Interesting articles thread

[Metamorph]

Anti-prion activity found in beetle grub hemolymph of Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis


We have two options here: drink toasted bug guts, or die of mad cow disease, Alzheimer's, and autism all at once.

[Metamorph]

Slate Magazine - An Early Review

New York - California score: 3 - 1.

[Metamorph]

One thing lazy people in California who are resentful of New York-based "high culture" enjoy: not-very-subtly comparing pedants or "Grammar Nazis" to actual National Socialist Nazis. This is one example of why it matters that Slate Magazine is run by Microsoft. (Most Silicon Valley entrepreneur-types also have offices in New York, sometimes primary offices, but they still come into conflict with the established culture.)

Prescriptivism (Thoughtco., owned by "digital media company" Dotdash)

Prescriptivism is the attitude or belief that one variety of a language is superior to others and should be promoted as such. It is also known as linguistic prescriptivism and purism.

Prescriptivism is a horrible artificial ideology promoting a pure, superior Aryan Master Race Language Variety!

An ardent promoter of prescriptivism is called a prescriptivist or, informally, a stickler.

Or a Grammar Nazi, but directly comparing "Grammar Nazis" to real historical Nazis just sounds literal-minded and dense, so we'll gloss over that.


Why Do You Think You’re Right About Language? You’re Not. (Slate Magazine)

What we think of as “good” English is the English historically spoken by people with the most power.

All language rules are Will-to-Power!

The bumper crop of grammar texts and usage guides that started proliferating in the mid-18th century were part of an attempt by the growing middle class to access economic opportunities that were only available to people who spoke like Henry Higgins.

We dun' need ta speak proper grammer! We are modern people with modern opportunities and not old-fashioned disciplinarians like Nazis!

We don’t pick where and how we grow up, and we know that where and how you grow up influences your idiolect, so why is it acceptable to penalize people for something no one has any control over?

No one has control over what words they use! They just sort of gush out of our mouths like a waterfall! Are you a Nazi who wants eugenics based on the involuntary words which flow out of our mouths like the mouth of a river which started where we were born?

The answer is simple if your goal is to keep power and economic opportunity in the hands of those who have always had it.

My, you are a Nazi who wants all the power for your white patriarchal oppressor friends, Grammar literally ******!

We like to think we’re more enlightened and less bigoted than our ancestors, but as long as we believe that some idiolects are right and some are wrong, we’re not making much progress. “Standard English” is a loose assortment of idiolects like any other dialect, and valuing one over the other is a social construct that has nothing to do with linguistic merit.

You bigoted elitist Nazi scumbag. Language is a social construct so respect my enlightened, progressive idiolect or you're literally sending me to a concentration camp, and I can say literally because I'm not a Grammar Nazi like you literal Nazi!

[Metamorph]

Hamburg Is Ugly

“Ja, Oskar, Ich struck another blow against die damn capitalists by scrawling mein name on ein Gastehaus die Amerikans namen Kentucky Fried Chicken.”

I've just found out someone I don't like also is considering moving to Hamburg, and this is what I show people for why Hamburg is just irredeemably awful and anyone who wants to go there should be shunned. Berlin has bad parts which should be avoided, but all of Hamburg is basically a bad part of Berlin.

[Metamorph]

WHAT KIND OF SCIENCE IS LINGUISTICS?

[Metamorph]

Pseudo-penis

Thanks @BandD. @maniac and @sbbds either really want to know this or really don't want to know this, especially the part where female insects with a penis and male insects with a vagina mate, the female sucks up all the sperm through her penis, and then rips the male's abdomen off. Nature is amazing.

[Metamorph]

On a related note, I know you all need Alexander von Humboldt's lactating men in your lives:

Strange but True: Males Can Lactate

[Metamorph]

Here's an example of the detrimental effects of cults with art as an example:

The Dark Side: Tonalism v. Colorism

The second painting is really perfect Neo-Impressionism despite using black. The Impressionists didn't use black, but that's really what they did wrong since the eye can indeed really see black and color is seen through opponent processes, and Neo-Impressionism doesn't have to exactly emulate them. On the other hand, besides not using black, the top one uses not even yellow but red for white, and the only difference between the shadows and the light area is the shadows are cooler. People can like it if they want, but I doubt anyone truly does, since it isn't so much "modern art" as just a bad grainy film in painting form to my eye. The top is perhaps appealing if you like what's objectively not true to nature in Impressionist theory and wish there were more, like a less blurry Renoir.

[Metamorph]

Kirk Unit: The Miracle of Life in Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[Metamorph]

'God Emperor' Trump Float Presides Over A Parade, Terrifies Everyone

[ouronis]

Tension of the Opposites: https://www.scribd.com/doc/340294601

[Kalinoche buenanoche]

https://areomagazine.com/2017/09/09/...n-phd-program/

[Adam Strange]

150 Years Ago, a Philosopher Showed Why It’s Pointless to Start Arguments on the Internet


https://getpocket.com/explore/item/1...n-the-internet

[Minde]

How ultra-processed food took over your shopping basket

https://www.theguardian.com/food/202...arlos-monteiro

A somewhat long article going over why it's likely harmful, how people are looking into it, and reasons why it's so hard to not partake.


...I see it as really unfair to poorer populations, who buy these cheaper, tastier food options and then end up both overweight and malnourished at the same time. It takes a certain resolution (plus education) as well as a breadth of resources to eat healthier, and not everyone has those luxuries.

[Adam Strange]

Secret Life of a Children’s Party Princess

https://narratively.com/secret-life-...arty-princess/

[inaLim]

Your Scientific Reasoning Is More Flawed Than You Think

[Metamorph]

ON ‘MISERY LOVES COMPANY’

This is one of my favorite articles of all time. Enjoy.

[Moonbeaux Rainfox]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-compassion

[xerx]

https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter...y-know-311002/

The Silurian Hypothesis: How a prehuman advanced civilization could have existed on Earth.

Also, https://www.cambridge.org/core/servi...cal_record.pdf

[Adam Strange]

How an SLE smuggled an ILI out of Japan.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020...escaped-japan?


(The ILI has an SEE wife.) The SLE performs perfectly and still lands in jail because....no foresight.

[Kalinoche buenanoche]

https://annekelucas.com/writing/2017...gher-education

https://annekelucas.com/writing/2017...e-role-of-love

[Kalinoche buenanoche]

https://claredimond.com/bypass/

[Kalinoche buenanoche]

https://upliftconnect.com/a-scientis...ual-awakening/

[Socionics Is A Cult]

The Green party won in Auckland by reaching beyond its own bubble

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Jacinda Ardern on Spitting Image puppet appearance - ‘I was surprised by the emphasis on the ginger crunch’

[Socionics Is A Cult]

How Angela Merkel’s great migrant gamble paid off

[Socionics Is A Cult]

How a designer used AI and Photoshop to bring ancient Roman emperors back to life: Transforming statues into photorealistic faces with AI

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Man and Myth: Misconceptions of Beethoven

[Socionics Is A Cult]

How a Huguenot Philosopher Realized That Atheists Could Be Virtuous

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Why is New Zealand so progressive?

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Find cities with a similar climate

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Why New Zealand rejected populist ideas other nations have embraced

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Medieval baby names: what were people called in the Middle Ages?

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Human ageing reversed in ‘Holy Grail’ study, scientists say

[inaLim]

You Should Know About This Chernobyl Fungus That Eats Radiation

[Adam Strange]

Scientists Identify Risk Factor For Vulnerability To Fake News:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/c...=pocket-newtab

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"The main risk factor is being stupid", one scientist said.

[Socionics Is A Cult]

'Heat gap': Why some city districts are hotter than others

[Aster]

Early Humans May Have Hibernated Through Long Winters, Study Hints

[Aster]

Study analyzes why some people are so sure they’re right — even when evidence shows they’re wrong

If you want to fight dogmatism, you first need to learn how it works in the minds of people.

[Socionics Is A Cult]

Democracy Index 2020: In sickness and in health? (Direct link to pdf file - just released)