Random Thought Thread

[Romans832]

1 hour ago, Duckman said:

Life does not introduce the certainty of death as less than half the people ever born have died.

Humans don't die?
Did I miss something here?
Are you making some crazy joke about those that are currently living vs those that have died?

Life ends in death, of our physical bodies. Who's making it out of here alive? /confused

[InfestedKerrigan]

56 minutes ago, Romans832 said:

Humans don't die?
Did I miss something here?
Are you making some crazy joke about those that are currently living vs those that have died?

Life ends in death, of our physical bodies. Who's making it out of here alive? /confused

 

It's often mistakenly claimed that there are more people alive currently, than the sum of all humans who have lived to date, which would mean that there are more currently alive than the sum of the dead.  

 

If you want to limit it to time frames, you can make that claim with a lot more statistical support.

[Ish]

59 minutes ago, Romans832 said:

Life ends in death, of our physical bodies. Who's making it out of here alive? /confused

Live forever or die trying, that’s my motto.

[InfestedKerrigan]

I enjoyed a lot of aspects of X-Men, and there are things that Disney will never be able to have, specifically the perfect Professor.  

That said, rewatching Infinity Saga has me excited for a Phoenix Saga reboot.

[Ish]

2 minutes ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

That said, rewatching Infinity Saga has me excited for a Phoenix Saga reboot.

I am sick to death of the [big bad swear word]ing Phoenix Saga! 

The X-Men debuted in 1963 and the “Dark Phoenix” plot happened in The Uncanny X-Men (Vol 1) #129-138 in 1980. They had seventeen years of stories before and they had years of stories afterwards... But ever since the mid-Nineties, every other [big bad swear word]ing storyline in the comics has been about the [big bad swear word]ing Dark Phoenix. Every cartoon, every movie, every video game, every alternate continuity comic... 

Can they please, for the love of Kirby, just tell us a different story!?

[InfestedKerrigan]

3 minutes ago, Ish said:

I am sick to death of the [big bad swear word]ing Phoenix Saga! 

The X-Men debuted in 1963 and the “Dark Phoenix” plot happened in The Uncanny X-Men (Vol 1) #129-138 in 1980. They had seventeen years of stories before and they had years of stories afterwards... But ever since the mid-Nineties, every other [big bad swear word]ing storyline in the comics has been about the [big bad swear word]ing Dark Phoenix. Every cartoon, every movie, every video game, every alternate continuity comic... 

Can they please, for the love of Kirby, just tell us a different story!?

 

Seeing as how I was born in 83, the animated series /is/ my X-men, and why I want to see them do justice to Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Imperial Guard, Essex and Pryor, Rachel, Nathan and Clone, etc

[Ish]

Why not something more unique? Something like the “God Loves, Man Kills” arc (which was very loosely used as the basis for X2), the “X-Tinction Agenda” (a very silly name but the Genosha story would be a nice fit for the MCU), or even something more low key, but none the less memorable, like “Pryde of the X-Men”?

[Romans832]

9 hours ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

It's often mistakenly claimed that there are more people alive currently, than the sum of all humans who have lived to date, which would mean that there are more currently alive than the sum of the dead. 

If you want to limit it to time frames, you can make that claim with a lot more statistical support.

Ah, got it, thank you

[Duckman]

20 minutes ago, Romans832 said:

Ah, got it, thank you

It is also a silly use of statistics intended to demonstrate that with the right biased question you can produce an answer that is intentionally misleading.  IK's link on the subject is interesting and one I had not seen before but that doesn't change the initial intent of the comment.

[WestRider]

It also seems worth noting that life is more than just humans. There were billions of years before humanity arose where there was more or less the same biomass as today. The vast majority of that has died.

[Ish]

 

On 20 July 1969, the Eagle lunar lander separated from Columbia on its way to make the first manned landing on an extraterrestrial body... Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were aboard the Eagle, Michael Collins remained aboard Columbia. Shortly after separation, Collins took this photograph...

Everh single human being that was alive on that day (and every single human being that had ever lived) is in this photograph... Except one.

Michael Collins took the ultimate “anti-selfie.” 

 

[Duckman]

You're ignoring all the people who have been abducted from the Bermuda Triangle and spirited away to other planets for experimentation!  😉

[Ish]

11 minutes ago, Duckman said:

You're ignoring all the people who have been abducted from the Bermuda Triangle and spirited away to other planets for experimentation!  😉

No I'm not! Everyone knows that those unfortunate souls were actually abducted by the Mahars and taken into Pellucidar inside the Earth (for use as slave-labor and slave breeding stock in their wars against the Sagoths. I mean, duh.

[Ish]

Modiphius's Robert E. Howard's Conan Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of Roleplaying Game has rules for decapitating your enemy and holding up the severed head in order to intimidate the remaining foes... How can you not love that?

[WestRider]

what cub is this that laid to rest
in Sarabi’s lap is sleeping
whom panthers greet with anthems sweet
while leopards watch are keeping

this, this is Simba, king
whom leopards guard and panthers sing
haste, haste to bring him laud
the cub the son of Sarabi

[Guest]

Someone suggested to me that there's a link between memory and emotion. Like I could obtain a better memory if I were more emotional. It is true that I seem to be less showy with emotion that those around me and that those around me seem to have better memories (well, better ability to remember, the memories themselves aren't always better).

My lack of memory is one of my crippling weak points, I think. I have lots, but one at a time.

How does a person become more emotional? Like, intentionally more prone to showy emotion.

I suppose this would mean getting angry and sad more....hmm, how many emotions are there? If it's just shades of unpleasantness, maybe this is a bad idea...

Am I trading memory for mood? It's an interesting thought. And if so, do I really want memory if it means being less stable?

I already know of a link between pain and memory, but I've been unwilling to make that trade intentionally.

[InfestedKerrigan]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:54 AM, Romans832 said:

Ah, got it, thank you

 

On 12/14/2019 at 9:17 AM, Duckman said:

It is also a silly use of statistics intended to demonstrate that with the right biased question you can produce an answer that is intentionally misleading.  IK's link on the subject is interesting and one I had not seen before but that doesn't change the initial intent of the comment.

 

Yeah, to follow up Romans, the 30:1 I put is based on 50 year old data and sci fi, not current population, and it is all a guess based on estimated statistics.  😄

[WestRider]

16 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Someone suggested to me that there's a link between memory and emotion. Like I could obtain a better memory if I were more emotional. It is true that I seem to be less showy with emotion that those around me and that those around me seem to have better memories (well, better ability to remember, the memories themselves aren't always better).

My lack of memory is one of my crippling weak points, I think. I have lots, but one at a time.

How does a person become more emotional? Like, intentionally more prone to showy emotion.

I suppose this would mean getting angry and sad more....hmm, how many emotions are there? If it's just shades of unpleasantness, maybe this is a bad idea...

Am I trading memory for mood? It's an interesting thought. And if so, do I really want memory if it means being less stable?

I already know of a link between pain and memory, but I've been unwilling to make that trade intentionally.

I don't know about that, but I do know that depression inhibits both emotions and memory formation. Anxiety and insomnia both have similar effects as well. Pretty sure I've seen you talk about experiences with some of that, at least. My apologies if I'm mis-remembering; I suffer from all three, so my memory is pretty bad 😉

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, WestRider said:

I don't know about that, but I do know that depression inhibits both emotions and memory formation. Anxiety and insomnia both have similar effects as well. Pretty sure I've seen you talk about experiences with some of that, at least. My apologies if I'm mis-remembering; I suffer from all three, so my memory is pretty bad 😉

No, you recall things correct.

Dunno, it's just an interesting thought when someone suggests a connection between observations you've already noticed, but never noticed the connection. Especially when the connection would lead to something you want. Doesn't make them right, but it does make you think about the idea more than if it were a less useful connection.

And for perspective, the person that suggested it has a great memory and is very emotional. So could definitely be a bias created by assumptions based on their differing perspective.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

 

 

Yeah, to follow up Romans, the 30:1 I put is based on 50 year old data and sci fi, not current population, and it is all a guess based on estimated statistics.  😄

I wonder if they count the USA's vampire population in the dead or the living group?

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/5-000-vampires-live-u-s-drink-blood-energy-article-1.2412910

[dalmer]

1 hour ago, paxmiles said:

No, you recall things correct.

Dunno, it's just an interesting thought when someone suggests a connection between observations you've already noticed, but never noticed the connection. Especially when the connection would lead to something you want. Doesn't make them right, but it does make you think about the idea more than if it were a less useful connection.

And for perspective, the person that suggested it has a great memory and is very emotional. So could definitely be a bias created by assumptions based on their differing perspective.

Sleep is super important for memory consolidation/formation.  The hypothalamus is key in this process, as is the hippocampus... which basically relays over and over and over your recent events while you're sleeping.  The neocortex then decides what's important to be stored (although many folks believe that EVERYTHING is stored, retrieval is the issue).

What's right next to this stuff?  The amygdala which responsible for emotion.  Emotion is next to your memory storage area (mid-brain) so when something makes you FEEL a certain way, memory retrieval kicks into place and hopefully the file folder with the appropriate response is pulled out and signals can be sent to your central nervous system for action.

That's why having a multitude of experiences tucked away in your file folders often times gets vocalized as "... something just didn't FEEL right..." or things like "... I knew something was off."  Those emotional responses are the amygdala prepping the body for something it remembers... like you tensing up when you see a vehicle in the rear view mirror getting closer and not appearing to brake in time.  The first time you might not notice as much.  The second time it occurs, you might feel an emotional response and then get the tinglies / tense up.

[Guest]

"You can't outthink someone who doesn't think."

[Ish]

Lived in Oregon for four years now and have spent my entire lifetime learning useless trivia about geography, heraldry, and vexillology... So why am I only learning today that the State Flag of Oregon has two different sides?

And why are they both hideous?
 

[InfestedKerrigan]

3 hours ago, Ish said:

Lived in Oregon for four years now and have spent my entire lifetime learning useless trivia about geography, heraldry, and vexillology... So why am I only learning today that the State Flag of Oregon has two different sides?

And why are they both hideous?
 

I, for one, love Oregon beaver.

[Ish]

It's just too small. It takes up slightly less than 1/6 of the field... It looks like a shapeless, yellow lump. Ugh. The whole point of a flag is visual identification at a distance, the shapeless lump doesn't do that. Nor does the overly busy seal and text combo (all rendered mono-chromatically) on the front. Ugh.

Take just the reserve side, make the beaver about half-again larger so it's roughly 1/4 of the field. Done. That'd be a good flag.