Non-fun non-facts

[BonusKun]

My issue broski is punishing people for a bad joke is taking things way too far. Context is everything and it's the reason people these days have their heads up their asses when it comes to this because they only look at a single word and not the context it was used.

[Ecco]

My issue broski is punishing people for a bad joke is taking things way too far. Context is everything and it's the reason people these days have their heads up their asses when it comes to this because they only look at a single word and not the context it was used.

I definitely agree lol.

And I didn't mean that the pug video guy should have been punished how he was. I was basically saying that I think he was on the blurry line of what's meaningless and what might mean something. So some people were bound to be concerned or confused or whatever.

[Jake Armitage]

There is a subset of humor that is called black humor (sometimes called dark or gallows humor) that involves making jokes about topics that are otherwise unimaginable, Using this type of humor can serve a couple of different purposes - one is to get people to think about something rather than compartmentalizing it and forgetting about it. The other is just allowing one to deal with something extremely horrific in some manner.

When I was very little (I grew up in Minnesota) the Ed Gein (who was a horrific murderer/necrophiliac/pervert) story broke and was given very tasteless and graphic news coverage that was amazingly extensive. Even at 5 years old I heard really tasteless jokes that were simply people's reaction in order to try to deal with a really horrific event. Interestingly enough a lot of those jokes recycled when the Jeffrey Dahmer case occurred.

I once read a book (can't for the life of me remember the title) about life under the Nazi regime - there was a section on humor and the examples generally focused on the excesses of the regime - there was a section (very small since for obvious reasons most of this was lost) dealing with humor (of the darkest sort) that existed not only between the prisoners but between the SS and the prisoners in the concentration camps.

There is a marvelous essay written by Jonathon Swift called "A Modest Proposal" which was a satirical piece involving regarding the suffering of the Irish people under British rule. In it he suggested the starving Irish sell their children to the British nobility to be eaten by them. Although taken as being serious by some it was actually a vehicle to get the English populace to be aware of what English rule in Ireland was doing. It was a brilliant satire - but it was also an excellent example of black humor.

The upshot is that what seems to be tasteless humor can have a purpose - doesn't mean that it all does of course - sometimes tasteless humor is just tasteless humor - but one shouldn't automatically throw out the baby with bathwater.

[PHANTOM2040]

Well Jake, the problem is that cleverness is offensive to those who are not clever. Our society has gone from striving for greatness to embracing the lowest common denominator. "Fat shaming" for instance basically equates to being fat is not a problem to work on, it's actually a good thing, because any other response might hurt someone's feelings. Hurting someones feelings or offending someone now is worse than baby rape. For fat people, better to never let on. They will consume more. Food, clothing (through constant size difference needs), medications, surgeries, laundry detergent, toilet paper. Need bigger cars, housing. Many of these things are great for corporations and bankers. Then they can die Young as well. This is great for the government. Social security and other social aid won't have to be paid out.

[Yharnamresident]

That's not funny, man. My great, great uncle died when he was doing guard duty, when some idiot fell out of a guard tower and landed on him, breaking his neck.

My grandparents were born in Germany and I don't even know what the hell they did during WWII

[Jake Armitage]

Well Jake, the problem is that cleverness is offensive to those who are not clever. Our society has gone from striving for greatness to embracing the lowest common denominator. "Fat shaming" for instance basically equates to being fat is not a problem to work on, it's actually a good thing, because any other response might hurt someone's feelings. Hurting someones feelings or offending someone now is worse than baby rape. For fat people, better to never let on. They will consume more. Food, clothing (through constant size difference needs), medications, surgeries, laundry detergent, toilet paper. Need bigger cars, housing. Many of these things are great for corporations and bankers. Then they can die Young as well. This is great for the government. Social security and other social aid won't have to be paid out.

We can just give everyone a PFL* at birth and keep them stoned on soma** thereafter.

*Pre Frontal Lobotomy
** The drug of governmental choice in "Brave New World".

I am really glad I am finally retired - working in a university setting was really disheartening - especially the last decade or so.

[Ecco]

Why was it disheartening? Because the kids were dumbasses and didn't care about learning anything?

[Jake Armitage]

Why was it disheartening? Because the kids were dumbasses and didn't care about learning anything?

That was the least of it - most of it had to do with the way the place was organized - the incompetents were generally in charge of things and the pc atmosphere was to say the least repressive.

[MrMatthews]

Probably because colleges have become the new breeding ground of the future waves of ignorantly hyper-sensitive Americans.

Edit: Oops, I spoke out of turn. Everyone just ignore what I said.

[Jake Armitage]

Probably because colleges have become the new breeding ground of the future waves of ignorantly hyper-sensitive Americans.

Edit: Oops, I spoke out of turn. Everyone just ignore what I said.

One of my favorite episodes was when I was written up for using the term "shanghaied".

(Shanghaied was a term that originally referred to kidnapping men on the west coast and sticking them on merchant ships (whereon they were forced to be crew members) headed to the Orient - often the city of Shanghai since that was a popular destination - but there were other destinations as well.)

[Raijin Z]

And people think that 1984 is a dystopian fantasy. Just imagine what you won't be allowed to say tomorrow. Worse still, read a book written over 100 years ago, and see which vernacular, which phrases, and hell, which individual words aren't used anymore. A large vocabulary adds greater resolution to your speech, allowing you to more accurately and concisely express your ideas, which in turn were shaped by your vocabulary. It's hard to have a concept of something if there's not a word for it, or the meaning has been corrupted. People have been made to think that jealousy and envy are synonyms, and will argue this to the point of anger.

[MrMatthews]

I never really thought about there being a difference. I’ll see if I get it (if not, please educate me)

Envy: Wishing you had what your neighbor has (eyeing his new car enviously)

Jealousy: Thinking that you DESERVE what your neighbor has (seething with jealousy over a coworker’s raise)


... close enough?

[Raijin Z]

Jealousy is more the mirror image of envy. Exodus 34:14 covers that in brief. In essence, "don't worship any but God, for he is jealous (in keeping of his followers)". The envious man covets what another possesses. The jealous man guards what he possesses, from those who would covet it. The jealous husband is not desiring the men who look at his wife, no, he wants no other to have his wife.

[PHANTOM2040]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/reason....come-ameri/amp

This is an interesting article on immigration into the U.S. It goes back about 100 years of data. How there were some groups that had initial differences but within a few generations everything equals out. The only issue that the article author may have not considered is that the heavy influxes that they used as an example had fairly sharp influx and cut off points which gave time for assimilation. Also the countries of influx that were mentioned also had a rise in similarity to the U.S. in their own rights. The end argument was that the new immigrants may need 4-5 generations opposed to the previous examples taking 3. So it will take over 100 years until they are equal as far as societal contributions verses services for example? 76% of imigrant households with children collect social aid currently for instance. So what they are saying is long after I am dead after it doesn't matter for me anymore, everything will be equal? So I'm paying now for a future I don't care about. That's a great sales pitch.

I live in a village like environment for example. Why do I say this? For one it's overcrowded. The two human per bedroom per house city ordinance is not upheld. This creates an overabundance of vehicles per house mostly blocking the fire lanes and general chaos you can imagine. Many birthday parties, kids with nothing to in an overcrowded house with no air conditioning in many cases. When I moved to the neighborhood it was where I could afford and these developments I have mentioned weren't occurring at the time. My wife and I couldn't afford to have kids since we don't break the city ordinances, don't collect welfare, and we weren't willing to care for kids to a poorer condition standard than we currently take care of our pets. You could say that we are against child abuse. I refer to these people as overbreeders. I am against this lifestyle. I don't care what your ethnicity, country of origin, or what your religion is.

[Raijin Z]

That is one of the biggest problems, too. Constant breeding is incentivized, provided you never get looked at for the deplorable conditions you throw your offspring into. People I used to work with would openly brag and laugh about this, saying that the only reason they were having kids was to get more money from the state.