Rant Thread

[Mir]

*playfully pokes HP with a teddy bear*

[HumanePain]

Originally Posted by Morrigan_Dubh

Meh..the truth hurts, hunny. Suck it up.

For some odd reason this reminds me of my favorite Morrigan quote:

"Oh no! The internet is being mean to me!"

[HumanePain]

Originally Posted by Mir

*playfully pokes HP with a teddy bear*

(Pokes Mir with a tostada, dripping shredded lettuce and cheese on the floor...)

[Mir]

Hey don't go wasting good food!

*licks up the fallen edibles*

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

Originally Posted by HumanePain

I too confess curiosity and concern...why indeed?

Dunno. It was one of the better ideas going through my mind at the time.

[Splintered]

I've been gone for a while. I hate long leaves, but sometimes I can not just avoid them. While I do not live on the Internet, I love using it. It gives me information, and gives me feedback. With the whole "Web 2.0" movement, I can get information at an incredibly fast pace, and that makes me happy as all hell. I like learning things. I love learning new things every day.

What's been getting to me, is the way I have been forced to process information lately. At school, I can't help but notice a trend, where I am not really learning anything. While it's true that I am being given information, it seems like school is feeding it to me in such a way, that I can't properly digest it. Whether it is the school's fault, or my own personal vice is up for debate. I believe it's a combination of the both.

The thought that keeps bugging me is, if I learn X in school, I get certified for it, and I have someone who will vouched I learned it, even if I just faked learning X. As long as I have an above average grade, I am supposedly learning the subject. Yet, even if I go in detail, and learn something on my own personal time, until I go to school, I can not know X.

One of the things I am currently enjoying, is European History. The way Europe shaped the world, is simply amazing to me. I love learning about the history of England, the British Empire, Napoleonic France, etc. One of the things I am currently hating, is testing. I hate tests, because they require me to spew useless facts about things that are completely irrelevant.

A simple example would be this: I find Bismarck of Germany to be an incredibly amazing guy, and I like his ideas. In European History, we're taught about what Bismarck did, where he did it, and why. I find the overall idea something that's really cool, and awesome. Yet, come test time, how much I have learned about Bismarck, doesn't really matter. What matter is random dates, that have no meaning to me. I know he was made chancellor of Germany, and fired by Wilhelm the second. I don't know the day, the month, or the year. That's what is required on tests.

So far, I've been able to squeak by, because I can memorize things pretty quickly in a pinch. But, this doesn't teach me anything. Yet, if I just reject it, and try and learn things, and actually learn and dig into them, it won't count for anything.

I can set up a pretty nifty Linux desktop. Meaning, give me half an hour, and a Mountain Dew, and I can have Ubuntu up and running like a champ. This won't mean anything in the real world, because I have no certification that says I can do it, and no one really offers it as a class. So, how is learning how to do something like that, going to translate into the real world?

I want to get a job, probably in the computer industry, or the firearm industry. I know how computers work to a good extent, and I know how firearms work to a good extent. Yet, neither of these will count for anything. Simply because I didn't learn it at school. What's the purpose of learning anything? I mean, yes, I enjoy doing things like this, but it seems less and less like I'm going to be able to continue enjoying it, because I'll be forced to learn it in school, in a dumbed down and watered down version.

So. I'm stuck between two places. I can either memorize things, get certified, and get a job to do what I love, or I can learn things, and not be able to do them. The irony is killing me here.

[Panther]

Originally Posted by Mir

How about an option C?

C) A verbal lashing.

What will it accomplish? Why descend to their level? In the end, it won't help, and will most likely be counter-productive.

I'm all for catharsis, but knowing when to just deal with it is a big part of life. Sometimes bitching and name calling isn't the answer.

[Mir]

If someone comes around and fucks with me for no reason whatsoever, I will either;

a) Ignore it completely. For some people that works better than giving them the attention they seek.

b) If I'm in a pissy mood, I will say whatever pops into my mouth.

That is just the way I am. I don't accomplish anything doing so but I don't hold back when I'm already in a pissy mood.

And my respect (if any) for the human race slips down a couple of notches every day.

[LaKeesha]

I tell ya....


I have heard SECOND HAND that my husband's co workers, and one of his friend's wife had said stuff about me. They think I am pretty weird and ya know what?

I AM pretty weird!

[Mir]

Embrace your uniqueness.

[HumanePain]

Originally Posted by Mir

And my respect (if any) for the human race slips down a couple of notches every day.

True observation of mine: Yesterday I sat in a public fast food restaurant eating breakfast.

An old, bearded man with long frazzled hair, who looked like he had not changed his clothes in a looooong time was foraging for leftover food other customers had left on their tables.

Suddenly, a guy sitting across from me who had finished his breakfast and had been sipping coffee, gets up and walks over to the old man, and hands him a bunch of dollar bills. I could not see the denomination, or how many, but it was obviously multiples.

The old man looked up at the benefactor and said "What is this for?" and the guy just said "I don't need it man, you take it."

The guy sat back at his table and continued sipping his coffee. I just had to walk up to him and say "Thanks for being an angel."

He looked up at me, laughed and said "no problem".

[MollyMac]

Gee, that's great, Humane, but I just heard Britney shaved her head. Priorities, man. Priorities. There's also a headline that states "Paris Hilton appears bored at Vienna Ball". And here you are, squandering your time on good deed stories and petpetuating the goodness of man when ennui is plaguing our celebutantes.

And I swear, that headline in and of itself is a pinnacle of media coverage somehow. Or a gutter thereof.

They only seel what we buy and only post what we click on.

All the same, I was less shocked at Anna Nicole's death than the fact that Miep Gies is still alive. THAT is a good story, but no one clicks on stories about soft spoken WWII heroes turning 98 years old.

[HumanePain]

Hahaha!!!

Oh goodness gracious (wipes tear from laughing), this is why I love this place!


Thank you for helping me keep my feet on the ground when I suffer from pompous delusions of heavenly visions.

[Mir]

MollyMac responded before I did, and saved me a lot of time typing. I was not being negative. I'm a realist. The good deeds of one person can never weigh up to the misdeeds of a thousand others.

[HumanePain]

Ah, I see. I am a little slow on the uptake, I beg your pardon and ask indulgence of my slow understanding:

So the perception is that there are more misdeed doers than good deed doers? Is that the point?

[Mir]

A lot more. And where as, I deeply respect those that go against the norm and are decent human beings, I will however, judge the the human race as a whole on the characteristics and deeds of the distinct majority.

[HumanePain]

Very well then, I wanted to make sure I understood clearly, because in that case, I disagree: in my 50 years I have observed that the majority of the people do the right thing and the those who perform self centered misdeeds are in the minority. I must add that I have only traveled across Western and Central Canada and Alaska, Northern and Central Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii and 38 states in the U.S., so my experience is confined to the Western Hemisphere.

I wonder what would explain these two opposing experiences?

[Mir]

Selective perception.

[Circle V]

Most people will do almost anything to avoid confrontation. That dictates how strangers perceive them more than any moral compass.

[HumanePain]

Originally Posted by Circle V

Most people will do almost anything to avoid confrontation. That dictates how strangers perceive them more than any moral compass.

I am inclined to agree, as this is evident in mob behavior during a riot: an individual going along with the crowd becomes ok, and the moral compass goes out the...broken window.

[ArtificialOne]

I hate my bank. It screwed up. ANd yes, it not me. Now I'm almost broke until payday becuase it will take two weeks to resolve it the lady said....damn banks...almost makes me want to hide money in my bed.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

Originally Posted by ArtificialOne

I hate my bank. It screwed up. ANd yes, it not me. Now I'm almost broke until payday becuase it will take two weeks to resolve it the lady said....damn banks...almost makes me want to hide money in my bed.

So, was it a computer error?

[MollyMac]

Lately, life has been a little overmuch like Aesop's "The Ant and the Grasshopper". Their perceived eleventh hours pleas fall upon ears that think it is yesterday.

[Cyntrox]

Originally Posted by DarkHeartedDemoness

So, was it a computer error?

Haha, I'm looking forward to see his response! ^^

[MollyMac]

ArtificialOne- don't you love it when your payments to them are demanded immediately but their errors and payments to you are 2-6 weeks?

Charge them per diem.

My condolences on having to deal with the bank.