I Had A Random Thought...

[Dewar]

I saw GB do a quicklook of a real actual mahjong game on the Japanese PS4 store. Seeing that my wife can both read Japanese and is craving a real mahjong game, I might set up a Japanese PS3 account and see if I can find anything good on there.

[Ucantalas]

I hate the perception those mahjong tile matching games give because it's not what real mahjong actually is or how it is played. 

Now that you bring it up, I realized I have no idea how Mahjong is actually played. I always thought the tile matching games you always see couldn't be how its played in real life because of just how weirdly difficult it seems it would be to set up?

[SecretAsianMan]

Supposedly, the tile matching game is a form of mahjong solitaire, but honestly I've never seen it done in real life, whereas actual mahjong is played all the time.  In China, there are special parlors with tables specifically designed to play mahjong.  They're actually kind of cool, they shuffle and arrange the tiles for you.

[Bjorn]

I'm reading the rules on Wikipedia to traditional Mahjong right now, of which I'm completely ignorant.  I know it's probably being unfamiliar with the proper terms, but I love the descriptions of play. This is the best:
 

Robbing a kong

A rarely occurring and high scoring feature of Hong Kong Mahjong is a move called robbing the kong. If a player declares a kong (by melding it or adding a fourth piece to a pong to form a kong or declaring a concealed kong) and another player(s) can use that piece to complete a hand (which would only logically happen by making a chow) a player may steal that piece from that player when declaring the kong and go mahjong (win the hand).

[Dewar]

It's kind of Poker plus Gin Rummy.

[miffy495]

I'm reading the rules on Wikipedia to traditional Mahjong right now, of which I'm completely ignorant.  I know it's probably being unfamiliar with the proper terms, but I love the descriptions of play. This is the best:

 

 

Robbing a kong

[shammack]

Ah yes, Hong Kong Mahjong, in the fine tradition of OshKosh B'gosh

[Ucantalas]

I kind of want a catastrophe to happen at some kind of Mahjong tournament so I can see the headline:

"Hong Kong Mahjong gone Wrong"

[Bjorn]

 

I'm reading the rules on Wikipedia to traditional Mahjong right now, of which I'm completely ignorant.  I know it's probably being unfamiliar with the proper terms, but I love the descriptions of play. This is the best:

 

 

Robbing a kong

bananas.jpg

 

:tup: :tup:

 

"Final gong after Hong Kong Mahjong tourney goes wrong"

[Merus]

Song for Hong Kong Mahjong final gong goes wrong!

Man exposes long dong

[SecretAsianMan]

WHAT HAVE I DONE 

 

Also I hate to ruin the pun fun but kong in mahjong is not pronounced like the kong in Donkey Kong.  Pong is also not pronounced the same as the pong in Ping Pong (hence the 3 different spellings in the Wikipedia entry).

[clyde]

Words I now use everyday after seeing them used a lot on these forums:

-implicit

-explicit

-subtle

-conflation

[Bjorn]

Words I now use everyday after seeing them used a lot on these forums:

-implicit

-explicit

-subtle

-conflation

 

-bespoke

[dibs]

-gross

-barf

-verbs

 

 

 

 

 

I've beening playing Dungeon Keeper II the last few evenings. It is so great.

[SecretAsianMan]

I feel like people in general are getting dumber, yet technology, science, and the sum of human knowledge seem to be advancing at an almost alarming rate.  I know the internet is not a good indicator of...well...anything, but it feels like the average person is becoming a stupider over time while humanity as a whole is getting smarter.  One of these perceptions must be wrong, but I honestly don't know which one.

[prettyunsmart]

I think the internet just gives us access to the internal thoughts of more people than we would have seen otherwise. The guy you pass on the street or the woman in line in front of you at the coffee shop my have some profoundly misguided thoughts about ancient aliens or where Barack Obama was born, but you'd never know it. If either of them goes home and posts a comment on a YouTube video, though, we immediately get to see how they see the world.

 

On a more serious note, I think this could have something to do with wealth inequality and an unequal access to education/information across classes. Science and technology are making great advances all the time, but only those with the leisure time to read about it/engage with that sphere of conversation will ever know about it.

[dibs]

Yes, I agree with pretttunsmart (who chose his name in apprehension of this question?) first paragraph- we are just exposed more to the stupid, horrible and violent side of people these days, and for a lot of us, our awareness of issues which would have been ignored in the past is much heightened. If you choose to look, you will also see the smart, wonderful, caring side of people more than you might expect. Also kittens.

[prettyunsmart]

Yes, I agree with pretttunsmart (who chose his name in apprehension of this question?) 

 

I actually chose it because of something a police officer once said to me. Come to think of it, is there a "tell us the story of your username" thread?

[SecretAsianMan]

It is true that if you actively look for stupidity you're more likely to find it, but I don't think anyone could deny that there's a lot of evidence out there to support either view.

[Gormongous]

I feel like people in general are getting dumber, yet technology, science, and the sum of human knowledge seem to be advancing at an almost alarming rate.  I know the internet is not a good indicator of...well...anything, but it feels like the average person is becoming a stupider over time while humanity as a whole is getting smarter.  One of these perceptions must be wrong, but I honestly don't know which one.

 

Over and over in history, observers and commentators complain that we live in the most advanced society, yet also the most intellectually and morally abased society. I think it's a cognitive dissonance that's been with us a long time.

[clyde]

The other day Captain Hastings had a conversation with a coworker and discovered that the coworker believed that mermaids were real. When explaining this to a third coworker, that person said "They are real, I just saw something about it on the History Channel."

Captain Hastings works in a lab.

Also, I'm convinced that 1 out of 20 adults I see on a daily basis believe that Santa Claus may be real.

All that said, I'm actually comforted by the freedom to lack knowledge or critical thinking in our society. I think the problem is that our technology is far too powerful. There are a lot of people driving cars who never consider the possibilty that something anomalous may happen to the car in front of them while they are moving at 65 miles an hour. That's stupid.

[Zeusthecat]

The other day Captain Hastings had a conversation with a coworker and discovered that the coworker believed that mermaids were real. When explaining this to a third coworker, that person said "They are real, I just saw something about it on the History Channel."

 

Wow, so some people did fall for that "documentary"? I remember it being controversial when it came out because there was almost no indication that it was intended to be a fake documentary. 

[SecretAsianMan]

Over and over in history, observers and commentators complain that we live in the most advanced society, yet also the most intellectually and morally abased society. I think it's a cognitive dissonance that's been with us a long time.

 

Yeah, I guess in hindsight I don't exactly have a unique point of view but that doesn't provide much comfort or resolution.  I suppose until the hive mind is a reality, we'll never really know what the collective intelligence of the planet is.

[clyde]

I don't know what y'all's Facebook feed looks like, but let's just say I post Snopes.com links in the comment-box more than I would like to. I don't know why I care. I guess I just hope other people would do the same for me.

[Gormongous]

Yeah, I guess in hindsight I don't exactly have a unique point of view but that doesn't provide much comfort or resolution.  I suppose until the hive mind is a reality, we'll never really know what the collective intelligence of the planet is.

 

Sorry, I wasn't trying to shut you up or anything. I was more just trying to say that your despair and anxiety is something well known and understood.

 

I don't know what y'all's Facebook feed looks like, but let's just say I post Snopes.com links in the comment-box more than I would like to. I don't know why I care. I guess I just hope other people would do the same for me.

 

I love Snopes for exactly the same reason. I would have to unfriend several superstitious relatives if Snopes didn't give me a ready response to their bull.