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[psyn]

I wasn't referring to TV shows, and I don't know why you think I was. Anti-intellectualism is remarkably different from indoctrination. Apply for a foreign [student] visa/work permit and study or work overseas for a few years. I think you will find yourself disgusted with America's public education system and student populace upon returning.

[Renault]

I wasn't referring to TV shows, and I don't know why you think I was. Anti-intellectualism is remarkably different from indoctrination. Apply for a foreign [student] visa/work permit and study or work overseas for a few years. I think you will find yourself disgusted with America's public education system and student populace upon returning.

Not really sure what you're responding to here. Its true that US secondary education has certainly fallen badly behind in math and sciences compared to most industrial nations, yeah. But that rather reverses at the university level, where the US hosts some of the best schools in the world. Even the public ones.

[psyn]

It isn't about academic performance, it's student attitude. And I have little to gripe about U.S. higher education, considering I'm still paying off ten grand in student loans after working through school.

basically 90% of people at my school think literacy is 'gay', movies that aren't pornography or action is 'gay', and games without violence are also 'gay'. Maybe it's to do with insecurity or something like that, I'm not going to pretend to be a phycologist here I don't know why they do it, all I know is that I wish everyone who thinks like that dies.

[Pathos]

I can imagine two ancient Roman dudes just trashing on this one guy about how hetero he was and how he's constantly spending quality time with the chicks.

Although I'm sure they would be speaking Latin or Italian or whatever, I'm in no mood to pretend I actually know by looking it up on The Wiki.

Homo est ipso hetero!

Did I do it right? God damn, I'm terrible at this.

[Renault]

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I see what you're saying now. I guess I'm lucky, theres not too much of that at my school. Probably largely in part to the fact its SF and gay isnt really an insult here, heh.

[psyn]

I remember being told as a child when we occasionally traveled through SF to San Luis Obispo to visit a family friend, "Watch out! You might be grabbed by the lurking gay men roaming the streets!" or something to that effect. I still laugh.

[zchris13]

I think maybe it's because you have different categories that are important to you.

For example, Deus Ex 2 looked pretty decent when it came out, but it was utterly garbage except for the graphics. In every other category the game failed to be better than Donkey Kong. I am not exaggerating.

But the graphics did look very nice. And so I'm not surprised when a lot of people buy the game.

What about the Avatar movie? It was a billion-dollar CG Pocahontas. It was visually very nice quality, and it sold very well. But if you care more about a deep story and characters, perhaps you would think Avatar was a bad movie.

I guess I'm saying, maybe when you read Twilight you feel like the book is full of garbage. But perhaps the people who like it, enjoy it for reasons you don't appreciate.

Spoiler: conspiracy theory (click to show/hide)

Then again maybe a media corp will get ahold of an intellectual property they know will sell well based on psychological profiles of their market demographics, in the same way MMOs are built to be addictive by latching on to well-researched reward centers of your brain. They then edit the IP to conform even more to their "perfect product" profile. Then they maximize sales by advertising heavily, including social media like Facebook and viral content. They pump money into book tours, convention and talk show appearances, and faux documentaries. Enough people get together who like it and you start seeing authentic friend-references where fans convert their friends. Publishers pick the few titles every year that they know will sell well, and take a chance or two on titles that might hit it big from an artist who's willing to sign a bad contract.

...

I saw Johnny Quest. The version I saw wasn't animated in every frame, like old Scooby Doo and Flintstones, so it looks kind of dumb and choppy. And I remember there was a token Middle Eastern dude instead of a token Black American dude.

And ... some kind of cat? The Target dog?

His name was bandit, and he was awesome.

And also Hadji.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

You know, our society needs people who don't think very much in order to function.  How many philosophers do you think there are in your local fire department?

[ChairmanPoo]

You seem to imply that having a mostly physical job bars you from intellectual pursuits. Elitist much?

[Vester]

I can imagine two ancient Roman dudes just trashing on this one guy about how hetero he was and how he's constantly spending quality time with the chicks.

Although I'm sure they would be speaking Latin or Italian or whatever, I'm in no mood to pretend I actually know by looking it up on The Wiki.

Homo est ipso hetero!

Did I do it right? God damn, I'm terrible at this.

In Roman times (before all the orgies though) excess passion was seen as a feminine, not a virile, trait. So by that definition, they probably would have thought, I dunno, Antonio Banderas was extremely effeminate.

You seem to imply that having a mostly physical job bars you from intellectual pursuits. Elitist much?

Trying not to die in a fire precludes philosophical thought.

[Red Fortune]

I remember the shows I watched when I was a kid (not that long ago, only a little before the turn of the millennium), and it was the old stuff from the 60s/70s, and now, comparing that to modern kids shows... Stuff nowadays seems horrible.

And about the whole "ITSGAYHURRDURR" thing in schools... That doesn't happen so much (well, there IS the ingrained gay=derogatory) at my school, but there is even more pathetic things going on that make me want to give up on humanity.

[ChairmanPoo]

Trying not to die in a fire precludes philosophical thought.

Trying to concentrate in *anything* other than philosophical thought excludes philosophical thought at that same moment, not because of philosophical thought, but because concentrating in something, by definition, excludes other things. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. But it doesn't prevent said people from intellectual pursuits at some other time.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

You seem to imply that having a mostly physical job bars you from intellectual pursuits. Elitist much?

Why do you think I was implying that?

[ChairmanPoo]

You know, our society needs people who don't think very much in order to function.  How many philosophers do you think there are in your local fire department?

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Yes, that is my previous post.  Just quoting me isn't an answer to my question though.  Why do you think that that post implies that I think that a person's profession dictates their mental capacity?