• 6 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • Most scientists define wetness as a liquid’s ability to maintain contact with a solid surface, meaning that water itself is not wet, but can make other sensation.

    But if you define wet as ‘made of liquid or moisture’, as some do, then water and all other liquids can be considered wet.

    So… by a highly common definition it is wet. That’s not much of a debate.

    There are plenty of words that mean different things in scientific contexts that are different from common use. It’s like saying “the sky is blue” is a false statement. Yes, there are contexts where the sky isn’t blue. At night. On other planets. Perhaps earlier periods in our planet’s history. But are we in those contexts right now? And is my meaning ambiguous?

    There are a lot of times where language is unclear, and we must work to bridge communication barriers. But to insist on debating things when no genuine confusion is present is just an a bizarre antisocial practice.





  • It looks like a lot of people in this comment section didn’t read the article. Because I expected something far more dystopian, and honestly this is not that big a deal. Maintaining your confidence and avoiding distractions during a job search is actually a real challenge, and if they offer lunch and WiFi, then spending a few dollars a day to get dressed and leave your apartment sounds like a totally reasonable service.

    I think it sounds a little fucked up, but just in the way that most work stuff is fucked up today. I wish multi-purpose short term space rentals in the US were this cheap.






  • My brother and I (both 38) actively speak out and oppose it.

    My mom has been sort of in a state of shocked bewilderment. She’s horrified and also constantly confused as though trying to comprehend how 2+2 = 5. For her, it doesn’t make sense: Jews aren’t killers, they’re victims. But they’re killing all these civilians. Why would anyone want to keep the war going instead of getting the hostages back? Netanyahu is a monster. We all know this. Why is he still in charge?

    I’m sorry that she’s suffering (then again, anyone of concience is). She’s also expressed a sense of alienation, since she has no idea how others feel, because she doesn’t feel like it’s socially acceptable to say what she feels outside the home. But I’m grateful that this hasn’t created any conflict between me and her. She doesn’t feel as comfortable as I do saying the plain facts of it, but I remind her that all my convictions are a reflection of the values she raised in me, and I think that reflects highly of her.




  • There’s no ‘getting caught’. They’ve been doing so publicly before, and they’re doing it publicly now.

    I think what upsets him is that their long-term vision of Israel is a right-win illiberal middle-eastern theocratic kleptocracy, and he prefers a neoliberal technocratic imperial republic.

    He’s not, like, a GOOD GUY, but I think in this instance his enemy is my enemy, and I think he’s being pretty frank and sincere.




  • This is messianic levels of insane. This is guy is a meglomaniacal fanatic fascist.

    The only good thing I can say about Bezalel Smotrich is that I admire his candor. He really doesn’t bother with pretext.

    I am not someone who looks forward to a violent collapse of Israel. I wish for freedom or Palestinians and democracy and secular human rights. I fear that Israel is less than five years from a catastrophic collapse in international support, and that when that happens the people there will reap what they have sown.

    Which is terrible. I don’t like what they’ve sown, and I don’t think I’ll like what they reap. But I do want this nightmare – and I mean the whole occupation – to end.