Mega Thread The Random Thoughts Thread Part 2: Electric Portaloo

[Portia]

Thanks fellow miscreants. Sadly she's on the Gold Coast so I'm pretty much an ear at this point, even more so since she made me promise not to tell our dad and her mother. It would've been nice if the black dog had skipped past one of the family at least.

 

[raman]

This is gonna sound crazy...but I'd take her sky diving. Or go surfing. Or scuba diving. Something that's real that has a risk to it.

She just wants to feel alive. Kids are so wired to the artificial constructs of society that they don't feel danger anymore. There is no risk, so there's no reward. What's the point of doing what everyone else wants if you don't get any joy out of it?

And do it on a school day. Rock up to the school like Ferris Beuller and just pull her out of class.

Cutting is an acute self-hatred thing, not a "feeling alive" thing. Not that your advice isn't good (for everyone) but it's not complete either.

 

[raman]

Thanks fellow miscreants. Sadly she's on the Gold Coast so I'm pretty much an ear at this point, even more so since she made me promise not to tell our dad and her mother. It would've been nice if the black dog had skipped past one of the family at least.

I have what I guess you'd call an ex step daughter from a previous relationship whose life I'm still in somewhat as the ex and I have always been on good terms.

She had a serious bout of cutting around age 15-16 including an incident where she passed out from it in the bathroom and went through the shower door.

She had always been, and is, tall, skinny, smart, pretty and highly socially functional; this bullshit really can happen to anyone. Expectations is a key factor for teenagers I think. One of the things we did was tell her to stop even worrying about uni; go when you're 21 because the STAT test is way easier than stressing too much about year 12 exams. Not saying that's great advice for everyone but I think it was right in this case.

Her mum did what you're meant to do, shopped around for therapists until she found one she liked. She's 18 now and seems to be in a good place since high school finished, working, travelling and generally breaking hearts all over the place.

Good luck, I hope you can keep an open dialogue with your sister and help her through this.

 

[Steve Dore]

View attachment 308452

Series 2 was in colour.

 

[Janus]

Cutting is an acute self-hatred thing, not a "feeling alive" thing. Not that your advice isn't good (for everyone) but it's not complete either.

I don't mean "feel alive" in the sense of excitement, but in the sense that you need to put things into perspective and "unplug" from the negative emotions that expectations from others put on you. In the end, the only thing that matters is to be the best you can be and accept that for what it is.

Here's an article that says cutting yourself is actually a way to detoxify yourself from acute negative emotions and stress:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-pain-can-make-you-fee/

 

[raman]

I don't mean "feel alive" in the sense of excitement, but in the sense that you need to put things into perspective and "unplug" from the negative emotions that expectations from others put on you. In the end, the only thing that matters is to be the best you can be and accept that for what it is.

Here's an article that says cutting yourself is actually a way to detoxify yourself from acute negative emotions and stress:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-pain-can-make-you-fee/

All good. I had a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to your post because it put me in mind of memes shared by idiots on Facebook which assure us that the best cure for depression is a nice walk in the park. But I know the similarity was only facile.

 

[badbeats]

Seinfeld presale at noon - if anyone wants the presale link lmk

 

[Papa G]

Seinfeld presale at noon - if anyone wants the presale link lmk

Seinfeld was a great show, but I doubt I could sit through 2 hours of Jerry Seinfeld stand up.

 

[Magus]

Larry David was the brains behind that show. It went to shite when he stopped writing for them.

 

[badbeats]

The better half wants it for her Xmas present, easier than trying to think of a gift

Plus it doesn't clash with a game!

 

[JimmyBeerCans]

Seinfeld was a great show, but I doubt I could sit through 2 hours of Jerry Seinfeld stand up.

Feel the same but I'm not a huge fan of stand-up in general

 

[Schulzenfest]

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/its-not-racist-to-speak-out-about-migration-20161104-gsi0sj

So Port Adelaide board member Amanda Vanstone just published this.

I'm not going to get into the whole 18C argument, I agree with the existence of the law but one could reasonably argue against it. But the little throwaway line about 'thinking homosexuality is wrong doesn't make you a homophobe'? That's ... not ideal.

 

[LukeSA]

They're a special breed up there.

 

[Doctor Feel]

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/its-not-racist-to-speak-out-about-migration-20161104-gsi0sj

So Port Adelaide board member Amanda Vanstone just published this.

I'm not going to get into the whole 18C argument, I agree with the existence of the law but one could reasonably argue against it. But the little throwaway line about 'thinking homosexuality is wrong doesn't make you a homophobe'? That's ... not ideal.

I agree with her, phobia suggests you are scared of something. You don't have to be scared of someones sexuality to disagree with it. People will argue that people are against it because they are ignorant, religious or bigots or whatever else, but the word homophobia doesn't always apply. I reckon the article is pretty well considered over all.

 

[Magus]

I agree with her, phobia suggests you are scared of something. You don't have to be scared of someones sexuality to disagree with it. People will argue that people are against it because they are ignorant, religious or bigots or whatever else, but the word homophobia doesn't always apply. I reckon the article is pretty well considered over all.

No. Homophobia basically means an aversion to homosexuality. Find a definition anywhere that states otherwise.

 

[Schulzenfest]

I agree with her, phobia suggests you are scared of something. You don't have to be scared of someones sexuality to disagree with it. People will argue that people are against it because they are ignorant, religious or bigots or whatever else, but the word homophobia doesn't always apply. I reckon the article is pretty well considered over all.

That's the 'Islam is not a race' argument transported to homosexuality. It's semantics. Bigotry is bigotry.

 

[Doctor Feel]

No. Homophobia basically means an aversion to homosexuality. Find a definition anywhere that states otherwise.

"This is an example of the Etymological fallacy. Words evolve and change meaning over time. Homophobia currently means an aversion or opposition to homosexuals or homosexuality, not a fear of it. The etymology of the "phobia" is only historic in this case. Similarly, hydrophobia should mean fear of water, but it refers to rabies. An insistence of the literal origins of the root words would mean that you could never arrive anywhere unless you had crossed a river to get there. Words don't always mean what their Greek or Latin roots originally meant."

Well there you go. In that case, what she said is more factually wrong than right.

 

[Magus]

There's also the point to be made that all phobias are irrational, so even if homophobia had a much more literal meaning, their "fear" would still be illogical.

 

[raman]

I agree with her, phobia suggests you are scared of something. You don't have to be scared of someones sexuality to disagree with it.

I'd like to hear how "disagreeing" with a sexuality is even a coherent concept. It sounds like disagreeing with a tree.

 

[Portia]

Huge numbers of ludicrous remarks in that article.

 

[Magus]

"Remember, there's been a law against murder for a very long time and it isn't effective."

I would've thought the law against murder is the number 1 thing stopping people from killing eachother.

 

[Dylan8]

Huge numbers of ludicrous remarks in that article.

Love this from the comment section
"Christianity is now being labeled by some, - Homophobic."

chortle

 

[Steve Dore]

They're a special breed up there.

When the NT government first came up with the idea of combining the Power Authority and the Water Authority someone came up with the name Combined Utilities NT. They decided to go with PAWA instead.

 

[Steve Dore]

..... You don't have to be scared of someones sexuality to disagree with it. .....

How can you disagree with someone's sexuality?

 

[chiwigi]

"Remember, there's been a law against murder for a very long time and it isn't effective."

I would've thought the law against murder is the number 1 thing stopping people from killing eachother.

It certainly holds me back.