CuriousCat Archive Page 130 of 202

  1. What is something you would be happy doing everyday for the rest of your life?

    eating pizza

  3. did watching Nostalgia Critic ever in my life make me fundamentally worse and cause my misfortunes

    yeah prolly

  4. What even is the rationale for Bernie or Bust?

    in response to Can we trust Biden on social security?

    I mean... the *argument* is they want to send a message to the Democrats that they won't vote for centrists so they'd better start supporting actual left candidates. I'm pretty sure that's just a rationalization for not wanting to vote for Biden and not wanting to feel responsible for what happens if Trump gets re-elected.

  5. Your "Three Short Arguments on The Secret of Monkey Island" is one of the best video essays I have ever seen. What were some of your influences, and are there any videos like it that you recommend? Thank you.

    Don't know that that one in particular had any specific influences. I had replayed the game several years prior and taken a ton of notes, and I just wanted to *finally* turn those notes into a video. But Errant Signal is my favorite games video essayist: https://www.youtube.com/user/Campster/videos

  6. What do you think Millenials will be like "Kids These Days" about

    we're already condescending to zoomers

  7. What words would you use to describe Ian Danskin?

    lothario

  8. Are dogs better than people?

    in response to Shiba inus or Corgis?

    fuckin bacteria are better than people

  9. Do you actually think anyone will ever make anything any better?

    in response to Do you actually think anything will ever get any better?

    I got a question about inevitability and I gave an answer about self-determination, now it seems you're trying to turn it back into inevitability.

    I don't know what we *will* do. I know what we *can* do, and I'm going to keep working to do it and encouraging others to do the same and we'll *find out* whether it can happen.

  10. Do you have a LucasArts adventure game ranking?

    in response to Do you have a Zelda game ranking?

    Not a ranking, but a my list of favorites is:

    LOOM
    The Secret of Monkey Island
    Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
    Full Throttle
    Grim Fandango

  11. It's common for people to say "The government should be run like a business." What could you replace 'business' with in that phrase to match a social democratic viewpoint and still feel punchy?

    I'm not a social democrat, but "the government should be run like a union" has a nice ring to it.

  12. Favorite inanimate object in your house that everytime you look at it, it looks like it has a face

    my partner

  13. I'm one day away from submitting my thesis what do

    party

  14. If the feds can print unlimited money to bail out the stock markets, why can't they print unlimited money for basic universal income, provide free health care, not collect taxes forever?

    I think that's because they can't print unlimited money, there are consequences

    So why are they doing it anyway? To prevent further economic downturn or depression (but that's not how a free market works) and it benefits mostly rich people that own stocks, note as well most companies are still laying off employees

    The rationale behind is that they can always raise interest rate, taxes when the economy is good to "unprint" those money or reduce the money supply in the market and get that balance sheet together again

    Same rationale behind the 2008 financial crisis when they bail out companies but interest were kept low until 2016 and slowly rising to 2.25% prior to pandemic. No comments on income tax, haven't done my research but i doubt they have raised taxes

    Bailouts don't come from the Fed printing new money, it comes from the federal budget. It's tax dollars. The US has this weird quirk where it can't just *print* money, it literally has to *pay* the Federal Reserve to make more, making it mathematically impossible for us to get out of debt by increasing the number of dollars in circulation.

  15. Contrapoints new video (it's over an hour long, so you might not have seen it) makes a point about the danger of scapegoating, and I've noticed this ugly tendency for online twitter leftists to make scapegoats out of "breadtubers", making uncharitable and wildly inaccurate accusations (like how people kept accusing you of being a liberal damaging the movement) Do you ever feel the need to response to that?

    No, I don't think people are trying to scapegoat me so much as they're trying to codify their own politics as the Official politics of the American Left and want to cast out anyone who questions or complicates them. I don't think I'll ever *officially* respond to the weirder claims I've gotten against me - the last thing I need is my personal politics to be treated as some sort of debate - but I may talk about the larger patterns I see going on.

  18. Can we trust Biden on social security?

    don't trust politicians

  19. How's Dave Bautista as an actor? Based on his roles in Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy and Blade Runner 2049?

    I wouldn't say he does much in the way of acting in Spectre or Blade Runner, but he's the MVP of Guardians.

  20. Any movies that deconstruct this trope? Or maybe do the opposite? "Well Adjusted Popular Idiot Who Actually Has a Heart of Gold."

    in response to Do you think it's fair to say that the "misunderstood loner genius who's also an unrepentant jackass" archetype is so popular due to how toxic masculinity is so, so deeply embedded in our culture?

    The Big Short is a good instance of "actually a lot of these wealthy successes are total fuckwads and you should despise them."

  21. Have you played Katana ZERO? If so, what did you think of it? Personally, I found it to be my favorite game of 2019.

    I haven't played it, but, given Disco Elysium and Outer Wilds both came out in 2019, I think I'd disagree with you.

  22. Is capitalism based on efficent uses of capital, labor, and resources?

    yes, in the sense that capitalism is based on profit and it will streamline capital, labor, and resources into the most efficient ways to maximize profit

    it doesn't value efficiency in service of any sort of public good

  23. David Foster Wallace gets flack or joked about sometimes in Bookish circles. What is up with that? Is it just out of his notoriety, or people using Infinite Jest as a brag? Also, I haven't read any of his stuff yet, is it worth doing so, and where should one start if so?

    Wallace's whole thing was overthinking everything. Like... EVERYTHING. He has a whole book-length essay about lobsters. Just... lobsters. If you want someone who can look at why luxury cruises are kind of miserable when you think about them, you're in luck, because there's someone who has thought about it from every. single. angle. in. excruciating. detail.

    Even those of us who like him can understand why some can't stand him.

    Throw in that he was abusive as hell towards women, and, even if you don't know that, you can read that he's got some hangups about them and some ignorant thoughts about race, and, yeah, even his fans are ambivalent.

    If you were going to read him, I recommend the essay collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, but... just, in enjoying it, don't forgive the shit I just told you.

  24. Do you think it's fair to say that the "misunderstood loner genius who's also an unrepentant jackass" archetype is so popular due to how toxic masculinity is so, so deeply embedded in our culture?

    in response to Do you think it's possible to make a movie that's feels like it's being really honest about its subject (like 'Steve Jobs' or 'The Social Network') when its subject is involved in making it (like 'Molly's Game')? I've been mulling over why the first two of those resonated with me and the third didn't, and that's the only difference I can think of.

    it's that, and it's the way we worship individualism, and the way we treat acquisition of capital as proof of personal worth

    it's never just one thing

  26. Do you actually think anything will ever get any better?

    things get better when we make them better

  27. Will you ever do a video talking about updog?

    bofa deez nuts!

  28. What made Collateral so special to you?

    in response to Thoughts on Michael Mann?

    I didn't think it was special, I just managed to sit through the whole thing. I actually thought it was a little boring and silly.

  29. A billionaire isn't a rich fellow.

    If you have like $ 1 billion, you can't really spend on things, because expensive things requires maintaining..

    shut up

  30. Both liberalism and conservatism have their pros and cons.

    But do you believe liberalism has been hijacked by feminism?

    I believe liberalism is trying to hijack feminism

    also fuck off

  31. Is using the term Fat to describe someone's physical shape still considered bad or is using a euphemism worse still?

    what's bad is speaking derogatorily about a person's body, not the specific word you use

  32. Most controversial opinion on snails

    I've thought and thought and it turns out I have no controversial opinions on snails. I'm sorry, I've failed you.

  33. He said that open borders was a koch's brother proposal, and that America does not need lots of foreign workers?
    Abolishing the ICE is just his face of being the kinder face of trump

    in response to Do you believe an anti immigration policy, like the one Bernie had is compatible with socialism?

    I feel like your conflating different positions he had at different points in his campaign. He rejected the idea of open borders but then backed off that tack and proposed one of the most progressive immigration reform platforms we've ever seen.

    Further evidence that Sanders commonly has blind spots on social issues and becomes a better candidate when we criticize him, but it's heresy to admit he's flawed!

  34. Do you think it's possible to make a movie that's feels like it's being really honest about its subject (like 'Steve Jobs' or 'The Social Network') when its subject is involved in making it (like 'Molly's Game')? I've been mulling over why the first two of those resonated with me and the third didn't, and that's the only difference I can think of.

    in response to What's your list of movies and shows that you've watched during this lockdown period?

    I wouldn't trust the portrayal of *any* of those characters because Aaron Sorkin is a deeply egotistical man who will write every protagonist as a misunderstood genius because that's how he sees himself. The reasons Molly's Game is less impactful than the other two are A) Sorkin doesn't write women well so she's a comparatively passive protagonist and all the big emotional moments are either delivered by men (the therapy session, "she belongs on a box of Wheaties") or Molly quoting a man ("NOW you read The Crucible?!"), and B) Sorkin is not as good a director as David Fincher or Danny Boyle.

  35. As you're currently playing Disco Elysium, how do you avoid the danger of being "overhyped" by the praise the game got in general and from the critics you trust? Are there specific principles you follow so that your first impression of a piece of media is as fresh as possible?

    I don't worry about it too much? If I genuinely like something, the difference between how good I find it and how good everyone else finds it doesn't bother me much, because I'm still having a good time. Sometimes there's a game that isn't amazing but would still have been a pleasant surprise if I'd gone in with no expectations becomes a letdown if everyone's told me it's incredible, but we're talking about "mild enjoyment" converting to "mild disappointment" which isn't something I lose sleep over.

  36. "thinking man's male posturing"

    What's that supposed to mean?

    in response to Thoughts on Michael Mann?

    male posturing but for thinking men

  37. Is the left more consequentialist than the right?

    the complexities of how different political groups relate to consequentialism are way too complex to boil down to "left does it more"

  38. You talked about making a video game once before, have you been fiddling around with those concepts recently?

    I mean, I have several ideas, some with partial design documents and concept art and at least one with some programming, but it has not proven a thing I have the skills to do myself nor the time and resources to hire other people for.

    One day.

  39. Are you getting bored of answering Qs

    I don't answer questions that bore me, except this one.

  40. Do you believe an anti immigration policy, like the one Bernie had is compatible with socialism?

    not sure I would characterize "only candidate promising to abolish ICE" as anti-immigration

  41. Have you thought when you grow up, you wanted to become a rich parent?

    ha

  42. Shiba inus or Corgis?

    yes

  43. What kind of time travel mechanic is your favorite in fiction? Like, deterministic "it always happened like this", Back to the Future-style timeline override, etc?

    Don't know that I have a favorite, I'm just interested in authors picking a set of mechanics and exploring them. Primer had one of the more fascinating ones.

  44. Do you have a Zelda game ranking?

    in response to What's a prequel that was done right?

    I haven't finished enough of them to do a full ranking, and my normie ass is just gonna put Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time near the top like everyone else.

  45. What's your pitch for the best way to adapt the His Dark Materials trilogy to a visual medium such as film or TV?

    just do it like it is in the book! I mean... make it look like the movie, give it the breathing room of the miniseries, but just... everything you need is in the book! the movie got the look and feel mostly right but compressed the fuck out of everything and didn't really do enough adapting to a visual medium; the series knows how to adapt but is focusing on different factions playing off each other and hushed, portentous dialogue and grounding the fantastical elements to the point of mundanity in an attempt to be Game of Thrones.

    I don't think doing it right is actually that hard...

  46. Do you ever miss being able to uncritically enjoy things?

    I am adept at enjoying things critically.

  47. As a person planning on majoring in computer science, how can I help out with left wing causes?

    make us video games!

  48. How are gulags and mass executions "socially conservative"?

    in response to This is really accurate. Stalin and the Soviet Union were socially conservative. Stalin made divorce harder, made abortions illegal, banned homosexuality, believed that the family is a stabilizing influence on society, and levied heavier taxes on parents with fewer than two children. To be fair, this was in response to falling birth rates, but it still created a society that modern conservatives would be very comfortable in.

    because authoritarianism is a conservative worldview

  49. What did you think of The Invitation? I don't see what the hype is about.

    in response to What's your list of movies and shows that you've watched during this lockdown period?

    It was one of those movies where you can pick up early on what it's overall arc is going to be even if you don't know concretely how it's going to end. So then it's just, ok, how are all the obvious beats going to play out? How obviously weird are things going to get before anyone else picks up on it? How are people going to write off the protagonist's concerns? How will the big reveal happen? It executes most of these beats with skill, but it's still a formula.

    One thing I did like - though I wish it came a little earlier in the movie - is the bit where Logan Marshall-Green finally blows up and is like SOMETHING IS OBVIOUSLY GOING ON WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?!?! and then it's like... suuuuuuuper awkward and embarrassing? It is the *best* way to deal with the audience's apprehension. Rather than just having people say "you're imagining things, don't embarrass yourself talking about this," he just SAYS IT and it IS embarrassing, and you're immediately reminded why nobody says anything in these movies.

    But, still, it's a smart variation on a formula. Karyn Kusama is a very talented director and she was kinda flexing on this one, but there's not a lot of there there. But you should definitely watch Destroyer, *that* movie is excellent.

  50. Thoughts on Michael Mann?

    Honestly, I don't think I've ever made it all the way through one of his movies except for Collateral. I think he's a fine director and I do appreciate the way his movies take their damn time, tease out complex relationships and set stakes before people blow each other away, but nothing has ever *really* grabbed me, and his movies give of a really strong "thinking man's male posturing" vibe.

  51. My dad works in oil (some sorta middle management, engineering position) and is at risk of losing his job. What are the chances of the online left shunning me because of the social class I still have as of writing this, especially if I lose that class?
    Sorry if this seems rant-y and condescending, but I don’t want that when I eventually go to twitter to vent about how my dad lost his FUCKING JOB, and have all the replies be variations upon “you deserve it”.
    Why?

    there are dickheads on the internet and a nasty pocket of them are on the Left. wish I could say otherwise, but find the leftists who aren't dickheads and block the ones who are.

  52. What's your list of movies and shows that you've watched during this lockdown period?

    there's been a lot...

    AMAZON PRIME
    King of New York
    Heist
    The Human Factor
    Just Mercy
    The Man Who Wasn't There
    Miller's Crossing
    Steven Universe Future
    The Maltese Falcon
    A Fistful of Dollars
    One False Move
    Twilight (Paul Newman, not KStew)
    The Friends of Eddie Coyle
    Last Man Standing (the gangster movie, not the show my mom watches)
    Disappearance at Clifton Hill
    Paris 2054: Renaissance
    Logan Lucky
    Girlfight
    Suture
    For a Few Dollars More
    The Warrior and the Sorceress

    NETFLIX
    Enter the Florpus
    The Spectacular Now
    Better Call Saul (Season 4)
    Killing them Softly
    Mindhunter
    Steve Jobs
    Molly's Game
    The Social Network (I was on a Sorkin kick, sue me)
    The Invitation
    Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

    KANOPY
    The Big Combo
    The Missing Person

    HULU
    United States of Tara
    Killing Eve
    (I know there's more but Hulu doesn't keep a complete viewing history)

    CRITERION CHANNEL
    (doesn't have a viewing history)

    HBO GO
    His Dark Materials
    (also doesn't have a viewing history)

    MISC OTHER PLATFORMS
    Django
    Omega Doom
    other stuff, iunno

  53. What would you do if America is in a fascists Revolt?

    I ask myself this question every day

  54. This is really accurate.

    Stalin and the Soviet Union were socially conservative. Stalin made divorce harder, made abortions illegal, banned homosexuality, believed that the family is a stabilizing influence on society, and levied heavier taxes on parents with fewer than two children.

    To be fair, this was in response to falling birth rates, but it still created a society that modern conservatives would be very comfortable in.

    in response to if there is a democratic socialism, is there a conservative socialism?

    I find your omission of the gulags and mass executions curious, but your conclusion is accurate

  55. so what's up with the hype about timothee chalamet?

    he good and he pretty

  57. George Lucas or James Cameron?

    Kathryn Bigelow

  59. I have a finite amount of money, is it better to donate to political candidates who could kick out right wingers or to disease prevention

    the best thing to do is stop operating as an individual, look at what collective efforts are being done in both areas, and provide financial support to whichever one has less funding

    the solution to most societal problems is "not me, us"

  60. What's a prequel that was done right?

    most good zelda games are prequels

  61. if there is a democratic socialism, is there a conservative socialism?

    so there was this guy Stalin...

  62. Do you think we'll see the rise of the alt-right's "alt-right" i.e. a new rightist movement going against what it perceives to be the failures of its predecessor?

    I don't think the Alt-Right is mainstream nor well-defined enough to have a group backlash against it. A newer reactionary group would probably just call itself part of the Alt-Right and try to redefine what the term means. What's been happening with these reactionary groups is, when one is no longer viable, the people go underground for a bit and then come back with a rebrand. So the Alt-Right is a lot of the same arguments and people recycled from the Tea Party, much of which was recycled from Patriot and militia groups of the 90's and early aughts. They evolve, sure, but they're too fringe to cast out potential allies just because they hate each other. Alt-Right's FULL of people with complete incompatible ideologies.

  63. How does the left stop losing elections?

    I dunno, but they could start by learning literally anything from all the other elections they've lost?

  64. What do you think of leftists who arm themselves to defend against political violence?

    in response to In the "I Hate Mondays" video, you note that regulating guns would decrease shootings, but regulating abortions does not decrease them. Why is that? (this isn't a criticism, I'm just wondering why it's like this)

    Defensible enough, though it concerns me how many leftists talk about "leftists arming themselves" when the political violence is, by and large, not done against leftists in the US, it's done against minorities. Like... cops aren't pulling guns on white socialists on their way out of DSA meetings. So I kinda think some leftists just like guns?

  65. favorite dragon?

    Tiamat from Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. Obviously.

  66. Sorry if this has been asked before, but Favorite Lemon Demon songs?

    I haven't kept up on his more recent output, but I've always liked Geeks in Love and Word Disassociation.

  67. Would you say that that’s a bad thing, per se? I certainly don’t think, cause so I kinda feel the same way about ur non-leftism content tbh (no offense).

    in response to Thoughts on Civvie 11, Gmanlives, and SkillupYT, GO!

    Enh. It is only bad in the sense that I personally found it uninteresting.

  68. What's the best music to listen to when you're depressed?

    Why Must I Be Sad? by They Might Be Giants

  69. In the "I Hate Mondays" video, you note that regulating guns would decrease shootings, but regulating abortions does not decrease them. Why is that? (this isn't a criticism, I'm just wondering why it's like this)

    Because an abundance of guns means people often commit violence on an impulse that would pass if there were obstacles to acting on them, whereas abortions are always premeditated.

    Because an abortion is not a finite product that can become more scarce if production is lowered, it can only be performed more or less safely. In an absence of doctors, people will do them with coat hangers.

    Because demand for abortions is inelastic, correlated with the rate of unwanted pregnancy at similar rates the whole world over, while demand for guns is deeply tied to local gun culture, marketing, and political persuasion.

  70. Favorite letter in your name

    which name

  71. Favorite Outer Wilds planet (besides the quantum moon)?

    I love them all and also hate them all, which is as it should be!

    Timber Hearth is the coziest but also the least interesting. The Ash Twin is just kind of featureless for most of a loop and then it's just crags and towers with not a lot going on, but the image of a funnel of sand streaming off to another planet is amazing. The Ember Twin is one of the more interesting places to tool around in but you also get to spend lots of times in claustrophobic caves that may or may not fill up with sand and crush you to death. Giant's Deep is terrifying on the surface but gets progressively more beautiful the deeper you go. Brittle Hollow is probably the most beautiful and fascinating space but you also live with the knowledge that the ground my fall from beneath your feet at any moment. And Dark Bramble is just a fucking nightmare.

    Everything is beautiful and fascinating and terrifying and that's the way space should be.

    But let's just say The Attlerock because it's nice and cozy and nothing tries to kill you.

  72. (different anon) I've found asexuality to be an excellent remedy, myself.

    in response to How to be less Hornt

    nice work if you can get it

  73. OUTER WILDS SPOILERS THAT I ATTEMPTED TO MAKE VAGUE BUT DIDN'T SUCCEED WELL ENOUGH, SERIOUSLY DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED

    I feel like there's maybe a bite-size Outer Wilds video about subverting expectations about the end goal

    There's this implicit assumption from the beginning of what your objective must be, because that's what it'd be in most other games - and the game does provide a McGuffin to support it

    But then it's not that, and it's both tragic and optimistic, and it just hit me in a big way. And I feel like calling it a "twist" is somehow the wrong word, but I can't communicate why

    I'm not requesting, but whenever I think about that, I've often thought that I'd love to see your take on it

    And sorry for the weird formatting, I've had to remove periods because stupid CC keeps thinking I'm sending links

    in response to Do you plan on making any videos about Outer Wilds and/or Disco Elysium?

    sounds like a video you should make!

  74. Are you more on the arts side or the science side?

    false dichotomy

    ...

    but I have an art degree, so draw your own conclusions

  75. Thoughts on Civvie 11, Gmanlives, and SkillupYT, GO!

    I think I watched some Civvie when I was trying to find a good, mindless shooter? Honestly, once you're a certain level of Deep Into The Scene I think you're kind of impenetrable to people who just want a fun game.

Anon commented:
Ian replied: