Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[Count Arioch the 28th]

In Virginia, the state house of delegates has the sergeant-at-arms present a ceremonial mace before every session. It's a leftover from the colonial era, although the mace is merely a replica of the original (right after the revolutionary war, the states were pretty quick to try to do away with things that reminded them of Britain and other things they didn't like).

[Cynic]

Is there a way to get facebook not to suggest you as a friend to people.

My daughter keeps wanting to play some of the facebook games and I figure I can make an acct for her but I want it only for that purpose as she isn't even in 1st grade. Yes, I sully her by letting her play farmville...

[Prak]

Not as far as I can tell. Though I'm not sure an isolated account with no friends would have anything to base suggestions off of.

[cthulhu]

So what's the deal with wigs in the UK legal system?

Tradition. We would probably have wigs in the US had it not been for the fact that the Supreme Court wanted to look like they were doing something "new." They kept the robes, though.

That's not really it - it's about fundamentally separating the judge and/or lawyers from those being judged. It's the same reason he sits behind a big, raised, bench.

[Cynic]

Isn't it also a throwback to a time when *everyone* wore wigs.

[Cynic]

After trying to convince my daughter that humans are mammals and thus animals and failing, I've given up on that for another night. But after perusing wiki's homo sapiens page, I was wondering if there are other species that are the only non-extinct member of their sub-family or family on down?

[Prak]

After trying to convince my daughter that humans are mammals and thus animals and failing, I've given up on that for another night. But after perusing wiki's homo sapiens page, I was wondering if there are other species that are the only non-extinct member of their sub-family or family on down?

Try teaching her what makes something an animal vrs fungi, plant, etc.

[Cynic]

She knows of the differences but she just wants to be ornery.

[Username17]

After trying to convince my daughter that humans are mammals and thus animals and failing, I've given up on that for another night. But after perusing wiki's homo sapiens page, I was wondering if there are other species that are the only non-extinct member of their sub-family or family on down?

There isn't any actual difference between hominids and pongids. Humans declared ourselves to be super double secret special for no adequately explained reason. Fuck, there is growing consensus that we should probably just put chimps into Homo, because we still can't come up with a really good reason why they wouldn't be.

Although in general, what you are thinking of is a Monotypic Taxon. And there are many. Many with far more reason than humans for that matter.

-Username17

[Cynic]

After trying to convince my daughter that humans are mammals and thus animals and failing, I've given up on that for another night. But after perusing wiki's homo sapiens page, I was wondering if there are other species that are the only non-extinct member of their sub-family or family on down?

There isn't any actual difference between hominids and pongids. Humans declared ourselves to be super double secret special for no adequately explained reason. Fuck, there is growing consensus that we should probably just put chimps into Homo, because we still can't come up with a really good reason why they wouldn't be.

Although in general, what you are thinking of is a Monotypic Taxon. And there are many. Many with far more reason than humans for that matter.

-Username17

Thank you, Frank. Also the whole putting apes in with the humans, is that the reasoning to why Apes are being taken out of experimental testing?

[Username17]

Thank you, Frank. Also the whole putting apes in with the humans, is that the reasoning to why Apes are being taken out of experimental testing?

Mostly it's expense. Chimps take a long time to grow to adulthood and are rare and protected. Same deal with gorillas.

There are really severe moral problems with testing on gorillas, but as with many things in the world, moral issues are just one ingredient in the pot. We still do biomedical research on chimps, just not very much of it (sorry kids, chimps get AIDS and rats don't).

For fuck's sake, there are places in the world where it is still legal to enslave actual human beings who happen to be the wrong religion or tribe. Japan openly hunts blue whales for food. Do you really think something minor like a fundamental genetic similarity is going to stop us from using another species as a test subject?

-Username17

[RobbyPants]

After trying to convince my daughter that humans are mammals and thus animals and failing, I've given up on that for another night. But after perusing wiki's homo sapiens page, I was wondering if there are other species that are the only non-extinct member of their sub-family or family on down?

I had this problem years ago when I was in middle school or high school, but with my step dad.

I don't remember the context of the conversation, but I was basically talking about the five kingdoms and how we're animals, and he would not have it. I'm assuming because that line of thinking leads to EVOLUTION. At the time, I don't think I realized why he was being so finicky about it. It seemed pretty cut and dry to me.

Of course, this comes from the same guy who refused to believe that Calcium is a metal because our bones are calcium. I tried to explain that this was the element Calcium, and that it can be found in many compounds in some different form, much like the "metal" Sodium in salt, or the gases Hydrogen and Oxygen in water. My head is hurting just thinking about it.

[tzor]

Of course, this comes from the same guy who refused to believe that Calcium is a metal because our bones are calcium. I tried to explain that this was the element Calcium, and that it can be found in many compounds in some different form, much like the "metal" Sodium in salt, or the gases Hydrogen and Oxygen in water. My head is hurting just thinking about it.

There is a scientific way and the simple way. The former involves showing the periodic table of the elements, explaining what a metal is. The later is just showing a photo of the pure stuff.



Clearly a metal. Then tell them that the photo has to have it in a protective argon gas atmosphere because it will immediately rust if exposed to oxygen.

[RobbyPants]

I actually got surprisingly lucky. For whatever reason, my mom and I went out that same day, and my step dad decided to prove me wrong with his brand new Encyclopedia he got. He found out he was wrong and actually admitted it! That was not his typical MO for these types of situations.

[Sashi]

There isn't any actual difference between hominids and pongids. Humans declared ourselves to be super double secret special for no adequately explained reason.

I think it's been pretty explicit

We keep expanding the Venn diagram, so now we're "enlightened" because we put all humans (instead of just "noble born", "White", or "Brahmin" humans) in the "Everything we do is moral because we're special enlightened beings with magic superiority powers" club.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Random question:

Why do D&D players seem to be more likely than average to think mimicking the symptoms of Aspberger's syndrome makes your character mysterious and cool? Being openly antisocial and antagonistic to the party doesn't make you cool, it makes you a tool.

[RobbyPants]

Too many dark, mysterious strangers in the bar, looking cool? Escapist fantasy telling too much about them IRL? I honestly don't know, but I'd say with my last main group, usually 50% of the characters were like this.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

If I hadn't been playing as a placeholder for another character, I probably would have tried to convince the party to leave him somewhere. Although I'm sure the player of the druid I was using that night would be okay with me refusing to heal him until he apologized for mocking the character's religion.

[Koumei]

Simple: look at House MD.

Now look at any cop or medical show created since then.

Notice something the smartest/most-liked-by-fans characters have in common?

Yeah. They're assholes.

There's a Cracked article on things TV producers think about geniuses, you can go check it out if you have 3 days to spare hooked on Cracked.

[Cynic]

Being raised Hindu in a traditional Indian household, I am very much used to getting blessings from my elders. Usually when you get a blessing, they actually do say a few words to show the type of blessing it is.

"Be happy." "Be righteous" "Live long and be happy" (I know, they totally ripped of the Vulcans, right?) "bear 1000 children" (this is a blessing but I would think it a curse both to the blessed and the second highest populace). "have a joyous marriage" "grow up smart" etc.. etc..

When I think of getting blessings from my elders, it always has a very concrete view in my head. I know that this is literally a ritual. If I had to follow it to the letter, I would stand in front of them while facing east. I would put my hands to the sides of my head and say a pre-blessing hymn. Then I would prostrate myself in front of them. THis is where you get the actual blessing. And also often either a sprinkling of flowers or holy ash/holy rice, and then a touch on the head with both hands. THis also signifies that the blessing is over.

Obviously this is very ritualized.

Japanese culture has something similar when you go to a sensei's house and give gifts on new year, etc.. They present the gift and the host accepts it and offers a benediction.

This is also seen in Catholic dogma with priests.

I'm sure it is there in many other cultures and walks of life.

My actual question comes with the idea of asking a prospective father-in-law blessing to go forth and marry his daughter. I've heard similar phrases from my white mother-in-law who tells me to ask the blessings of whatever elder before I go do X. When I do ask this, they grunt/nod and maybe sometimes say OK. I don't see the actual benediction in this. So is this a localized reaction or is this pretty prevalent?

My understanding of non-Indian family culture is fairly minimal or close to nil. I've been married to my white wife for almost 5 years and asking her father for anything turns into a hem and haw session for the next few hours because of the man's reticence to speak in general.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

It might be that the father in law is caught off-guard that you're asking for your blessing. (note: Forgiveness if you are not referring to an American family, I just assume because your typing style is American) American culture is WAY more localized than most people realize, and it may be that the father in law is not prepared culturally for being asked his permission. (I have never asked my father in law blessing for anything when I was married, and in fact found out after the fact that I scare the hell out of most of the fathers of the women I'm dating for reasons I'm not really comprehending...)

Reticence is considered a manly trait, especially in older American men. So he may just not be any more prepared than if I showed up at your house with a big pot of homemade sauerkraut and knackwurst. (I've been told by my friends of non-german descent that sauerkraut smells like something died in a vat of windex, but my family technically hasn't been in the USA for more than 3 generations, my Father's family is still very German).

[Cynic]

Count: no need for forgiveness. I am Indian who immigrated to America. So I'm an Indian-American with a white wife from east Texas. AKA the boonies.

[Neeeek]

Count: no need for forgiveness. I am Indian who immigrated to America. So I'm an Indian-American with a white wife from east Texas. AKA the boonies.

I'm a little confused by the question. Are you trying to ask permission to wed a woman you are already married to?

[Cynic]

Neek: No, what I meant was that I was asking permission to marry a white girl who was from the boonies. I and she were both still single at that time.

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Annoying question: My dvd-rw drive on my desktop isn't reading audio cds. It reads software cds and any dvd. But not audio cds. Any idea why this might be awesome. What would be awesomer is if you could tell me how to fix this annoying problem.

[Blasted]

Certain audio cds have copy protection designed to stop computers from reading them.
I'd put my money on that. It should be noted somewhere on the cd cover.