CuriousCat Archive Page 12 of 202

  1. Same Diff Anon:
    Nothing to do with how it's the Sonic 3 (and Knuckles) stage just before difficulty starts to spike. Ok ok. Cool.

    in response to Diff Anon: I have a feeling I already know, but why?

    it's not that Carnival Night is DIFFICULT, it just has that unspoken mechanic that makes the game unplayable until you figure it out

  5. Diff Anon:
    I have a feeling I already know, but why?

    in response to Favorite Sonic Zone

    s'fun! go real fast, lotsa rings.

  7. Why do you think Marxism-Leninism became the dominant communist ideology if it’s so antithetical to the egalitarian ethos leftists strive for?

    it's not something I've researched heavily but I suspect it's survivorship bias. capitalists - and especially the US - try to overthrow any communist movement that comes to power, and the heavily centralized and militant ones are more likely to survive those efforts. I have my suspicions that those are also the kinds of communists that more successfully mobilize towards revolution in the first place, which makes me wonder if the skills needed to survive/overthrow capitalism are counter to the ones needed to build a socialist state. but I don't feel confident in saying yes or no to that, it's more a question I wanna investigate.

  9. how much money do I have to Venmo you so you give your opinion on the channel second thought

    $15,000

  10. Yes, personal property is stuff you personally own like your toothbrush. Private property is stuff used for business and commerce. I understand the problems with the profit motive, but why is private property as a whole bad?

    in response to What’s wrong with private property?

    what purpose does it serve other than the profit motive? isn't it, pretty much definitionally, resource-hoarding?

  11. What’s wrong with private property?

    before I answer, do you understand the distinction between private property and personal property?

  12. going to a convention soon, how do I get a cosplayer gf

    dress as Aquaman

  13. Favorite Sonic Zone

    Marble Garden

  14. What if the Lasers had Feelings?

    in response to Not with lasers?

    new pixar

  15. Omelas or Um-Helat?

    Um-Helat

  16. Not with lasers?

    in response to I completely agree that we need to abolish the carceral state! But one could imagine a different type of justice system that is based in restorative and rehabilitative justice. One in which we apprehend nazis, keep them from causing harm, and destroy orgs that profilerate nazism. At least, we do need to have laws, a way to enforce those ways, and an ethical means to bring justice to those who break certain laws. Maybe something like Jury Duty. Nazi Containment Duty, Shooter Apprenhension Duty, etc.

    too slow

  17. I completely agree that we need to abolish the carceral state! But one could imagine a different type of justice system that is based in restorative and rehabilitative justice. One in which we apprehend nazis, keep them from causing harm, and destroy orgs that profilerate nazism.

    At least, we do need to have laws, a way to enforce those ways, and an ethical means to bring justice to those who break certain laws.

    Maybe something like Jury Duty. Nazi Containment Duty, Shooter Apprenhension Duty, etc.

    in response to Would it be ethical to make it a felony to get a swastika Tatoo? Cause it'd be really nice to arrest everyone with swastika tattoos.

    yeah yeah yeah, all of that is good, but so is taking off the tattoos with cheese graters

  19. I am an occultist who uses a pattern of interaction to generate a specific response from people such as you. U mad?

    blargplork

  20. Thoughts on Rene Descartes?

    make sure not to put him before Deshorse

  21. since this platform is not well archived, can you explain why that new video had to be reuploaded? I take it YouTube didn't like you shit talking them in a sponsor for Nebula?

    no, I just needed to redo the sponsor read. Nebula and I were supposed to work on the script together and I spaced and just wrote and edited something myself.

    both the old and new versions are demonetized on YouTube and I won't be making any ad revenue off it for at least a month.

  22. Would it be ethical to make it a felony to get a swastika Tatoo?

    Cause it'd be really nice to arrest everyone with swastika tattoos.

    you don't address swastika tats with the carceral state, you address them with a cheese grater

  23. April O'Neil, Ariel, and MJ are the ones off the top of my head

    in response to in a lot of media they're replacing established red head characters with black versions of those characters I don't have a problem with it but why always the red heads?

    huh, I dunno. the fact that it's specifically women is notable as well. (does this go back to Judas being played by a Black actor in Jesus Christ Superstar?) also interesting that all these redheads were cartoons.

    I should mention the new Ariel *is* still a redhead, just a Black redhead.

    I would be interested in reading an essay by a Black woman on whether this is a real phenomenon or just a coincidence, and, if real, what it might signify. I'm not the person to do that.

  25. I hate Reagan as much as you but unemployment was higher when he took office (7.5%) than when he left office (5.4%). Not that this or the reduction had anything to do with his tax cuts; it was caused by the “Volcker shock” of raising interest rates to very high levels and then lowering them combined with the global reduction in oil prices due to the Iran-Iraq war and tension within OPEC.

    in response to But he significantly reduced inflation and unemployment, as well as ended the Cold War and achieved nuclear disarmament peacefully.

    yeah, I misremembered which way the 2% change happened and have edited the original post. mea culpa.

    the fact that his tax policies are what created the 40 years of regular recessions since, with all their attendant inflation and unemployment, is worth mentioning.

  26. But he significantly reduced inflation and unemployment, as well as ended the Cold War and achieved nuclear disarmament peacefully.

    in response to Why do you think Reagan was a bad president?

    those are, to a one, things he either cannot take credit for or did not happen. unemployment was only nominally lower when he left office than when he started, and in between he directly caused the highest spike in unemployment since the Great Depression. not even the depths of the Recession hit 11%, but Reagan did.

  27. in a lot of media they're replacing established red head characters with black versions of those characters I don't have a problem with it but why always the red heads?

    who?

  28. Diff Anon:
    Possibly oversharing but my "work" can be summarized as building fig leaves to hide the shameful callousness of my employers. "Lipstick on a pig" stuff.

    in response to You do realize that food doesn't just materialize in the grocery store right? If nobody worked to provide you food, then there would be no food and you would starve. You need to work to buy things because things are only created by work.

    that is what we call a "bullshit job" and, if there were no one to do it, important things like food production and trash cleanup would still happen. it is a job that no one would do if they didn't HAVE to work to stay alive, and the world would be no worse off if the job didn't exist.

  29. OH, YEAH!!!

    in response to oh, yeah?

    oh no

  30. Are you excited for any new albums?

    I'm always finding music I haven't heard before, but I haven't paid a ton of attention to what's new vs. what's new to me. but apparently Zeal & Ardor have a new album coming out in August, so that's cool!

  31. since you’re vegan what do you use if you want a sour cream/Greek yogurt type condiment? are there solid vegan replacements or is it something you don’t mind missing

    never a big sour cream guy, but yeah, there are nondairy versions of most common dairy products

  32. Was the theocracy actually caused by American interference?

    in response to (Diff anon) Most of the reasons an American leftist wouldn't want to be in Iran are... pretty direct consequences of US government actions? It seems like the very fact that someone could invoke "move to Iran" like a threat is a pretty good argument in favor of burning the American flag if you know history

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iran_coup#:~:text=Following%20the%20coup%2C%20a%20government,to%20hold%20on%20to%20power.

  33. You do realize that food doesn't just materialize in the grocery store right? If nobody worked to provide you food, then there would be no food and you would starve. You need to work to buy things because things are only created by work.

    in response to when I see people shoplift it sickens me why even try to work to buy things when you can just steal.

    turns out people are more than willing to do that work without economic incentive. because "I need to eat" is incentive enough. this is how most people ate for millennia before capitalism.

  36. There are lots of different sign languages tho. Like, I know you're kinda doing an "expand ur thinking" answer and maybe this is enough, but you could just as easily have recommended... IDK... SEE?? Or GSL???

    in response to What language should I learn? I know English and Spanish.

    it wasn't an "expand your thinking" answer, ASL is a language I've always wanted to learn and took an introductory online class last year. I don't know much about the other sign languages, and, given the asker was asking in English, ASL seemed like the one most practically useful. but, sure, if GSL or SEE are more your bag, go for it!

  37. What would you do if your kid was trans and wanted confirmation surgery? Would you just let them get puberty blockers or would you let them go the whole nine yards?

    I would put them on puberty blockers and we would start the process of looking into surgery. I'm not suuuuper worried about "what if the kid changes their mind???" given the process of getting surgery is pretty long. they'll have time to sit with it and change their mind. if the kid hasn't had puberty yet, we're not talking about top surgery, we're talking phalloplasty or vaginoplasty. gotta admit: those are things I'd need to save up for.

    in short: I would make it clear to them that it's their decision and it will be respected; that it is a big decision and they can change their mind at any time; that they do not NEED surgery to be and live as the correct gender; that they are loved and respected in whatever body they have. if, by the time we can make surgery happen, they still want it, then surgery shall it be.

  38. Universal Basic Income or Universal Basic Services ?

    sure

  39. A statue of Calhoun is far worse than a statue of George Washington. George Washington did legitimately great things in addition to owning slaves. Calhoun is notable for nothing more than unapologetically supporting slavery and driving the country to the brink of disunion for its expansion. I don’t think Washington should be deified the way he is, but the good things he did can be acknowledged while the fact that he owned slaves can be condemned.

    The key question is whether arguing that both Washington’s and Calhoun’s statues come down expands the Overton window or whether it makes calling for Calhoun’s statues to come down seem more unreasonable.

    in response to Do you think it’s fair to judge past historical figures based on our modern moral standards? I.E. most of the founding fathers owning slaves. They were still progressive for their time in other ways.

    so it's not about what's right, it's about optics

  40. Do you think it’s fair to judge past historical figures based on our modern moral standards? I.E. most of the founding fathers owning slaves. They were still progressive for their time in other ways.

    sure, but... why does that matter? like, this question isn't actually "how should we think about historical figures?" it's about how we should USE THEM to understand the present. this is a question about whether we wanna cheer when Washington comes on state in Hamilton; this is about whether we want to have statues of John C. Calhoun; this is about whether we should watch Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind in high school; this is about whether we want to have Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. this isn't about the past, it's about how we should behave NOW. and NOW, exalting slaveholders when the descendents of those slaves are citizens is pretty fucked up!

  41. Can you write me a haiku?

    no no no no no
    no no no no no no no
    no no no maybe

  42. Hi Ian! Hope you are doing well.

    I saw that your video ranking smart people music disappeared. Did you take it down? Sorry if you already wrote about this on your twitter (I don't use twitter).

    Take care!

    I messed up the sponsor read so I took it down to redo! it'll be back up soon.

  44. No, not "currently"...definitionally.

    Commerce (noun): The activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale.

    Whatever you're thinking of would be a society *without* commerce.

    in response to (diff anon) Because that's how commerce works.

    "the act of buying and selling" does not state it is mandatory. compulsory commerce is capitalism.

  46. What language should I learn? I know English and Spanish.

    ASL

  47. Do you like Santana?

    I'll always have a soft spot for him because my guitar teacher taught me on Santana and Eric Clapton. Oye Como Va is a jam.

  48. Do you have much to say about folks who are both?

    in response to Is anarchism more left-wing than communism?

    I mean... all my anarchist friends are anarcho-communists. I don't hang with ancaps.

  50. Thoughts on Winston Churchill?

    "if you were my wife, I would drink it" is a banger comeback

  51. Diff Anon:
    I'm not sure all of my peers know the keywords "wage theft" and "NLRB Violations".
    Also!!!
    Please don't forget that we also subsidize their security and strike breaking expenses by publicly funding the police!

    in response to Do you think shoplifting from big businesses is ok.

    here's a nice video about how corporations steal more from their employees than all other forms of theft combined! https://youtu.be/cnh0Z51H87s?si=D9wcT4a5dc4zXFZY

  52. Why is monarchist YouTube becoming a thing?

    maybe The Crown?

  54. Are you a polymath?

    I'm in a triad with sine and cotangent

  56. Do you consider yourself white? How do you feel about that?

    inasmuch as whiteness exists, I am white. like, my ancestry is British and German, it doesn't get much whiter than that. not even Irish or Italian or Polish or any of those other Europeans who are only white MOST of the time. maybe someday my whiteness will be revoked, but, so far, it is as secure as it can be.

    part of the benefit of whiteness is I don't HAVE to feel anything about it. I mean, I made a whole video about that; privilege is having an identity you don't have to think about. as a progressive anti-racist, I spend more of my time thinking about my whiteness than most white people, and sometimes I'm self-conscious about it, and a lot of the time I'm angry at whiteness as an institution for giving me privileges I didn't ask for at the expense of people who don't deserve to be mistreated. it's hard to for me enjoy something I don't think is fair, even when it benefits me. I understand that being a decent white person requires taking some responsibility, and I do my best to do so.

    but, even with all that, I still don't have to think about it that much. like, I know, if I am the only white person in a room, that is the MOST conscious of my race I will likely be, and everyone else who is noticing "there is a single white guy here" is probably MORE aware of their race than I am. and as soon as I'm in a different room, thinking about race at all goes back to being a choice, something I can get distracted and stop thinking about.

    the weirdest thing about whiteness is that it isn't weirder.

  57. Diff Anon:
    Feel like there's a facile answer here that's another 2-3 steps/rhetorical questions from "I have to work because all of the things I want or need are hoarded by people who have 'wealth' and the expectation is that I will work for the things that they will get to hoard due to their 'wealth'. And if I object or remedy this situation in a way that disrupts 'wealth' violence will be used against me to force me to either comply or perish."

    in response to when I see people shoplift it sickens me why even try to work to buy things when you can just steal.

  58. when I see people shoplift it sickens me why even try to work to buy things when you can just steal.

    in response to Do you think shoplifting from big businesses is ok.

    yeah, that's a great question: why do you have to work to buy things?

  60. If pussy tastes like apple juice, why not both?

    in response to I like to get pussy

    d-
    does your pussy taste like apple juice?

  62. Is anarchism more left-wing than communism?

    this is one of those places where distilling politics down to a single axis is unhelpful. anarchism is one radically different way of structuring society. communism is another. it is possible to be both anarchist and communist.

  63. Do you think shoplifting from big businesses is ok.

    it is not something I do, but it is not something that bothers me. we know, for an absolute fact, that big businesses steal more from us in a year than we steal from them in a decade.

  64. has anyone ever gotten you with a ligma joke?

    no, but I fell for updog back in the day

  65. Do you get a day off work for Juneteenth?

    I'm self-employed, I get a day off when I take a day off, which is never

  66. What do you think of leftists that call folks like Bernie and AOC “liberal opportunists”?

    enh, I'm generally in favor of distrusting politicians and I think the exaltation of AOC and especially Bernie has been detrimental to the Left... but "liberal opportunists" is pretty reductive

  67. What do libertarians believe? Why do the care about the coercive nature of the state but not capitalism?

    in response to Genuinely curious, have you considered reading people like Hayek and Friedman to see if your perspectives might change?

    modern libertarians seemingly want complete freedom-from and complete freedom-to. they mostly see the state as a thing that tells them what to do, and see the market as an avenue to tell others what to do. capitalist coercion doesn't bother them if they assume they'll be doing the coercing.

  68. (Diff anon) Most of the reasons an American leftist wouldn't want to be in Iran are... pretty direct consequences of US government actions? It seems like the very fact that someone could invoke "move to Iran" like a threat is a pretty good argument in favor of burning the American flag if you know history

    in response to move to iran

  69. i have some family who moved to america from iran when the theocracy came into power and it's really interesting hearing what things are like over there. also, persian food fucking SLAPS

    in response to move to iran

    I make a veganized fessenjan sometimes and it's DELICIOUS

  70. Thoughts on Florida?

    intrusive ones

  71. Hypothetical: I hate nuts, but I don't wanna tell people that if they offer me, cuz it sounds lame. Should I just say "I'm allergic to nuts" even if I'm not, just to make it easier?

    this is a very "first act of a sitcom" question, I anticipate hijinks and shenanigans

  72. Does it work better or worse with the new Scott pilgrim netflix series

    in response to I like to get pussy

    gotta be the movie, you need Black Sheep to play

  73. Who do you think will win the election not who do you want to win who do you think it will be?

    lol, I don't WANT either of them to win and am fully unable to predict. sorry.

  75. I like to get pussy

    me too, bro, but have you tried drinking apple juice and just making out on the couch while Scott Pilgrim plays on the TV?

Anon commented:
Ian replied: