Testing Chat Thread

[Oxymoron]

Yo, Soups

what's up with your sig ?

[evilsoup]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zfAYAyIuYvM

[Oxymoron]

Danke schön.


Quick question : generally speaking, are Adult Swim's programs available on Netflix/that app on the Xbox ?

[Bakustra]

So that would have made you 18-19?
Hahahahaha oh wow
I though it was going to be like 14-15, that would have explained it, but
hahahaha

I think I still had some pretty terrible opinions at that age

I think I was still in my fairly hard right winger phase back then.

i emerged from the womb wearing a baby-sized che t-shirt and a bandanna

[ErikVonNein]

Danke schön.


Quick question : generally speaking, are Adult Swim's programs available on Netflix/that app on the Xbox ?

They're available on their website.

[Oxymoron]

Only if you live in the US

[Darksi4190]

Ok, Aaron, I have to ask. When you were on Effexor, did you ever have any trouble sleeping? I've asked my neurologist and she doesn't think that's what's doing it, but lately it seems like I can't stay asleep for more than four hours at a time.

[Darksi4190]

Oh. And by "lately" I mean since 2008 when I went on it.

[Aaron]

Hard to say, I've had consistent nightmares for 13 years. So i don't sleep well.

[Losonti Tokash]

sorry to interrupt, but

Subject: Why are Canada and the US so socially different?

A list of major items which I suspect of contributing to the difference between American and Canadian culture:

1) The American Revolution Mythology. We all know that the way Americans are taught about their Glorious Peoples Revolution is a white-washed crock, but it's a crock that makes them feel good about themselves. It basically becomes a sort of religion, complete with holy prophets (the "Founding Fathers"), pilgrimages to shrines like Mount Rushmore, and rituals. The world has many other countries, but most of those countries don't have the luxury of saying "our nation began with the events of this one story, which I'm going tell you about now". For most countries, they think of their current system of government as merely its latest stage of evolution, not as a distinct invention of a bunch of heroes. A lot of Americans' self-image and social conduct can be tied to the way they feel about that story, ie- how completely they've bought into it, how important it is to their personal self-identity and self-worth, etc.

2) Slavery. Already mentioned. What hasn't been mentioned is that Canada didn't just have less slavery than the US; Lord Simcoe abolished it in Canada with the Act Against Slavery in 1793, many years before it was abolished throughout the British Empire. So you didn't just have two neighbouring countries, one of which had more slavery: you had two neighbouring countries, one of which was unusually backward-looking on the issue of slavery and one of which was unusually forward-looking on the issue of slavery. The contrast was sharper than people realize.

3) Self-selection. If we consider the possibility that our biology may play a role in our social tendencies, then it would stand to reason that people who were naturally more inclined to rebellious behaviour would have joined the rebellion in the US, while those inclined to prefer social order and stability would have remained loyalists and been driven out of the US. Therefore, there may have been a slight evolutionary group differentiation which took place during the American Revolutionary War: people who leaned toward social order would have moved north, and people who dislike social order would have moved south. Even if we reject the possibility that our social tendencies are influenced by DNA, this could be construed as a social differentiation rather than a biological one, and would still have lasting effects.

4) Climate. Is it really a coincidence that the world's most fanatically religious regimes seem to cluster in very hot climates, or that some of the world's least religious nations happen to be situated in colder areas? If there is some link between climate and religiosity, then that would be another significant distinction between Canada and the US. People like Jared Diamond would probably go farther and theorize that a cold climate has all sorts of effects on the development of societies, even if for no other reason than the need to plan ahead, conserve supplies for the long winter, and possibly work together in a more social co-operative way to overcome the dangers and difficulties posed by this environment.

ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[RyanThunder]

Sure, he's an idiot, but I dunno, that particular gem doesn't seem terribly unreasonable to me.

Well, except for the climate thing. That just seems specious to me. After all in hotter climates there's a need to conserve all kinds of stuff anyway.

I do find it pretty insultingly stupid that he links the problems to religion itself instead of fucking theocrats.

[adr]

re something simon_jester said: another similarity between the plantations and corporations was competition, and the profit margins weren't that big esp w/ debt etc

this is important because if any plantation owner did want to treat his slaves better.... it might actually drive him out of business


so corporations treat their workers pretty bad and slaveowners treat their workers pretty bad for the same reason - getting more money out of them


capitalism is indeed the problem

[RyanThunder]

Oh, wow that thread is stupid. So many goddamned assumptions.

[Oxymoron]

Point 1 seems reasonable, even if his own smugness and sense of self-superiority is painful to read.

Point 2 is pretty much like Point 1 : it seems reasonable. Though I don't know enough about both countries history to make any judgment on the validity of the claims.

Point 3, apart from the fact I very much doubt it has any scientific value whatsoever, reeks of Racism, plain and simple. Which isn't surprising from someone who believe in Eugenics.

Point 4, finally, is an appeal to a subset of theories that in geography are regrouped under the label "Environmental Determinism", which even if they form part of the basis of "Gun, Germs and Steel" (the book), have been disproved by the scientific community since the first half of the 20th century.



TL;DR : DW is full of shit and doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Losonti Tokash]

he starts off reasonable and then takes a hard right into "holy shit what"

later we get "asians are probably better at math because rice is hard to plant" and the dismissal of counterpoints like cold religious areas like alaska, the american midwest, and russia, along with hot non-theocratic states like india, australia,m or new zealand

he obviously has a conclusion he wants and is just trying to explain BIOTRUTHS

[Oxymoron]

Why he is trying to explain historical, societal and cultural differences through environmental causes, instead of basing his analysis on historical, societal and cultural causes, is beyond my comprehension.

[RyanThunder]

Nah, he's trying to blame everything on religion. Because his in-laws are hicks or something.

[Infinity Biscuit]

Why he is trying to explain historical, societal and cultural differences through environmental causes, instead of basing his analysis on historical, societal and cultural causes, is beyond my comprehension.

I would guess it's as simple as his differing comfort levels with social science and physical science prejudging him towards ignoring the former for the latter.

[Aaron]

So much hate.

[Dooey Jo]

something that might have a part to play in the climate thing is that "cold" countries are like 20% canada, 10% scandinavia and one million percent RUSSIA

which we all know is a pretty chill and atheistic country not prone to oppression or bloody revolutions


personally i find the "people who didn't like social order joined the revolution" part pretty hilarious

i mean

it's like

how much wrong and tendentiousness can you even fit in one paragraph

[adr]

yeah lol social order could mean like anything


but you know i question the very premise: the US and Canada really aren't all that different

i mean we dont' call them the 51st state for nothing lololololol

but seriously i love the movie "canadian bacon" but the differences aren't that big at all

[RyanThunder]

You call us your "51st state" because you are a bunch of ignorant hicks with delusions of grandeur and competence, Stephen Harper notwithstanding.

[Aaron]

Yeah, canada obviously has some pretty different attitudes towards governments role and there is a more socialist tradition.

[Oxymoron]

Point 4, finally, is an appeal to a subset of theories that in geography are regrouped under the label "Environmental Determinism", which even if they form part of the basis of "Gun, Germs and Steel" (the book), have been disproved by the scientific community since the first half of the 20th century.

By the way, I just provided an easy rebuttal of "Guns, Germs and Steel" here : the theories on which it is constructed are bollocks, making the whole premise awfully rickety.

[Losonti Tokash]

that isn't the impression i got from that book at all, which seemed pretty dead set against the concept of "europeans are inherently better because their climate encourages people to be smart"