you could actually inspire them to perform as well as they can?

So were you suggesting that the child should be taught to strategize in a similar manner, because that wasn't apparent in your previous post. That one seemed more about compensating for a (dubiously assumed) natural advantage in ability on the child's part.

 

[Ryika]

So were you suggesting that the child should be taught to strategize in a similar manner, because that wasn't apparent in your previous post.

No, I was just mimicking MaryKB's mindreading abilities for fun.

I did not mean to suggest anything with my post, it's, fitting for the thread, a line of random thoughts that I came up with as a result of doing she shell game world quest in World of Warcraft; a minigame that resembles a very simple version of the concentration game.

That one seemed more about compensating for a (dubiously assumed) natural advantage in ability on the child's part.

That's not correct either though, I don't assume that children have some a natural advantage. Those hints are specifically for parents who "lose against their 6yo children in the 'concentration' game", which can only be the case if for this specific family, their children are better at memory than they are (or because they are letting them win). The reason for why that child is better, I assume, is that they have a better memory, because I've never seen a child strategize at memory. Not a "natural advantage" I would guess, but because they're using their brain more actively to memorize things.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Religion is a force to be reckoned with!

Indeed

 

[cardgame]

now wait a minute, since when did we syncretize with piracy?

 

[Takhisis]

Dat turtleneck tho. Noice!

Wooly pullys are the best.

I don't at all understand why you'd be so concerned about defeating your small child when you're playing a simple game with him or her. I mean, how ultra-competitive do you really have to be to be upset if you're losing such a game?

You've never been a kindergarten teacher, have you?

Last night I started feeling odd about my birthday next week and turning 36. I've never really paid much attention to my age before, but for some reason I just started feeling like I'm turning old, like I've passed a milestone or something. I guess I sort of liked thinking of myself as being 35, and 36 just feels like "late thirties" to me. I'm finding it a weird and unusual feeling, and suddenly I want to stay 35 lol.

I could post a .gif of the Janitor from Scrubs saying ‘you're old’, but ever since my age became a number which would mean (if, hypothetically, true) that my smother's age begins with a 6 in the decimal numbering system I'd better tread carefully.
Anyway, I don't think becoming 40 should be that bad, and you're getting married and you don't look 36 anyway (even with that weird costume ).
I sometimes feel old too but that's because the world moves too fast.

now wait a minute, since when did we syncretize with piracy?

Both the words ‘pirate’ and ‘pasta’ have come to English from Latin. Sounds good enough for me.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I wonder if it tastes like chicken. Might be a good source of iron, at least.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The Poster (formerly known as Gori) knows a fiction writer who states flatly that cell phones have ruined fiction. For the very reason that you note: so many things that were plot problems for the characters to work through can now be instantly solved with a quick phone call.

This was a problem over 50 years ago, when the Star Trek writers had to come up with an array of reasons why the communicators wouldn't work.

I'm sure fiction will adapt. I'm sure what this guy is actually saying is that the things that formerly formed the basis of plots can no no longer operate (but that fiction will find its way to new kinds of plots). (I myself have an idea for a short story that is just one side of a cell-phone conversation.)

Sounds like an interesting idea.

As far as fiction adapting... historical novels are popular, so I've got no shortage of characters who have all kinds of problems because they can't just pick up a gadget and talk to someone.

Thank goodness Shakespeare got everything written before instant communications. One of my favorite minor characters in the Henry V movie (Branagh version) was the Herald.

 

[Zkribbler]

I myself have an idea for a short story that is just one side of a cell-phone conversation.

Like this?