"Exposing what is mortal and unsure to all that fortune, death and danger dare, even for an eggshell. Isn't there something in that?" he asked, looking up at Mustapha Mond. "Quite apart from God–though of course God would be a reason for it. Isn't there something in living dangerously?"
"There's a great deal in it," the Controller replied. "Men and women must have their adrenals stimulated from time to time."
"What?" questioned the Savage, uncomprehending.
"It's one of the conditions of perfect health. That's why we've made the V.P.S. treatments compulsory."
"V.P.S.?"
"Violent Passion Surrogate. Regularly once a month. We flood the whole system with adrenin. It's the complete physiological equivalent of fear and rage. All the tonic effects of murdering Desdemona and being murdered by Othello, without any of the inconveniences."
"But I like the inconveniences."
"We don't," said the Controller. "We prefer to do things comfortably."
A few years back, while I was still living with my parents, we had an antisocial german shepard. He was pretty paranoid about people not in our family, and so we tried to keep him separated from strangers, but I never thought he'd bite someone.
As I apparently never get tired of being proven wrong, I didn't immediately shove him out when he pushed into my bedroom, where myself and the girl I'd started seeing the previous week were sitting (if it'd been more than that, he never would've made it into the room, of course). So I'm nervous, but he seems friendly -- no barking, waving his tail and everything. He trots over to her, and she looks at me (I'd warned her about the dog) and I comment on how well-behaved he's being. She pats him on the nose a couple times... and with no warning at all, no change in behavior, he grabs her arm in his teeth. Hard.
So we take her to the hospital and it's pretty bad, but it's not like torn muscle/shredded tendon bad. She gets wrapped up, offered some medications, and told to take it easy on her arm. I sit with her during the six or so hours we're in the ER (roughly twenty minutes of which were attended). We pay the bill, of course.
And that's it for a while. After that we're still seeing each other, astonishingly (the relationship lasts for about two years, all told). After a bit, she decides to stop taking her medication and starts practicing piano again and playing Counterstrike pretty extensively, both of which put a lot of strain on her arm. A couple weeks of this and her arm starts to twitch, ache, and generally misbehave. She gets worried and goes to a neurologist. He runs several rounds of tests on her, early on scaring the shit out of her by by-the-way suggesting she might have MS.
It's nothing. She just needs to ease up on her arm and let it heal.
So! She's got about $800 in bills from this quackery. She can't pay it, of course; she's a college student and she's paying rent on her own place. Her dad... lemme tell you 'bout her dad.
Have you ever been into one of those "communities" where there are three story houses on almost perfectly square plots of land, precisely lain-out streets, no kids, and absolutely no trees? If I didn't know better, I wouldn't call those perfectly trimmed and largely unadorned plots of grass lawns, but moats. You drive through one of those places and it's fucking eerie. People clearly never go outside, except maybe to mow (but you're much more likely to see some landscaper's flatbed parked at the curb every week), but they've got these half-acre plots with the house centered almost perfectly on each.
There are rarely fences. They don't need them. Besides the cop response time and private security systems in every house, you look at those lawns and you expect landmines. That's how creepy they are.
So, yeah. That's where her dad lived. Well-to-do guy, upper middle class-ish. Not rich, but more money than I'm likely to make, unless I get my own shit together in the right way to do that. Not a terrible guy... he even had a hobby: He watched movies. Movie after movie. Nights and weekends. Sound turned up so high that the few times I was there to visit, I could barely stand to be on the same floor. March of the Penguins sounded like Star Wars in the fucking IMAX.
Righto, back to my original anecdote.
So her dad starts insisting my family pay it. Now, I'm not going to try to wow you with our story, but suffice to say that as of the first my parents heard of this, we'd gotten our power turned back on two weeks prior.
This drags on for a couple months, with the insurance company getting more and more agitated at my then-girlfriend. He starts threatening legal action. He writes letters and makes calls; guy goes fucking rabid. You'd think my folks not paying the $800 for his daughter's unnecessary medical treatment made it like they'd sic'd the dog on her and laughed. And through it all, I swear I started to get the sense that he was enjoying this. He wanted to get mad.
So, if anyone was to blame for this shit, it was me. I'd let the dog in there. Maybe I could've even encouraged the gf to take it easier on the arm -- I was certainly the only person in the position to do so. I sold some stock I had and ponied up the cash, about a week before the ultimatum gf-dad had set before Shit Gets Real, Yo.
I think he was disappointed. Asshole.
So this whole experience starts me down the path to a thought:
Bored people want to get angry.
In its formative stages, the thought hardly made sense to me. I kind of shoved it aside as a bit of snark from a bad experience. But time goes by, and I see more and more little things that build this up in my mind. Eventually I recollect reading that passage in Huxley's Brave New World I've got quoted at the top, plus a few nudges from Vonnegut, and I start to actually believe there's something to it.
Alright, so, you think about this hypothetical Standard Living Condition someone's got. Survey says (http://newsroom.cigna.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1030) (also here (http://www.gallup.com/poll/24010/personal-fulfillment-frequently-cited-top-job-like.aspx)) most people actually don't hate their job. Yet people also are on the search for personal fulfillment, which too often they do not find there. So you have this wide band of 'good enough,' and an enormous range of escape opportunities. (I feel like it's outside of the scope of this particular rant, but I've seen suggestions that early exposure to electronic entertainment like TV and video games sets kids up on a path for ADHD, which, incidentally, is perfectly suited to being entertained by TV and video games. I'm far from the only one to see a bit of The Machine in that.)
But that's boring. Escapism doesn't actually fulfill, it distracts from the need for fulfillment. And it doesn't take a endocrinologist to realize that you're hardly ever going to get your heart spiking on a diet of movies (even the best horror shockers lose their edge when you've seen three dozen of 'em) and the best rock of the 1970's, 80's, and 90's.
Alright. I've said my bit on that. If there are any more conclusions to be drawn, I'll let you draw them. I spent almost an hour looking for a particular quote from Vonnegut to put here -- something about how people love to do what they're told at the worst possible time -- but I can't remember the full text and can't find it, and it's barely relevant anyway. So it goes.
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 06:50:31 AM
A few years back, while I was still living at home
You don't still live at home?
I'll tell you when I find out if I've been evicted yet. But point taken, editing for clarity.
I loled
Also I am such a dick.
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 06:50:31 AM
Alright. I've said my bit on that. If there are any more conclusions to be drawn, I'll let you draw them. I spent almost an hour looking for a particular quote from Vonnegut to put here -- something about how people love to do what they're told at the worst possible time -- but I can't remember the full text and can't find it, and it's barely relevant anyway. So it goes.
QuoteToday I will be a Bulgarian Minister of Education. Tomorrow I will be Helen of Troy.
We do, doodley do, doodley do, doodley do,
What we must, muddily must, muddily must, muddily must;
Muddily do, muddily do, muddily do, muddily do,
Until we bust, bodily bust, bodily bust, bodily bust.
I dunno if that's the one? but there ya go. I also really liked your story. :)
Like this part: "Bored people want to get angry."
This reminds me of what I have started to call "lazy pessimism." Wake the Fuck Up! If you're bored - you're not payin' attention!
H.G. Wells wrote some pretty good stories dealing with this kinda attitude or at least he acted as a thought liberator when it comes to thinking about these things.
Country of the Blind is a good one.
Cheers & :mittens:
It was honorable that you eventaully paid for the bills, but I think you're off base if you consider the second visit "uneccesary". SHit was damaged, something was wrong... it was a much better idea to consult a doctor that to "wait and see what happens".
That kind of thinking turns a lump into a mastectomy.
I'm not really understanding the sense of entitlement involved in thinking that, because the girl's father had more money, it wasn't your family's responsibility to pay the bill for your dog injuring someone. It sounds like a pretty serious injury, too, and you're calling the medical treatment "quackery"... why?
$800 is nothing... it could have easily run into the thousands. You got off lucky, and apparently weren't even required to have the dog put down. You got off easy.
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 06:50:31 AMA few years back, while I was still living with my parents, we had an antisocial german shepard. He was pretty paranoid about people not in our family, and so we tried to keep him separated from strangers, but I never thought he'd bite someone.
Right, so basically it was your fault the girl got bit. Learn to dogs! :argh!:
Yeah, that's right, I have a new puppy so I am now the leading authority on canine obedience/behaviour.
Srsly tho - if your dog is antisocial and aggressive toward strangers it's your responsibility to fucking deal with correcting it's behaviour.
Protip: freaking out and keeping him away from strangers is not going to help long-term
What I'm hearing is: Even if your conclusion seems sound ("Bored people want to get angry"), the premise doesn't really begin to approach the matter.
Quote from: Nigel on June 08, 2009, 05:06:46 PM
I'm not really understanding the sense of entitlement involved in thinking that, because the girl's father had more money, it wasn't your family's responsibility to pay the bill for your dog injuring someone. It sounds like a pretty serious injury, too, and you're calling the medical treatment "quackery"... why?
Because there was no treatment, only an extended diagnosis process which in fact only continued past the first visit because there was a concern about multiple sclerosis being involved. Dog bites do not give people MS. The entire concern in the first place was
caused by not following the medical treatment plan that
was given originally.
Say I'm visiting you (for some reason), and somehow you accidentally knock me over and I fall and fracture my leg. Like any reasonable person, you take me to the hospital. I get a soft cast and the doctor tells me to take it easy. A couple weeks later I decide I'm bored and take up wind sprinting.
Would you really hold yourself responsible for my physical therapy there? Or, to actually make it a bit more in-scope, say I go in for a preliminary visit (not even PT at all), and I get told that I might feel shitty because I have muscular dystrophy and I'm going to need a CAT scan for them to find out (I dunno if they do those for muscular dystrophy, but whatever). Are you going to hold yourself responsible for
that?
QuoteProtip: freaking out and keeping him away from strangers is not going to help long-term
Absolutely. It wasn't my dog (I was young enough when we got him that the distinction mattered); for the first two or three years of his life, my mom took complete responsibility for his upbringing.
And did a shitty job, despite exactly the same thing (the isolation -> paranoia, not the biting part) having happened with a golden retriever we had years ago. She decided at one point to take him to obedience training to socialize him and, well, train him. After two sessions she decides he's too rambunctious and doesn't go any more.
I wish I could tell you I was a stalwart proponent of canine rights and proper instruction as a counterpoint, who was persistently ignored and mocked for his perfectly reasonable contributions, fighting tooth and nail to be allowed to see and interact with the precious creature... but honestly I didn't want the dog and didn't
want responsibility for him. So I just stood out of the way and occasionally walked him. =/
Quote from: Nigel on June 08, 2009, 05:06:46 PM
I'm not really understanding the sense of entitlement involved in thinking that, because the girl's father had more money, it wasn't your family's responsibility to pay the bill for your dog injuring someone.
Why is it not his family's responsibility?
Quote from: Hoopla on June 08, 2009, 08:20:07 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 08, 2009, 05:06:46 PM
I'm not really understanding the sense of entitlement involved in thinking that, because the girl's father had more money, it wasn't your family's responsibility to pay the bill for your dog injuring someone.
Why is it not his family's responsibility?
It IS his family's responsibility. He thinks it wasn't, because the injuries later flared up again and needed additional diagnosis because they were concerned about nerve damage.
Sorry, Skippy, but any complications and follow-up care relating to the dog bite was, indeed, your family's responsibility, including screening tests to make sure the flare-ups weren't caused by something OTHER than the dog bite.
Furthermore, her family could have sued you for pain and suffering during her healing, because she wasn't able to do the normal things she enjoyed during her healing period, like play piano. AND they could have sued to have the dog put down... or, depending on the laws in your area, they could have simply called the sheriff to go take care of it.
And you're whining because her dad wanted your family to pay the relatively minimal costs of medical care and follow-up? Are you kidding me? You sound like an entitled brat.
QuoteAND they could have sued to have the dog put down... or, depending on the laws in your area, they could have simply called the sheriff to go take care of it.
I would have been happy if they had. She requested that it not be.
I'm glad that you're a proponent of litagory morality, though. It's such a rarity among Discordians. I remain pretty convinced that we would have won a court case; the reasons I did not wait for one to occur were 1) we couldn't afford it and 2) I do not reject the idea that we retained responsibility. My point with the anecdote was not to assign blame but to explain the situation that occurred and why it led to the thought I had, and I'm bored of letting you derail that.
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 09:27:02 PM
I'm glad that you're a proponent of litagory morality, though. It's such a rarity among Discordians.
:cn:
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 09:27:02 PM
QuoteAND they could have sued to have the dog put down... or, depending on the laws in your area, they could have simply called the sheriff to go take care of it.
I would have been happy if they had. She requested that it not be.
I'm glad that you're a proponent of litagory morality, though. It's such a rarity among Discordians. I remain pretty convinced that we would have won a court case; the reasons I did not wait for one to occur were 1) we couldn't afford it and 2) I do not reject the idea that we retained responsibility. My point with the anecdote was not to assign blame but to explain the situation that occurred and why it led to the thought I had, and I'm bored of letting you derail that.
It would seem that the vast majority of people around these parts find your "point" uninteresting and would rather comment on the subtext of your rant. If you're upset about your topics being taken apart and dissected I would imagine this forum is not exactly your speed, and perhaps you find this more your cup of tea: http://www.craftster.org/ (http://www.craftster.org/)
Awww, Spunky's bored. :cry:
Quote from: Hoopla on June 08, 2009, 09:40:32 PM
It would seem that the vast majority of people around these parts find your "point" uninteresting and would rather comment on the subtext of your rant. If you're upset about your topics being taken apart and dissected I would imagine this forum is not exactly your speed, and perhaps you find this more your cup of tea: http://www.craftster.org/ (http://www.craftster.org/)
There would be irony, no?
Natch.
Quote from: Hoopla on June 08, 2009, 09:40:32 PM
It would seem that the vast majority of people around these parts find your "point" uninteresting and would rather comment on the subtext of your rant.
And among The Vast Majority and Nigel, both of you are welcome to their comments. I'm equally as welcome to find
those comments interesting or uninteresting, am I not?
Quote from: NigelAwww, Spunky's bored. ... There would be irony, no?
Not until I get enraged, eh?
I would like to suggest two more conclusions
- he just didn't like you
or..
- your dog bit his daughter
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 09:52:40 PM
Quote from: Hoopla on June 08, 2009, 09:40:32 PM
It would seem that the vast majority of people around these parts find your "point" uninteresting and would rather comment on the subtext of your rant.
And among The Vast Majority and Nigel, both of you are welcome to their comments. I'm equally as welcome to find those comments interesting or uninteresting, am I not?
Certainly, thats the problem with freedom.
My opinion : The last couple of paragraphs are decent... little darker and you got something
The story makes you sound like a pretentious attention-whore.. like I'm suppose to feel sorry for you for being poor. To be honest I laughed a little when you charged $800
It's true. Nobody who owns a dog is too poor for obedience classes.
My favorite part was where he sold some stocks to raise the money. :lulz:
Quote from: Thurnez Isa
The story makes you sound like a pretentious attention-whore.. like I'm suppose to feel sorry for you for being poor.
I was worried about that. I elaborated on her dad's "lifestyle" to show that his situation was deeply unfullfilling. The contrast that I made between that situation and my family's was intended to explain why we didn't just pay the money right off and avoid the whole fiasco.
I feel the dog bite situation was ultimately no-one's direct fault. I can accept some responsibility for it because I could and should have prevented it in the first place, and I can assign some to my mother for having bass-ackwards views on how to raise animals. It was a complex situation with very little agency at work. But somebody's got to pay, and it's a hard sell to make the case that both sides had legitimate concerns. Since I assume most people will compassionately side with the victim (and there is nothing wrong with that. I was also worried that some people might think I was blaming the girl, and I'm glad to see that that wasn't so), I knew I had to be very thorough in presenting the case for the opposition.
Alright, so my next question is: Do you have any specific suggestions for improving this (given what I've said above), giving it a more neutral sound?
the part of the bored people getting angry is pretty good, like I said I think it could be a bit "darker"... but it seems unrelated to your story... Like I said with my comment above the one you replied to, you could draw much better conclusions
I think it's two separate pieces forced together
My opinion: Take the last little bit and expand on that...
I don't think the story is really what is important. You may have noticed that most people did not like the backstory. Ditch the backstory and try and say something interesting about the main point: the bored people wanting to be angry bit.
just an idea.
x
EDIT:
Quote from: Thurnez Isa on June 08, 2009, 11:18:20 PM
the part of the bored people getting angry is pretty good, like I said I think it could be a bit "darker"... but it seems unrelated to your story... Like I said with my comment above the one you replied to, you could draw much better conclusions
I think it's two separate pieces forced together
My opinion: Take the last little bit and expand on that...
:lulz: yeh that.
Hmm, alright, I'll try to think of ways to do that. I might be able to just concoct something in the vein of a thought experiment. This is the experience that led me to that consideration (that people who are bored with their lives deliberately extend reasons to get angry -- something else that I didn't mention was that during this whole affair, the father didn't pay off his daughter's debt despite the fact it was starting to negatively impact her credit. If he had done that, even while still pursuing litigation against us, I would have been much more sympathetic to the idea that he was actually upset with the situation and not just angry for the sake of being angry), but yeah, I agree that if there's no way to make it sympathetic, no one's going to want to follow me to it.
Does anyone else have anything from their lives that has led them to consider a similar proposition (or that the proposition makes them think of)? I might be able to draw elements from several stories to make a more universal case.
i am not sure a great case can be made for a broad stroke generalization, i can say based on personal interactions that people who tend to give others legitimate cause to be angry at them, tend to look for excuses to be angry at others, but even that i would have a tough time making a strong case for.
People apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginative people... this may be related. Just saying.
Quote from: Arafelis on June 08, 2009, 11:28:42 PM
Hmm, alright, I'll try to think of ways to do that. I might be able to just concoct something in the vein of a thought experiment. This is the experience that led me to that consideration (that people who are bored with their lives deliberately extend reasons to get angry -- something else that I didn't mention was that during this whole affair, the father didn't pay off his daughter's debt despite the fact it was starting to negatively impact her credit. If he had done that, even while still pursuing litigation against us, I would have been much more sympathetic to the idea that he was actually upset with the situation and not just angry for the sake of being angry), but yeah, I agree that if there's no way to make it sympathetic, no one's going to want to follow me to it.
Does anyone else have anything from their lives that has led them to consider a similar proposition (or that the proposition makes them think of)? I might be able to draw elements from several stories to make a more universal case.
Assuming that he actually had the money seems a bit foolish. I own a large house in an expensive neighborhood, but because of various circumstances beyond my control over the course of the past year, I'm broke as fuck.
Also, almost everything about this whole story reeks of hyperbole and overblown drama. The doctor mentioning MS... it's not atypical for neurologists to say they want to rule it out if there are tremors or loss of fine motor control. Sounds like that got blown out of proportion by your girlie, probably for sympathy drama. Also, speaking from a huge amount of experience with medical bills, it takes ages for them to affect your credit because clinics/hospitals first send them to internal collection and THEN to a collection contractor that specializes in medical debt... it can take over a year... and THEN if the contractor can't work something out with you they report you to the credit agencies as delinquent. So there's some bullshit going on there too. Plus if you catch it before they report it you can make payments, even teeny tiny ones, and they don't charge you interest.
I'd say, cut the distracting, whiny, transparently bullshit story about the boo-hoo having to pay for your dog biting someone, and like Thorny said, focus on making a plausible case for the idea that bored people seek out opportunities to be outraged. You could probably even tie it into the media exploiting the desire for outrage etc. etc. it's been done but who knows, maybe you can do it in a way that is interesting and unique.
At least it's a start.
Quote from: HooplaPeople apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginative people... this may be related. Just saying.
I think that plays into the search for fulfillment, and it's referenced on the second-to-last page of the BIP as well. I'm making crap money right now, but I'm juggling several projects. Whether or not I even finish most of them is immaterial (to how fulfilled I feel doing them) -- in the doing, they offer a lot to learn and to stretch around. If my context for "things I could do" stopped after work, sex, recreational substances, and entertainment products, I feel like I'd get bored of any individual thing a lot faster.
Related note: Javascript is a bastard child of the pure autochthonian entity that is C.
even if it's been done before a lot of the stuff written here isn't written for here if you know what I mean...
Quote from: Arafelis on June 09, 2009, 12:30:14 AM
Related note: Javascript is a bastard child of the pure autochthonian entity that is C.
I have no idea why you think this is related to the current topic, but speaking as someone that makes their living by coding Javascript (the proper cross-browser standards-compliant unobtrusive accessible and degrading-gracefully kind), I really can't let an uninformed remark like this pass without comment. Javascript, also known as ECMAscript shares a few syntax elements (such as curly braces and a small number of keywords) with C, but otherwise it's quite radically different in pretty much every aspect.
(you didnt state this, but FYI it's also not based on Java. the naming was a marketing decision, and the previously named syntax elements were chosen for superficial similarity with Java, however if you want to compare the language with anything, it's more like SmallTalk, Lisp or Ruby)
Interesting timing on this thread. :lulz:
Quote from: Hoopla on June 09, 2009, 12:18:42 AM
People apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginative people... this may be related. Just saying.
Bollocks. If dumb people got bored more easily than intelligent ones, the TV networks would be out of fucking business.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 05:35:30 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on June 09, 2009, 12:18:42 AM
People apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginative people... this may be related. Just saying.
Bollocks. If dumb people got bored more easily than intelligent ones, the TV networks would be out of fucking business.
what do you think adverts are for? to give dumb bored people something
new to concentrate on every 10 minutes. Its a win:win situation for TV networks.
x
You think adverts are honestly that interesting? Lets give people some credit here, they're not magpies.
The problem is either apathy or boredom. They either don't get bored easily enough, and settle for what they can get easily, or else they are too apathetic to do anything about their boredom. Its a mix of the two, IMO.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 05:35:30 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on June 09, 2009, 12:18:42 AM
People apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginative people... this may be related. Just saying.
Bollocks. If dumb people got bored more easily than intelligent ones, the TV networks would be out of fucking business.
I'm going by my own mind here, I tend to not get bored easily as I almost always have something to think about. And I think you might have mis-read what I said in my post... I said un
imaginative, not unintelligent. There's a difference.
Quote from: Hoopla on June 09, 2009, 12:18:42 AM
People apt to get bored easily are often (but not always) fairly unimaginativeLAZY people... this may be related. Just saying.
That's been my own experience.
Oh I don't know... I'm pretty much the most slothful person I know.
Mentally lazy then?
That links in quite closely with uminaginative and apathetic, too.
Yeah that works.
Yeah, I meant mentally lazy. The one leads to the other, anyhow.
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
I wonder if BiP-based commentaries which seem to spur conflict are related to this idea? Not particularly the mental laziness, but the dissatisfaction aspect.
As for the masses watching television... I'd argue that reality TV is the response to people getting bored with television. Rather than 30 minute stories about City folk moving to the country, Country folk moving to the City, Aliens trying to fit in with humans or funny people during *insert war here*... they've been forced to the most basic sort of entertainment. 'Watch other humans do stuff you wish you could do and get off on the mirror neurons in your brain".
Monkey see Flava of Love, Monkey experience it vicariously.
Monkey see American Idol, Monkey experience it vicariously.
Quote from: Ratatosk on June 09, 2009, 06:30:46 PM
As for the masses watching television... I'd argue that reality TV is the response to people getting bored with television. Rather than 30 minute stories about City folk moving to the country, Country folk moving to the City, Aliens trying to fit in with humans or funny people during *insert war here*... they've been forced to the most basic sort of entertainment. 'Watch other humans do stuff you wish you could do and get off on the mirror neurons in your brain".
Monkey see Flava of Love, Monkey experience it vicariously.
Monkey see American Idol, Monkey experience it vicariously.
Yes.
Does this mean its only a matter of time before monkeys get tired of television all together?
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Not the point, really. Arafellis posted this right after accusing me of having boredom-fueled rage.
Which is really stupid, of course. My rage is and has always been fueled by hate.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:34:23 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Not the point, really. Arafellis posted this right after accusing me of having boredom-fueled rage.
Which is really stupid, of course. My rage is and has always been fueled by hate.
Wow, I missed that... he thought *you* were bored? :lulz:
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 11:41:21 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:34:23 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Not the point, really. Arafellis posted this right after accusing me of having boredom-fueled rage.
Which is really stupid, of course. My rage is and has always been fueled by hate.
Wow, I missed that... he thought *you* were bored? :lulz:
Amateur psychoanalysts are a dime a dozen. *shrug*
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:42:20 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 11:41:21 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:34:23 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Not the point, really. Arafellis posted this right after accusing me of having boredom-fueled rage.
Which is really stupid, of course. My rage is and has always been fueled by hate.
Wow, I missed that... he thought *you* were bored? :lulz:
Amateur psychoanalysts are a dime a dozen. *shrug*
Truth.
I like watching them try to pigeonhole me, and failing. Not because I am un-pigeonholable, but because they generally rely on common stereotypes. Their range isn't broad enough.
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 11:46:39 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:42:20 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 11:41:21 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 09, 2009, 11:34:23 PM
Quote from: Nigel on June 09, 2009, 06:23:52 PM
IME dissatisfied people are often conflict-seekers... and of course, boredom is often reflective of dissatisfaction. Whether mental laziness is related, I don't know.
Not the point, really. Arafellis posted this right after accusing me of having boredom-fueled rage.
Which is really stupid, of course. My rage is and has always been fueled by hate.
Wow, I missed that... he thought *you* were bored? :lulz:
Amateur psychoanalysts are a dime a dozen. *shrug*
Truth.
I like watching them try to pigeonhole me, and failing. Not because I am un-pigeonholable, but because they generally rely on common stereotypes. Their range isn't broad enough.
It's like watching Bill Frist "diagnose" Teri Schiavo by video, only goofier. :lol:
Quote from: Ratatosk on June 09, 2009, 06:30:46 PM... I'd argue that reality TV is the response to people getting bored with television. Rather than 30 minute stories about City folk moving to the country, Country folk moving to the City, Aliens trying to fit in with humans or funny people during *insert war here*... they've been forced to the most basic sort of entertainment. 'Watch other humans do stuff you wish you could do and get off on the mirror neurons in your brain".
Or its about money. The first big reality TV show over here was Big Brother, which was far cheaper to make than a 22 episode gritty police procedural thriller written by the best writers the BBC has on its payroll.
Then you look at Pop (American) Idol...the guy holds a contest (which he makes money from) to find a pop star (which he makes money from). I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here only costs enough to rig up the cameras, hire the hotel rooms for the production crew and to buy the bugs the celebs will be made to eat.
The thing about the television business is that it is first and foremost a business. Only a very few major channels (BBC, HBO) can afford to make very good TV programs consistently, and the major commercial companies have the resources (ABC with Lost, for example) but also burn through a lot of dross and crap to get them (Heroes from Season 2, coming to mind, though no doubt you all know ABC's shitty schedule better than me)