CuriousCat Archive Page 113 of 202

  2. "A toxic relationship is better than being alone" That concept in media always baffled me. If you acknowledge the relationship you have with a person is toxic and neither of you are ok with being alone, why wouldn't you just work on not being assholes to each other?

    in response to To some degree they’re all narcissists, but that’s because it’s a sitcom and that’s just the tradition cause it makes telling jokes easier. Winger gets a lot better, and gets to the point where he’s not any more manipulative than the others on the cast. It’s the point of the show that they’re all deeply broken people who are trying to find community in each other and put themselves back together.

    toxic relationships thrive on one party saying "keep working and eventually I'll stop being an asshole"

  3. What's the next Co Vid

    when it's finished

  4. Doesn't exploring whether or not something is problematic not all the time get a bit exhausting?

    you say that like it's a choice.

    I notice these things because I genuinely care about them. I don't know how to switch my values off just so I can enjoy something mindlessly. and I don't think I want to be the guy who can.

  5. How important do you consider subs count to be?

    Here are a number of potential responses to this question. They are all true.

    - Unimportant. I make the videos I want to make, not the ones I think will bring in subs. When I started this, I knew I might get seen by almost nobody and I was ready to do it anyway because it's what I wanted.

    - Not very important. I have never been able to predict which videos will be successful, and often enough videos with less attention have higher engagement. So sub count, view count, like/dislike ratio, these are just numbers, and don't equate with how much impact I've had.

    - A little important. I try not to place too much stock in hitting big, round numbers, but I can't deny hitting them feels nice.

    - Somewhat important. Subs may not equate with impact, but they are *correlated* to Patreon support. The math is that roughly 1% of viewers become subs and 1% of subs become patrons, so sub counts matter inasmuch as they help me feed myself. But this math isn't perfect, and sometimes smaller videos have higher viewer-to-patron conversion, so view and subs aren't the sole benchmark.

    - Important. My political videos are made to tell people things. It feels arrogant to say "I want to impact as many people as possible," but it's true: I make The Alt-Right Playbook because I want as many people as possible to learn the things I've learned.

    My head holds all of these opinions at once, and it can be a bit exhausting.

  6. It is though, because at least a toxic relationship can bear children.

    in response to To some degree they’re all narcissists, but that’s because it’s a sitcom and that’s just the tradition cause it makes telling jokes easier. Winger gets a lot better, and gets to the point where he’s not any more manipulative than the others on the cast. It’s the point of the show that they’re all deeply broken people who are trying to find community in each other and put themselves back together.

    miserable, damaged children who will either repeat cycles of abuse or need decades of therapy to deal with the trauma

    hey guess what toxic people tell you having them is better than being alone because they want you to forget those aren't the only two options

  7. No, I mean, "seems like a Philosophy Tube question", "Thorny"...I'm sorry, I'll leave.

    in response to Thorn-y, eh?

    jokes are funnier when you explain them

  8. Do you look better in pictures or in person?

    I am not a good judge of this

  9. Definition time! What constitutes „women's rights“ for you? What are examples for women's rights and what criteria does a right have to meet to be considered a women's right?

    the demand for women's rights is, by and large, not a demand for rights that are unique to women, but a demand for human rights that have been uniquely denied them, i.e. fair pay and equal representation fall under women's rights

  11. Bless me, Progressive Daddy, for I have sinned. I have enjoyed the problematic media without giving the sum of my earthly possessions to marginalized peoples.

    you will reread chapters 3-4 of The New Jim Crow and utter 30 Hail Steinams, my child

  12. Thoughts on what should happen to a copyrighted work if there's no valid holders left to claim the copyright anymore?

    I'm not sure I'm sold on the concept of copyright in the first place

  13. I gotta say man I like your opinions and you've got a lot of interesting stuff to say, but you sound like you'd be a nightmare to be around in real life.

    you do not, in fact, "gotta say" that

  14. Changing tact slightly, what's a redemption arc in fiction you actually thought was well-handled?

    Zuko

  15. Should roller blades be legit blades?

    in response to Should roller blades come back?

    omg that would be awesome, then you could take them on ice, how has nobody thought of this?!

  16. To some degree they’re all narcissists, but that’s because it’s a sitcom and that’s just the tradition cause it makes telling jokes easier. Winger gets a lot better, and gets to the point where he’s not any more manipulative than the others on the cast. It’s the point of the show that they’re all deeply broken people who are trying to find community in each other and put themselves back together.

    in response to Winger changes a lot

    the show repeatedly, in fact, argues that being together is deeply unhealthy for them and makes a grim joke out of the fact that sitcom tropes force them to stay in dysfunctional relationships, yet always argues that the dysfunction, though eternal, is in some way worth it

    i.e. a toxic relationship is better than being alone

  17. Winger changes a lot

    I didn't finish Community, but for the first 5 seasons Winger is perpetually dangling the carrot of changing, even ending episodes seeming to have learned some important lesson, but always returns to being a selfish, manipulative narcissist.

  18. Should roller blades come back?

    roller blades went away?!?!

  20. Do you still pay attention to melee? If so, who's your favorite player currently?

    I've been off the Melee train for a while. I flirted with getting back into it earlier this year, but it didn't take. :(

  21. Why do you think that? I personally think every citizen having to mail in a ballot would do a lot of good, though I wouldn't force them to fill it out if they truly don't care. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise

    in response to Should voting be mandatory?

    it would violate some religions' positions on not participating in "worldly" things like politics, for one. I'm also unconvinced people who are forced to vote are necessarily informed or engaged voters, so I don't think mandatory voting necessarily leads to a society that better reflects the people's needs and wants.

    but voting should, at the very least, be trivially easy, so absolutely everyone who wants to vote can. the fact that it's not is antidemocratic.

    but that's my pragmatic answer. it doesn't really engage with the question of whether a democratic society should have people in it who don't participate. like... if democracy is "government by the people," should people who don't help govern be bound by its laws? should they get to drive on its roads? should they have to pay its taxes? that's a big, thorny subject that I don't have great answers to, seems like a Philosophy Tube question.

  22. This makes sense for Rick and Morty but how would it apply to Community?

    in response to I feel like Rick and Morty were starting to go for a possible redemption arc by pointing out specifically why being an Asshole actually makes Rick vulnerable and "weak" (especially in Pickle Rick, where they explicitly state it) but it looks like they've either pulled back or don't have the confidence to commit to the progression.

    Winger

  23. I don’t think this applies to community, but rick and morty certainly

    in response to I feel like Rick and Morty were starting to go for a possible redemption arc by pointing out specifically why being an Asshole actually makes Rick vulnerable and "weak" (especially in Pickle Rick, where they explicitly state it) but it looks like they've either pulled back or don't have the confidence to commit to the progression.

    absolutely applies to Community

  24. Should voting be mandatory?

    no, but it should be trivially easy to do

  25. Forgive me if you have answered this question here already, but - where would you recommend people interested in Samuel R. Delany's writing start off?

    Nova is probably the best mix of ambitious and accessible

  26. Do you think conservatives will care about stopping climate change when it actually starts affecting them?

    by the time it's affecting the wealthiest, most privileged people in the world it'll be too late

  27. Do you think revolution is a good way to secure civil rights for lgbtq and African Americans

    depends on who's revolting and who wins

  29. I feel like Rick and Morty were starting to go for a possible redemption arc by pointing out specifically why being an Asshole actually makes Rick vulnerable and "weak" (especially in Pickle Rick, where they explicitly state it) but it looks like they've either pulled back or don't have the confidence to commit to the progression.

    in response to Can you elaborate on what you mean?

    Dan Harmon's writing style is built around the promise of change but ultimately providing only stasis. It's very much like having an abusive boyfriend - he has to constantly convince you change is *about to come* so you don't leave, especially once you've sunk years into waiting for it. Can't stand the thought of not being around when it finally happens.

  30. Who, where, when, why, and hownis a tankie?

    in response to What's a tankie?

    the short version is tankies are leftists who defend Stalin

  31. Can anarcho-capitalists be converted into anarcho-communists?

    anything's possible

  32. Are you, Jacob Geller and Dan Olson avatars of the same YouTuber?

    no, but thank you for the compliment

  33. What do you think of the phrase "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life"?

    ::wanking motion::

  34. Do you think the Democratic party can fundamentally be reformed into a force for positive change or will it eternally be the "at least we're not the Republicans" party?

    anything *can* happen, but I'm not predicting what *will*

  35. Can you elaborate on what you mean?

    in response to Do you think Bojack Horseman does a better job of making the audience aware of that tension, and not getting them to fall down the rabbit hole of making excuses for the anti-hero?

    One of the reasons audiences keep admiring Walter White, Tony Soprano, Rick Sanchez, etc., even though it's clear the point of the narrative is you're suppose to realize they're a hollowed out husk whose soul is ruined by their actions, is because they're all really, really good at what they do. Like... Rick is an asshole, but he's pretty much always right about everything and can do things no one else can. Which lets the audience feel (and maybe gives away that the writers also feel) that, on some level, maybe being a horrible, abusive monster is worth it? It's the Asshole Genius conundrum - yeah, he's an asshole, but you can't deny he's a genius.

    BoJack doesn't provoke this reflexive admiration because all he's ever done is reap rewards he didn't earn. He's not an asshole genius, he's just a rich, privileged, entitled cishet man who is also an asshole. His fans admire him precisely *because* they think he's good at something, but the audience knows he's not.

    If you want to write a character the audience can actually feel critical of, it helps to not make him a badass.

  36. I know you probably get this question a lot, but will the next Alt Right Playbook video be out before the election?

    almost certainly not

  37. What does Positive Masculinity look like?

  38. Who's your favorite Captain Falcon player? Also, do you feel the PRESENCE OF THE LORD?

    Jeapie, always and forever

  39. Why is it, do you think, that the left seems to have this "No true Scotsman" problem while the right doesn't?

    in response to (Different anon) Lib here. If you don't make explicitly anticapitalist arguments aren't you functionally a lib? (I'm not saying this applies to you. I remember you making leftist arguments)

    Oh, the Right absolutely does. Milo wrote a piece "introducing" the Alt-Right to the world on Breitbart, sweeping its white nationalist origins under the rug. In turn, The Daily Stormer wrote a hit piece on Milo for erasing them from the movement, and disavowed him for being gay and having a Black partner. And both hate on establishment Republicans for not being reactionary enough, hence "cuckservative." In fact, most reactionary movements end when the central figures inevitably turn on one another and break off into their own movements (and eventually end up in jail).

    The difference is they're able to put differences aside when it's time to show up, either by voting as a block or making politicians' phones ring off the hook about their pet policy. Turns out, not having a lot of integrity about who you let sit at your table is good for electoral politics.

  40. Is BreadTube too lib? It feels like it's mostly social democrats these days, who would rather 'save' capitalism than abolish it.

    "BreadTube" is a term fans use to lump a lot of people with similar politics together, so if it's "too lib" is because y'all lumped in too many libs.

    But, also, a lot of people assume I'm a liberal because I don't have the right leftist signifiers? Like, I'll straight up argue that fascism is continuous with capitalism and leftism is the only way to be an antifascist, but since I don't quote Chomsky people are like "too bad he's a shitlib." So maybe ask whether the people you consider "too lib" have actually said they're trying to save capitalism or if you've assumed that because they haven't been as expressly revolutionary as you'd prefer.

  41. Is there a term you know that defines the phenomena of people vehemently valuing traditional interpretations of fiction?

    You probably haven't follows The Last of Us 2's release, but I see a lot of discourse that resembles the discourse of The Last Jedi, and the similarities I noticed is that many people criticize both stories for not following in the traditional narrative steps of either their franchise or their genre. And not just criticize, but seemingly are offended by the very idea, where they are responding in a far more personal way than if they just saw media that they happened to not like. Like, it's not that they 'dislike' that Luke became a failed hermit, they're actively incensed by the idea of it.

    At the time, I thought it was just parasocial relationships that were amplifying their disappointment, but now that we have a slightly different case with TLoU2, I'm at the point where I'm starting to suspect this is an more a mental framework that people occupy and I'm waiting for it to happen a third time to see if more conclusions can be drawn. But if someone has already has written about it, I'd love to hear about it.

    Well, people wanting what is comforting and familiar to stay the same is a real anxiety, which is, on the face of it, the issue. Don't know any writing about that in specific.

    But I'm not convinced that's all that's going on.

    One of the things developers say when beta testing video games is that you have to pay attention to what people don't like but ignore why they say they don't like it. Because they aren't designers, they don't know why the shooting feels bad or the jumping feels too floaty, and they'll probably just grab the first thing they see as different from what they're used to. "The guns should be more like DOOM," "the jump should be more like Mario." It's important for the devs to figure out what's *actually* wrong and not just do what the playtesters say, because the dev knows plopping another game's mechanics into their game isn't actually gonna fix things.

    I feel it's a similar situation here. People are mad at TLJ and TLOU2 because of deeper reasons they can't quite express. Both stories have female protagonists in a series that began with men. Both stories have themes that critique and complicate the ones expected - TLJ questions the tropes of Star Wars, space opera, and chosen one narratives; TLOU2 questions revenge narratives, which the 3rd person action game is often based around.

    That makes them uncomfortable, and they reflexively reach for "that's a break with series tradition" because a) they don't want to admit that the themes and the female protagonists make them uncomfortable, and b) they wouldn't know how to articulate that discomfort if they *could* admit it. So they reach for "series canon" because that's something they *can* articulate, and something everyone else angry about the changes can understand.

  42. That could just be a failure of imagination. That unrestrained rage is the among the most positive emotional states they can experience (strong form) or know how to evoke (weak form) certainly seems possible, within the plethora of human experiences.

    If they say there's no other way they'd rather feel, are we to disbelieve them? (note: parallel to depression)

    Idk, I've been thinking about this on and off since the Notch questions earlier.

    in response to Do you think the left is, on average, happier than the right?

    I've compared the Far Right to people in cults or abusive relationships. Those people often think they're happy. They don't realize how unhappy they were until they're not in that place anymore. I think similar applies to the Right.

  43. Favorite Mood from the Peak Bleak Blues (And Other Moods) collection?

    Either A Sense of Pieces or The English Evergreens David Bowie Is Running To

  44. I worry that lies are effective. I worry that I am easily lied to, and that I have no strong core beliefs. I don’t really have a question, there just isn’t a good place to put these worries.

    Sounds like it's worth doing some independent research on the issues you think people are lying to you about and deciding what you think about them in a more neutral environment.

  45. Is this one of those issues where people feel more comfortable not voting bc it's easier to feel blameless about the outcome of a passive action? Like oh if Biden wins and I voted for him, I'm responsible for his wrongdoing, but if Trump wins & I did nothing I get to feel blameless

    in response to I think those on the left who will not vote Biden are those who were vote blue no matter who, but because of 1) his track record both with the Crime Bill and Iraq war producing a higher body count than 45, and 2) they were but they see it as tho liberals just "go back to sleep" and the material conditions for another fascist to arrive are not addressed. And the sad thing is, personally, I don't know how to address them.

    yes, and I can't seem to convince anyone that that's not how democracy works

    and, yes, I know our democracy is broken af, but voting is one of the FEW WAYS your government still allows you a tiny bit of agency, which means you are responsible for what you do with it, AND WHAT YOU DON'T DO

  46. Should I feel bad for finding this funny

    in response to Collab with Adolescent Ian when?

    nah, it was technically a joke

    technically

  47. Did you know TARP is doing such a good job of making concepts accessible that it's now getting name dropped in discussions between scholars? I'd love to be specific but CC resisted all my attempts at giving the (totally innocuous) name and title, until I eventually gave up.

    now I'm curious and frustrated!

  48. What’s been the most challenging aspect of the pandemic for you?

    A few months ago I would've said the lack of privacy. I live in a house with three other people, and none of them are leaving for work anymore, and I can't leave to go to the library or a cafe, so I just regularly have no privacy. I was trying to make a personal phone call today and my partner was on a phone call in our bedroom and a housemate was on a work Zoom in the living room and there was just no place to have a conversation that wasn't being impeded on by someone else.

    But, to a degree, I've adapted. I don't love it, but, with practice, I can handle it. What doesn't get better is the constant, daily, gnawing anxiety of being in a crisis that does not end because an evil bastard won't end it. I spend significant energy every day trying to block the reality of 200,000+ dead for no fucking good reason and still not knowing when it will be over. I can't stop grinding my teeth. My sleep gets fucked up for days on end. I have about one day a week where I just shut down, incapable of doing anything but staring at screens. Most of the world is going back to normal and we don't even have an estimate for when life will resume, or how fucked the economy is, or what the long-term health effects on people who've recovered will be. The future is this enormous question mark and you KNOW the answers aren't good.

    I was realizing the other night that 2020 has probably taken several years off my life and I'm fucking PISSED about it.

  49. I think those on the left who will not vote Biden are those who were vote blue no matter who, but because of 1) his track record both with the Crime Bill and Iraq war producing a higher body count than 45, and 2) they were but they see it as tho liberals just "go back to sleep" and the material conditions for another fascist to arrive are not addressed. And the sad thing is, personally, I don't know how to address them.

    I don't disagree with either of those statements. It's a shit situation we're in.

    Now tell me how another 4 years of Trump solve either problem.

  50. Do you think Bojack Horseman does a better job of making the audience aware of that tension, and not getting them to fall down the rabbit hole of making excuses for the anti-hero?

    in response to so... more then? speaking to a redemption *arc* as "i must go and do things that establish i am not the person i was was" Why do redemption arcs in fiction mostly skip that step and reach for the "you have to give forgiveness now"?

    Yes. Also - and this is key - BoJack isn't actually *good* at anything.

  52. Collab with Adolescent Ian when?

    every time I get depressed it's a collab with adolescent Ian

  53. You wouldn't teach him how to finish his writing projects? Is that a skill he shouldn't develop until he grows out of his 'humorously' insulting people phase?

    in response to If you could travel back in time to give adolescent Ian some advice, what would it be?

    My problem with writing as an adolescent was simply not having a lot to say. Maybe it would've been good to actually write some of the -ahem- NOVELS I had planned but they wouldn't have been good and I'm not sure I was mature enough to learn what I needed to learn from them. Those problems were really only solved by growing as a human, and I can't really teach that to a 10-year-old.

  54. If you could travel back in time to give adolescent Ian some advice, what would it be?

    in response to If Adolescent Ian were a Youtuber, what sort of videos would he make? Are there any existing channels his work could be easily compared to?

    "in a couple years you're gonna pick up from other boys that 'humorously' insulting people is a kind of camaraderie. no one outside your friend group will find this cute and you should leave it at school or get different friends."

  55. If Adolescent Ian were a Youtuber, what sort of videos would he make? Are there any existing channels his work could be easily compared to?

    in response to Yes, but divide the roll result by 2 to compensate.

    adolescent Ian was kinda talented at starting to write something of his own and never getting past the first paragraph, don't think he would've finished a script

  56. Yes, but divide the roll result by 2 to compensate.

    in response to Hm... square root of your age plus 1d6 more years? How does that sound?

    okay, so 10 1/2

    at 10 1/2 I would have been alternately confused and appalled by my work. I was already obsessed with video games at the time, so I would've been excited that I get paid to talk about them, but I wouldn't have understood why I was talking about all the stuff I was talking about. like, yay, I'm talking about adventure games! and... genre? narrative theory? gender?!? abuse?!?!?!?! probably would've liked the smash video but been annoyed that the only truly enthusiastic video was about a fighting game and not an adventure.

    and I frickin' hated politics as a kid and vowed never to pay attention to them. 10 1/2 year old me would have been bored out of his tiny skull by The Alt-Right Playbook. wouldn't know any of the terms, would have no interest in learning them.

    basically, adolescent Ian would have been incredibly disappointed to learn he grows up into a political, vegan, polyamorous atheist, and, you know what? I'm happy to disappoint him.

  57. but if i have to work late nights

    in response to Do you have any recommendations for how to endure late worknights without coffee?

    If you *have* to work late nights, the best thing is to adjust your sleep schedule to accommodate. But if your schedule is erratic and late nights come at random, then, yeah, I guess drink some coffee and power through.

  58. Do you happen to use any productivity or anti distraction apps or tools? In particular for windows specifically, my android has a Digital Wellness feature that helps me avoid looking at it, I've not found anything that follows quite the same features.

    I just recently started using Stay Focused on my phone to keep me off social media during work hours. At first that was enough, but lately I've been finding myself checking Twitter on my laptop more and more, and it seems directly correlated to being more stressed out, so I might download the browser extension.

  59. Since you're taking Radiohead questions, what do you think of the placement of Electioneering on OK Computer?

    in response to Huh. That's weird because I feel the opposite about Amnesiac and In Rainbows. In Rainbows has so many memorable songs whether it's the alien soul of Nude, the big emotional climax of All I Need, the chill arpeggios of Weird Fishes, or everything about Reckoner. I liked Amnesiac's atmosphere, but it had weird unfinished-feeling songs like Puk/Pull Revolving Doors, Hunting Bears, and Like Spinning Plates. Also Knives Out is overrated imo. I guess music taste is really personal.

    putting a rockout track between the two creepy songs makes sense I suppose

  60. Would you consider Tankies leftists? Or Red Fash?

    I try not to consider tankies

  63. Why is big joel objectively the best?

    again I come in second :(

  64. (Different anon) Lib here. If you don't make explicitly anticapitalist arguments aren't you functionally a lib?

    (I'm not saying this applies to you. I remember you making leftist arguments)

    in response to Is BreadTube too lib? It feels like it's mostly social democrats these days, who would rather 'save' capitalism than abolish it.

    or you might be someone trying to talk to libs - like yourself - without alienating them

    there is a lot of different work being done by different parts of the Left, all of it serving its purpose, and it annoys me when one part decrees itself to be the only Real Left

  66. Do you feel you interact with music in a fundamentally different way than you do other media?

    in response to What do you think of In Rainbows?

    not significantly moreso than I interact with all media in unique ways

  68. Huh. That's weird because I feel the opposite about Amnesiac and In Rainbows.

    In Rainbows has so many memorable songs whether it's the alien soul of Nude, the big emotional climax of All I Need, the chill arpeggios of Weird Fishes, or everything about Reckoner.

    I liked Amnesiac's atmosphere, but it had weird unfinished-feeling songs like Puk/Pull Revolving Doors, Hunting Bears, and Like Spinning Plates. Also Knives Out is overrated imo.

    I guess music taste is really personal.

    in response to What do you think of In Rainbows?

    Amnesiac has a lot of floaty, half-finished songs, but it's the last album where I remember individual tracks being excellent compositions.

  69. Hm... square root of your age plus 1d6 more years? How does that sound?

    in response to Ah, were you not younger in highschool than in now?

    I don't think I have a d6 handy, can I use a d20?

  71. How to look cool while doing a fuck

    in response to How to have cool sex

    aviator glasses

  73. There's been a split in some of the online leftist circles I frequent about what the correct line of action is this election. Some believe in 'lesser evilism' and advocate voting for Biden as a sort of damage control while others disavow electoralism altogether and say that we shouldn't vote at all, because ultimately nothing will change as long as we keep voting for the lesser evil. I'm in the first camp, but the argument that 'if we continue voting for the lesser evil, we'll just end up with a new trump eventually and never truly defeat the system because the democrats won't ever need to change' does also make some sense to me. What is your take on this?

    I struggle to see where "new Trump eventually" is preferable to "current Trump now." There is work we can accomplish under Biden that we cannot accomplish under Trump. People who think staying home on election day is praxis are people who are not thinking beyond electoralism.

  74. Name your most favourite videos by each Lefttuber that you can off the top of your head.

    Contrapoints: Incels
    Philosophy Tube: Men. Abuse. Trauma.
    Carlos Maza: Coronavirus and America's Death Cult
    Lindsay Ellis: Manufacturing Authenticity (For Fun And Profit)
    Jay Smooth: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race (TED Talk)
    Magdalen Rose: Media Virus! Why Douglas Rushkoff is from the Future
    Maggie Mae Fish: Fight Club
    Shaun: Charlottesville
    Sarah Z: Why Debating Sucks
    Shannon Strucci: Parasocial Hell
    Brows Held High: The Rise of Bi Lighting
    Big Joel: Sargon of Akkad
    Folding Ideas: my brain says Triumph of the Will but my heart says The Book of Henry
    Hbomberguy: Climate Denial

    (this was not off the top of my head, I went through my subs list and picked my favs)

  75. Why does it feel like every year is worst than the last?

    because it's been empirically true for the last for years?

Anon commented:
Ian replied: