Avatar

nednobbins

nednobbins@lemm.ee
Joined
1 posts • 112 comments
Direct message

People chronically underestimate nature.

They see some beautiful desert, a peaceful sea, or an idyllic mountain and assume that nothing so pretty could possible hurt you.

Forget about cute animals that are actually dangerous, any of the above can secretly store so much energy that humans are completely insignificant gnats, in comparison.

permalink
report
reply

The question is typically described as “the historicity of Jesus”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

There are similar debates for other famous ancient figures.

The general academic consensus on Jesus (and many similar figures) is that they did exist and many of the details have been fictionalized.

permalink
report
reply

That’s just the name.

In the UK, “public school” just means that admissions are generally open to the public. They’re still very expensive, are often boarding schools, and tend to have a lot of castles on their campuses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)

permalink
report
parent
reply

I’ve been called many names, including “tankie”, so I’ll take a stab at responding.

I’m not mad about the debate at all. I expected something fairly similar. I’m mad that Biden and the Democratic leadership seems to have put their own interests above the interest of the party people (edit: Ugh. Terrible typo).

If Biden had gracefully stepped aside and given just about any other Democrat his full support, we’d be in a much better position now. Instead we have a candidate with a ton of baggage and who presents an easy target for Trump’s style of argument. Many mainstream Democrats, including the NYT, are finally starting to realize this. Unfortunately it’s probably a year too late. At this point it would just make it look like Demoratic kingmakers forced him out.

If I went by the modern definition of “tankie” as, an anti-american authoritarian communist. I probably wouldn’t be mad at any of this. I’d be cackling with glee because either of the current nominees will be terrible for the US. Neither of them has a serious long term plan. Neither of them can articulate a policy position. Both of them will continue to erode the power and moral authority of the United States.

Like it or not. Trump is likely to be the next president https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/. At this point it’s probably wise to start thinking about how to limit his impact and how to start cleaning up the mess afterwards.

permalink
report
reply

The people calling for Biden to drop out are completely different from the people who want Trump to stay in the race.

Democrats want Biden to drop out because they don’t believe he can beat Trump.

Republicans want Trump to stay on the ticket because they’re pretty sure he’ll crush Biden .

permalink
report
reply

I think that true “tech-savvyness” isn’t really a generational thing.

Some people are just really curious about how stuff works. When they see something they aren’t satisfied with, “Just do it.” or “Shit just works.” They want to know how and why it works. When you hand those people a computer, machine or flower they’ll poke at it and try to understand it better.

It’s not clear that typing skills are actually needed for that.

I max out at around 80-100 WPM but I only sustain that when I’m transcribing something. When I need to learn about technology, it’s much more about reading than typing. When I actually need to do some coding, I spend much more time staring at the screen and looking up stuff on Stackoverlow than I do actually typing.

Most of Z is not savvy at all, just like with every generation. And just like with every generation, some of them will push the envelope of technology. I doubt that lack of typing will slow those folks down.

permalink
report
reply

It’s silly to talk about a “pundit class”. It’s not like they’re a group with any coherent ideas, much less any sort of persistent group loyalty. They’re just people with opinions and a platform.

This article tries to make it sound like he’s a really popular candidate and there’s some shady group of kingmakers trying to block him.

The main reason that people are pushing for him to step aside is that they don’t believe he can beat Trump. It’s not that people were grumpy about a raspy voice. There was already a lot of suspicion that he’s going senile. He got the benefit of the doubt and the debate was his chance to prove the doubters wrong. Instead he confirmed their deepest fears. Since then, he’s provided a steady stream of examples of his diminishing mental capacity.

A formal cognitive assessment might lay those fears to rest but, at this point, it’s unlikely. For many people, the conclusion is clear; the evidence is in and he forgets what he’s talking about mid-sentence. Many people look at the polling numbers around that just want someone who has a chance of beating Trump.

permalink
report
reply

That’s one of many many plot holes in Harry Potter.

There’s really no depth to the world building beyond, “What if British public schools taught magic?”

It doesn’t make sense in any context beyond that because the author never considered it from any context beyond that. Whenever you run into some crazy crap in HP and wonder, “Why TF would anyone do it that way?” The answer is almost always, "Because that’s how they do it in British public schools.

permalink
report
reply

Things will only have useful size metrics when the buyers want useful size metrics.

Men’s pants come with useful size metrics because they’re useful and we attach very little meaning to the measurement of men’s pants.

Women’s pants come with stupid size metrics because we attach a lot of meaning to the measurement of women’s pants.

It’s the same reason condoms sizes are all on the spectrum of large to extra large without actually providing a length and diameter.

permalink
report
reply

They fail gloriously at at that too.

Whenever they get tested the red teams manage to smuggle in everything needed to hijiack a plane plus a kitchen sink.

The few times that terrorists tried to board planes, they made it through security and were caught by other passengers.

permalink
report
parent
reply