Random Stuff IX: Rogue Admins

[The Sovereign]

6 hours ago, Sunbird said:

Ok, so I just read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the first time not long ago, and this picture reminded me of a question I kept wondering about while I was reading: is "Betelgeuse" pronounced like "Beetlejuice"?

I'm pretty sure that it actually is pronounced like Beetlejuice. I always wondered the same thing but never looked it up because finding out that it isn't would ruin my day...

I'm so glad someone else asked this question.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

7 hours ago, Sunbird said:

 is "Betelgeuse" pronounced like "Beetlejuice"?

You guys are both correct: that is the correct pronunciation. I know this because I'm fairly certain I saw a documentary narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart where he pronounces that star as "Beetlejuice".

[+Slowswift]

7 hours ago, Sunbird said:

is "Betelgeuse" pronounced like "Beetlejuice"?

Just took an astronomy class; can confirm.  

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

PATRON: I was just at the circulation desk, and they sent me over here to ask you why I can't check this book out.

ME: Hold on, let me check in the computer….

PATRON: I have a friend who checked this exact book out at another branch. I don't see why I can't check it out here.

ME: Hold on….Okay, our computer system is saying that it's a non-circulating copy. You can look at it in the library, and you can make photocopies of pages you need, but you can't check it out.

INCREASINGLY ANGRY PATRON: Well, why not?

ME: It's a local book, probably a rare copy. It's listed as non-circulating. The computer wouldn't let me check it out if I tried. 

VERY ANGRY PATRON: I have a friend who checked out that exact book at another branch! Why can't I check it out? 

ME: You'll have to talk to that branch. 

PATRON does the "I'm too angry to argue this with you" wave and exits. 

ME: Let me take a look at the other branch's copy. I think he's lying about that friend of his….

COMPUTER: Yep, he's lying. There's exactly one copy in the entire system, and this branch has it. 

ME: *sigh* And here I thought restaurants and retail were the only places where customers pulled the old "pit one branch against the other with blatant lies" trick. 

[Mestiv he/him]

I wonder when they'll change the image on Brandon's website that is the link to 17th Shard  and I wonder what will the new image look like...

[Kobold King he/him]

My brother: "When people argue stuff about politics and religion, they always go for ad hominems. Like, 'you're just a teenager so you wouldn't understand.' I wish you could have conversations about this sort of thing with people who don't know who you are, so they'll just focus on your opinions instead of attacking you."

Me: "You realize there was a big experiment where they let people do just that, right?"

"Really? When was this?"

"The experiment was called 'YouTube comments,' and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

[Edgedancer he/him]

2 minutes ago, Kobold King said:

My brother: "When people argue stuff about politics and religion, they always go for ad hominems. Like, 'you're just a teenager so you wouldn't understand.' I wish you could have conversations about this sort of thing with people who don't know who you are, so they'll just focus on your opinions instead of attacking you."

Me: "You realize there was a big experiment where they let people do just that, right?"

"Really? When was this?"

"The experiment was called 'YouTube comments,' and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

Yeah, some people go assuming things about you just so they can fall back on ad hominems, if you go by youtube comments.
It truly failed horribly.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

4 minutes ago, Kobold King said:

My brother: "When people argue stuff about politics and religion, they always go for ad hominems. Like, 'you're just a teenager so you wouldn't understand.' I wish you could have conversations about this sort of thing with people who don't know who you are, so they'll just focus on your opinions instead of attacking you."

Me: "You realize there was a big experiment where they let people do just that, right?"

"Really? When was this?"

"The experiment was called 'YouTube comments,' and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

 

Just now, Edgedancer said:

Yeah, some people go assuming things about you just so they can fall back on ad hominems, if you go by youtube comments.
It truly failed horribly.

Like Honest Trailers put it, "When Joy and Sadness are sucked away on a grand adventure, Riley is left with only your average YouTube comments section to guide her." 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

3 minutes ago, Kobold King said:

My brother: "When people argue stuff about politics and religion, they always go for ad hominems. Like, 'you're just a teenager so you wouldn't understand.' I wish you could have conversations about this sort of thing with people who don't know who you are, so they'll just focus on your opinions instead of attacking you."

Me: "You realize there was a big experiment where they let people do just that, right?"

"Really? When was this?"

"The experiment was called 'YouTube comments,' and it went horribly, horribly wrong."

If anything, statements like "You're just a teenager" is a sign of respect. People who hold bull-headed opinions tend to think anyone else who opines differently are idiots. Reaching for excuses like "You're just a teenager" shows that person does not think you an idiot, but need to rationalize why you are wrong.

[Delightful]

19 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

If anything, statements like "You're just a teenager" is a sign of respect. People who hold bull-headed opinions tend to think anyone else who opines differently are idiots. Reaching for excuses like "You're just a teenager" shows that person does not think you an idiot, but need to rationalize why you are wrong.

Mmm I think it's more of "shut up you don't know what you're talking about pipsqueak". 

And well @Kobold King I honestly thought you were going to say 'the Internet'. By reducing us all to YouTube commenters, well, that would be like saying all Scadrians are like Straff Venture.  

(I kid, I kid). 

[Kaymyth she/her]

18 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

If anything, statements like "You're just a teenager" is a sign of respect. People who hold bull-headed opinions tend to think anyone else who opines differently are idiots. Reaching for excuses like "You're just a teenager" shows that person does not think you an idiot, but need to rationalize why you are wrong.

While I get your reasoning there, it's still not respectful.  It's condescending, dismissive, and rude.  It basically says, "You're wrong, but you're too young and naive to be worth any effort."

[Orlion Blight he/him]

49 minutes ago, Kaymyth said:

While I get your reasoning there, it's still not respectful.  It's condescending, dismissive, and rude.  It basically says, "You're wrong, but you're too young and naive to be worth any effort."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've found being dismissed is an opportunity for some educational follow up. Simple questions such as "What does my lack of experience prevent me from understanding" can lead to shared insights I otherwise would not get if I let pride of how great I am get in the way.

And hey, if they do know more then me, they kinda have a reason to be condescending, particularly if I don't make any effort to make up my lack of knowledge.

As far as being rude, I'm not entitled to have someone explain exhaustively or simply their position. If I ask and they comply, that's charity on their part. If they instead share their views unsolicited, I don't feel it's rude for me to tell them to shove it

[ThirdGen]

1 hour ago, Orlion Determined said:

If anything, statements like "You're just a teenager" is a sign of respect. People who hold bull-headed opinions tend to think anyone else who opines differently are idiots. Reaching for excuses like "You're just a teenager" shows that person does not think you an idiot, but need to rationalize why you are wrong.

And assumes their viewpoint to be a monolithic truth that you will reach upon adulthood or you're wrong.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

7 minutes ago, ThirdGen said:

And assumes their viewpoint to be a monolithic truth that you will reach upon adulthood or you're wrong.

A characteristic I forgot, so yes! Now the story is complete...

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

37 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've found being dismissed is an opportunity for some educational follow up. Simple questions such as "What does my lack of experience prevent me from understanding" can lead to shared insights I otherwise would not get if I let pride of how great I am get in the way.

And hey, if they do know more then me, they kinda have a reason to be condescending, particularly if I don't make any effort to make up my lack of knowledge.

As far as being rude, I'm not entitled to have someone explain exhaustively or simply their position. If I ask and they comply, that's charity on their part. If they instead share their views unsolicited, I don't feel it's rude for me to tell them to shove it

I don't think superior or advanced knowledge gives anyone the right to be condescending. People who know more than others should teach them kindly and respectfully, not lord it over those less educated than they. And philosophizing aside, if I were condescending toward library patrons asking me how to send a document to the printer, I'd be fired. Condescension by "right" of superior knowledge is just rudeness. 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

17 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

I don't think superior or advanced knowledge gives anyone the right to be condescending. People who know more than others should teach them kindly and respectfully, not lord it over those less educated than they. And philosophizing aside, if I were condescending toward library patrons asking me how to send a document to the printer, I'd be fired. Condescension by "right" of superior knowledge is just rudeness. 

"Reason" not "right"

If Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered before his eyes, he has a reason to be upset and to want justice. He does not have the right to enact that justice himself and go after Joe Cool.

In other words, though you may have a reason to be condescending, there may be other reasons (such as keeping a job or maintaining a relationship) not to be. Since for the most part (barring special examples that do not occur to me now but may be pointed out later) I think being condescending, keeping a job or maintaining a relationship are morally neutral, whichever you choose will be your preference.

I'm just trying to say that if someone is condescending to me, it's not a "deal breaker"for me. I've learned from and continue to learn from condescending jerks. That's just my preference, mileage may vary.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

6 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

"Reason" not "right"

If Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered before his eyes, he has a reason to be upset and to want justice. He does not have the right to enact that justice himself and go after Joe Cool.

In other words, though you may have a reason to be condescending, there may be other reasons (such as keeping a job or maintaining a relationship) not to be. Since for the most part (barring special examples that do not occur to me now but may be pointed out later) I think being condescending, keeping a job or maintaining a relationship are morally neutral, whichever you choose will be your preference.

I'm just trying to say that if someone is condescending to me, it's not a "deal breaker"for me. I've learned from and continue to learn from condescending jerks. That's just my preference, mileage may vary.

Different strokes, I suppose. Condescension is a major deal breaker for me; if someone doesn't respect my intelligence and capacity for learning and improvement when they explain something, I assume they don't respect me as a person. Or, in a more pragmatic sense, if they don't have the patience to explain something to me in a respectful way, I presume they don't have the patience to build more than a placid working relationship with me. Maybe all those assumptions bear out the old saying about what happens when you assume, but in my experience, condescending people aren't worth the effort. Any effort. 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

8 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Different strokes, I suppose. Condescension is a major deal breaker for me; if someone doesn't respect my intelligence and capacity for learning and improvement when they explain something, I assume they don't respect me as a person. Or, in a more pragmatic sense, if they don't have the patience to explain something to me in a respectful way, I presume they don't have the patience to build more than a placid working relationship with me. Maybe all those assumptions bear out the old saying about what happens when you assume, but in my experience, condescending people aren't worth the effort. Any effort. 

Certainly, and you should do what's right for you. Even if I say I learn from some condescending jerks, that's a far cry from all or even most. A lot of time when I put in the effort, it turns out to be wasted effort, so as a general rule, your way is probably the better way.

Until I discover the secret to immortality and interstellar travel! 

[Kaymyth she/her]

45 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

Certainly, and you should do what's right for you. Even if I say I learn from some condescending jerks, that's a far cry from all or even most. A lot of time when I put in the effort, it turns out to be wasted effort, so as a general rule, your way is probably the better way.

Until I discover the secret to immortality and interstellar travel! 

I think there's also a big male/female divide going on here.

Many women have this experience with people acting condescending to us just because we lack a Y chromosome.  When you deal with this over the course of a lifetime, it turns into a natural rage trigger.

[Silverblade5 he/him]

4 hours ago, Orlion Determined said:

If anything, statements like "You're just a teenager" is a sign of respect. People who hold bull-headed opinions tend to think anyone else who opines differently are idiots. Reaching for excuses like "You're just a teenager" shows that person does not think you an idiot, but need to rationalize why you are wrong.

My response to this is normally something along the lines of "That's great sweetie! Now tell me how that relates to topic A."

[Orlion Blight he/him]

1 hour ago, Kaymyth said:

I think there's also a big male/female divide going on here.

Many women have this experience with people acting condescending to us just because we lack a Y chromosome.  When you deal with this over the course of a lifetime, it turns into a natural rage trigger.

Makes sense! A lot of what I was relating had to do with casual political discourse condescension, which would be way different from such sexist condescension.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

14 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

Makes sense! A lot of what I was relating had to do with casual political discourse condescension, which would be way different from such sexist condescension.

And sexist condescension has a nasty way of working its way into all types of discourse. "Oh, you're just arguing that because you're a woman." Trolls become trollier when they learn you're of the female persuasion, and Noodly One help you if you're queer to boot. 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Just now, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

And sexist condescension has a nasty way of working its way into all types of discourse. "Oh, you're just arguing that because you're a woman." Trolls become trollier when they learn you're of the female persuasion, and Noodly One help you if you're queer to boot. 

That is very true. Yeah, I would not tolerate such condescension either.

[Delightful]

6 hours ago, Kaymyth said:

I think there's also a big male/female divide going on here.

Many women have this experience with people acting condescending to us just because we lack a Y chromosome.  When you deal with this over the course of a lifetime, it turns into a natural rage trigger.

Huh, this discussion is exactly divided by gender. Good call Kaymyth.

[Kaymyth she/her]

5 hours ago, Orlion Determined said:

Makes sense! A lot of what I was relating had to do with casual political discourse condescension, which would be way different from such sexist condescension.

Yeah, but dealing with the sexism tends to make one a lot more sensitive/aware of condescension in its other forms.  And rather less inclined to tolerate such shenanigans.