Getting out of the house.
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Getting out of the house.
What I'm about to say may be shocking: The world is filled with stupid people.
I know, I know there is so proof to the contrary.
Normally it's not a big deal, because in the sea of idiocy you can usually find a few decent, intelligent, rational people. My problem is, even though I live in a university town all the intellectuals I knew have packed up and either moved away or become pot-heads. Pot-heads, while amusing tend to fall into the set of dumb people. With summer upon me there is not going to be an influx of new minds for me to pick so my usual tactics won't work.
So I pose this question to my fellow denites: how do you pluck the wheat from the chaff and find people actually worth talking too?
I know, I know there is so proof to the contrary.
Normally it's not a big deal, because in the sea of idiocy you can usually find a few decent, intelligent, rational people. My problem is, even though I live in a university town all the intellectuals I knew have packed up and either moved away or become pot-heads. Pot-heads, while amusing tend to fall into the set of dumb people. With summer upon me there is not going to be an influx of new minds for me to pick so my usual tactics won't work.
So I pose this question to my fellow denites: how do you pluck the wheat from the chaff and find people actually worth talking too?
Re: Getting out of the house.
Does not compute.Juton wrote:find people actually worth talking too?
The U.S. isn't a democracy and if you think it is, you are a rube.DSMatticus wrote:Kaelik gonna kaelik. Whatcha gonna do?
That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.
Re: Getting out of the house.
Plus Fucking One.Kaelik wrote:Does not compute.Juton wrote:find people actually worth talking too?
Draco_Argentum wrote:Can someone tell it to stop using its teeth please?Mister_Sinister wrote:Clearly, your cock is part of the big barrel the server's busy sucking on.
Juton wrote:Damn, I thought [Pathfailure] accidentally created a feat worth taking, my mistake.
Koumei wrote:Shad, please just punch yourself in the face until you are too dizzy to type. I would greatly appreciate that.
Standard Paizil Fare/Fail (SPF) Type I - doing exactly the opposite of what they said they would do.Kaelik wrote:No, bad liar. Stop lying.
Standard Paizil Fare/Fail (SPF) Type II - change for the sake of change.
Standard Paizil Fare/Fail (SPF) Type III - the illusion of change.
- Josh_Kablack
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Re: Getting out of the house.
1. Common interests.Juton wrote:So I pose this question to my fellow denites: how do you pluck the wheat from the chaff and find people actually worth talking too?
Most people have useful and interesting expertise in a couple narrow fields, if you can engage them in conversation about one of those fields, they will be able to hold forth with a passing facsimile of intelligence.
This is big when you don't know ANYONE in an area, take up a new hobby or interest and join groups related to it.
2. Common associates.
The friend of your friend is also your friend. If someone you can get along with can also get along with a third person, odds are decent that you can get along with the third person.
3. Get over yourself.
You are not a unique and precious snowflake, you are just one more fucking asshole on the internet who presumes themselves to be better than the unwashed masses. Well I got news for you buddy, even the fucking masses have indoor plumbing nowadays, so you ain't so special.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
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Common interests and making friends through friends is exactly the type of advice I'd expect from my Mom. Not wrong necessarily, but not exactly enlightening.
I have my interests, philosophy, politics/economics and PnP gaming. Those interests aren't too fucking common but there are people out there who share them. The people I knew who shared them with me have generally moved/graduate/given up those activities. Throw me a bone, what other activities do Intellectuals/Pompous asses enjoy besides the ones I've listed?
I have my interests, philosophy, politics/economics and PnP gaming. Those interests aren't too fucking common but there are people out there who share them. The people I knew who shared them with me have generally moved/graduate/given up those activities. Throw me a bone, what other activities do Intellectuals/Pompous asses enjoy besides the ones I've listed?
Last edited by Juton on Sun Apr 25, 2010 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
- the_taken
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I sometimes sit on a roof with a good pair binoculars and watch people fight with a piece of paper that looks like money I glued to the middle of the road.
I had a signature here once but I've since lost it.
My current project: http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56456
My current project: http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56456
Re: Getting out of the house.
I dunno, maybe just....TALK to them, and LISTEN to what they say? Rather than look at someone and make a judgement about them before you've even given them a chance?Juton wrote:So I pose this question to my fellow denites: how do you pluck the wheat from the chaff and find people actually worth talking too?
Edit: It's hard work, I know, but it ain't gonna get done otherwise.
Last edited by TOZ on Sun Apr 25, 2010 2:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dear Lord, man.
You're not bitching about there not being anyone worth knowing, you're bitching about the necessity of you "getting out of the house".
Unless you're living in a hamlet you need to go out and meet more people to replace the people that have moved.Josh_Kablack wrote:3. Get over yourself.
You're not bitching about there not being anyone worth knowing, you're bitching about the necessity of you "getting out of the house".
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If only there were some way of traveling from a small town to other places...Juton wrote:Taking a step back, the town I'm in is pretty small. Since I'm stuck here until I finish my degree I think I may just be screwed.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
- the_taken
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Sounds like he's been railroaded by his DM. Not very creative, though judging from the NPCs Juton is describing, I see a pattern.Josh_Kablack wrote:If only there were some way of traveling from a small town to other places...Juton wrote:Taking a step back, the town I'm in is pretty small. Since I'm stuck here until I finish my degree I think I may just be screwed.
I had a signature here once but I've since lost it.
My current project: http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56456
My current project: http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56456
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Ladies and gentlemen, the tone of my original post was SARCASM. Clearly I think there are good, interesting people in the world, that's why I'm trying to find them. If I truly thought I was better than everyone else wouldn't this thread by themed 'Why does everyone suck?'.Kobajagrande wrote:The moment you start thinking that everyone other than you is stupid and uninteresting is the moment when you should stop, step back, and start wondering if perhaps the problem is in yourself.
If you want to argue that the world doesn't have a lot of stupid you can try to make that argument if you'd like. If people don't share my interests or hobbies I don't even assume that makes them stupid, but if they act in dumb ways constantly then yes I consider them dumb.
I don't want to hang out with people who's only goal is to convert me to Jesus, or try to convince me the moon landing was a hoax and the NWO is coming, or for me to let them use my stove to make hashish. I don't want to go to my gaming store to play Yu-Gi-Oh or 4e because those are what's on offer right now and no one is interested in learning anything else.
So if you can advise me to do something I hadn't considered, like take up Falconry, that's good advice, I'd never think of that. If you tell me to grin and bear Yu-Gi-Oh, thats... advice, not particularly horrible but has the makings of a lame summer. If you tell me that my problem is that I think everyone is stupid, well fuck you because it's apparent that I don't but it's so much easier to call someone an elitist then it is to offer a useful suggestion isn't it?
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Well since this thread is massive failure lets change the subject to something sane.
What are some of the news sources the people around here use? I am looking for sources of quick and reliable information.
What are some of the news sources the people around here use? I am looking for sources of quick and reliable information.
Last edited by Dominicius on Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.
- Psychic Robot
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Try treating everyone like they actually matter. While I've found a few truly worthless people, they are incredibly rare. Nearly everyone has something they are passionate about, and listening to someone talk about something they care about is rarely dull, no matter what it is.
Though, the "get over yourself" is also good advice. Or try going to a bar and sitting down in the same seat every night for a month.
Though, the "get over yourself" is also good advice. Or try going to a bar and sitting down in the same seat every night for a month.
Good advice. However, I'd like to point out that, while it may not be dull in the general case, it may be something that you don't care about personally (translations of roman histories? meh), can't understand (relativistic time dilation FTL (I see what I did there)), or simply find incredibly offensive (I go to college in the deep south. Go figure.).Neeeek wrote:Try treating everyone like they actually matter. While I've found a few truly worthless people, they are incredibly rare. Nearly everyone has something they are passionate about, and listening to someone talk about something they care about is rarely dull, no matter what it is.
My personal technique is to talk to myself. At least for me, it generates random encounters that I can turn into real conversations. I met one of my best friends by randomly announcing to the world that it would be really nice if there were some way to get rid of the freaking sun for a few minutes, just a few blissful minutes away from the cruel yellow face in the sky, gollum, gollum. The best part is that, if you're doing it sufficiently stream-of-consciousness, it will automatically select people that you find interesting. For example, I tend to randomly quote relevant XKCD and sci-fi, so I end up randomly meeting lots of people that read XKCD and watch lots of classic sci-fi.
Of course, this is just what I do, and I don't think I've seen very many other people do this, so your mileage may vary dramatically.
DSMatticus wrote:There are two things you can learn from the Gaming Den:
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