CuriousCat Archive Page 107 of 202

  1. how do you wrap your head around accepting minority religions that are inherently racist? islam and judaism for example

    how do you wrap your head around being an asshole?

  2. When an actor changes their gender, does that change how we refer to characters they have previously played?

    I'm not in charge of that

  3. any Hot Gamer Tips for reading the kinda cerebral shit you do for research? im one of those weirdos who blitzes through fiction but expository nonfiction gets me all twisted around because i feel like if i read too fast i'll miss the point. do you take lots of notes and reas everything twice and all that? eat three lemons for optimal brain speed? im curious!

    I'm actually a pretty slow reader because nonfiction makes me think and when I start having my own thoughts I stop reading. I often read physical books with a highlighter just so I can make a note to go back and have that thought instead of getting distracted in the moment. it's also a reason I do #IanLivetweetsHisResearch - having a Twitter thread where I put all my thoughts as I'm having them so I can refer to them later, and get them out of my head so they stop distracting me and I can continue with the book.

  4. More like "why would I treat racism as mankind's original sin when I can believe people can genuinely and fully change?"

    in response to What could be more useless and self-flagellating than believing that *everyone* is subconsciously racist with unconscious biases they will *never* fully be free of?

    I'ma ask you to illustrate how you feel we end up with a white supremacist society if racism is only perpetuated by overt racists

  5. Are you ever worried about online leftists calling everything and everyone they don't like "liberal"? The word is indistinguishable from "normie" at this point

    I mean, don't say "online leftists" when you mean "chapo fans"

  6. Ever had one of those moments you find out a famous person you admire watches your videos?

    I was introduced to Hank Green at VidCon as the guy who does Alt-Right Playbook and he said "oh, I'm a big fan!" and I almost yelled "shut the fuck up!!!"

  8. Do you think it would be credible to argue that people protested and organized less during Trump's term not simply because it was harder (although it was) but also because they were operating on the assumption that Trump would not be receptive to protest and it was therefore a waste of time?

    I would have to see numbers on how many people protested before answering that. You recall the Women's March was on of the biggest protests in history, right? And we shut down multiple airports to stop the Muslim ban?

  9. At what point does personal experience make problematic politics pardonable (except for bigotry, which is unjustifiable)?

    bad politics are never pardonable, life experience just makes them more understandable and maybe warrants more patience from others while you're trying to change

  10. Would you rather go Hog Wild or Hog Mild

    depends on the day

  11. Wait, does CuriousCat let you distinguish between anons???

    in response to Should ASPD be cured?

    no, I just don't think multiple people got really fixated on asking me questions about whether we should discriminate against people with antisocial personality disorder in the same 12-hour period

  12. Parasocial-ness, a lack of understanding of social norms, but mostly inebriation this time (apologies)

    in response to Should ASPD be cured?

    well, in answer to, like, four of your questions: yes, it's ableist

  13. Should ASPD be cured?

    dude, I have deleted like 8 questions about whether we should discriminate against sociopaths from you, what is you fucking deal?

  17. It's weird but I actually like Fight Club more nowadays because I can see Durden as the destructive asshole he is, and recognize the underlying (possibly unintentional) critique of capitalism, fascism, and toxic masculinity.

    in response to Well, what are your thoughts on Fight Club/Scarface/Godfather?

    I can't divorce the (possible) critique from the clear idolization of fascism and toxic masculinity, nor square the fact that, if it's a critique of fascism and toxic masculinity, its critique of capitalism comes from the mouth of the toxic fascist

  18. Why not? What if 3 of those 5 got so few votes they might as well not have been there?

    in response to Third party candidates getting more votes is yet another sign of dissatisfaction. We saw that in 2016. But Biden did significantly better with former third party voters. The squad lost votes to third parties is a sign of dissatisfaction with them. Third parties being on the ballot does very little unless people don't want to vote for the democratic candidate. Lamb won a Republican district that went to Trump. Omar got 14% less of the vote than Biden did in an incredibly safe district. I like the squad myself. But it seems to me that the left's electoral theory doesn't work in the US just yet. We also have studies which show moderates do better https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/upshot/unable-to-excite-the-base-moderate-candidates-still-tend-to-outdo-extreme-ones.html

    is that what happened, smartass?

  20. Did it feel harder or easier to be vegan when you moved out of Cali? Favourite go-to lazy meals?

    It was a bigger pain in the ass when I lived in Rhode Island, pretty easy now that I'm in Boston. There's not *quite* as much variety here as in San Francisco and Berkeley, but plenty to get by.

    My lazy meals are sandwiches, usually. Tofurky, Vegenaise, dijon mustard, spinach, Chao vegan cheese. Or I make a vegan sausage-fried potatoes-kale-black olive thing, throw some unicorn salt on it. But I tend to cook in large batches, so I have a very not-lazy cooking day and then my go-to meals are leftovers.

  21. CurioisCat Generated: What happens in your country regularly that people in most countries would find strange or bizarre?

    people being bankrupted by hospital bills

  22. So I'm not a complete fraud for calling myself a film nerd while never having gotten around to seeing The Godfather?

    in response to Well, what are your thoughts on Fight Club/Scarface/Godfather?

    The Godfather is 2+ hours of melancholy male posturing. It's a bit more dynamic than Godfather Part 2, which is just "oooh, how long til Michael gets paranoid and kills some more people he's decided are enemies?" Like, it's just that cycle over and over and OVER. All very stately and beautifully executed but also I GET IT. Oh, and flashbacks to his dad doing the same thing.

  23. With your obvious interest in adventure games, did you ever play any of the point-and-click Flash games that showed up on online game websites between the mid-00s and the early-10s?

    mm, a bit. I wish there was some comprehensive way to look back through them, honestly, see which ones were considered exemplary. I really want to dig into the history of the adventure game, and the stuff that was made while the genre was "dead" is the most interesting. but it's hard to find a comprehensive archive of, like, escape-the-room and Flash games. I'ma have to do some digging.

  24. is brainwashing good if you're brainwashing people into believing good things?

    thing is, you can't really brainwash people into believing *anything*. the nature of brainwashing is to get people to stop thinking and just accept whatever is put in front of them, even if it's contradictory to what was put in front of them 30 minutes ago. brainwashing is about the relationship of a person to a cult leader. the "beliefs" are incidental. and there's no way to have a healthy version of that relationship.

  25. Why bother? You're never going to be not-racist, and your POC allies will never fully trust you because you're white.

    in response to Do you ever think you might be subconsciously racist?

    "40% good is the same as 99% good because neither are 100%"

    shut up

  27. Well, what are your thoughts on Fight Club/Scarface/Godfather?

    in response to Genuine question: how so?

    loved it when I was in college, have grown beyond it now/never seen it/massively overrated

  30. What is your favorite mythology?

    I don't know enough of any particular mythology to say, but lately I've had a fondness for Celtic.

  31. Do you ever think you might be subconsciously racist?

    everyone is subconsciously racist, that's how white supremacy works. the process of discovering your biases and correcting them lasts your entire life.

  32. Also Steve Keen ISN'T a Marxist, but he does have nice things to say about how Marx advanced the understanding of Economics (which Keynes had to launder to give it exposure and build on, leading to there being some overcomplications in his work) and he CAN make Austrian style static supply/demand graphs dance on the head of a pin to make a point

    What was the last book you read where you didn't agree with the author on at least one major point but you did "like the cut of their jib" for lack of a better phrase?

    in response to In Neoreaction a Basilisk, the author mentioned that marginal economics are not useful. Could you recommend an introduction to non-Austrian economics? As a person who has had some basic university economics education, it seems pretty useful to me.

    Most of my research for The Alt-Right Playbook has been deeply informative and helpful until the final chapters where they balk at saying capitalism is a problem and get all liberal about "reaching across the aisle." I guess Alt-America was the most recent example.

  34. What’s with all the dorm room fiction (Scarface, Fight Club, Breaking Bad) hate?

    feel like you answered your own question

  35. Can you be problematic for liking something?

    depends on whether the something is, like, The Turner Diaries

  36. you said you got COVID, any update on the health

    I came out of quarantine yesterday! I'm still a bit congested and I get tired from very minor activity, but otherwise I'm okay.

  37. Should we all become ripped as hell

    just me

  38. Third party candidates getting more votes is yet another sign of dissatisfaction. We saw that in 2016. But Biden did significantly better with former third party voters. The squad lost votes to third parties is a sign of dissatisfaction with them. Third parties being on the ballot does very little unless people don't want to vote for the democratic candidate. Lamb won a Republican district that went to Trump. Omar got 14% less of the vote than Biden did in an incredibly safe district. I like the squad myself. But it seems to me that the left's electoral theory doesn't work in the US just yet. We also have studies which show moderates do better https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/upshot/unable-to-excite-the-base-moderate-candidates-still-tend-to-outdo-extreme-ones.html

    in response to They were in super safe districts. Impossible to lose. But Omar got 16% less of the vote share in her district than Biden did. Meanwhile Lamb, who did win got more than Biden, who lost Lamb's district. AOC, Omar and Tlaib all got less votes than Biden in their districts often by a large percentage. Lamb, Bullock and Rose all got more votes than Biden in their districts/state.

    umm... no? you can't compare someone who won against 5 people to someone who ran against one.

  39. So DOES Japan have a culture of Pedophilia and violent misogyny, or has something just been lost in translation?

    why would I, a white American who's shown no expertise in nor even particular fascination with Japanese culture, have a useful answer to that?

  40. How does one learn to stop depending on metaphors?

    why would you?

  41. In Neoreaction a Basilisk, the author mentioned that marginal economics are not useful. Could you recommend an introduction to non-Austrian economics? As a person who has had some basic university economics education, it seems pretty useful to me.

    I'm no economist and you've probably read more than I have. (They didn't give me an econ class in art school.) But you can always visit pre-marginal economists like Smith, or depression economists like Keynes. Ahhh, but you knew I was gonna tell you to read Marx, didn't you?

  42. They were in super safe districts. Impossible to lose. But Omar got 16% less of the vote share in her district than Biden did. Meanwhile Lamb, who did win got more than Biden, who lost Lamb's district. AOC, Omar and Tlaib all got less votes than Biden in their districts often by a large percentage. Lamb, Bullock and Rose all got more votes than Biden in their districts/state.

    in response to How do you square,in the highest turnout election in 100 years, how moderate candidates like Connor Lamb, Max Rose and Bullock ran ahead of Biden (even if they lost because their district or state was so red) while progressives ran Behind Biden, like AOC, Omar and Tlaib with your theory that people want to elect progressives more than moderates?

    weren't The Squad also running against significantly more people?

  43. Even if this is extremely unlikely to happen, can you imagine how hilarious it would be for someone to run on a platform of "Vote for me so I can die in office?" I mean, I'm not American but that person absolutely has my vote

    in response to I know and believe that, it was more about should bernie stop running for election after 2020.

    obvs it wouldn't be how anyone campaigns, it would be an unspoken feature of running a really old man with a really progressive VP

  44. I wholeheartedly agree, but for the sake of pwning twi- _devil's advocate_, how and why?

    in response to Would you have liked Parasite more if the Park family were all irredeemable monsters with no real good qualities of any kind?

    the problem with capitalism is not that individuals are evil, it's that there is a system in place that perpetuates cruelty and exploitation regardless of individual intent

    neither the original movie nor this hypothetical alternate version address that in a way I find satisfactory

  46. What are your thoughts on the projared cancel culture situation that happened last year?

    it was funny

  47. I recently rewatched your videos on the adventure game. And I also enjoyed your video on FPS arsenals. How would you feel about making a video on the RTS? It feels like a genre that is seeing a dip in popularity.

    I don't have anything to say about RTS, it's never been one of my genres.

  48. Would you have liked Parasite more if the Park family were all irredeemable monsters with no real good qualities of any kind?

    No, I think that would've made it worse.

  49. How do you square,in the highest turnout election in 100 years, how moderate candidates like Connor Lamb, Max Rose and Bullock ran ahead of Biden (even if they lost because their district or state was so red) while progressives ran Behind Biden, like AOC, Omar and Tlaib with your theory that people want to elect progressives more than moderates?

    what do you mean by "ran ahead" and "ran behind"? Lamb, Rose, and Bullock lost while AOC, Omar, and Tlaib won.

  50. Is there anything to stop someone from posting plagiarized content on a paywall site like patreon or onlyfans?

    presumably you can get DMCA'd

  51. This is Phil fish holds up. Pretty impressive you started with quality and improved it on your channel

    in response to How do you feel about fame? Do you consider yourself famous?

    it probably wasn't good move to wait til my thirties before finally taking something I made public, but it had some advantages

  53. I guess my main "worry" is to make sure I get all the nutrients I need. I was thinking that maybe you had a go-to book, website or YouTube channel or something like that which you could recommend. The two books you mention sound promising, so thank you :)

    in response to I feel like you answered this before but I can't find it: What are some good resources when trying to get started to go vegan?

    Michael Pollan is not a vegan, but give In Defense of Food a read if you want a basic primer on how to eat healthily. It lends itself to veganism quite well.

  54. there is a discord server for video essayists. can we invite you to it?

    which video essayists?

  56. I feel like you answered this before but I can't find it: What are some good resources when trying to get started to go vegan?

    I didn't really use any resources, I just went vegan in California where it's pretty easy to do. Most vegan cookbooks have a "stocking the vegan pantry" section at the beginning that'll get you started - The Vegan Epicure also has a comprehensive "here's what foods have what nutrients" section which can be useful if you find you're not getting enough iron or something. Every vegan household has a copy of The Veganomicon (and probably The Omnivore's Dilemma even though it's not about veganism).

    I dunno, what kinda help do you need? I'm happy to answer (non-invasive) questions!

  57. Best song in a bad musical?

    in response to Worst songs in great musicals?

    every song in hamilton

    (kidding/not kidding)

  58. should i read books or watch youtube, im sure theres an explanation here

    read books, fewer nazis there

  59. I interpreted that bottle of vodka as a totem more than anything. It'd seem sketchy from an outside perspective, but whenever Bojack looked at it, he saw a starry sky whenever he looked into it, meaning he was reminded of Sarah Lynn, which is the reason he went to rehab in the first place. I understand the vodka wasn't allowed, but I do think it's worth noting that he wasn't keeping it around to drink it, it was one of the things keeping him grounded to the program and reminding him why he needs to get better.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Peanutbutter ran a destructive political campaign that ended with his house collapsing into the ground where a cult tribe formed and Jessica Biel killed and ate the flesh of Zach Braff and in like one of the first episodes, Todd was involved in the jail breaks of white supremacists and Latin King gang members and there's the whole thing with the clown dentists whose entire joke revolves around how traumatizing such an experience would be, and so on. A lot of the stuff that they're involved with isn't just wacky, it's also dangerous in any real world context.

    This is what I mean, there's two different standards at play here. The only reason that the hijinks of Mr. PB and don't traumatize people on level of Bojack's decisions is because the universe switches to Sitcom metaphysics whenever their involved. Mr. PB and Todd are the fun happy characters, so the trauma metaphysics of the universe turn off. But any time Bojack does something, even when it's non-malicious, it's blows up, sometimes because the universe contrives itself into forcing a disaster.

    in response to Do you think Bojack got atleast somewhat of an unfair shake in the series? I for the most part agree that that the series is an excellent character study and doesn't allow for idealization of him, but sometimes I felt the series went in too hard on him while letting other characters off the hook. Like when Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter get into their shenanigans, their consequences are far less damaging but if Bojack did them, it'd be another "wow, you're so toxic, bojack" moment. I think the series kinda made a point about this in the episode with the Therapy Horse doctor where he just threw away a water bottle filled with vodka like any normal person would but the universe conspired to have it land in the Therapy horses hands, at which point he just drank all of it, and he then blames it all on Bojack even though it only happened through hyper contrived means. I guess the thing I'm asking is, I do love the series and am on board what it's saying most of the time, but people who do more destructive things innocently (Todd, Mr. PB) get off so much lighter and far more malicious characters tend to get away with whatever they're doing, there are times where the series is straight up unfair to Bojack. And while it's 10000000% good that Bojack works on himself to get better, it also annoyed me that there were times where the rules were so much harsher for him than anyone else. Any thoughts on that?

    okay, yes, the vodka bottle is a totem, but the fact that it's a totem *that is extremely dangerous to have in a rehab facility* is the whole point. it's spelled out in the interview with Biscuits Braxby in the last season: it's not that he WANTS to hurt people, it's that he just doesn't care enough not to. it's not malicious that he keeps a vodka bottle in a rehab center, but he prioritizes what it means to him over the fact that it could really hurt someone, *which it ends up doing*. there are predictable consequences to his actions.

    Mr Peanutbutter's house dropping into an underground cave system where he accidentally starts a fire-worshipping cult that eats Zach Braff is less predictable.

  60. OP here! Completely understand how that would be an issue. I don't really have a social media presence recluse that I am, but would the most appropriate way to send you a picture just be to create a twitter and @ you on it? Sending best wishes for your health.

    in response to Hi! Do you accept gifts? I was thinking of making an art based on the ARP, just of some of the ending sentences that I found very moving with your little figure guys alongside.

    you can email it at innuendostudiosian[at]gmail[dot]com

    thank you!!!

  61. Wait do you really have covid?

    yes, the test came back positive on Sunday. I've been quarantined in a small office for four days, playing lots of Ikenfell.

  62. You talk about Bojack Horseman a lot on here I noticed, any plans on doing a video on it sometime in the future?

    Also, I know you got a lot on your plate, I hope you recover soon!

    nothing planned, no. I feel like my takes are pretty entry-level for BoJack fans. I could use BoJack as an example of "X trope done right" in a video on another topic, maybe.

  64. I know and believe that, it was more about should bernie stop running for election after 2020.

    in response to Do you think bernie should pass the progressive torch to someone else in the next election?

    Bernie will be 83 years old in the next election. I think he should stop running because the odds of him living to the end of a Presidential run are distressingly low.

    ...though honestly, AOC will be 35, meaning legally old enough to be President, so if he ran with her as VP on the expectation that he would probably die in office and hand the Presidency to a more progressive woman of color... I could get down with that

  66. Hi! Do you accept gifts? I was thinking of making an art based on the ARP, just of some of the ending sentences that I found very moving with your little figure guys alongside.

    If you make art I'd love to look at it! But if you mean mailing it to me... no, I don't do that. But thank you!

  67. Do you think bernie should pass the progressive torch to someone else in the next election?

    we're allowed to have more than one progressive

  68. What is the coolest size

    actual

  69. (approaches u via shorthop nair) how you gonna get out of this one punk

    powershield, wavedash in, grab

  70. Do you think Bojack got atleast somewhat of an unfair shake in the series? I for the most part agree that that the series is an excellent character study and doesn't allow for idealization of him, but sometimes I felt the series went in too hard on him while letting other characters off the hook. Like when Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter get into their shenanigans, their consequences are far less damaging but if Bojack did them, it'd be another "wow, you're so toxic, bojack" moment. I think the series kinda made a point about this in the episode with the Therapy Horse doctor where he just threw away a water bottle filled with vodka like any normal person would but the universe conspired to have it land in the Therapy horses hands, at which point he just drank all of it, and he then blames it all on Bojack even though it only happened through hyper contrived means.

    I guess the thing I'm asking is, I do love the series and am on board what it's saying most of the time, but people who do more destructive things innocently (Todd, Mr. PB) get off so much lighter and far more malicious characters tend to get away with whatever they're doing, there are times where the series is straight up unfair to Bojack. And while it's 10000000% good that Bojack works on himself to get better, it also annoyed me that there were times where the rules were so much harsher for him than anyone else. Any thoughts on that?

    You are comparing "BoJack tried to get rid of a bottle of vodka [which he had been keeping in a rehab facility because, by his own admission, he doesn't think the rules apply to him]" to "Mr Peanutbutter bought a lot of colanders that one time and later Todd built a talking sex robot." Todd's shenanigans (rather improbably, granted) rarely hurt anyone, and Mr PB's don't cause any scars but the accompanying inability to stay grounded in the here and now costs him three marriages.

    BoJack literally traumatizes people.

  71. Isn’t socialism just another word for sabotage?

    the word "sabotage" derives from workers breaking their boss' machines in protest, so you're more right than you know

  72. since its coming up so much, do you have a favorite episode of Bojack?

    I've rewatched Stupid Piece of Shit a lot

  73. weird that anyone would call you fat imho, from every photo I've seen of you, you look like you're of pretty average build, not ripped or anything, just like, an average sized dude, not fat at all

    in response to Your worst video essay was the one on cucks. There's nothing grosser than a fat balding man talking about his sex life publicly.

    If you look at footage or photos of me throughout my career you can see I've gained a bunch of weight. I don't think most people would call me *fat* today, but I'm a bit chonk. People can guess that I might be sensitive about it.

    Fortunately, people who say "you're fat" to strangers on the internet are not people whose opinions matter!

Anon commented:
Ian replied: