There is a tendency among Discordians to play up the benefits of neophilia, and the disadvantages of neophobia. While this may more often than not lead to desirable results, this isn't always the case.
For example, there are basically four ways people travel:
1. The Texan. The Texan is the extreme neophobe, and constantly compares everything he sees in a foriegn land to America (or Texas), exclusively to the detriment of the foreign land. He's the guy who goes to India and bitches because he can't find a steak house. No new experience is worth having, because he's seen the best already, at home. He is also quick to tell the foreigners about the superiority of America, and then comes home and bitches about how unfriendly everyone Over There is.
2. The German. The German is the mild neophobe, and is visiting a foreign land for reasons that are outside of his control. He'd rather be home, and he does his best to forget or ignore the fact that he's even in a foreign land in the first place. He's not hostile, he's just disinterested. The trip is something to be endured, not enjoyed.
3. The Tourist. The Tourist is the mild neophobe. He wants to see unrepresentative behavior from unrepresentative people in the nation he visits. He wants new things, but in small, easily controlled amounts, with lots of momentos (pictures, knick-knacks, etc), to take home so he can remember how neat that foreign country was. At no time will he be found outside of a hotel, tourist trap, or tour group.
4. The Tofu. The Tofu is the extreme neophile, who adopts the flavor of the foreign nation, uncritically and completely. He immerses himself in as many aspects of the foreign land, with no distinction between the good parts and the bad...Or he simply ignores the bad. Everything in the new country is better than it is at home, and home becomes the example of everything that's wrong with the world. If the Tofu comes home, he insists on telling his friends and family how fucked up everything at home is, in comparison to the flawless country he just visited.
The same four people, on race:
The Texan: "Keep Those People out of my neighborhood. They have their own communities." The Texan wants to be among "his own people". He doesn't necessarily belong to the Klan, but let's just say he isn't going to run out and join the NAACP tomorrow.
The German: "I don't see color. There's no time for that." Funny thing: He doesn't. He's so self-absorbed in who he is and what he's doing, that he can't put himself in anyone else's shoes, even for a moment.
The Tourist: "I knew a Black guy in college. He wasn't what I was led to expect. He dressed just like I do." The tourist is typically the patronizing sort of racist. Joe Biden's comment about Obama "being clean for his race" comes to mind.
The Tofu: "Yo yo yo!" The Tofu tries to become Black. He's the White guy who runs around with cornrows, wearing a dashiki, listening to NWA, and claiming that he's from The Street (Technically true: Even Morris, Illinois has streets).
As demonstrated, being a neophile isn't always an advantage. There is no worldview that guarantees that you're not an embarrassing jerk.
Okay for now,
Dok
This is brilliant. :lol:
Good shit. Question- does the tofu eventually revert back to the way he was when placed back in his normal environment or does he end up having to sponge up another thing in order to change?
Nailed it.
All I can add is that the Texan goes to another state and bitches that he can't find chickenfried steak. :lulz:
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 07:36:23 PM
Good shit. Question- does the tofu eventually revert back to the way he was when placed back in his normal environment or does he end up having to sponge up another thing in order to change?
Eventually, he gets bored and goes on to sell insurance until he dies of congestive heart failure in a Holiday Inn.
Fucking hell thats depressing.
So im guessing that a tendency towards pinealism is the result of being tofu?
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 07:57:03 PM
Fucking hell thats depressing.
So im guessing that a tendency towards pinealism is the result of being tofu?
No, I think that's pretty much tourist behavior. You want weird, but
manageable weird. Easy weird, that anyone can do, that isn't scary or distressing.
Tofu would be aini. Buying into an entire subculture as a whole, no questions asked.
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 08:03:02 PM
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
She's the dude that because a half cat half fat guy monstrosity and disappeared while hitchhiking through Texas, yeah.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:04:03 PM
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 08:03:02 PM
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
She's the dude that because a half cat half fat guy monstrosity and disappeared while hitchhiking through Texas, yeah.
???
:horrormirth:
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 20, 2012, 08:20:26 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:04:03 PM
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 08:03:02 PM
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
She's the dude that because a half cat half fat guy monstrosity and disappeared while hitchhiking through Texas, yeah.
???
:horrormirth:
Toldja about that. She dropped out of sight in Redwater, TX.
Though she HAD de-friended me for making fun of ICP. Her FB login is Kristine Kadaverous (first name might have an alternate spelling).
If she's posted this month, then she's probably not buried behind a roadhouse somewhere.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:25:58 PM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 20, 2012, 08:20:26 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:04:03 PM
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 08:03:02 PM
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
She's the dude that because a half cat half fat guy monstrosity and disappeared while hitchhiking through Texas, yeah.
???
:horrormirth:
Toldja about that. She dropped out of sight in Redwater, TX.
Though she HAD de-friended me for making fun of ICP. Her FB login is Kristine Kadaverous (first name might have an alternate spelling).
If she's posted this month, then she's probably not buried behind a roadhouse somewhere.
Ah, yes, I remember now.
She's not on facebook with anything like that spelling, but there's a Christine Cadaverous who posted something March 10. Don't know if it's her or not.
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 20, 2012, 08:36:17 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:25:58 PM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 20, 2012, 08:20:26 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 08:04:03 PM
Quote from: An Twidsteoir on March 20, 2012, 08:03:02 PM
She the dude who became a half cat half woman monstrosity yeah?
She's the dude that because a half cat half fat guy monstrosity and disappeared while hitchhiking through Texas, yeah.
???
:horrormirth:
Toldja about that. She dropped out of sight in Redwater, TX.
Though she HAD de-friended me for making fun of ICP. Her FB login is Kristine Kadaverous (first name might have an alternate spelling).
If she's posted this month, then she's probably not buried behind a roadhouse somewhere.
Ah, yes, I remember now.
She's not on facebook with anything like that spelling, but there's a Christine Cadaverous who posted something March 10. Don't know if it's her or not.
That's probably her. Are her pictures hideous?
I can only see one and it's cute...might be a really old pic, though.
Am I looking for a mastodon?
I am very interested in your further analysis of these people, my good Doktor.
The OP is spot-on. :lulz:
Aini is Krystine Kadaverous, and her Facebook profile seems to be gone (or she has me blocked). There's a relatively recent pic of here here: hxxp://gregpallante.4ormat.com/ but I didn't see anything else new.
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:23:40 AM
The OP is spot-on. :lulz:
Aini is Krystine Kadaverous, and her Facebook profile seems to be gone (or she has me blocked). There's a relatively recent pic of here here: hxxp://gregpallante.4ormat.com/ but I didn't see anything else new.
She's a guy who plays for the Dodgers? :|
Oh, she changed her name. Now she's here: hxxp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1409403564
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 21, 2012, 03:30:37 AM
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:23:40 AM
The OP is spot-on. :lulz:
Aini is Krystine Kadaverous, and her Facebook profile seems to be gone (or she has me blocked). There's a relatively recent pic of here here: hxxp://gregpallante.4ormat.com/ but I didn't see anything else new.
She's a guy who plays for the Dodgers? :|
Scroll over until you get to the leopard tattoos.
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:34:29 AM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 21, 2012, 03:30:37 AM
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:23:40 AM
The OP is spot-on. :lulz:
Aini is Krystine Kadaverous, and her Facebook profile seems to be gone (or she has me blocked). There's a relatively recent pic of here here: hxxp://gregpallante.4ormat.com/ but I didn't see anything else new.
She's a guy who plays for the Dodgers? :|
Scroll over until you get to the leopard tattoos.
:aaa:
And she went
hitchhiking through Texas?
:aaa:
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 21, 2012, 03:47:49 AM
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:34:29 AM
Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on March 21, 2012, 03:30:37 AM
Quote from: Nigel on March 21, 2012, 03:23:40 AM
The OP is spot-on. :lulz:
Aini is Krystine Kadaverous, and her Facebook profile seems to be gone (or she has me blocked). There's a relatively recent pic of here here: hxxp://gregpallante.4ormat.com/ but I didn't see anything else new.
She's a guy who plays for the Dodgers? :|
Scroll over until you get to the leopard tattoos.
:aaa:
And she went hitchhiking through Texas?
:aaa:
We may never know, since she seems to have disappeared.
I checked out her facebook, can't see dates on her wall.
And she has those horn implant things.
And was last heard from hitchhiking where Texas borders Arkansas.
It's possible she's alive. But almost surely locked up.
She's online right now. At least, that's what my chat is telling me.
OH gawd, I think parenting and approaching middle age has cause me to step in to "The German" territory...
Dok, So do the Tofu just eventually burn out?
Quote from: The Freeky of SCIENCE! on March 21, 2012, 06:17:51 AM
She's online right now. At least, that's what my chat is telling me.
CHAT HER!
Tofu is the perfect word for it.
I also found the neophobe/neophile continuum distinction very insightful.
y at 06:03:15 AM altough it was 7AM pdT this edit shoud arive at :07 min
although there are d'Lays in effect
Quote from: Doktor M. Phox0 on March 20, 2012, 10:36:27 PM
I am very interested in your further analysis of these people, my good D ok t or.
What is status? :fnord: StatusUpda (http://pdx.academia.edu/CameronMSmith/StatusUpdates)
i AM not them: When in '69 the protest was held{students protest WAR| there were
two sides {in the park (N/S) blocks| East & West | i on the other hand ?
sat upon the back of the green park bench in the middle | ON neither side | on top
Quote from: Doktor Howl on March 20, 2012, 07:05:35 PM
3. The Tourist. The Tourist is the mild neophobe. He wants to see unrepresentative behavior from unrepresentative people in the nation he visits. He wants new things, but in small, easily controlled amounts, with lots of momentos (pictures, knick-knacks, etc), to take home so he can remember how neat that foreign country was. At no time will he be found outside of a hotel, tourist trap, or tour group.
i find myself strongly in this category -
except i want to see representative behavior from representative people and i don't acquire many momentos [sic].
2 days in new york city was both FUCKING AWESOME and also as much as I could take.
3 days in amsterdam was both FUCKING AWESEOME and also as much as I could take.
1 week in Ireland was FUCKING AWESOME and I want to go back. I took a rock home (don't tell anybody)
Shut the fuck up, rong.
no yuo!
You forgot a few.
THE EXECUTIVE - Mild neophobic. The executive has a lot of money and demands the best that country has to offer. Similar to the Tourist in that his tastes run to the unrepresentative except while the Tourist is happy to spend hours in the duty-free shops and ride a bus to Chichen Itza with 80 other pale midwesterners, The Executive will buy an entire floor of rooms where digitaries stay and hire his own staff from several other countries to throw parties, He will pay exorbitant amounts of money to eat exotic things that most travelers could never afford and to create an experience for himself that is fitional: it never existed in that country before he arrived and ceased to exist the moment his wallet boarded the plane home.
THE EAST COAST HUSTLE - This smirking smartass of a traveller is mildly neophillic in intent but loses it in execution. Initially heads out in search of new experiences and tastes, but misses the entire thing in a blur of hedonism. The ECH hops from one place to the next, galavanting with the locals, learning snippets of the language and having such a good-natured blast, he forgets all about remembering names of places or half of what he saw, drank and ate. Wakes up face-down in the sand on the last day and thinks of a million things he forgot to try because...party! Dammit! He does this every time he comes here! Oh, well. There's always next time.
Quote from: navkat on April 05, 2012, 05:02:55 PM
You forgot a few.
THE EXECUTIVE - Mild neophobic. The executive has a lot of money and demands the best that country has to offer. Similar to the Tourist in that his tastes run to the unrepresentative except while the Tourist is happy to spend hours in the duty-free shops and ride a bus to Chichen Itza with 80 other pale midwesterners, The Executive will buy an entire floor of rooms where digitaries stay and hire his own staff from several other countries to throw parties, He will pay exorbitant amounts of money to eat exotic things that most travelers could never afford and to create an experience for himself that is fitional: it never existed in that country before he arrived and ceased to exist the moment his wallet boarded the plane home.
THE EAST COAST HUSTLE - This smirking smartass of a traveller is mildly neophillic in intent but loses it in execution. Initially heads out in search of new experiences and tastes, but misses the entire thing in a blur of hedonism. The ECH hops from one place to the next, galavanting with the locals, learning snippets of the language and having such a good-natured blast, he forgets all about remembering names of places or half of what he saw, drank and ate. Wakes up face-down in the sand on the last day and thinks of a million things he forgot to try because...party! Dammit! He does this every time he comes here! Oh, well. There's always next time.
The ECH is a creature that blends into its environment seamlessly, yet leaves devastation in his wake when he leaves. Nobody is sure exactly
when the toilet got that way, or just precisely
how ALL of the booze went away, or how that Harley Davidson got up on the high dive, but there's no mistaking his hoofprints.
ECH isn't a visitor and does not belong on the list. ECH is a national calamity.
Like Hurricane Katrina with better taste in music.
THE MISSIONARY - Mild neophobic with a neophillic candy coating. Not necessarily religious, the missionary usually arrives on a long-term trip: taking a year to teach english in Zimbabwe, for instance. Or agricultural studies in Peru. They don't always have an organizational agenda, for instance, they could be taking a year off from school to backpack the Great Minefields of Somalia, or just a couple weeks to really immerse themselves in the people of Papua New Guinea. But they all have one thing in common: they studied intensely the disadvantages of the poor, uneducated people of that land and are hell-bent on changing their lives for the better, dammit.
Completely naive to the country's unique needs and challenges, Missionaries are tireless about pitching solutions to various problems. Often seen picking up other people's children and wailing about the unjust, subpar conditions, a Missionary will never waste an opportunity to establish rapport with a village or act as a counselor to a family in need by teaching the wives about their rights to an independant living and through heartwarming chats with the husbands about how making the women bow before they eat is considered demeaning in civilized society. And if the locals dont accept the invaluable teachings, it's not really their fault. They can't be expected to understand when they are so lacking in education.
Quote from: navkat on April 05, 2012, 05:45:35 PM
THE MISSIONARY - Mild neophobic with a neophillic candy coating. Not necessarily religious, the missionary usually arrives on a long-term trip: taking a year to teach english in Zimbabwe, for instance. Or agricultural studies in Peru. They don't always have an organizational agenda, for instance, they could be taking a year off from school to backpack the Great Minefields of Somalia, or just a couple weeks to really immerse themselves in the people of Papua New Guinea. But they all have one thing in common: they studied intensely the disadvantages of the poor, uneducated people of that land and are hell-bent on changing their lives for the better, dammit.
Completely naive to the country's unique needs and challenges, Missionaries are tireless about pitching solutions to various problems. Often seen picking up other people's children and wailing about the unjust, subpar conditions, a Missionary will never waste an opportunity to establish rapport with a village or act as a counselor to a family in need by teaching the wives about their rights to an independant living and through heartwarming chats with the husbands about how making the women bow before they eat is considered demeaning in civilized society. And if the locals dont accept the invaluable teachings, it's not really their fault. They can't be expected to understand when they are so lacking in education.
And ensure that 30% of the cargo in any relief operation consists of Christian literature.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on April 05, 2012, 05:49:43 PM
Quote from: navkat on April 05, 2012, 05:45:35 PM
THE MISSIONARY - Mild neophobic with a neophillic candy coating. Not necessarily religious, the missionary usually arrives on a long-term trip: taking a year to teach english in Zimbabwe, for instance. Or agricultural studies in Peru. They don't always have an organizational agenda, for instance, they could be taking a year off from school to backpack the Great Minefields of Somalia, or just a couple weeks to really immerse themselves in the people of Papua New Guinea. But they all have one thing in common: they studied intensely the disadvantages of the poor, uneducated people of that land and are hell-bent on changing their lives for the better, dammit.
Completely naive to the country's unique needs and challenges, Missionaries are tireless about pitching solutions to various problems. Often seen picking up other people's children and wailing about the unjust, subpar conditions, a Missionary will never waste an opportunity to establish rapport with a village or act as a counselor to a family in need by teaching the wives about their rights to an independant living and through heartwarming chats with the husbands about how making the women bow before they eat is considered demeaning in civilized society. And if the locals dont accept the invaluable teachings, it's not really their fault. They can't be expected to understand when they are so lacking in education.
And ensure that 30% of the cargo in any relief operation consists of Christian literature.
The upside of that is they can end up like the Kathy Bates character in
At Play In The Fields Of The Lord. Or this guy. (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/jason-russell-video-naked-meltdown-kony#.T2PO33mi18E)
These are all still supposed to serve the dual purpose of being metaphors for The Visitors you meet IRL, right?
Quote from: navkat on April 05, 2012, 07:01:15 PM
These are all still supposed to serve the dual purpose of being metaphors for The Visitors you meet IRL, right?
Yep.
But ECH doesn't really fit the bill.
For 30 hours after the LA quake, they thought it was just ECH taking the freeway.
There's a tofu in my biomed class. Went to Morocco for a month, came back Muslim, and manages to relate absolutely everything to her trip to Morocco.
You know what'll stop that? Buy her a ticket to Italy.
Quote from: navkat on April 08, 2012, 05:56:36 PM
You know what'll stop that? Buy her a ticket to Italy.
:lulz:
Or take a vacation to Italy yourself and leave her ass in Portland. :lol: