CuriousCat Archive Page 128 of 202

  1. Let's talk about a cute animal

    sure, we can talk about me

  2. How's the lockdown situation where you're at?

    Massachusetts has MOSTLY been handling it well, but we're still reopening too soon.

  3. I'm doing my first youtube video and I started writing the script with a point that I thought would take a paragraph, maybe 2 to make. Somehow, it's already over 2 pages long. I'll probably cut it down in editing, but holy crap, is everything going to be like this?

    yes

  4. What is a sound effect that an enemy makes when it gets hit in any game that you love

    I like the sound thwomps make when they hit the ground

  5. I don't understand why you have a problem with my question about the civil war and how it relates to current issues. All I'm asking is your opinion. Do you think the question is too obvious or stupid? Just tell me

    "did modern divisions begin with the civil war?"

    yeah no I think they began with the slavery the civil war was about for christ's sake

  6. What do you think about people who say that if there were only women in charge there'd be no wars?

    I think it's gender essentialism masquerading as being progressive

  7. What's the best neo-retro platformer?

    Noitu Love 2

  8. What's your favourite classic noir film?

    I'm gonna go with The Third Man, but Out of the Past is pretty killer.

  9. Let me rephrase my question. Do you think the American Civil War set in motion the social and political issues that we currently see in America? If you think about it, stuff like the KKK, the Civil Rights movement, the religious right, the party switch, Trump becoming president, etc. All of that wouldn't exist or be different had the Civil War didn't happen

    are you fucking with me right now

  10. Michel Gondry or Don Hertzfeldt?

    yes

  11. Hi bro. Let's connect! Do you have an Instagram and Facebook account/page besides Twitter?

    Hey bro, I've got a Curious Cat if you wanna ask me questions.

  12. Watching the Cummings drama in the UK right now (brief summary: minister drove cross country, while symptomatic, to drop his kid off at his elderly parents, in direct violation of covid policy; government rushes to defend him) made me wonder: Do you think "one rule for me, another for thee" is an inherently Conservative concept?

    They say in every power structure there are people the law empowers but does not bind and people the law binds but does not empower, so I don't know if it's *inherently* conservative, but liberalism definitely says "if we keep trying this will surely change eventually" where conservatism says "yeah, that's the way it should be."

  13. Ken Loach or Christopher Nolan?

    Nicole Holofcener

  14. Which would you choose if you had millions of dollars:

    A) A luxurious 1 bedroom high end service apartment with direct Empire State Building/Chrysler Building/The Gateway Arch view

    OR

    B) 2 storey bungalow/mansion thats 30 minutes from the nearest city centre

    Both are worth 1.5 million dollars

    are you saying I can only live in New York, New York, or Saint Louis?

  15. In your opinion, would you say that the American Civil War was the 'start' of the political divisions and social issues that we see today in modern America?

    seriously?

  16. Do you think if Bernie was elected he would an american Allende or Goulart? Not even that bold of a reformer, but enough of a threat that he would have to be immediately removed?

    honey, no

  17. The whole point of a mortgage (over a lease) is that you get some of your money back

    in response to Not the OP, but I assumed the question isn't "how do you move out?" but "If the ownership of the house is shared between people with different plans for the future, how does the person who moves out get their money back?" They don't, they don't see anything unless a) they keep their name on the collective deed until the house is sold which may be never or b) their replacement buys them out with the sum total of their mortgage contributions so far Option b is presumably what you'd do if the mortgage had already been paid and the property is owned outright I agree with you that housing co-ops are one of the better options under capitalism than private landlords, but with the advantage of not throwing half your income at some rando every month comes the fiddly business of property ownership

    in this context, the "whole point" of a mortgage is not paying a markup for the landlord's profit and having legal ownership of the house you live in

  18. What lessons do you think progressives should take away from the 2020 Sanders’ Campian for future elections? (If we continue to have elections after this hell year is over)

    good policy requires good messaging
    you can't take the minority vote for granted
    you have to proactively reach out for allies and endorsements
    you can't build a coalition by focusing on class alone; this doesn't mean focus less on class but to have strong policies in other areas as well

    but I feel like the main takeaway is that people are very scared that moving left isn't viable and, especially in times of crisis, want to cling to what is familiar, want to "go back to normal" instead of recognizing that normal wasn't very good, and while I'm learning that message loud and clear I'm not sure what to do about it :-/

  20. Describe the best corner of your bed

    whichever corner you're resting your head in, baby

  21. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

    vegenaise and marinara

  22. "you're not fond of tankies because they don't adopt identity politics" I see the dirtbag left is still trying to put you in a box.

    in response to Yeah but lets be honest here, you're not fond of tankies because they don't adopt identity politics, not because of their economic views or because of their historical revisionism.

    no no no, the dirtbag left are class reductionists, tankies are Stalin apologists, let's not confuse the two

  23. I don't understand how so many right wing commentators are so annoying.

    Even back when I was a right winger, I had an negative gut reaction to people like Sargon, Crowder, and Shapiro. I honestly think I'm on the left now because I couldn't stand right wing media.

    Because conservatism is a politics of cruelty and if you don't romanticize cruelty you're probably going to leave someday.

  24. Not the OP, but I assumed the question isn't "how do you move out?" but "If the ownership of the house is shared between people with different plans for the future, how does the person who moves out get their money back?"

    They don't, they don't see anything unless a) they keep their name on the collective deed until the house is sold which may be never or b) their replacement buys them out with the sum total of their mortgage contributions so far

    Option b is presumably what you'd do if the mortgage had already been paid and the property is owned outright

    I agree with you that housing co-ops are one of the better options under capitalism than private landlords, but with the advantage of not throwing half your income at some rando every month comes the fiddly business of property ownership

    in response to Wait, how would this be applicable/useful to say for students who are only going to stay in an apartment/house for just a few years and they'll move out to another place (eg. Going back to their hometown etc.)? How is housing cooperatives going to be applicable for all?

    What are you even talking about? Do you get your rent back when you move out of an apartment?

  25. Do you think the number of subscribers and views conservative pundits like Lil' Benny have can accurately measure their reach on YouTube, or could it only be mostly bots? I find it very hard to tell whether people Shapiro or Crowder are actually popular, or they just have a dedicated astro-turfing fanbase.

    At first I was like "YouTube bot followers aren't a thing, that's really more of a Twitter problem" and then I googled it and... shit, it's extremely a thing.

    I don't know if Shapiro or Crowder use it. I wouldn't put it past them, but I also refuse to let "I wouldn't put it past them" function as evidence it's happening.

  26. Wait, how would this be applicable/useful to say for students who are only going to stay in an apartment/house for just a few years and they'll move out to another place (eg. Going back to their hometown etc.)?

    How is housing cooperatives going to be applicable for all?

    in response to What's a housing cooperative?

    Sorry, but this is such a silly question. Does this seem unsolvable to you? What happens when you move out of a house you're renting before the lease is up? You find someone to take over your spot and either pay to have them replace you on the lease or sublet to them until your stint on the lease is up. I'm sure there would be differences between a lease and a mortgage, but why would it be substantively different?

  27. I respect the hell out of your taste and perspectives on popular art/media. I think you make cogent, humane analysis and you never leave unquestioned or unwarranted assumptions on the table.

    But how in the hell is Haruhi a good show? I was there in the thick of its popularity and when I tried to watch it, I couldn't stand any of the characters or their awful, scifi technobable-justified codependent and downright abusive interpersonal dynamics. It feels like a nostalgia trip for that terrible phase that a lot of teenage boys go through where they're hanging out with girls for the first time because sexual attraction is compelling them, but they don't actually know how to relate so they just treat each other like shit. The fact that every time I bring up these kinds of problems fans go "oh it gets better", well the problem with that is it necessitates putting up with the show's gimmicky pretensions (out of order episodes, the endless eight thing, etc.) which just feels for all the world like so much sunk cost fallacy at best, and catnip for the wannabe STEM-lord side of 4chan culture at worst.

    I feel very strongly that I'm right, that there is no "there" there. And I know this sounds like an attack, but I promise it isn't. Ian, how is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya not an artwork with a rotten, malignant soul?

    in response to Favorite anime? Or, if we have to take the obvious out of the way, favorite Non-Studio Ghibli anime?

    I have thankfully never been plugged into the 4chan anime discourse and just watched a show because my girlfriend of the time said it was interesting, and, when I got to the end of it I realized I was really sad there wasn't more.

    If you know my work, you know I don't spend a lot of time making arguments for why something is good. I talk about what I think is interesting, and you may even find the thing I say interesting while still not liking the thing I'm talking about. I can talk about why Haruhi is interesting to me, but that's not going to convince you it's good. Hell if I even know if it's good. I just like it.

  28. Yeah but lets be honest here, you're not fond of tankies because they don't adopt identity politics, not because of their economic views or because of their historical revisionism.

    in response to What are your thoughts on tankies?

    yeahhhh, they could embrace social justice and I'd still have a problem with how much they love autocracy and war crimes

  29. Why shouldn't one be a nihilist in today's trying time?

    most nihilists will tell you that the pessimistic, depressed form of nihilism does not typify the philosophy, and that most nihilism is actually deeply ethical, joyful, and liberating

    so, by all means, become a nihilist!

  30. Would Public Votiing IDs work if they were automatically handed out like Social Security Cards?

    why even have one, then? why not just ask for social security cards?

  31. Since "the penny problem" contains a showtune, is it canonically part of TARP?

    I don't know that songs from Waiting for Guffman count as showtunes...

  32. IAN I am SO sorry

    I even thought about the name confusion while writing the question :( I'm sorry, I don't know you :(

    in response to Hi Dan! I have a question re: COVID-19. If scientists haven't been able to find a vaccine in, say, a year, do you think it would be the wrong move (in that case) to say that it may just be a virus that humans have to live alongside, in the same way we do with influenza, and HIV-AIDS (which we now have excellent treatment for)? I live in a country that is maintaining its strict lockdown for the foreseeable future (Scotland), but I've seen two WHO officials say it may just be part of the ecosystem now. I completely support the lockdown. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on what happens long-term if we can't find a vaccine. The idea of over a year of this feels so grim :( Hope you're doing well, & enjoyed the latest video!

    I get called Dan a lot. You are forgiven.

    As to your question!

    From what I know, the longer you stay on lockdown, the less COVID-19 will affect you in the long run. The only reason to still be on lockdown a year from now is if your lockdown was shit and you let the virus spread. Remember, the point of social distancing is to prevent the hospital from getting overrun, not because the virus itself is too dangerous to catch. So, if Scotland isn't reopening for a while yet, you're probably going to be in really good shape when you finally do, as opposed to here in the States where cities keep reopening too early and getting huge spikes in contraction rates.

    But we're not going to get a vaccine inside a year. Best estimates are a year and a half til a vaccine, and that's way, way faster than vaccines usually happen. Here are come possible outcomes, based on the information I have at hand:

    1) This is a one-and-done virus. Every who gets it either dies or develops antibodies, so, once it's made its way through the population, it's gone. We don't know how much or how fast COVID-19 mutates, so it's possible you stay immune forever.

    2) The virus mutates to be less deadly. It is not in a virus' best interest to kill its host, so less deadly strains tend to be favored by evolution. This is why the flu went from a deadly pandemic to just a crappy thing you get some winters.

    3) Vaccines end the virus. If the virus mutates slowly or not by wide margins, once there's a vaccine that may just be the end of COVID-19.

    4) Vaccines manage the virus. If the virus goes the same way as the flu and there are new strains every year, then you get your coronavirus shot every year and hopefully don't get sick.

    5) This is just a thing that happens regularly. Maybe a vaccine takes a lot longer than expected, and we have to deal with major lockdowns on the regular. This would suck, but it *is* manageable. COVID's mortality rate is something like 0.28%, which is high for a flu-like virus, but it means the vast, vast majority of people are going to get The Worst Flu of their Lives and then recover. It would suck to get The Worst Flu of your Life every winter for a while, but, if it's ongoing, we start expanding hospitals to handle the increased capacity, we act earlier to slow the spread and make the lockdown shorter, maybe we even make some social programs to help people through the rough times. Basically, if lockdowns are going to be regular, this first one is going to be the worst. They will get more doable with time as we get better at doing them. I know a lot of governments are being CRAP at adjusting - certainly mine is - but it won't be a disaster ever time.

    In short: #5 is the least likely scenario, but it is also *doable* and won't be as bad as things are now.

  33. What are your thoughts on tankies?

    I'm not fond.

  34. Do you remember when liking the Office was considered cool?

    The Office remains like the most streamed show on the internet, so...

  35. Things to do when the world bums you out

    make art

  36. The poor guy whose skin one of your ancestors stole and wore, leading to the latter be forever known as... Danskin.
    On a totally unrelated note, do you think that could be your ancestor's origin story? Cause thatd be super dope.

    in response to Hi Dan! I have a question re: COVID-19. If scientists haven't been able to find a vaccine in, say, a year, do you think it would be the wrong move (in that case) to say that it may just be a virus that humans have to live alongside, in the same way we do with influenza, and HIV-AIDS (which we now have excellent treatment for)? I live in a country that is maintaining its strict lockdown for the foreseeable future (Scotland), but I've seen two WHO officials say it may just be part of the ecosystem now. I completely support the lockdown. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on what happens long-term if we can't find a vaccine. The idea of over a year of this feels so grim :( Hope you're doing well, & enjoyed the latest video!

    "Danskin" just means "from Danzig"

  37. Didn't you hire someone to help you with animation/music for a video at some point? I assume it wan't for an entire months work?

    in response to Isn't the minimum wage technically a income floor?

    contract work isn't having an employee

  38. Are our rulers slaves to the system as much as the people they rule?

    everyone in the system is, in some fashion, beholden to it, and we should remember that

    but, no, not "as much"

  39. Will you ever do a video on the french revolution?

    I would like to do something in leftist revolutions, but I would have to do a shitload of research first so I can't promise anything.

  40. What should the new Zelda be like

    unexpected

  41. Can a song be a showtune if it doesn't come from a show? / Are there any good examples of songs that aren't from shows, but mimic the conventions and aesthetic qualities of showtunes really well, in your opinion?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohBTKf6XZME

  42. (Different anon) I think you read this question wrong.

    It says "what was it like when" not "was it like this when."

    in response to What was it like when Clinton got impeached?

    ..............you are correct

    sorry, OP!

    that's what it was like. it was the entire news cycle for a very long time.

  43. Hi Dan!

    I have a question re: COVID-19. If scientists haven't been able to find a vaccine in, say, a year, do you think it would be the wrong move (in that case) to say that it may just be a virus that humans have to live alongside, in the same way we do with influenza, and HIV-AIDS (which we now have excellent treatment for)? I live in a country that is maintaining its strict lockdown for the foreseeable future (Scotland), but I've seen two WHO officials say it may just be part of the ecosystem now.

    I completely support the lockdown. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on what happens long-term if we can't find a vaccine. The idea of over a year of this feels so grim :( Hope you're doing well, & enjoyed the latest video!

    who's dan?

  44. How can I grow the fuck up and stop taking criticism of stuff I like as being criticism of me?

    try criticizing the stuff you like yourself?

  45. What widely derided (or just contested) series finale is Good, Actually?

    Dinosaurs

  46. Do you play tabletop RPGs?

    nay

  47. Have you ever watched Get Lamp?

    I've seen excerpts, never the whole thing.

  49. Isn't the minimum wage technically a income floor?

    in response to Should there be an income cap for everyone?

    no, because employers are still free to hire people at 5 hours a week

  50. What's a game that you went it not expecting much but was surprised by?

    TSIOQUE

  51. Have you played all the Myst games?

    I haven't gotten to End of Ages yet, though I will.

    Also haven't played Uru, probably won't.

  52. Apologies for a combative tone, but mostly I'm concerned about it being stated outright, as I've seen that particular aspect be ignored, at times, even by leftists.

    in response to The benefit is also the eventual out-right ownership of the house, where you don't have to pay mortgage anymore. If other people are helping you pay for that, they should also have part of the ownership.

    cool cool

    we are in agreement, and, yes, it would have been more valuable for me to clarify that stuff

    <3

  53. Several stories have come out recently about women who left the TERF/SWERF movement and describing their experience as that of being indoctrinated into a cult that exploited their trauma

    Did you encounter a more systematic analysis of that dynamic (the recruitment and exploitation of marginalized people for propaganda purposes) during your ARP research ?

    How to Radicalize a Normie and How the Alt-Right is Like an Abusive Relationship both talk about how people use a person's pains - some of those pains traumatic - and use it as a recruitment tool. There are certain groups that specialize in weaponizing the pains of marginalized people in specific. I have some thoughts about how marginalized people are encouraged to join movements that theoretically despise them as a kind of "we'll let you in if you help us keep these OTHER people out" maneuver, but I don't know how much more I should be talking about the experience of groups I'm not in. There's a reason I stick to how cishet white dudes behave: that's what I know, that's what I have a right to talk about, and they are on an equal level of privilege to me. The more I dabble in marginalized communities that I have more social capital then, the dodgier my analysis becomes.

  54. are there any books about the spanish civil war youd recommend reading?

    Homage to Catalonia

  55. What do you think Andrei Tarkovsky as a filmmaker?

    As a person, I thought he looks like a try-hard emo struggling artist when I guess he's actually well known amongst Russian circles

    Never seen Tarkovsky all the way through, but the man was one of the greatest cinematographers in history.

  56. On a scale of 1 to 10 , rank the digits

    they're all 5s

  57. Why do you like Adventure games so much?

    I dunno, fam, why do people like tomatoes? Adventure games make me happy.

  58. The benefit is also the eventual out-right ownership of the house, where you don't have to pay mortgage anymore.

    If other people are helping you pay for that, they should also have part of the ownership.

    in response to Specifically, you need to not only share the _cost_ of the mortgage, but also the _benefit_ of it, through collective ownership of the asset. Splitting the costs and taking the whole benefit for yourself is still being a landlord.

    I can't tell if you're being combative and think I disagree or if you're being helpful and making sure all these elements are stated outright

    at any rate, yes, we are in agreement

  59. 40 years from now: What was it like when the president of the U.S. was impeached?

    Me: No one cared lol.

    Me: a lot of people cared deeply and were also so inundated with disasters and blatant criminality that they couldn't keep attention on anything for more than a few weeks

  60. Is ther a good way to drop gendered greetings when working in the service industry?

    yeah there's this really great gender-neutral greeting they use in nb circles, it goes "hello"

  61. Should there be an income cap for everyone?

    there should probably be an income ceiling and an income floor. I'm no economist but it seems like doing the one without the other would be missing the point.

  62. Favorite anime? Or, if we have to take the obvious out of the way, favorite Non-Studio Ghibli anime?

    Movie: Tokyo Godfathers
    Series: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

  63. Specifically, you need to not only share the _cost_ of the mortgage, but also the _benefit_ of it, through collective ownership of the asset.

    Splitting the costs and taking the whole benefit for yourself is still being a landlord.

    in response to What's a housing cooperative?

    ...the benefit of a mortgage is the house, which I've already clarified the people live it

  64. So what if you to talk to one, how will you explain/clarify?

    in response to What do you think of people who use George Orwell's Animal Farm to explain why "communism is bad yo" ?

    I mean... honestly, if it were, like, a social gathering where I could actually talk at length and the person was comfortable listening to me? Might ask them to think through *how* the pigs became the villains, how, if the farm represents the USSR, the humans they throw out represent the capitalists, and how the pigs walking on two legs and selling out their ideals means their ultimate sin is *becoming the same as the capitalists*, and maybe I'd get somewhere with them.

    But if it's just some rando online? I have better places to put my energies.

    People keep sending me these questions like "how do I counter THIS argument? how do I convince THIS type of person?" And I just need to reiterate that the way forward is not to convince wrongheaded people one by one. There are so many people who already agree with us that we could be working with. I kinda feel like this fixation with converting people to our side is colored by the liberal notion that the only way to win elections is to appeal to centrist swing voters rather than mobilizing the base.

    We have a big base. We already outnumber our opponents. We don't need to spend this much time arguing with wrong people on the internet.

  65. What's wrong for an author/artist to be polemical?
    I thought it's necessary and creatively healthy to be one especially against oppressive forces

    in response to What's your opinion of George Orwell as an author?

    Absolutely nothing. Like... I'm a video essayist. Obviously I'm polemical! But it can be hard to divide how well 1984 works as a piece of fiction from how well it works as an argument against fascism. How much do I forgive weak story decisions because they strengthen the argument? How much do I forgive narrative flaws because I just really, really agree with the argument? Obviously, these things are not really separable and, if the books works, it works. But it makes it hard to answer "is Orwell a good author of fiction?" because his talents with fiction mostly exist to serve the polemic, which is what I tend to be there for.

  66. Best JRPG? (His Dark Materials doesn't count)

    I haven't played that many. I was a Genesis kid, all we really had was Phantasy Star and I didn't touch it until I started checking out RPGs on emulator in high school.

    So I guess I'll be boring and say Chrono Trigger. I still just love the hell out of that game. Big soft spot for Terranigma, though.

  68. Have you heard of Ezra Klein's Why We're Polarized? I've been reading through it lately and found it to be quite illuminating on the direction American politics have been heading.

    I'm aware it exists, but Ezra Klein's had a few too many bad takes for me to trust his opinions on political polarization.

  70. What's your opinion of George Orwell as an author?

    As a fiction writer? I've only read 1984 and Animal Farm. Both are pretty damn good, but fairly polemical, and their status as classics makes it hard to evaluate them through the lens of just, like, good fiction. In 1984, Julia is a fairly weak character who belies some maybe shitty opinions on women on Orwell's part. The part in the middle where the narrative grinds to a halt as Winston reads 30 pages of theory is pretty incisive political critique but suuuuuper shitty drama. I don't know. Other stuff.

    But as a non-fiction writer and essayist I think he's exceptional. Homage to Catalonia and Down and Out in Paris and London, plus several of his essays, were *deeply* formative to my turn to the left, and I also think he's just a very incisive, direct, and intelligent writer. I try to emulate his clarity of thought in my own writing, and envy his ability to turn a phrase.

  71. Do you think there’s a meaningful difference between a “centrist” and a “moderate”?

    in response to do centrist politics exist? watching your videos has led me to believe that on the whole, centrists are people with the privilege to pretend they don't have political opinions and then default to the conservative one when it comes down to it. Obviously, it's more nuanced, as all political stances are...but am I reading something wrong or do centrists not *actually* exist?

    moderates are generally considered in the context of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, the moderate wing of the Republican Party, etc. "centrist" generally doesn't clarify what part a person is in and often *implies* people who may be swing voters or independents.

    these are more connotative differences than distinct categories, of course.

  72. So, I don't know if anyone has asked you this before, but what's your opinion on some of the newer leftist print outlets that have come up in the past few years like Current Affairs, Jacobin, or The Baffler?

    there's some good stuff on Jacobin and some bullshit. haven't read the other two. weird to consider Jacobin "new," though.

  73. What's a housing cooperative?

    in response to Since capitalism isn't going away just yet, and many people straight up can't afford to buy a home (whether it's a house or condo) do you think it's possible to ethically be a landlord?

    in this context, if you were to buy property and then, instead of renting it out, share it with people who split the cost of the mortgage and upkeep collectively, rather than charging more than maintenance costs in order to turn a profit from the property, that would be cooperative living as opposed to being a landlord

    at that point, you're just the person who had enough money to make a down payment, not a landlord

  74. How do you feel about gulag and guillotine memes?

    I prefer guillotines to gulags, but until such time people are being threatened with real violence and posting these memes is legitimately irresponsible, it's all pretty harmless

    though the more I hear about the French Revolution the more ambivalent I am about the guillotine becoming a revolutionary symbol, since it was used to behead political dissidents and the poor waaaaaaaay more often than it was used on wealthy monarchs

  75. I'm a postgraduate student at Central, which is a drama school in the UK. I'm currently writing a case study about fighting extremism using YouTube. If its possible I'd love to conduct a short interview about the alt-right playbook and evaluating it's impact

    in response to Hi, do you have a serious official email address, that you can be contacted by?

    mmk. use the contact form on my website and I'll write you back from my work email. https://innuendostudios.com/contact/

    be advised, I'm inefficient with emails at the best of times and I've been much worse during pandemic life, so... sorry in advance if I take a while to write you back

Anon commented:
Ian replied: