I Had A Random Thought...

[jmbossy]

Que another 3 page debate.

I love this forum.

 

Edit: SecretAsianMan please take note. My hands are clean in this one.

[BadHat]

Even as just a hypothetical question it still makes no sense. Like, even given that our eyes aren't real, mirrors would totally still exist. That dude's twitter is hilarious though.

"We Need To Stop Teaching The Youth About The Past And Encourage Them To Change The Future."

"There Is No Nutrients In Our Food Anymore Or In Our Soil OR IN OUR WATER."

"I Should Just Stop Tweeting, The Human Consciousness Must Raise Before I Speak My Juvenile Philosophy.

Shouts Out To @TIME"

"Trees Are Never Sad Look At Them Every Once In Awhile They're Quite Beautiful."

"If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On Planet Earth."

""It's Your Birthday" Mateo Said. I Didn't Respond. "Are You Not Excited To Be 15" He Asked. Reading My Book I Uttered "I Turned 15 Long Ago""

 

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/89707/whos-to-blame-for-jaden-smith-2-0-and-his-amazing-twitter-account

[tegan]

I bought Manga Studio 5 for myself tonight. It feels really weird that in the year of our Luigi two thousand and thirteen, I am purchasing software on a physical CD in an actual box that will be mailed to me.

[SecretAsianMan]

I want to see a Christmas special that takes place when it's not Christmas.  Mostly because I want to see the version of the scene where the mean character does something nice because "it's Christmas", implying that at any other time of the year the scenario would not have ended happily.

[Stuart]

Surprised that there isn't an idlethumbs.net/wizard Slash Wizard thread yet...

 

*eyes the Start New Topic button*

 

Mmm.

[Merus]

I quite like this piece: http://gawker.com/on-smarm-1476594977

 

It posits that snark is a natural reaction to smarm, and then goes on to dissect exactly what smarm is these days and how these smarmy charlatans and frauds use an ingratiating insistence on positivity and civility to smother any kind of objection to their bullshit. 

[BadHat]

I want to see a Christmas special that takes place when it's not Christmas.  Mostly because I want to see the version of the scene where the mean character does something nice because "it's Christmas", implying that at any other time of the year the scenario would not have ended happily.

 

The Baron had Snoopy dead in his sights 

He reached for the trigger to pull it up tight

and then he did

[Frenetic Pony]

A little tidbit from here made me realize something depressing: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/12/the-changing-landscape-of-the-global-energy-economy/

 

"$544 billion in fuel subsidies in 2012." That's $544 billion dollars, people pay to the government, that then goes out, to... make gas "Cheaper." to the same people... that just paid the government.

 

$544 billion, a not insignificant portion from the US, and the US cuts funding to fusion research instead. With that sort of money every year we could have been running on fusion right now. Global warming wouldn't exist, pollution would be practically gone. Energy for the entire world and cheap. Politicians are, provably and historically accurate, the worst sorts of people to have ever existed in human history.

 

Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin. Even the little things. Even the average politicians. Even those that vie for the position of deciding what is best for people know, at least have the obvious insight that they don't know what's best but crush all in their way for that position anyway. Every war, every massacre, every idiotic decision. People don't just up and go to war, politicians tell them to.

 

It's like this entire class of... people. People that don't care about knowing how best to run a geographical region of the world. They only care about being in charge. If they cared, if they actually cared about running things well there's information available, there's people that know. But they don't, they almost never do. They do anything to just be in charge, and that's what matters to them. Now I'm depressed, the most powerful people in the world are idiots. I mean, I've known that for a while. But they're not just idiots they are, insofar as such a thing can exist, honestly kind of evil.

[Dewar]

It's rarely that simple. Higher gas prices effect the prices on pretty much everything, since almost everything needs to shipped in some form. Those subsidies to try and lower gas prices are basically trying to stimulate the economy, which might not be the way I'd go about doing it, but I wouldn't call it stupid. Furthermore, how much money would you propose we throw at fusion power before we've wasted enough? From a business standpoint, you're looking at playing a lot of money for a project that people aren't even sure will ever produce any useable results. Other scientific study that has actually produced usable tech has been defunded, why should fusion research keep its funding over those other projects?

 

I'm not saying that I agree with how the government is being run either.

[Gormongous]

A little tidbit from here made me realize something depressing: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/12/the-changing-landscape-of-the-global-energy-economy/

 

"$544 billion in fuel subsidies in 2012." That's $544 billion dollars, people pay to the government, that then goes out, to... make gas "Cheaper." to the same people... that just paid the government.

 

$544 billion, a not insignificant portion from the US, and the US cuts funding to fusion research instead. With that sort of money every year we could have been running on fusion right now. Global warming wouldn't exist, pollution would be practically gone. Energy for the entire world and cheap. Politicians are, provably and historically accurate, the worst sorts of people to have ever existed in human history.

 

Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin. Even the little things. Even the average politicians. Even those that vie for the position of deciding what is best for people know, at least have the obvious insight that they don't know what's best but crush all in their way for that position anyway. Every war, every massacre, every idiotic decision. People don't just up and go to war, politicians tell them to.

 

It's like this entire class of... people. People that don't care about knowing how best to run a geographical region of the world. They only care about being in charge. If they cared, if they actually cared about running things well there's information available, there's people that know. But they don't, they almost never do. They do anything to just be in charge, and that's what matters to them. Now I'm depressed, the most powerful people in the world are idiots. I mean, I've known that for a while. But they're not just idiots they are, insofar as such a thing can exist, honestly kind of evil.

 

I usually look down my nose at accusations of conspiracy, but cheap and plentiful energy would strike at the foundations of every exploitative power structure in the world. There's no reason for anyone with any modicum of power to support it.

[subbes]

We'd also save a lot of energy if everyone stopped mining for Bitcoins.  Just sayin'.

[clyde]

We'd also save a lot of energy if everyone stopped mining for Bitcoins. Just sayin'.

This is my least favorite thing about bitcoins.

[I Saw Dasein]

i no longer enjoy playing video games. i don't have much time and when i do play i get no pleasure. I've enjoyed playing games since i was a child and i am now 30, but apparently no longer? Perversely I still read some video game websites and get caught up in the hype of new games, but don't actually enjoy playing them. feels weird yall.

[clyde]

I have lost my taste for some types of games, but gained taste for others.

Have you been exploring new genres?

[dibs]

My taste in games has changed a great deal over the years. Maybe time to try something diffent!

[SecretAsianMan]

I've hit 666 posts.  I guess that's supposed to be bad or something.

[dibs]

Were those lazer beams always on your avatar or is that a consequence?

[SecretAsianMan]

666 Posts Reached.  You have unlocked: Laser Eyebeams

[dibs]

[Eat all the lazer beams]

[Throw lazer beams on the floor]

[Zeusthecat]

i no longer enjoy playing video games. i don't have much time and when i do play i get no pleasure. I've enjoyed playing games since i was a child and i am now 30, but apparently no longer? Perversely I still read some video game websites and get caught up in the hype of new games, but don't actually enjoy playing them. feels weird yall.

 

It's strange but I'm experiencing the exact opposite. I just turned 29 and I find with each year my interest in games and the enjoyment I get out of them continues to go up. When I was a teenager I spent more of my time watching tv but as time has gone on I've pretty much stopped consuming any other forms of media and instead spend all of my spare time playing and reading about games. And oddly enough, I can't even think of a game that I've played in the last 15 years that I didn't enjoy.

 

This probably all sounds super obsessive and unhealthy but I guess games still hold that magical allure that they did when I was a little kid. There is always either a mechanic to be learned, a story to experience, a challenge to be had, music to enjoy, or a competition to be had with other people. 

[SecretAsianMan]

For the most part, I still enjoy games about the same amount as I ever have.  But Idle Thumbs has changed the type of games and the way I perceive those games.  I never used to enjoy roguelikes before, but now games like FTL, Rogue Legacy, and Spelunky are some of my favorites.  I still primarily like playing FPS games, but now I also see how much dumb shit is in them.  Were it not for Idle Thumbs, I'd probably be waist deep in (Call of) Doody.

[SecretAsianMan]

We'd also save a lot of energy if everyone stopped mining for Bitcoins.  Just sayin'.

 

Just saw this, reminded me of your comment.

[clyde]

I have lost my taste for some types of games, but gained taste for others.

Have you been exploring new genres?

Looks like Irishjohn may be having similar feelings.

http://www.theculturalapocalypse.com/home/2013/12/11/943x0jinxu7jvnvqahlj2haqzoh2uq

[clyde]

While everyone is mourning the literal meaning of "literally", I'm still confused about the difference in meanings between "sympathy" and "empathy".

Seems like "sympathy" would be literally translated from its greek roots to "same emotion"; whereas "empathy" would be "inside emotion". I do not enjoy the idea that "sympathy" is merely an attempt to claim you feel the same wa... Oh wait, I get it now.

If empathy is merely the capacity for sympathy, then by saying that you empathize, you are not claiming to know exactly how the person feels, you are just saying that you are capable of how that person feels.

I guess I still don't understand.

Empathy is the capacity for sympathy right? So if you are sympathetic, then empathy is a prerequisite. Why would someone claim that empathy is more appropriate when comforting someone than sympathy? Is it a time-based claim? Is the idea to have felt sympathetic to theoir emotion in the past and now you are empathetic because you don't feel that way now?

I feel like I am not using these words correctly.

[Zeusthecat]

I have "Return of the Mack" stuck in my head right now. God I hate that song.