A toast to Western pseudoscience!

[ranjit]

Now what made you assume that the friend is a she?

Pronomine?

I guess "girlfriend's friend" made me think of a woman rather than a man. It's harder for me to imagine a guy saying that and getting away with it than a girl, at least among my peers. But, maybe that's just my social circle. And, I'm from a different country.

[outin]

Pronomine?

Sorry, could not check the English word on my phone so guessed

I guess "girlfriend's friend" made me think of a woman rather than a man. It's harder for me to imagine a guy saying that and getting away with it than a girl, at least among my peers. But, maybe that's just my social circle. And, I'm from a different country.

Where I come from young women tend to be better educated than young men. Women seem to be more prone to all sorts of pseudotreatments, but men are no more rational or aware of science in general. If someone claimed the world is flat, I would expect it to be a guy.

That of course does not prevent men advancing well in such fields as politics and business...that takes more guts than sense.

[klavieronin]

Now what made you assume that the friend is a she? Or did you just randomly pick a pronomine?
I think it's time to modernize languages by introducing a gender neutral 3rd person. It makes life so much easier. Speaking from experience

I've always been in favour or "they", "them", or "their" for gender neutral pronouns.

[ranjit]

Where I come from young women tend to be better educated than young men. Women seem to be more prone to all sorts of pseudotreatments, but men are no more rational or aware of science in general. If someone claimed the world is flat, I would expect it to be a guy.

First of all, I think that someone saying that "the earth is flat" is different from someone saying that "the earth is expanding like a balloon". The first is basically a conspiracy theory. I am not so sure about the second. Unless the person attaches emotional weight to his/her idea that the earth is inflating, it is probably just a misunderstanding.

There are several other factors. My friend circle is made up of college undergraduates, who usually do not have such a cynical view of the world. And I'm not in a Christian nation, so not Flat Earthers.  

Sorry, could not check the English word on my phone so guessed

Wait a second...outin, is English not your first language?

[outin]

First of all, I think that someone saying that "the earth is flat" is different from someone saying that "the earth is expanding like a balloon". The first is basically a conspiracy theory. I am not so sure about the second. Unless the person attaches emotional weight to his/her idea that the earth is inflating, it is probably just a misunderstanding.

There are several other factors. My friend circle is made up of college undergraduates, who usually do not have such a cynical view of the world. And I'm not in a Christian nation, so not Flat Earthers.  
Wait a second...outin, is English not your first language?

Nope...

[mjames]

I've never seen someone try so hard to justify the idiocy behind the balloon earth theory.

[mjames]

Outin's from the least liked Nordic country.

(I'll laugh my ass off if you guess correctly)

[ranjit]

I've never seen someone try so hard to justify the idiocy behind the balloon earth theory.

So, I did a Google search, and realized this is apparently a thing. Scratch my previous comment then. The "balloon earth theory" is in the same bracket as the "flat earth theory". I honestly thought someone had an honest misunderstanding, y'know, with all that fancy stuff they teach you in documentaries, and such.

Nope...

Outin's from the least liked Nordic country.

(I'll laugh my ass off if you guess correctly)

Which country is she from? The suspense is killing me...

Now what made you assume that the friend is a she? Or did you just randomly pick a pronomine?

[mjames]

Look at the list for Nordic countries and pick the one you think is the least liked! Make sure you guess the correct one!

[ranjit]

Look at the list for Nordic countries and pick the one you think is the least liked! Make sure you guess the correct one!

Sweden, maybe? Really, I have no idea. Where I live, I haven't heard anything much (good or bad) about the Nordic countries since ages.

[mjames]

SWEDEN? YOU PICKED THE MOST POPULAR OUT OF THE GROUP? REALLY?


It's Finland. Finland scks.

[outin]

SWEDEN? YOU PICKED THE MOST POPULAR OUT OF THE GROUP? REALLY?

I always thought it was Denmark...

But in Sweden they actually created a new gender neutral pronoun, just because they were so envious of ours. The only problem is that it may create a wrong kind of association.... instead of han or hon they can now say HEN 

[mjames]

Denmark...who the hell likes Denmark

[ranjit]

It's Finland. Finland scks.

Why?

[mjames]

Because Outin lives there. Duh.

[mjames]

No reason really, I just like teasing Outin.


In all seriousness, I don't like Nordic countries in general. My mother's from there (Norway) and every time I've went there to visit it was always dark, cold, and wet or too freaking bright during the summer. Terrible place to live in.

Northeast USA's climate is better, but then again Trump. Decisions, decisions.

[outin]

I have a slight issue with Sweden, Denmark and Norway being monarchies...it's just so outdated...

As for the weather I must be genetically engineered for this because I actually like it most of the time. Do not like it when it gets too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter (more than - 5 c) but where I live that's usually not too often. And we have houses that are well heated so one can always stay inside

And the midnight sun is actually handy for partying out all night...it's not good if you're a vampire though...I guess there aren't many up here.

[visitor]

visitor makes an appearance and quickly realizes he has no.idea what the discussion here is about

[chopinlover01]

Northeast USA's climate is better, but then again Trump. Decisions, decisions.

Go literally 200 mi north of NY and live in Canada

[Derek]

No reason really, I just like teasing Outin.


In all seriousness, I don't like Nordic countries in general. My mother's from there (Norway) and every time I've went there to visit it was always dark, cold, and wet or too freaking bright during the summer. Terrible place to live in.

Northeast USA's climate is better, but then again Trump. Decisions, decisions.

Oooh Trump! THE HORROR!    One man in an office hundreds of miles away would make your life in the USA SO HARD.

[mjames]

Oooh Trump! THE HORROR!  

A population that felt comfortable enough to vote for Trump is the main problem.

 One man in an office hundreds of miles away

He is a president with the power to elect officials in multiple agencies, administrations, and political positions that can severely affect our daily lives. You do know that his nominated chief for the EPA for example is a known denier of global warming and is currently planning to remove a good portion regulations that restrict how the chemical industry operates in the States, right?

"Who we elect to office isn't such a big deal!!!"

You're probably American.

[Derek]

A population that felt comfortable enough to vote for Trump is the problem.

Really? Come on. They're still human beings. We have to view each other as human beings. Maybe they had legitimate grievances? Or no...they're all just demons eh?

[mjames]

Really? Come on. They're still human beings. We have to view each other as human beings. Maybe they had legitimate grievances? Or no...they're all just demons eh?

Not demons, just stupid.

[Derek]

Not demons, just stupid.

Ah ok. That means you have it all figured out then huh?

[mjames]

Ah ok. That means you have it all figured out then huh?

Read the thread. It's kind of obvious I'm a person that cares a lot about science, and consequently I care a lot about how it's handled in a country. I'm definitely not going to have a good opinion of someone (let alone a population) that willingly elects politicians that constantly peddle pseudoscience and endorse (or rather don't care) environmental destruction.

So to answer your question no, I don't have it all figured out. I don't know where I'm going to for graduate school, I don't know what I'm cooking tonight, but what I do know is that the country responsible for the most environmental damage in the past 120 years has elected a president, administration, and congress that is openly anti-science and plans on reversing every (what little they had of it) progress they've had in environmental policies they made in the past decade. I have no respect whatsoever for a population that makes such stupid decisions.

You can *** off with your faux high-horse morality bullshit now.

[Derek]

Read the thread. It's kind of obvious I'm a person that cares a lot about science, and consequently I care a lot about how it's handled in a country. I'm definitely not going to have a good opinion of someone (let alone a population) that willingly elects politicians that constantly peddle pseudoscience and endorse (or rather don't care) environmental destruction.

So to answer your question no, I don't have it all figured out. I don't know where I'm going to for graduate school, I don't know what I'm cooking tonight, but what I do know is that the country responsible for the most environmental damage in the past 120 years has elected a president, administration, and congress that is openly anti-science and plans on reversing every (what little they had of it) progress they've had in environmental policies they made in the past decade. I have no respect whatsoever for a population that makes such stupid decisions.

You can *** off with your faux high-horse morality bullshit now.

Correct, fixing one's own personal issues is dramatically more difficult than having political opinions. That's as true for me as for anybody.

[mjames]

dude facccccccccck off this thread now

[outin]

dude facccccccccck off this thread now

Be careful, we don't want you to get banned...

I do not tolerate stupidity well either and don't really buy the argument that all opinions are as important or everyone should be allowed to execute majority power no matter how wrong (the basic problem with democrazy). But that's something you sort of have to learn to accept to some level so that you don't go mad or become some sort of lone terrorist trying to change things by force...

[chopinlover01]

Derek, there isn't a single policy position Trump has that isn't rooted in bullshit.

I will grant you that, when he campaigned, he was against trade agreements like TPP (and axed it!) and NAFTA. But now? He's going to renegotiate TPP.

But he's less hawkish! Except for when he drops 50 tomahawk missiles in Syria, randomly drops the mother of all bombs in Afghanistan, kills an 8 year old girl in a botched raid that he ordered in Yemen, continues to arm Saudi Arabia, the biggest state sponsor of terror to ever exist, and escalates with North Korea.

If you really, really think that Trump is harmless, go read the news.

[hardy_practice]

Yeh, he isn't 100% stupid.  The more unstable he makes the world the more the only safe investment is the US and there's the arms sales.  Someone once said a people get the government they deserve.

[chopinlover01]

I find it hard to believe that he's playing "3D Chess" or the geopolitical equivalent. He barely knew who was fighting ISIS in Syria, didn't know the difference between the Kurds and the Quds force, etc.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

As far as I'm concerned, Trump is a semi-functional imbecile, and any results which benefit the US will arrive entirely by accident. I see him as a malevolent counterpart to the fictional "Chauncey Gardner" in Being There, and had he entered politics by a conventional route he would have surely been weeded out long ago. As it is he is a narcissistic sociopath who has had the luxury of spending his life surrounded by sycophants and is clearly unfit for high office. Additionally he represents an ignorant, bigoted figurehead around which redneck racism can coalesce, feeling safe in the specious justification that he is "one of them".

[mjames]

In other news, Trump just elected yet another Environmental Advisory position nominee that believes that climate change is just paganism for secular people. Oh and that the only reason scientists say humans are affecting the climate is because there's Marxist, globalist agenda to create a one world government. Basically, the same kind of conspiracy junk Trump himself used to peddle during his 2016 campaign season. People still voted for him.

Oh and the GOP's new tax plan might end up substantially increasing tax costs for graduate students, so much that they will no longer be able to live off their stipend. Felt like mentioning that since I'm a prospective graduate student and Derek condescendingly assumed Trump's administration would have no effect on me.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Oooh Trump! THE HORROR!    One man in an office hundreds of miles away would make your life in the USA SO HARD.

Weren't you also the dude who said black people have an advantage over everyone else getting in to college?

Correct me if I'm wrong

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Really? Come on. They're still human beings. We have to view each other as human beings. Maybe they had legitimate grievances? Or no...they're all just demons eh?

No grievance is legitimate enough to vote a racist sexist every type of 'ist' pig in office