CuriousCat Archive Page 29 of 202

  1. Which of The Endless would you want to spend a day hanging out with? Assume that "none of them" isn't an option.

    tea party with Death, Destruction, and Delirium. Dream can come by so long as it's [SPOILER].

  2. What caused the collapse of Revolutionary Catalonia?

    the liberals murdered them

  3. Eddie Izzard voice "do you like..... bread??"

    I've got legs!

  4. Thoughts on MatPat's departure from YouTube?

    is that why he was trending?

  5. Since you believe that capitalism is a racist ideology (feel free to correct me if you don't believe that) and that believing in a racist ideology makes you racist (which you have just claimed in your previous answer), it would necessarily follow that you believe that all supporters of capitalism (which, statistically speaking, is most of the world and an even greater proportion in America specifically) are racist. If most people are racist according to your definition of racism, then the definition that you are using for racism seems really ineffective.

    in response to Do you think most conservatives are racist?

    I wouldn't say "capitalism is a racist ideology" so much as "capitalism is a hierarchical ideology and will therefore use any extant hierarchy as a means of stratifying wealth; if racism exists in your society, capitalism will find a use for it."

    but, regardless, yes, I believe most people are racist, and anyone with even a passing familiarity with race theory will understand that. if you think that's an "ineffective" definition of racism, you are operating under some - forgive me - extremely privileged ignorance.

  6. Which and when?

    in response to Have you ever been to a circus?

    I think Ringling Bros at the Cow Palace, and it was probably the 90's

  9. Just say it’s put on hold or abandoned and surprise people with it one day if you want to, or not. Not that hard

    in response to Will ARPB be completed in 2024

    no

  11. Was Cuba ever really socialist?

    I'm not the socialist police

  12. Why don’t atheists have pastors?

    we have YouTubers for that

  13. Have you ever been to a circus?

    yeah

  14. Do you have a preferred pejorative for people who fit the colloquial usage of those words? I'm partial to buffoon, but I don't think it's as universal.

    in response to Why does it seem like even left wing people still say “dumb” and “crazy”? Did that part of inclusive language just never catch on?

    most alternatives skew towards the childlike - "ding dong," "dingus" - or the profane - "damn fool," "dipshit"

    generally choosing terms that imply a person is ACTING BENEATH THEIR INTELLIGENCE rather than UNINTELLIGENT

    (which, again: I am not being prescriptive)

  15. what do you think diglett looks like under the surface

    he hides his nerves and it worsens, he worries something is gonna hurt us

  17. Do you think conservatives that heavily support Israel like Dennis Prager have seen the casualties in Gaza and thought "yep, keep attacking"?

    of course. conservatives have cheered the massacre of Arabs since 9/11.

  19. Does the band have more appeal for people who lived thru the '90s before irony was associated with 4chan nazis? Was singing "I will survive" in a way that implies you don't actually care whether you'll survive transgressive at the time?

    in response to Cake Good?

    okay you've activated the Cake Fan Trap Card in which I start ranting about how John McCrea's mode of singing often interpreted as sarcastic or ironic, and, while the songs ARE often sardonic, that does not preclude sincerity, and their rendition of I Will Survive is entirely honest and made with genuine love for the original! the phrase "I will survive" is almost rueful, like the awareness you have that you will heal someday but can't feel much enthusiasm for it now while you're still wounded; throwing your ex out of the apartment when they try to reconcile and knowing, vaguely, that it's the right decision, but also knowing it will take months to feel relief or pride because right now you're just OVER IT; bursts of anger and pain breaking through the cold bitterness on "I should have changed my fucking lock" and "all the strength I had just not to fall apart"; the music bringing what the voice does not with the angry guitar solo and the sudden catharsis of the trumpet bursting in with the most famous melodic line, so central on the strings in the original but saved til now and played on the band's signature instrument...

    Cake is deeply misunderstood

  20. Computer over? Virus equals very yes?

    in response to My take: Homestar is funny

    I think it was .egg, or .muffin

  21. Will ARPB be completed in 2024

    I've been putting "complete TARPB" on my Annual Goals every year since at least 2019.

    I would LIKE to finish the main body of the series this year. I have a bunch of these bite-sized scripts I'm trying to get through, and then I will start working on the conclusion(s). but life has a tendency to throw me for loops, so... we'll see!

  22. Would that have been true a few days ago?

    in response to Are you a 40-year-old virgin?

    no need to play detective. yes, it was my fortieth birthday yesterday.

  23. Because you said a ridiculous thing and now you’re deflecting because you’re insecure that you’re wrong

    in response to IIf someone heard you call a mentally disabled person stupid they’d probably tell you “he’s not stupid he just has X”. That’s what makes that and idiot and probably moron clearly different. Those uses are so out of favor that most people don’t even know they exist.

    I said some basic and very self-evidently true things, with no statement as to what anyone else should do with that information, and it seems to have struck a nerve

  24. Cake Good?

    I was gonna ask if you meant the band or the dessert, but the answer is yes either way

  26. IIf someone heard you call a mentally disabled person stupid they’d probably tell you “he’s not stupid he just has X”. That’s what makes that and idiot and probably moron clearly different. Those uses are so out of favor that most people don’t even know they exist.

    in response to Why does it seem like even left wing people still say “dumb” and “crazy”? Did that part of inclusive language just never catch on?

    why are y'all arguing with me about this?

  27. I'm nearing 40 and I feel like I'm only just figuring some things out. Is this a common experience?

    in response to How were your 30s?

    I don't know HOW common, but it's more common than we think.

  28. How were your 30s?

    pretty good!

  29. What is your favorite sentient species in fiction that is utterly unlike humans?

    the Ariekei from Embassytown come to mind

  30. do doops have limbs or do they manipulate things like homestar

    I see you've taken a stance on the "does Homestar have telekinesis or invisible limbs" debate

  31. Are you a 40-year-old virgin?

    I'm one of those things

  32. How do doops affection one another?

    in response to What happen when doop die?

    gently

  34. Hasn’t every country in the world been founded or defended through the use of force? Hell, would there even *be* so many different countries if people didn’t fight and disagree over everything?

    in response to From HTRAN: "they've told him all of history is groups fighting each other over status..." Is this... not true though?

    and hasn't every country in the world been founded by a population of people coming together to form a shared identity?

    humans have innate tendencies towards cooperation and competition. you can spin any part of history towards either one. trying to make one the totalizing myth is pointless.

  35. (diff anon again) OK, but, like, if there's any empire that exemplifies the statement "all of history is groups fighting each other over status", it's the Mongols.

    in response to (diff anon) What characteristics of the mongols are particularly inspiring? Book recs?

    well, given the Mongols are the exception to every rule, that would imply NONE of history is groups fighting each other for status EXCEPT the Mongols

  37. Any characters you wish had made it into Super Smash Bros?

    NiGHTS

  39. From HTRAN: "they've told him all of history is groups fighting each other over status..." Is this... not true though?

    no, of course it's not true. history is lots of things. history is also people working together. history is exploration. history is people fighting each other for no reason at all. history is people coming together. history is people falling apart. history is people eating fuckin' sandwiches. it's not that "fighting over status" doesn't happen, it's that a reductionist view in which that's the only thing that drives humanity is exceedingly untrue; even the narrative that competition is the PRIMARY driver of history is largely false.

    people have always fought over status. it has never been the primary thing that happens.

  40. I'm mad that I'm merely a fan of various content creators and not actively working enough to be their peer in order to talk to them, how do I stop caring about this to focus on making things I like

    I guess take heart knowing you will probably always struggle to feel like other content creators are your peers, YouTube is held together with imposter syndrome and duct tape, none of us know how to interact with each other

  41. What happen when doop die?

    in response to What baby doops look like?

    they have a different relationship to death. when you reproduce by splitting into to identical clones, do you die? or are there just two of you now? two with your senescence reset? does a living doop have memories all the way back to the original doop? it's hard for us to wrap our heads around. if a doop ends by death instead of splitting, they are mourned, but in an abstract way. it is both the loss of a person, and also a loss of a variant of yourself. all the siblings carry the collective memory; that doop's individual experiences are a tiny fraction of what the collective carries. what is death to such a being?

  42. What baby doops look like?

    doops don't have babies, they reproduce through mitosis

  43. America was inspired by 1700s Europe's ideas of Greece and Rome. What civilization of the past, if any, would be better to take inspiration from?

    wait for it... The Mongols

  46. Kinda funny how two different gays have been outed for plagiarism in the past two months

    yeah? what's the joke? explain it for us.

  48. If you had a PlayStation you could have rented it from a kiosk you see at the grocery store, or you could have used a PS plus subscription whenever the Spider-Man games are available there.

    in response to First game is like $35 dollars rn on Steam

    why yes, why not buy a $450 console, that'll be much cheaper

  50. Have you played the Spider-Man games by Insomniac?

    I can't afford that!

  51. Words change over time, sometimes such that they serve a completely different function than they used to.

    I know you're trying to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities, but I would need to see opinions from cognitively disabled people regarding the ethics of using the word "idiot" in the context I mentioned.

    in response to Wait, is there am argument to be made that's it's bad to call people idiots? Not even Anti Vaxxers? Racists? Elon Musk fanboys? Transphobes? Religious fundamentalists? Nazis? We can't call these people idiots? As far as I'm concerned, the word "idiot" should be reserved specifically for people like this.

    if only that was something you could look for on the internet

  52. I've called myself a dumb idiot before, that okay? Since it's self-referring?

    in response to (different anon) IDK if any of this showed up on Twitter, but a few weeks back on Tumblr there was a bunch of discourse about all of those words. The people who showed up on my feed were pretty vehemently opposed to recognizing any of them as harmful or derogatory. The way one person put it is that they hated seeing people try to re-stigmatize these terms after all the work that was done to ameliorate their meaning (not sure what exactly they were referring to).

    no

  54. Wait, is there am argument to be made that's it's bad to call people idiots? Not even
    Anti Vaxxers?
    Racists?
    Elon Musk fanboys?
    Transphobes?
    Religious fundamentalists?
    Nazis?

    We can't call these people idiots? As far as I'm concerned, the word "idiot" should be reserved specifically for people like this.

    in response to Why does it seem like even left wing people still say “dumb” and “crazy”? Did that part of inclusive language just never catch on?

    "idiot" has the same origin as "retard"

  55. (different anon) IDK if any of this showed up on Twitter, but a few weeks back on Tumblr there was a bunch of discourse about all of those words. The people who showed up on my feed were pretty vehemently opposed to recognizing any of them as harmful or derogatory. The way one person put it is that they hated seeing people try to re-stigmatize these terms after all the work that was done to ameliorate their meaning (not sure what exactly they were referring to).

    in response to Why does it seem like even left wing people still say “dumb” and “crazy”? Did that part of inclusive language just never catch on?

    that's fucking hilarious. those are not "reclaimed slurs," ffs. does this person self-identify as a moron? are THEY allowed to use it but non-morons aren't? the words mean the same thing they always did and that thing is ableist.

  56. Why does it seem like even left wing people still say “dumb” and “crazy”? Did that part of inclusive language just never catch on?

    pretty much, yeah. people are still having to argue about the r-word, so they gave up on dumb, crazy, stupid, moron, and idiot.

  57. No, not how was he racist, *why* was he?

    in response to Why was he racist?

    fucked if I know

  58. Would you also say Castro was a monster?

    in response to (Different anon) Why are leftists so eager to dismiss the representative democracy of the United States while praising leaders like Fidel Castro that hold onto power for decades? At least these American presidents have to be voted in and abide by checks and balances and separation of branches. Yes, these systems are flawed and have been exploited before. But I can't see how whatever system Stalin governed by was more democratic.

    I'm a product of the late 90's California public education system, so I don't know a ton about Castro or the Cuban revolution. I can say he did not do communism in a way I would praise.

  59. (Different anon) Why are leftists so eager to dismiss the representative democracy of the United States while praising leaders like Fidel Castro that hold onto power for decades? At least these American presidents have to be voted in and abide by checks and balances and separation of branches. Yes, these systems are flawed and have been exploited before. But I can't see how whatever system Stalin governed by was more democratic.

    in response to (Different anon). Nixon didn’t care much about domestic policy and to the extent that he did, he mostly focused on doing what was popular. Because he wasn’t very ideological, when democrats in congress passed popular liberal legislation he often signed it. Even so, he often implemented these policies in ways that would cause maximum divisions in the democratic coalition. Affirmative action and environmental regulations are the classic examples of policies he weaponized this way. He still was one of the worst human beings ever to be president, and nearly every president was a bad human being.

    um... yeah, that is probably frustrating, but why are you saying it to me? I have never praised Castro and call Stalin a monster every chance I get.

  61. I've learned that, at least with one person, I might be a sub. Thoughts?

    way to go

  62. (Different anon). Nixon didn’t care much about domestic policy and to the extent that he did, he mostly focused on doing what was popular. Because he wasn’t very ideological, when democrats in congress passed popular liberal legislation he often signed it. Even so, he often implemented these policies in ways that would cause maximum divisions in the democratic coalition. Affirmative action and environmental regulations are the classic examples of policies he weaponized this way.

    He still was one of the worst human beings ever to be president, and nearly every president was a bad human being.

    in response to he normalized relations with China, passed many environmental laws, and ended the Vietnam war tho. Plus all the moon landings happened during his presidency.

  63. Do you think debatebros like Vaush give the anti-Stalinist left a bad look? I know people who gravitated towards ML channels like Hakim because of how much they dislike him.

    this is like Angela Nagle saying the Alt-Right exists because SJWs annoyed people into becoming Nazis. whatever frustrations I have with V, people are not mindless amoebae who move towards the most pleasing stimulus. they're humans with minds who make choices. they don't become tankies because one demsoc was annoying.

  64. he normalized relations with China, passed many environmental laws, and ended the Vietnam war tho. Plus all the moon landings happened during his presidency.

    in response to What do you think of Richard Nixon?

    Nixon was a racist piece of shit who was bullied by a Democrat-run Congress into governing more progressively. there is no "on balance" here; he did awful things he didn't have to do. he was a shithead.

  65. What do you think of Richard Nixon?

    what do I think of the guy who solidified the Southern Strategy? 🤔🤔🤔

  66. i need to make my bed but my very cute cat is very comfortable on the bed, please advise

    you don't have a bed, that's the cat's bed now

  68. So how's the 5ds?

    it's too many d's!

  69. Seeing as you said Gabe is looking for a cure for his souk sickness, what might be a better treatment than what Gabe has been getting caught up in?

    almost anything would be BETTER. you hear about those grannies who were deep in qanon and then got out by getting into Wordle; like it's literally just needing a hyperfocus! but, largely, all Gabe really needs is a few healthy relationships. not even romantic! a couple friends, a webforum, a few coworkers who are genuinely nice to him. it is shocking how little it takes sometimes.

  70. thoughts on banana bread?

    strongly in favor

  71. Do you think that religion culturally should be shift towards being more like believing in Santa or having fanclubs for theology, rather than being a set of assertions made about the nature of reality and humans?

    For example: Christians would openly edit the Bible to get rid of all the gross misogynistic stuff and their religious activities would functionally be larping, and there would be no social consequences for leaving the religion.

    I think this is kinda how it works for people who identify as Jedi.

    are we due for another Council of Nicaea?

    it is true that, historically at least, the Bible has been edited multiple times, so we could just do that again. but your larger suggestion is, I think, not really how religion works? it's a much more organic, evolutionary process than that. it might be nice for Christianity to evolve into something more drop-in/drop-out, but it would happen through processes way more vague and random than us saying it should.

  72. If you heard about a group of people sending out mailers to people to look at videos like yours, particularly in conservative areas, what would you think about that?

    it sounds like a waste of paper. are Midwestern boomers gonna use QR codes?

  73. I saw someone say this on Twitter:

    "Stop calling for a ceasefire and call for a global coalition to invade Israel"

    And, like, I understand logic behind wanting decisive action against a genocidal regime, but straight up advocating for such a drastic course of action seems questionable.

    Thoughts?

    aside from it being drastic action, it's kind of futile? Israel is doing what it's doing because it has the support of the US. we're giving them the weapons, we fund their military. invading Israel means going up against the US, which has the largest, most over-funded army in the world. even if anyone were willing to do it, they would lose. if anything, it would escalate the violence.

    the reason people demand a ceasefire is because the US can end the violence immediately by saying "one more bomb and we cut you off." that's all it takes. it's not just the more ~cOmFoRtAbLe~ option, it's also the most effective and the most likely (in that it is not utterly impossible like an invasion would be, but still doesn't look probable).

  74. Were you gifted a DS by any chance?

    in response to Are you having a Merry Christmas?

    not so far but my Crimbas isn't over yet

  75. (DA) I think the correct term for people born on the cusp between Millennial and Gen X is "Willennial", on the grounds that they were the correct age to have had both the desire and the ability to buy the album "Willennium" when it first dropped.

    in response to The Daria video convinced me to watch Daria and now I feel like I much-better understand the 90s.

    that made me laugh enough that my sister asked me what was so funny

Anon commented:
Ian replied: