The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXII

[Borachio]

On the subject of nationality, I feel that language is pretty important. The people you share you're mother tounge with are the only people you can say something to how you want it to be understood, andactually have the other person understand.

Unless any of you think that it's perfectly possible to express yourself with confidence in another language (I don't really), or that misunderstandings can happen frequently anyway.

I don't know how sound the orwellian idea that laguage shapes thoughts is, but I guess I can mention that as well.

Yes. I agree. A shared language is the defining characteristic of a nation. (Though just because Americans and British share a language doesn't mean they belong to the same nation, of course. Far from it.)

And yes, absolutely, language shapes thought too. Most of conscious thought is verbal thought, I think. And some things are easier to think in one language rather than another.

 

[bhsup]

(Though just because Americans and British share a language....)

That's only partially true, you carriageway driving weirdos with a bonnet instead of a hood.

 

[Atticus]

Yes. I agree. A shared language is the defining characteristic of a nation. (Though just because Americans and British share a language doesn't mean they belong to the same nation, of course. Far from it.)

it's one major component of course (the major, I'd dare to say). But there are plenty of counterexamples: English speakers, Germany and Austria, Switzerland (French and German speakers).

 

[Lohrenswald]

Though just because Americans and British share a language doesn't mean they belong to the same nation, of course. Far from it.

What makes you say this? What is the thing(s) that justiefies the fact that over 300 million people make up a seperate nation from England, when they share the same language? And what of Canada, which is about 0 cm away from USA? What makes that distinct from USA, and yet a unity on it's own?

And some things are easier to think in one language rather than another.

That's an interesting thing to say. I suppose that languages have different words and structures that could make certain thoughts and thought processes other don't (the thing about the inuits not having a word for "war" is a commonly used example). Yet I am a bit curious as to what you mean, and I would be glad if you shared (this last sentence seems a bit artificial, but).

Germany and Austria, Switzerland (French and German speakers).

Well, Switzerland was never a nation, and didn't jump on that wagon. Austria was forced to keep out, and later wanted to stay like that to avoid accusations of nazism. Whatever a nation is, I don't see that Austria and Switzerland isn't part of the german nation (which MagisterCultuum explained is not a nation state), or that all the english-speaking countries isn't part of the english nation, for that matter.

They may/probably value self determination over nationalism (which is kind of a paradox).

 

[ace99]

Is Firefox crashing like crazy for anyone else? Whenever I have 5-6 tabs open its inevitable for a crash. I'm going to switch to Chrome if this doesn't get fixed soon.

 

[bhsup]

You should consider IE 10. Partnered up with Ad Muncher, it's pretty awesome.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It freaking spell checks for you! (at least in Win 8 it does)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Is Firefox crashing like crazy for anyone else? Whenever I have 5-6 tabs open its inevitable for a crash. I'm going to switch to Chrome if this doesn't get fixed soon.

Not really, no. What are you doing in those tabs? Any scripts that might be an issue? What other programs do you have open?

 

[Antilogic]

Is Firefox crashing like crazy for anyone else? Whenever I have 5-6 tabs open its inevitable for a crash. I'm going to switch to Chrome if this doesn't get fixed soon.

Mine hangs for a few seconds randomly, cannot seem to figure out why. Also, I cannot update Adobe Reader, Flash Player, or any other plugin. I've installed said plugins several times, but it never seems to work.

 

[ace99]

IE is abomination. I shall never use it.

Not really, no. What are you doing in those tabs? Any scripts that might be an issue? What other programs do you have open?

Youtube, SA, CFC, a news site usually AJE or HuffPo, gmail, twitter, facebook are the standard to have open. Sometimes Skyrim Nexus.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is Firefox crashing like crazy for anyone else? Whenever I have 5-6 tabs open its inevitable for a crash. I'm going to switch to Chrome if this doesn't get fixed soon.

Nope.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

When upgraded to Firefox 20 a couple days ago I had issues with the Download Statusbar and Download Manager Tweak add-ons, but everything has seemed fine once I removed them.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHAT WITH THE SMUGNESS FOGGING UP MY EARS.

Yeah, the hahaha IE SUX crowd is frakkin annoying so eat it guys. Frakking eat it all.

 

[Glassfan]

Oh, Good: Face-Sized Spiders Discovered in Sri Lanka

"And in case you were thinking they probably look far worse than they are, this one’s actually quite venomous. Oh, and fast — because of course it is. So now imagine being chased by a poisonous, sprinting, face-sized spider."

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Never planned on visiting Sri Lanka anyway.

 

[bhsup]

Great... Thanks. Really. I'll enjoy the nightmares.

 

[ParkCungHee]

I thought your thing was sharks, not spiders.

 

[Arakhor]

It seems like a healthy dose of arachnophobia is closing out this thread.

 

[bhsup]

I thought your thing was sharks, not spiders.

Sharks scare me, but I don't think I'd elevate it to to phobia levels.

cnidophobia and arachnophobia.

Truthfully, it isn't really the fear of stings so much as the fear of flying insects that sting. So not really cnidophobia, but I don't know of a name for a specific phobia for that.

EDIT: Btw, from me in that same thread as my quote above 5.5 years ago...

Oh man. The only vehicular "incident" I have had in the last decade plus was when I came to a stop sign and was going to turn left. Just as I accelerated and began turning, a wasp landed on my arm (the window was down) and utterly freaked me out. I took out a mailbox and wasted my hood and windshield.

Since then, I have made a concerted effort to control myself in such situations, to the point of forcing myself to be still of a bee or something lands on me. Yeah, I'll break out in a sweat and my heart may be racing, but I don't spaz out anymore. I could have hit a kid or something that day.

 

[Traitorfish]

Spiders are easy. What to do, right, is when you see a big hairy bastard spider, imagine that it's this guy:


Link to video.

And they will not be a problem.