CuriousCat Archive Page 68 of 202

  1. I like Madeleine L'Engle.

    in response to What do you recommend as an alternative to HP for kids newly into novels?

    I was thinking of recommending her and/or Lewis, but both have a lot of Christian theming that sits weirdly with me. I'd rather give them to an older kid, one who is better able to have critical thoughts about the work they love.

  2. you fool, you absolute BUFFOON, it was werewolves that were a bad metaphor for AIDS

    in response to Why not?

    oh shiz you're right

    well I guess it's fine then

  3. i've seen some slippery slopes in my life but god DAMN

    in response to Here's another hypothetical for you, unrelated to the idea of personhood: The goal of pro life-advocacy is for abortion to not only be legalized globally, but to become commonplace. But would that not carry with it the risk of the death rate exceeding the birth rate worldwide, which over a long enough timetable would inevitably result in human extinction? Could that not become a global crisis on par with say, environmental destruction? Would it not be ethical to place restrictions on abortion then?

    it's really something!

  4. do you even lift, bro?

    yes, I bench 125

  5. Here's another hypothetical for you, unrelated to the idea of personhood: The goal of pro life-advocacy is for abortion to not only be legalized globally, but to become commonplace. But would that not carry with it the risk of the death rate exceeding the birth rate worldwide, which over a long enough timetable would inevitably result in human extinction? Could that not become a global crisis on par with say, environmental destruction? Would it not be ethical to place restrictions on abortion then?

    in response to Re: Souls & Sapience. I'm a person who used to believe in the soul due to being raised Christian. The topic of souls and the afterlife is very weird, but I thought it was worth weighing in on the subject and to respond to the anti-abortion person. You can believe in the soul while also believing that fetuses lack souls, that a soul does not develop until a mind develops. The Bible does not spell out precisely when a soul develops, but it occasionally suggests that it does so at first breath, or at birth. There is no Biblical basis for abortion being equivalent to murder. The main reason why many modern Christians so vehemently oppose abortion is because they want to punish women who have extramarital sex. But most don't explicitly state this and instead pretend to be "pro-life". I'm sure there are plenty of self-identified Christians who believe that fetuses have souls, but they aren't the ones who control the movement as far as I can tell. I don't know how worthwhile it would be to point out that the Bible isn't anti abortion in the wider conversation. ?

    this is the worst argument I've ever heard

  6. What do you recommend as an alternative to HP for kids newly into novels?

    in response to Were you ever a fan?

    read Bruce Coville

  7. Why not?

    in response to Were you ever a fan?

    at their best they were fun and compulsively readable, but I never found them more than fluff. like, in high school, I burned through the first book in a day or two and then started the second before realizing, hmm, maybe I should do homework instead of reading Harry Potter for a week straight? so I put it down and, as soon as I broke momentum, I didn't care enough to pick it back up.

    years later I tried to work through the whole series, and knocked out 2, 3, and 4 pretty quickly. and each was a bit better than the last, and fun, but I still wasn't particularly invested. it was like chugging a soda. the pacing was all weird, with every book having, like, three straight chapters of Dumbledore explaining the plot at the end, and multiple books would've been over in 50 pages if Harry would just *tell Hermione what was happening* so there were always contrived reasons why he didn't. and there was the shitty "house elves are slaves!" and "animagi represent AIDS!" stuff that would've been easier to ignore if I were having more fun.

    then I got to book 5 and just couldn't. 100 straight pages of pubescent Harry yelling at everybody and he still hadn't set foot in Hogwarts. I'd never found the books deep but this one wasn't even fun. so I chucked it.

    I have no regrets.

  8. Have you ever unionized your workplace or been part of an ongoing union?

    not unless the Freelancer's Union counts

  9. why do you buy games that only have 4 concurrent players on steam (no offense)

    I buy games for lots of reasons, which ones are you referring to?

  10. Should telecommunications, data networking and Wi-Fi connections be free of use everywhere and nationalised?

    yes

  11. (different anon) Best songs/album to get into Weezer as a newbie?

    in response to pinkerton vs blue album

    start with the Blue Album

  13. Re: Souls & Sapience.

    I'm a person who used to believe in the soul due to being raised Christian. The topic of souls and the afterlife is very weird, but I thought it was worth weighing in on the subject and to respond to the anti-abortion person.

    You can believe in the soul while also believing that fetuses lack souls, that a soul does not develop until a mind develops. The Bible does not spell out precisely when a soul develops, but it occasionally suggests that it does so at first breath, or at birth. There is no Biblical basis for abortion being equivalent to murder.

    The main reason why many modern Christians so vehemently oppose abortion is because they want to punish women who have extramarital sex. But most don't explicitly state this and instead pretend to be "pro-life". I'm sure there are plenty of self-identified Christians who believe that fetuses have souls, but they aren't the ones who control the movement as far as I can tell.

    I don't know how worthwhile it would be to point out that the Bible isn't anti abortion in the wider conversation.

    ?

    it's also not broadly accepted by Christians. 60% of Protestants are pro-choice, for instance.

  14. Are you a fan of Harry Potter?

    no

  15. I know the Kenny vid was years ago, but having just rewatched it recently (massively holds up btw) and having seen the years of fandom hatred towards Jane, what do you think that's all about? It feels like everywhere I look on the internet, reddit, twitter, tumblr, all political spectrums, whatever takes a person has on Kenny, they always vehemently hate Jane and feel urge to remind you that even if they dislike Kenny, they hate her more.

    Do you have any thoughts on why this seems to have so embedded itself into online discussions around the topic? Do you think there'd be more or less willingness to support Jane, or at least not feel the need to compare her as a character and put her down, if Walking Dead season two was released in our current culture now?

    This isn't to spur any particular 'who is better' argument, seen that discourse lots, just to wonder if you had any thoughts on why it seems like so many people, of all types, whatever the Kenny take, just seemingly 'must' mention that they also despise her more. Just curious if you believe it's sexism related, abuse related, anything else, all of the above, interested in your thoughts. Thanks.

    victim-blaming. most fans, even the ones who agree Kenny is in the wrong, even the ones who agree he's abusive, still feel for him, so they need to exaggerate how awful Jane was so sympathizing with her murderer doesn't make them bad people

  16. This reminds me of a thing discussed in the Climate Grief episode of Philosophy Tube, the Non-Identity Problem - the power plant that hasn't been built yet, so it's not harming anyone that currently exists, but it will once it's built and people start living around it. If I'm interpreting your logic correctly, this means that it's okay to build that plant

    in response to (different anon) I guess I'm really struggling to see pro-choice as a valid option with your reasoning, when the fetus is developing inside the womb and gaining the human characteristics that are valuable, so in a way we're cutting short the process. as a vegan (and I'm pretty sure you are one too?), I just can't justify taking the life of something that can feasibly enjoy its life due to people not socking their cock and wanting to have unprotected sex, even when the byproduct of that is creating *valuable* life. the prospect of people being able to take a life when they consented to an act that led them to that predicament is scary to me. or what about fetuses that are really late in term and have gained sentience, I don't think the bodily autonomy of the womb-haver should overpower the right to life of a sentient creature, or that would lead to all kinds of immoral (albeit farfetched) scenarios. would a breastfeeding person be able to deny to give milk to a baby because they have the right to bodily autonomy (obviously a farfetched scenario, but the bodily autonomy argument would imply that the person isn't a moral culprit if it just let the baby die). I know my stance may even logically conclude to a puritanical view that prohibits sex for pleasure and... I don't want that, but it's hard trying to jumble all my beliefs when they seemingly contradict each other. I don't want people to suffer for 9 months, I want better legislation for both mothers and fathers, but I also don't want life to be thrown away. sorry to ramble on your account!

    that's a reach. you should maybe rewatch this PhilosophyTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2PAajlHbnU

  17. What can be done (by an individual) to prevent fascist control of government - and to cause government to enact a progressive agenda?

    I recommend against acting as an individual and instead finding organizations you want to be part of

  18. What recent events? I don't think the abortion stuff would exactly embolden people who call themselves "feminists", so was there any trans-related stuff happening that I missed out on

    in response to When you tweeted the chromosomes tweet, did you expect to receive that much TERF backlash?

    in material terms, the Texas law that says you can be arrested for letting your child transition is the big one, but, generally, QAnon and Trumpists have gone whole-hog into anti-trans paranoia, and it is gaining a lot of traction in politics. transphobia has almost entirely replaced Islamophobia as the animating hatred on the Right, and TERFs are THRILLED about it.

  19. (different anon) I guess I'm really struggling to see pro-choice as a valid option with your reasoning, when the fetus is developing inside the womb and gaining the human characteristics that are valuable, so in a way we're cutting short the process.

    as a vegan (and I'm pretty sure you are one too?), I just can't justify taking the life of something that can feasibly enjoy its life due to people not socking their cock and wanting to have unprotected sex, even when the byproduct of that is creating *valuable* life. the prospect of people being able to take a life when they consented to an act that led them to that predicament is scary to me. or what about fetuses that are really late in term and have gained sentience, I don't think the bodily autonomy of the womb-haver should overpower the right to life of a sentient creature, or that would lead to all kinds of immoral (albeit farfetched) scenarios. would a breastfeeding person be able to deny to give milk to a baby because they have the right to bodily autonomy (obviously a farfetched scenario, but the bodily autonomy argument would imply that the person isn't a moral culprit if it just let the baby die).

    I know my stance may even logically conclude to a puritanical view that prohibits sex for pleasure and... I don't want that, but it's hard trying to jumble all my beliefs when they seemingly contradict each other. I don't want people to suffer for 9 months, I want better legislation for both mothers and fathers, but I also don't want life to be thrown away.

    sorry to ramble on your account!

    in response to When do you think life begins?

    well, I mean, before engaging with the bulk of your argument... yes, of course breastfeeders have the right to deny milk!?! does a nursing parent have to feed ANY hungry child who approaches them? no, they only feed the one they have consented to feed. baby formula exists in large part so people who choose not to nurse can still raise children! let's not create hypothetical scenarios in which the ONLY way a child can survive is if someone sacrifices their bodily autonomy; that's just not the way things are. we have myriad ways to meet the needs of both child and parent.

    anyway. we're butting up, again, on the impossibility of drawing a line between "cluster of cells" and "sentience," much less going as far as "sapience." it's a rhetorical dead end. every egg that is shed in menstruation is a "potential" life; every sperm that dies in masturbation, or in the testes without being used, or, hell, the THOUSANDS that never make it to the egg is a "potential" life. there was a time when I, too, dismissed these arguments because it felt semantic; once the egg is fertilized, a process has begun, and the difference between "preventing a life from beginning" and "ending a life that exists" seemed meaningless.

    but I don't believe that anymore. it seems like that argument is predicated on some notion of, for lack of a better word, the soul. once the egg is fertilized, there is a vessel for a soul, and terminating it is murder. and that thinking stuck around well after I stopped believing in souls, because it undergirds a lot of modern morality. but the cluster of cells does not have a mind, and the fact that it probably would in the future is irrelevant because THAT PERSON DOES NOT EXIST. the individual rights of future people do not take precedence over ANYTHING in the present.

    besides, that, humans - even vegan humans like you and me - are making executive decisions about lives every day. we have decided plants and fungi are okay to eat based on a judgment call. we have decided trees are okay to cut down. we decide when it is acceptable to have a pet animal euthanized. we decide which pests should be denied food when we protect our crops. we let doctor's decide whether or not to save our lives if we're catastrophically injured. we treat life as important, but still something that has to be weighed against other factors. can we not, in this morality, accept that sometimes a pregnant person has to make a similar judgment call about potential person?

  20. Are the police just the largest government-backed gang in the United States?

    no that's the military

  21. pinkerton vs blue album

    pinkerton

  22. Have you heard of a short story called "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas?" Metaphorically, you can interpret it as a commentary on how capitalism necessitates that the rich developed world can only exist at the cost of exploiting the poorer developing countries.

    yes, I've read that story. yes, you can interpret it that way, though I think Le Guin would find it a little soft. I'm a bigger fan of NK Jemison's "The Ones Who Stay And Fight," which is a response to Omelas.

  23. Best lentil

    in response to Best legume

    French

  24. Do you like Shovel Knight?

    it never clicked for me

  25. When you tweeted the chromosomes tweet, did you expect to receive that much TERF backlash?

    I mean, I poke TERFs with sticks a lot. I always expect some degree of pushback, but this is the first time I've gotten significantly more TERFs in my mentions than trans followers. I muted the tweet pretty early and it hasn't spilled outside of that thread (much), so it's been kind of a non-event. but I guess it means I'm big enough and/or they're emboldened enough by recent events that I can expect this kind of reaction now.

  26. Best legume

    black-eyed pea

  27. how much of your research is books? i might be wrong but i feel like all of the sources that i see you cited are print books, which is interesting when most creators of a similar ilk seem to use a lot of more journal articles and such

    in response to how do you get your research? i want to learn more from better sources than "person on Twitter" but don't know where to start

    I use a lot of articles as well, that's true. but they tend to feel like bite-sized nuggets of information that I pepper throughout a video. the real meat is either books or research papers.

    or maybe that's just how it feels?! maybe I'm selling the articles short.

  28. for you personally, do you have any particular point where you'd stop wearing it? do you think that the ethical answer is to just wear masks in public forever from now on? or is it gonna be like in places like japan where it's ethically right to do it when you think you're sick and not a big deal not to otherwise?

    in response to Do you still wear your mask?

    at this point it seems COVID is either going to end or become endemic. if it's endemic, if and how often I wear a mask will depend on how it evolves, how contagious it is, how dangerous, etc. if it goes away, I'll stop masking when I feel the numbers are low enough.

    it's exhausting to "play by ear" for years on end but I can't see a better alternative.

  29. Does The Secret of Monkey Island have monkeys in it?

    it has *a* monkey

  31. Why is “I was following orders” and un-acceptable defense? If you defied a superior then you would be killed and possibly your family as well.

    in most contexts where people say "I was just following orders," the penalty for disobedience is getting fired/dishonorably discharged.

  32. Thoughts on the new Monkey Island trailer?
    I have seen some mixed reactions to the artstyle

    I'll make my final judgment when I actually play it, but, from the trailer, I think I like the art?

  33. Have you ever been on a podcast?

    several

  37. What are we living in the "Golden Age of?"

    metanarrative

  38. what do you do when you can't fall asleep

    complain

  39. Yes, but do you prefer to use a controller for some games specifically and not for others? Like using a controller for platformers and a keyboard and mouse for shooters?

    in response to Do you ever use a controller when you're playing games on your computer?

    keyboard and mouse almost always feels more correct for games on the computer. but, then, historically I didn't have computers that could play console-style games. now that I have a machine that can run, like, Sekiro and Nier: Automata, I will probably play those with controllers.

  42. Would you ever date a Vaushite?

    I don't think a Vaushite would date ME

  43. Do you do martial arts?

    is yoga a martial art?

  45. how do you get your research? i want to learn more from better sources than "person on Twitter" but don't know where to start

    you'd be surprised how much begins with "person on Twitter" for me, but a lot of my persons on Twitter reference books they got their information out of, so I make note of those books, and then those books often have other books as sources, and they mention concepts I can look up and find books on those, and it just turns into a rabbit hole

  47. When do you think life begins?

    "life" isn't very interesting to me. grass is alive. yeast is alive. what makes humans precious is not that they are made of biotic material, it's that they have minds. and the development of a human mind continues well after birth. trying to find some magical dividing line between "cluster of cells in the womb" and "human" isn't going to work. I don't have one. the ethics of bodily autonomy for the person with the womb take precedence for me.

  48. Will you ever do a video that covers PragerU?

    yes actually, I have a completed script about how the Right frames arguments that uses PragerU as the case study

  49. Star Trek is kind of just like "what if the US military was nicer"

    it's a bit more like "what if scientists had guns?"

  50. Based on your recent tweets it seems like you're also a proponent of the idea that "vote for compromise candidates to expand our majority" is a terrible idea since they don't support anything Dems do. My question is, is there any good research showing that more progressive candidates could win some of those races? It feels like it should be true (see Bernie for example) but I've never had anything to back that up besides just the *vibe* that disaffected poor people could be convinced to support unions and stuff.

    I looked into this cursorily a few elections ago, and it seems, when a leftier candidate is running against a centrist in a primary, people tend to favor the centrist. but, when running against a conservative, people aren't terribly fussed about how left their candidate is, because they want the conservative to lose. I would need to look at a lot more data before I could say anything with confidence, but, at a glance, it seems like true progressives/leftists are a safer bet when running against Republicans than when primarying Democrats. which is why it's so depressing that Biden won the nom against Trump, because Trump was so hated that probably ANY Dem could have won, which means Bernie had a shot.

  51. what does begging the question commonly mean now?

    in response to What is your "old man yells at cloud" moment?

    people use "begging the question" to mean "posing the question" rather a lot these days

  52. do you accept bribes to make videos on specific games?

    tell me what game and a dollar amount and I'll answer

  53. Do you ever use a controller when you're playing games on your computer?

    yeah, started doing it when I hurt my back and sitting upright to use the keyboard was infeasible.

  54. Have you played any of the Indiana Jones point-and-click games made by LucasArts?

    Yes, and Fate of Atlantis is better than Temple of Doom.

  55. Did the Nazis support capitalism?

    early fascists claimed to be anticapitalist when building their base, because the various economic failures of the early 20th century stirred up a lot of anger at existing economic systems and they were riding that wave. but, in practice, what "national socialism" always meant was ONLY expropriating and distributing the wealth of people deemed to be not of the nation. foreigners and "ethnic" locals had their businesses and private property taken, but the capitalists who were considered "real" Germans/Italians/Frenchmen were GIVEN money to practice unfettered capitalism.

  56. About?

    in response to More specific, please?

    stuff

  57. I need about tree-fiddy.

    I need a free tiddy

  58. Why do you think people respond to the affect of Shapiro or Peterson more than the affect of Contrapoints or Hbomberguy?

    I think different people respond to different affects

  59. I'm looking for good shorts help me out here

    have you tried jorts?

  60. (Different anon) What do you think about Vaush, who I hear gets praised for "masculinizing the left?" Regardless of what you think of his political beliefs, we can agree that he's a very masculine guy. But he also remains stoic during heated debates and ensures his community is safe for women, LGBTQ+ people, and other minorities. Is he a good model for healthy masculinity?

    in response to I've always thought you're a really good example of healthy masculinity. Looking back, was there a time when you considered yourself or your behaviors toxic and if so what did you do to change?

    his fans have lead multiple harassment campaigns on women, especially POC and trans women, and he has said Black feminists are obsessed with white dick. also the "remains stoic" thing is just the patriarchal ideal of being unfeeling and condescending. no, I don't consider him a model of healthy masculinity.

  61. Have you ever seen the same film(s) in theatres multiple times?

    yeah, sometimes movies are good

  62. Do you still wear your mask?

    absolutely

  64. Honestly somewhat depends on whether "sound" is the actual physical process or *the successful perception* of that same process.

    in response to you are supposed to find answers to philosophical ones

    exactly. and there is no "correct" answer to that, it is meant to make you consider different perspectives and what they mean.

  65. If that's true, why do they still call it a theory? I feel like the universe has just, always existed, that 'time' doesn't exactly have a beginning, even if that's hard to wrap your head around

    in response to What do you think existed before the universe?

    "theory" doesn't mean what you think it means in a physics context

  66. Won't stop until everyone's poor, eh?

    in response to How many layers we goin'?

    won't stop til no one is

  67. Way back forever ago - probably 90s, maybe early 2000s - I played a point and click adventure game about a guy going through a bunch of elementally-themed magic kingdoms to collect macguffins from each of them. I want to say there were four, and the order was something like icy->windy->watery->fiery. I don't remember anything else about this game. Maybe there was a yeti you had to deal with in the ice area? Do you have any idea what it could be and/or could you help em come up with a fun reason why I might have dreamed it

    is that Simon the Sorcerer?

  69. So now that Roe's gone, how long before they come for gay marriage and trans rights and everything else?

    they've already started

  70. More specific, please?

    in response to What's Tumblr for?

    much discourse

  71. Have you ever gambled at a casino? What were your winnings or losses?

    once. I had twenty dollars, played slots until I was up, and cashed out. I know just enough about how gambling works to know I should stop as soon as I'm ahead.

  72. Do you have any idea what these companies and executives stand to gain from polluting the planet for profit? Is it just human greed and fallibility?

    in response to Do you think capitalism is one of main forces driving the climate crisis? If so, can you explain how?

    money. they gain money. the economy does not run on ethics or harmony or a healthy population, it runs on money. yes, humans can be greedy; yes, humans are fallible; but the executives are this way because *this is what succeeds under capitalism*. if you save the Earth but don't make money, you go out of business. if you poison the Earth but keep making money, you stay in business. simple as that. the health of the Earth is not a factor in the economy. that's why we need a different economy.

  74. Is daylight savings time outdated?

    this implies there was ever a time when it made sense

  75. Will capitalism always prioritize short-term profit over long-term profit? When oil companies learned their actions caused climate change, they could've made cleaner energy sources and gained monopolies in a more sustainable energy sector, which might have been more profitable long-term, but instead they buried the research and paid off politicians to do nothing; was that choice the inevitable result of capitalist incentives on them, or an active choice they made unnecessarily?

    in response to Do you think capitalism is one of main forces driving the climate crisis? If so, can you explain how?

    well, a) this assumes that cornering the green energy market would be more profitable than staying in the oil business, which *could* prove true but is by no means guaranteed.

    b) businesses are in competition with other businesses, which disincentivizes a lot of long-term planning, because, if you make the switch to green energy on the assumption it will be more profitable than oil someday, it means making less money in the short term, and the customers who don't make the switch with you go to your competitors, and they may crowd you out of the market before your long-term strategy pays off.

    c) we also need to think about the different kinds of "long-term profit." I notice a lot of times capitalists will choose to make *less* money if the less profitable action is more *philosophically* capitalist. capitalism is predicated on the idea of perpetual growth; your competitors are always trying to get your share of the market, so, if you stop growing, you start to shrink. it resists equilibrium. whereas the very *idea* of green energy, that perpetual growth is unsustainable, that you should only take as much as you need, that you should move slowly so resources have time to replenish... that doesn't fit within a capitalist framework. in that sense, cornering the green energy market is, in fact, short-term profit, because letting those ideas get entrenched is going to cost every big business in the long run.

Anon commented:
Ian replied: