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teenagewangst  ·  3948 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On Change

No clue if it was part of the documentary - sorry!

What motivated me to think about this is to figure out what, if any, responsibility I have to better the world. Was it Voltaire who said that we are guilty of the good that we did not do? It's a very demanding worldview that I'm not sure I agree with, but I get pulled both ways and the only conclusion I've reached is to not think about it and try to be a good (ish) person.

teenagewangst  ·  3949 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On Change

Well, I just turned in my thesis, so I'll have a lot more time in the upcoming weeks. Turning off notifications wasn't necessarily a good decision, either, since it took me about a week to realize that somebody commented on this!

Sorry, this comment is private.
teenagewangst  ·  3999 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Pen Pal Update

Looks like I'm the idiot that missed the "original thread" link at the top. Oops. Thanks for the link, though, I would be interested in doing this.

teenagewangst  ·  3999 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Pen Pal Update

Was there a previous post or anything that detailed this further?

teenagewangst  ·  4014 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Twelfth Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately" Thread

The Strokes came out with a new album:

Tap Out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX1inu6yZWY Call It Fate, Call It Karma - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LLIJkP301E

I got it from What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which I really enjoyed as a (moderate) runner. I like to think that people who don't run would like it as well, but I can't really say.

teenagewangst  ·  4037 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ninth Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately" Thread

I enjoyed some Umphrey's McGee today - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml5FxpirGwg

I don't think the article was particularly well written, but as someone who improvises for a hobby, this type of research is pretty fascinating.

teenagewangst  ·  4040 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Code Academy - Learning to Code Interactively

What kind of programming are you interested in?

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

Haha - I don't mean that it counts - I mean that a few of the books I was supposed to read were on this list, but never actually read.

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

I think I skimmed every book assigned to me in high school, which covers a few from the board's list. I didn't take any english classes in college, but I did manage to read some major books during those years somehow.

I'll have to give it another look, though I have to say I'm not one to slog through anything.

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

Definitely sounds interesting. I can definitely see it being something awesome of way over my head - Catch-22 felt that way, but it could have been my age when I read it, back when I was in high school. I don't think I've read anything that would be qualified as cyberpunk, but enjoy the elements mentioned and intelligent manners, so I'll have to look into it.

I've never tried Don Quixote, but I'm familiar with the story from The Man of La Mancha, so it's been on my radar before. A little random, but "quixotic" has to be one of my favorite words, for its uniqueness, its pronunciation, and its derivation.

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

I've read some of David Foster Wallace's essays, but haven't had the gumption to tackle Infinite Jest yet, and from what I understand The Count is a serious effort as well. I'm generally hesitant to start anything that long, if only because I can get bored or discouraged easily. It's not the best trait, but it's why I've tried to read essays or shorter works by authors to get an idea of their style before delving into their lengthier volumes.

I have been looking into books by Murakami to read - unfortunately they've been pretty consistently checked out of the library...

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

I haven't heard of them. I really enjoyed Margaret Atwood's apocalyptic Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.

Was a TV series made from these books? The concept seems a little familiar, but then again, a lot of post-apocalyptic premises share characteristics.

teenagewangst  ·  4041 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Does anybody have any good book recommendations?

I tried reading The Corrections and wasn't able to get through it, although I enjoyed Freedom. I can see why it would get mixed reviews. I haven't read his first two novels, but I read his three essay collections (and technically Spring Awakening was translated by him, but I'm not really going to give him credit for that one), but I'm a sucker for autobiographical essays.

teenagewangst  ·  4045 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: It's the sugar, folks

So real sugar causes diabetes and fake sugar causes cancer. Is one riskier than the other?

teenagewangst  ·  4047 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Top Republicans file Supreme Court brief backing gay marriage

This is the same predicament that existed for the interracial marriage debate (whether it was state or civil rights issue).

teenagewangst  ·  4047 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Top Republicans file Supreme Court brief backing gay marriage

I hope more current Republican politicians support it - right now it looks like a pretty decent list of people who were very important - I don't know about "are".

teenagewangst  ·  4055 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Longread: Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?

I don't disagree, but I do think that getting 48% of the vote doesn't equate to the support of 48% of the country, in the sense that it (to me) really means that 48% of people prefer Romney to Obama (or the Republican platform to the Democratic), not that they actively support Romney's positions. The title of the article is overblown quite a bit, but I found the comparison of how each party operates to be particularly interesting.

teenagewangst  ·  4055 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Longread: Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?

Well, if you picture the two political parties as large ships, I imagine that they are trying to redirect their ship elsewhere. Unfortunately they (being the young Republicans) are not in charge of the ship, the older, upper echelon of Republicans are. I think they find more value in righting the ship than in starting one of their own, or trying to join a new ship with entirely different views (the SS Democrat). Do I agree with their views? No, but I'd much rather discuss and compromise with this young group of Republicans than I would with their predecessors.

teenagewangst  ·  4061 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The man who shot Bin Ladin is screwed

This is, presumably, the culmination of our collective decisions and actions as citizens of the US. Understanding some of the nuances and consequences is important for making informed choices from here on out. I'd wager that most of the readers on hubski didn't support the move to invade Iraq or the majority of the "War on Terror," but I don't think that should stop anyone from using this as a lens with which to view ourselves and our values as a society, as well as how we respond to events.

teenagewangst  ·  4062 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Shooter - The Man Who Killed UBL

Worth a read if whether or not you're an American. This is, presumably, the culmination of our collective decisions and actions. Understanding some of the nuances and consequences is important for making informed choices from here on out. I'd wager that most of the readers on hubski didn't support the move to invade Iraq or the majority of the "War on Terror," but I don't know if that excludes anyone from using this as a lens with which to view ourselves, as a society, and how we respond to events.

teenagewangst  ·  4063 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is your favorite state in the US, and why?

Happy to hear that! I'm from Cleveland area, but I somehow avoided the OSU bug that got most of my friends - I've just ended up a general Big 10 fan, which amuses my Michigan and Wisconsin graduate roommates a little. Maybe I'll end up moving back to the midwest eventually - I really like it there.

teenagewangst  ·  4064 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dumping Your Girlfriend with Economics

One of my friends sent me this, saying that it reminded them of me. Didn't really know how to interpret that.

teenagewangst  ·  4066 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is your favorite state in the US, and why?

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with Ohio?

teenagewangst  ·  4075 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Milkshakes

Realizing that how I view myself and how others view me aren't the same has definitely bothered me. Ideally my friends would be able to see in me what I see in myself, but that's not always the case, and I understand more what differs. Other people can really only judge you (and I don't mean that negatively) based on what you say and what you do - they don't know your thoughts or how dramatic or genuine you're trying to be unless you tell them, which is both hard to do and rare. Most of my social interactions don't have to be deep connections, but I strive to be understood, or at least not misunderstood or misinterpreted. I think I can really name a handful of people that have gotten beneath my cynical layer (which I assume they enjoy at times) and have an appreciation for me as a person. What that is precisely, I'm not sure (it could be me projecting it onto them), but being around them is certainly easier and more relaxing.

I hope you have luck with your positivity! I sent a few emails a while back to some of my friends, complimenting them for qualities that I admire in them. It was a little cliche, but I do not want to count the times I've genuinely been able to compliment my friends. Especially compared to the amount of times that I've been cynical or sarcastic. I don't think there's anything wrong about being sarcastic with friends, but it's nice to not be that way with them too.

teenagewangst  ·  4075 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: Do you (or have you) work(ed) in research? If so, please read on...

It's not science in the traditional sense, but I currently study the application of queueing models to urban traffic networks, using simulation based optimization to address a number of issues, such as traffic management (i.e. signal plans) and calibrating behavioral parameters in microscopic traffic simulations.

I don't think transportation research is particularly important, and I'd be willing to bet that this is reflected in the amount of money in transportation research. I think that my friends who work in fusion research would be a better long term investment - but mostly because I think the issues of transportation are more difficult in practice than in theory. Well, maybe that describes a lot of fields. I don't think that transportation receives the attention or funding that it deserves, but the funding would be more for planning and construction than research. Transportation is incredibly important to society and is seems to be taken for granted in the US. It's unfortunate that the transportation suffers from political problems, whether it be from poor judgment on behalf of policy makers (i.e. Congress), or nepotism in the hiring practices of transit agencies. Transportation researchers (on the policy side) have advocated for things like an increase in the gas tax for years, despite the fact that it is a political impossibility. One of my professors pretty much threw it out as a option for discussion in class for that reason.

teenagewangst  ·  4075 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Milkshakes

I have ended up walking to go get a milkshake, but I would say that part of the appeal is that I don't have them very often. I really should try enjoying small things more, I can get caught up in my thoughts pretty easily. As well as being frugal - going to the grocery store is a fun game of what percent/how much money I can save by buying things on sale - even though it's not a particularly large sum of money.

If you couldn't tell, I also get caught up in being self-deprecating, guilty, and negative, not so much because I am all those things all the time, but that being the opposite feels disingenuous. It's a bit of a defense mechanism, so to speak, where being preemptively self-deprecating is an attempt to cancel out any sense of ego that comes out, which is an odd thing to combine with a variable amount of self-confidence.

All of this stuff comes out when I spend too much time alone, thinking. Thank goodness for music.

I sometimes think a house in the woods near a small city would be ideal. One of my roommates said in response to this article that he'd like to live in the woods an hour drive away from the grocery store, etc. In his mind that was a "little reclusive." I daydream about it, but I don't have a desire to live quite like that, or even what I first mentioned - I generally would prefer to live in/near a city and escape to the woods as compared to the reverse. Doesn't stop me from thinking about it though...