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

[Lord Baal]

Work isn't a virtue. Sloth is.

Haters gonna hate.

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

 

[Borachio]

Only lazy people work.

For the same reason that only dirty people wash. Clean people don't need to. And people who aren't lazy don't need to work.

(At this point, I fully expect to get shouted down by a bunch of hard-working lazy people.)

 

[Traitorfish]

Somebody explain to me what the deal is with American colleges where you have to take a bunch of classes in things you aren't remotely related to what you're supposed to be studying, like if you do English Lit. you have to get a certain number of credits in maths classes before you're allowed to graduate. To me, it seems a bit ridiculous to treat what are allegedly adults like they're still in high school, but perhaps there are details I'm missing?

 

[Cutlass]

Somebody explain to me what the deal is with American colleges where you have to take a bunch of classes in things you aren't remotely related to what you're supposed to be studying, like if you do English Lit. you have to get a certain number of credits in maths classes before you're allowed to graduate. To me, it seems a bit ridiculous to treat what are allegedly adults like they're still in high school, but perhaps there are details I'm missing?

The theory behind it is that they want to have students who aren't too narrow. They want to broaden the ability and background of students, thinking that they will be more successful if they are more "well rounded".

Now whether or not that actually works, You'd have to ask someone else that question.

 

[_random_]

A couple of factors: Lots of people don't declare their majors as freshmen, so they might be surprised to learn they actually really like chemistry and that finance is kind of lame, for example. And in more liberal arts-oriented schools, there's the idea that a college education should be broad so that people learn to think in different ways and approach life accordingly.

 

[Traitorfish]

I can see the logic behind those explanations, but in both cases it seems a bit of a cack-handed way of going about it. Trying to produce well-rounded educational experiences is certainly a worthwhile goal, but having people take a range of unrelated classes seems like it would produce an education that's more spotty than well-rounded. Likewise, making sure people don't put all their eggs in one basket seems sensible, but forcing people to take a significant number of classes that they may have no interest in taking just seems pedantic. Is it just one of these things that makes more sense from the inside than it does from the outside?

 

[Quackers]

I think it is slightly better than the UK system. At 18 you're a moron and you have to take an enormous decison of what to specialise in and effectively what career you end up in. At least in the states you get an extra year plus some more education to make a more informed decision.

 

[Cutlass]

I can see the logic behind those explanations, but in both cases it seems a bit of a cack-handed way of going about it. Trying to produce well-rounded educational experiences is certainly a worthwhile goal, but having people take a range of unrelated classes seems like it would produce an education that's more spotty than well-rounded. Likewise, making sure people don't put all their eggs in one basket seems sensible, but forcing people to take a significant number of classes that they may have no interest in taking just seems pedantic. Is it just one of these things that makes more sense from the inside than it does from the outside?

Well, not from the point of view of most of the students going through it at the time.

 

[The_J]

And the last thing: The unrelated courses might be actually useful.
I've studied in the STEM field, and was forced to take classes in rhetorics and basic bussiness, took a class in presentation techniques, and could also have taken a class about patent laws.
Not really directly related to the science field, but all somehow worthwhile.

 

[Camikaze]

But as a paying customer, surely whether you take a course that might be useful should be your own decision, rather than one arbitrarily forced upon you?

Here degree programs are not just either BS or BA with a major declared sometime into your degree. I'm studying a Bachelor of International Studies. This is not a BA majoring in International Studies. It's a BInSt. The most popular degree is probably Bachelor of Commerce, and then a lot of people do either a general Bachelor of Engineering or something more specific like a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering or, more commonly, a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. If people want to swap from a Commerce degree to a Chemistry degree, they're free to, but if they flip-flop, why should their credits transfer across from one to the other? Their finance subjects may have helped them realise that they hate finance, but that doesn't make them relevant to a chemistry degree.

 

[metatron]

Celebrate Canada day with hot Canadian chicks!

Cobie Smulders

Spoiler :

Is there a commonly accepted and understood term in the English language for the (female) practice of leaving ones mouth half open like this (typically slightly more open than this - whatever) - apparently in an effort to provoke arousal in heterosexual men (who suffer from some sort of weird fetish)?

I made superficial use of ressources on the internet with no result and thought i could just ask - before this turns into, you know, work.

 

[Borachio]

In English, for me, that would be the "mindless bimbo pose*", so, no, I don't think there's a commonly accepted widely understood term.

I bet there is one in German, though.

*indicating an almost overwhelming feeling of precoital ecstasy just thinking about the physical attributes of the (male) viewer. Sort of: "aaaaah". (I dunno)

 

[Synobun]

I can see the logic behind those explanations, but in both cases it seems a bit of a cack-handed way of going about it. Trying to produce well-rounded educational experiences is certainly a worthwhile goal, but having people take a range of unrelated classes seems like it would produce an education that's more spotty than well-rounded. Likewise, making sure people don't put all their eggs in one basket seems sensible, but forcing people to take a significant number of classes that they may have no interest in taking just seems pedantic. Is it just one of these things that makes more sense from the inside than it does from the outside?

If one were to be specific, these "unnecessary" classes can be turned into something highly beneficial for your educational future if you get an Associate's in General Studies, which is essentially just those courses and thus allow you to pursue any Bachelor's you desire that isn't STEM within two years, no matter what.

 

[metatron]

In English, for me, that would be the "mindless bimbo pose*", so, no, I don't think there's a commonly accepted widely understood term.

Hmm... too bad.
I had hoped there was one and i'd just not come up with an applicable heuristic for discovering it.

I bet there is one in German, though.

Of course. Hence my problem. I'm used to having one.

 

[Borachio]

Well what is the word in German? We'll use it (provided it's remotely pronounceable). English is like that

 

[bhsup]

Aren't words like that in German usually just the literal words mashed together into one long word? Like probably...

Leeregehirnhälftefraumitoffenemmundzuhheterosexuellenmännernwecken.

EDIT: The forum is forcing a space! Look! I tried editing it a few times to remove it and it keeps adding it back.

EDIT #2: Btw, just in case anyone was wondering, that's straight from google translate with the spaces removed:
Empty brained woman with mouth agape to arouse heterosexual males > Leere Gehirnhälfte Frau mit offenem Mund zu heterosexuellen Männern wecken

I tried to use mindless bimbo, but it wasn't translating.

 

[metatron]

Well what is the word in German? We'll use it (provided it's remotely pronounceable). English is like that

Luftbiss - lit. "air bite"

It's a noun. We don't have a corresponding verb though.

@VRWC
Nah, that's all way easier. But i don't want to start a lecture on insults.

 

[sophie]

Is there a commonly accepted and understood term in the English language for the (female) practice of leaving ones mouth half open like this (typically slightly more open than this - whatever) - apparently in an effort to provoke arousal in heterosexual men (who suffer from some sort of weird fetish)?

I made superficial use of ressources on the internet with no result and thought i could just ask - before this turns into, you know, work.

I've heard it referred to as the [copulate]-me face.

 

[madviking]

I've heard it referred to as the [copulate]-me face.

yea this

 

[Borachio]

Well, that makes some sense. Though I've never heard of the expression myself. Being a bit old-fashioned I've heard of a "come hither" look. Or "come to bed eyes". But nothing with a direct reference to the mouth (and a vacant, or vacuous, expression).

Still, Luftbiss is good, I think.

And I thought, VRWCAgent, you'd just made up the expression with random letters. So much for my familiarity with German!