Because most people run on their personal experiences, and don’t do great when they have to think very far ahead or extrapolate and make connections.

If you’re lucky enough to be born into a conservative home that’s not bugshit crazy, and you’re lucky enough to not be TOO smart, neurodivergent, gay/lesbian/trans/etc. then you’ve probably never seen the full ugly face of conservatism because you were treated nicely.

Lots of conservatives will treat you perfectly politely…if they get to know you, and as long as you look white and clean-cut enough. As long as you give the right social signifiers, basically.

Most of my ex-conservative friends group was driven away from conservative family because we were abused in some obvious fashion, were gay/lesbian/trans, were neurodivergent, etc. We were different in ways that, ultimately, after a lot of pain, forced us to cut ties with family. (It was never our first choice though.)

But a woman who was lucky to be born into a family that treats her halfway decently won’t experience that sort of ugliness until an emergency happens and it’s leopards-eating-faces time.

And it’s VERY hard to rock the boat BEFORE something bad happens to you, when you know rocking it will have really bad consequences immediately. People don’t like to be shunned or kicked out of families, so if they’re not treated TOO badly they’ll toe the line and conform out of fear of the unknown and fear of losing everything they have and know.

I’m curious about two things. Will nesting birds or animals find this material tasty or good to gnaw on?

I always ask that ever since I learned vehicles using a more organic plastic for wiring harnesses suffer from shorts due to animals like mice nibbling the plastic because it smells tasty.

Random addition to your post…

There’s early/limited studies suggesting the drug valproate, which is used for bipolar and epilepsy sometimes, can re-open the perfect pitch acquisition capabilities of the human brain even if the individual is no longer an infant and has aged past the language acquisition stage of childhood development.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3848041/

Different use of it in an 8 year old girl with language regression: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11230735/

Acting, literally. Playing a character to entertain. Some characters are villains.

I think this is why random wrestling dudes sometimes successfully slide into Hollywood acting careers.

I finally realized this guy’s name reminds me of some in house menswear brand at Sears or K-Mart or some other department store that suffered and wheezed and whimpered before going out of business.

Out of curiosity, how would a homeless person in your country accomplish the same things?

The one big benefit I enjoyed with Twitter was following artists and scientists I would never have had such casual access to learn from in any other way. Being able to watch pros in their fields talk about their topics was something I never would have had access to. And because it’s short form folks were more likely to post than on a blog or something.

Without social media the shop talk goes entirely behind closed doors, which is a loss for my ability to casually learn.

For me, what’s way scarier is, it isn’t that everyone is being quiet, it’s that there isn’t any one else out there, and we’re one of the first civilizations to develop.

Why would you find that scary?

Is it because of the ‘great filter’ stuff, that there must therefore be something ahead of us in time that wipes us out (like self-inflicted climate change)? Or is it something like humans being awfully flawed to go down in universal history as the “first” intelligent and technologically advanced species? Or something else?

Funny thing…being short, I’m also not that strong. I buy furniture that I have the strength to put together/take apart and move solo, without helpers. Camping tables are lightweight and sturdy enough, and best thing–I can move them around with ease, I don’t even break a sweat which is awesome.

I forgot about the kid’s shoes trick. It can be hit or miss…sometimes kid’s shoes aren’t made as well as they’re expected to be outgrown. But sometimes the toe boxes are bigger, which I appreciate because it sucks looking for 5 wide women’s. (And size 3 men’s isn’t always available.)

OK

The overall quality of the piece suggests its handmade and not mass produced. Try Etsy.

Should any of the layers be tighter or looser than the others? Like, do you want to size up?

Same here. I think they’re just too sweet for me, somehow? Which is odd, because I’ll eat things like acorn squash which get kinda sweet when cooked. ::shrug::

I frickin’ love lamb dishes, and I get so grumpy that lamb/mutton is unpopular in the US, so it’s hard to find. It’s tasty!

What’s your favorite Indian dish?

Someone who can do a “pull the pork apart” robot attachment for a crock pot could probably make a pile of money.

Although now I’m imagining a little robot treading in the crock pot like old timey winemaking, where they stomped on the grapes.

Given family holidays can be very stressful and violent in bad families, I have to wonder if that poor kid said something dad didn’t like, or cried, or whined, or otherwise was a completely normal kid and the dad lost his shit and shot him for it. Then came up with “I thought I saw a thief!” to get away with it.

Like, everyone in this thread is assuming the dad actually heard a thief. But I think that should be questioned, too. It’s so common for bad families to slap kids around during thanksgiving. My uncle once lost his shit over something stupid and threw his half-paralyzed mom (she’d had a stroke not too long before) out of her chair onto the floor.

That’s a really well-written article, the complete opposite of a fluff piece.

I encourage folks to go read it.

I’ve never been a huge fan of “adult animation”, or really animation in general. So I had to get over that hill of bias. But once I did, I found I enjoyed this show. Those Old Scientists on Strange New Worlds is actually what made me go back and give Lower Decks a second try.

Anyway, I’m excited to see where season 5 goes. I also kinda want another live-action crossover.