CuriousCat Archive Page 122 of 202

  1. When you're polyamorous and haven't brought it up in over ten minutes.

    in response to What is your favorite breed of dog?

    I actually bring it up very sparingly to avoid douchey comments like this.

  2. What would your dream home look like?

    I'm a millennial, I don't fantasize about things like home ownership or world travel because it's depressing to want things I'll never have.

  3. What is the ratio one (of moral fortitude) should feel between compliment and insult if another person were to say that said individual aesthetically resembled David Foster Wallace

    I cannot imagine a person in 2020 wearing bandanas is not consciously emulating DFW

  4. But Ian, Chairs???

    in response to Do tables?

    i'm not going to repeat myself

  5. Do you think a video about how these concepts aren't mutually exclusive and that the opposite of a repulic is a monarchy while the opposite of democracy is fascism would be good for someone (me maybe) to make

    in response to I disagree with you on nearly everything but here's a question for you: Why do you insist that we live in a democracy when we were founded as a republic?

    I can't imagine there aren't several dozen videos saying "republic" just means "representational democracy."

  6. What social stigma does society need to get over?

    sex work comes to mind

  7. Butts twelve by pies?

    plus two.

    hundred!

  9. Do tables?

    I've answered this already, do your research.

  10. Could you do a video essay that has no text or narration? Like a Koyaanisqatsi of video essays?

    yes but I'm not planning to

  11. If it's a description moral justification and not of human behavior what evidence could I bring you to falsify it?

    in response to If only there were other theories of value that better describe how humans behave, economically. But the LToV is the eternal, objective and divine Truth given un to us by God, which we should never question!

    "value" is a human concept, you can't "prove" or "disprove" it, you can only decide what axioms you want to build your society around

  12. I agree with all of those except Lapis - Lapis is a garbage can who only got away with treating her friends like crap because she's pretty and sad.

    in response to Who is best gem and why is it Amethyst?

    Lapis is someone who treated her friends like crap and then worked extremely hard to make amends and work on herself as a person and teach others how to do the same.

  13. For my information, and for use in arguments:

    What ARE your objections to the stock market?

    it has the capacity to utterly destroy the economy yet produces nothing

  14. not OP, but I think people are legitimately worried that *any* association with someone can be misrepresented as an endorsement by bad faith actors

    also there's probably a bit of "If I say I don't agree with everything he says, then I'll come across as a more discerning consumer"

    in response to Why is it that people open up with "I disagree with you about everything BUT" like this? It comes off like one of those obnoxious "change my view" guy.

    that doesn't make sense in a private message, where there is no audience, or in an anonymous question, where there is no reputation to protect

  15. Why is it that people open up with "I disagree with you about everything BUT" like this? It comes off like one of those obnoxious "change my view" guy.

    in response to I disagree with you on nearly everything but here's a question for you: Why do you insist that we live in a democracy when we were founded as a republic?

    there's this strain of internet discourse that seemingly thinks, if you ever just ask a person you disagree with a question or make a statement without first caveating that you don't agree with everything, you are functionally endorsing them. I get this here, from anons, and in private messages and emails, as though there's someone watching who will think they approve of me. and not just from conservatives; I get it from Patreon backers and subscribers when they're trying to compliment me!

  16. Why are the scaremongering fantasies of the far right intended to be anti-left actually really good ideas most of them time? Ideas that I wish the left actually held.

    They accuse liberals of having Far Left ideas because 1) leftist ideas are genuinely antithetical to conservative ones and what sounds good to us sounds nightmarish to them, and 2) liberals are not and do not want to be leftists and accusing them of such moves them towards the center as they distance themselves from the Left.

  17. What is your favorite breed of dog?

    buddy, I'm polyamorous with romantic partners, you think I'm monogamous with dog breeds?

  18. If only there were other theories of value that better describe how humans behave, economically.

    But the LToV is the eternal, objective and divine Truth given un to us by God, which we should never question!

    in response to if a coat costs 10 times as much as a roll of linen, is it really because 10 times the number of labor hours went into making the coat?

    LTV is not a description of how people behave, it is a description of the moral justification for why you sell things at more than cost. You're doing the thing where you conflate price and value that I talk about in this video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4CI2vk3ugk

  19. if a coat costs 10 times as much as a roll of linen, is it really because 10 times the number of labor hours went into making the coat?

    okay, my freelancer brain says "you're not just paying for the manual labor, you're paying for the hours spend designing it, for the time spent studying design, for the building of the business that makes it, for the time spent coordinating with distributors; all of that was labor that now must be compensated"

    my leftist brain says "you're paying 10x because they've determined that's what people will pay for it, it has nothing to do with its actual value, market capitalism does not respect the labor theory of value"

    both are true

  21. Who is best gem and why is it Amethyst?

    okay it's definitely amethyst but it's also definitely peridot and definitely lapis and garnet and pearl and ruby

  24. I disagree with you on nearly everything but here's a question for you: Why do you insist that we live in a democracy when we were founded as a republic?

    offer up your definition of both those terms and your explanation of how they are categorically different and I'll answer

  25. What’s the last movie you couldn’t finish watching?

    Technically Beastie Boys Story because I decided I should get to work instead of watching a movie but I'm gonna finish it later.

  26. Do you have strong feelings one way or the other on Vaush or is he just kind of not on your radar?

    in response to While watching a Vaush stream I noticed that he said that you dislike him. Can you summarize your actual opinion on Vaush?

    I have never watched a Vaush video and am only vaguely aware of what his work is like. Recently someone posted a clip of him offering a Really Bad Take on Black nationalism and I think I replied saying it was a bad argument. Maybe that's why he's saying I'm one of the people who doesn't like him? He wasn't tagged or anything. Not sure where else he would have gotten the idea.

  27. What, in your opinion, are the best available standards for making moral judgements?

    consequentialism in the streets, deontology in the sheets

  28. Saw this on twitter: who’s a white character on a tv show that you love but know would be a Trump supporter in real life?

    I think Jesse Pinkman would have voted for Trump but would regret it by now.

  29. why do you believe a biden administration would do nothing to fix trumps erosion to our democracy?

    Because Obama inherited Bush's surveillance state and used it. And because the things Bush did that Obama didn't do he didn't pass laws to prevent future Presidents from doing. And Biden's not even half the candidate Obama was.

    This is what liberals *do*.

  30. Half-A press or Full-A press?

    if you haven't done tick tock clock on 3/4 a-presses you need to get on my level

  31. Why are Democrats anti-stock market? Why don’t they want people to be able to put food on their table?

    it's true that before the stock market existed no one ate food. tables were flights of fancy imagined only by the most talented fabulists. people chewed gravel for raw nutrients over trays balanced precariously on their knees.

  32. Would Tiktok be better if it were called TinkTonk

    thank you for asking the hard-hitting questions

  33. Hi, I watched your video “How to Radicalise a normie”, and it was really well done and informative. Thanks to that video, it introduced to other leftist youtubers, and leftist YouTube in general. It also made me realise just how easy it is for somebody to get sucked through the reactionary pipeline, since I was somebody who used to watch “SJW CRINGE COMPILATION” almost daily. I often feel like the only reason I never became some kind of edgy alt right neo nazi teen lunatic is because I’m both black, and a girl. (And we know that kind of “community” isn’t welcoming towards black people or women, let alone somebody’s who’s both). Over the past 2 months with the #BlackLivesMatter movement taking place, as well the general racism and bigotry that people exert on this app, I’ve seen and read things that feel extremely emotionally draining and hopeless. Sometimes I would read or see something that would just make my heart sink with dread and I’d lay awake at night thinking about the grand scheme of everything ; how it’s a whole new decade and things in the world and society aren’t that dissimilar from a whole century ago. (I mean, its TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY and Nazi’s still exist? Is there any hope at all? I remember learning about it in my GCSE history class at the beginning of the sxhool year last September thinking “how glad am I they don’t exist anymore except for a select few”. After seeing some bullshit on twitter, BOY was I wrong. It felt like the views I had and shared others were overwhelmed with with those types of people, who I honestly, deeply, from the bottom of my heart cannot STAND! But after watching your videos and reading the comments of people who were also likeminded, they put me at a serious sense of ease, if that makes sense? They’re seriously just SO well done and informative and I wish I could show it to certain people and make them change their views. Anyways this whole ask is me waffling so what I REALLY wanted to say is thank you, so very, very much for your videos (and for introducing me to other leftubers) they’ve been an immense comfort to me, you have no idea.

    - Sincerely, a 15 year old black girl who’s tired of it all 💖

    <3

  34. Sorry if this shows how normalised harassment is, but is tweeting 'fuck you for (insert bad thing they allegedly did)' at someone harassment?

    So the problem with this question is that you're framing harassment in terms of individual actions. One person saying "fuck you for ____" is not harassment. But is it only one person? And is "____" true? The thing that's hard to get one's head around is whether or not your behavior is harassment depends on context.

    A great analogy I saw in a Twitter thread (that, being a Twitter thread, will be almost impossible for me to dig up now) is to think of it like DDoS. If one person tries to ping a website, that's fine. But if thousands are pinging it, it crashes. And the server doesn't know whether it's being crashed on purpose or if a lot of people just want to access it at the same time; it can't tell the difference between an attack and getting slashdotted.

    The same is true of internet vitriol. All the person getting harassed knows is that they are being overwhelmed with cruelty. They don't know if it's being directed or if it's happening organically. They don't know which insults come from a place of sincere criticism and which is just someone who likes throwing tomatoes at whomever is in the stocks. They can't tell bad faith from good faith, and can't effectively engage with either. Your intent ceases to matter.

    And, you know what? In most states, the legal definition of harassment doesn't take your intent into account. Harassment is defined by "would a reasonable person feel harassed by this behavior?" If yes, it's harassment. And, if you're saying "fuck you for ____" while ten thousand other people are doing the same, or if you're spreading lies without checking if they're true, or if your "legitimate criticism" is providing cover for harassment, you're a harasser, whether you're trying to be or not.

    You have to look at context, and you have to de-center yourself.

  35. sorry this isnt a question but i hope you have a good day today :D

    thanx!

  36. While watching a Vaush stream I noticed that he said that you dislike him. Can you summarize your actual opinion on Vaush?

    I have never voiced an opinion about Vaush that I am aware of.

  38. I tried running you through Akinator and after asking me if you had entered a circus or were a demon I must inform you that you are in fact Big Joel.

  39. Which actor's & actress' movies have you seen the most of?

    you trying to deduce my celebrity crush?

  42. I'm going on a trip and i need some audio books. What are some Samuel R. Delany Books i should listen to?

    I think the first question is which of them even *have* audiobooks?

  43. Isn't Progressive Capitalism what the US had at the early 1900s instead of Social Democracy?

    in response to No reference... But yay for progressive capitalism?

    that didn't turn out so great

  45. Should teachers strike going back to school

    I'd support it.

  46. What do you imagine comes after humanity?

    humanity 1.5

  47. Which video game controller is the best and why is it the GameCube's controller?

    feel like I've answered this a few times already bit it's that big-ass A button

  48. Is it "egocentric", for lack of a better term, to think that we're living in "late" capitalism? It reminds of those preachers that say that the rapture is just around the corner and have to keep making up new dates for it.

    while "late" does imply there is an end in sight, I think it would be silly to have a well-known term that accurately describes the way entrenched capitalism behaves and not use it

  49. Have you played any games by SWERY65 (Deadly Premonition, D4, The Missing)? if so, any opinions?

    nope

  50. (Different anon) In my personal experience, I think one good way is to emphasize that social justice issues and class issues intersect quite a bit and that an ideology like socialism which looks to redistribute societal power and create more just institutions is a better way to go about solving these problems than just making adjustments to capitalism and hoping it works better next time.

    in response to What is the best way to convert liberals and social democrats to socialism?

    Have you successfully put this into practice?

    I feel like we talk a lot about the "right" way to convince people of our arguments and it's always theoretical, "this is a good argument," and not based on what cognitive processes prevent people from being convinced and how to work past them. I honestly think a big part of why we fail to change minds is we keep presenting arguments that sound convincing to people who are already convinced.

  51. No reference...

    But yay for progressive capitalism?

    in response to Yay for progressive capitalism?

    that is a conflict of terms

  52. There are five and a half months left in 2020. If you were writing the script for this year, where would you put Yellowstone exploding?

    I refuse to write a script about 2020, I'd rather write something more plausible, like Wanted or Penny Dreadful

  53. Is there any reason why you prefer not to work in an office or a studio or some kind of corporate environment?

    You mean, why I do my YouTube channel from home, or why I'm not working an office job instead of YouTubin'?

  54. Can you agree that it's wrong to refer to cops as pigs. I just think it's unfair and maybe even immoral. Pigs are such sweet animals that I don't think they deserve such an unfortunate association.

    "I'd rather be a pig than a fascist." - Porco Rosso

  55. Are there any, in your opinion, good movies with bad cinematography?

    I'm sure my old cinematography professors could look at a lot of films and say "god, the lighting here is amateur," but I don't have an eye for that stuff. The "bad" cinematography I notice is usually bad ideas competently executed, which is more often the director's fault than the cinematographer's. Like, Doubt is a fine enough movie, but it uses a lot of Dutch angles to try and heighten the drama and it just doesn't work. Robert Redford actually makes a lot of hacky camera moves with little reason behind them, or just does a lot of boring two- and three-shots, but he's good with actors and picks good scripts and the things are still lit and composed well.

    But, broadly, I think they tend to be pretty correlated. A movie with bad-ish cinematography is unlikely to be more than a good-ish movie, because film is a visual medium and there's only so good a film *can* be if the visuals aren't good.

  56. Do you think that, despite being obviously evil, Elon Musk would be a nice guy to hang out with?

    I don't think Elon Musk would be particularly interesting to have a conversation with, but I'm sure he can be personable and turn off the hot takes for the length of dinner. But who cares?

  57. Best stock monster to be turned into (vampires, werewolf, etc)?

    gargoyle

  59. What is the best way to convert liberals and social democrats to socialism?

    I dunno.

  60. Yay for progressive capitalism?

    is this in reference to something?

  61. Does veganism actually give you superpowers, or is that one of those weird Canada things in Scott Pilgrim?

    in response to Does being vegan make you more hot?

    don't expect me to reveal my superhero identity

  62. If you are maximum hot, who is maximum cold?

    in response to Does being vegan make you more hot?

    I think you mean maximum COOL and that is also me

  64. Does being vegan make you more hot?

    it would have except I was already maximum hot

  65. Which controller, if you use one, do you like the most

    Uhhhhh... GameCube?

  66. Are you much of a comics reader?

    I've read a few, but I wouldn't say I keep up with anything.

  67. There is no ethical veganism under capitalism.

    yeah but there's no ethical meat consumption either

  68. Are you interested in writing a book someday?

    Theoretically, but I feel like I only know how to think in video essays now.

  70. Would you prefer to abolish copyright law or just make it more lenient/shorten copyright term lengths?

    it's one of those larger questions, you know? I would like to live in a world where copyright can be abolished, but that world is not capitalism. in a system where the economy is built around not paying workers what they're worth, I want it to be a *requirement* that people get paid for the things they create.

    but also I want to abolish the economic system that makes copyright necessary.

    in the meantime, yes, I want copyright at least reformed so corporations can't abuse it as much while still protecting me from having my videos stolen and uploaded to some big company's website

  71. some of us like dads...

    in response to Why no?

    I love my dad.

    he listens to bad music.

  72. But how would non-incremental moves be immune to roll back? Seems like you'd still have the other party every 4-8 years anyway

    in response to Has no one seen the list of things that the Trump admin has rolled back? Also, the only reason Obamacare isn’t gone is because we were lucky and one conservative voted against his party. I will never understand how you can spend any serious time thinking about politics and support incrementalism.

    the bigger the moves, the harder they are to roll back

    like... Obamacare is the closest thing to a Big Win we've had in the last decade and a bit, and, though Trump & co. campaigned on repealing it, they've had a hell of a time doing so because it turns out, though a lot of conservatives said they'd hate it, they actually grew quite attached once it started improving their lives, and now repealing Obamacare in extremely unpopular with voters

    now think how much easier it would be to repeal Obamacare if it had just been a few minor improvements to American healthcare, and think how much harder it would be to undermine if it had been a truly universal system

  73. Has no one seen the list of things that the Trump admin has rolled back?

    Also, the only reason Obamacare isn’t gone is because we were lucky and one conservative voted against his party.

    I will never understand how you can spend any serious time thinking about politics and support incrementalism.

    in response to Not OP; just want to note that RBG is a radical incrementalist who's made meaningful change happen over her lifetime; bold change always runs the risk of putting charismatic authoritarians into power; relentlessly nudging in the right direction on the other hand can also get things done without that danger

    yeah, you can't take gradual steps forward if every 4-8 years the other party is going to pole vault in the other direction

    incrementalism only works if you never lose an election

    fucking hell, I DID A WHOLE VIDEO ABOUT THIS

  74. (different anon) There are more forms of coercion in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies. Just because someone's not being forced at gunpoint to speak a common language doesn't mean they aren't losing something incredibly valuable.

    and that value would be what?

  75. Does this code of yours cause you to hold any hard feelings against us meat eaters?

    in response to What would you say is the primary motivation for your veganism? Environment? Animal suffering? Diet? Obviously it's not an absolute thing, but I think I was more persuaded by environmental arguments than anything else and I'm curious

    yeah, questions like these are why I don't like talking about vegetarianism On Here. every time I mention it, immediately someone asks me to affirmatively demonstrate I'm not "one of THOSE vegans," and, no disrespect, but it feels really condescending.

Anon commented:
Ian replied: