Brinens and Things

Today I was *trying* to determine whether a poem in an old birthday card was an Established Thing or something the sender wrote herself, and instead I stumbled across this hardcore hedonic utilitarian critiquing Brave New World and talking about what a *properly* done utopia would be like.

My first thought was "how is this dude coming across so badly? I know utilitarian arguments *can* be made well, I've seen them, so what exactly is the difference that's making him give off such creepy vibes?"

My second thought was "wow, you can really tell this dude's not autistic".

I tried pulling at that thread a little more, and I don't think it's that he's *allistic* necessarily--autism is a big umbrella--but that, specifically, he talks like someone who has *never been overstimulated*.

He thinks that if variety is good, then more of it is better; if evolution-in-the-colloquial-sense is good, then more of it is better; if pleasure is good, then more of it is better. This *absolutely does not* fit with my own experience: even *pleasure itself* can be bad if it is too intense. Not in some abstract Catholic-guilt way, but viscerally aversive.

(This does *not* seem to be a two-directional sign overflow: I am very not a masochist and have never had sufficiently intense suffering wrap around and become enjoyable. Admittedly, there are absolutely forms of pain far worse than anything I've ever experienced, but I'm hardly going to test them out: besides, masochists of my acquaintance generally indicate it doesn't need to be that intense to start working.)

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...honestly, I'm not sure I even value happiness that much? It's...nice, sure, in moderate quantities, but it hardly seems like something to base a value system around. Possibly part of it is that I'm so accustomed to operating at the second level of the Hierarchy of Needs that I can't wrap my head around the concept of wanting more than safety, but I don't think that's the whole story.

I look at that article and I think, why is *this* what he wants? He dismisses other desires as the legacy of "selfish DNA", but why latch on to *happiness* as the desire to be endorsed? What makes *that* special?

(I wonder if he would just sputter and go "It just...*is*! How could it *not* be?!". I know I tend to sputter at people who don't have a strong will to live.)

Comments on my own posts:

[none this time]

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Comments on other people's posts:

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by yvannairie) In which we are all uncomfortable with the word "simp", though not all for the same initial reasons.

[cw: food, poison, medical stuff] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by mindstalk; partly in response to marycatelli) On drug-grapefruit interactions. [three comments]

[mild cw: war, apocalypse] [AO3; Wayback] (OP by nostalgebraist) Very belated Almost Nowhere reactionblogging.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by invertedporcupine) What are the boundaries of "several"? Also, what are the boundaries of "the other day"?

[WordPress part 1 (Tumblr part 1); WordPress part 2 (Tumblr part 2)] (OP by voxette-vk; in response to rustingbridges) The etymology of the name "Ontario" makes it an especially bad choice to be stolen by a town in the California desert. [two or three comments, depending on how you count]

[cw: homophobia, discourse, amnesia, (arguably) politics] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by feotakahari; partly in response to wingedcatgirl) Can we *please* not double-down on that rotten-to-the-core "born this way" argument? Especially not in this Minitrue way? [two comments]

[cw: violence, amnesia] [AO3; Wayback] (OP by Benedict_SC) Even more belated The Bleeding Heart of the Oborozuka Vampire theorising, now that I speak Umineko and therefore have *some* idea of what is going on.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by dagny-hashtaggart) Jules Verne and teaboos. [two comments]

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Links:

Laugh rule:
[Rock Paper Shotgun; Wayback] (by Nate Crowley)

But for me, it was the classic multiplayer combat experience: radio silence on my side (except the occasional amiable Frenchman, mumbling in short bursts from the heart of a collapsing crisp factory), and a pitiless raptor squad of born killers on the other side, functioning with the lethal efficiency of a hive mind.

There is a blanket [cw: illness] on the rest of this post.

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Now that my WordPress is in usable condition, Tumblr comments will have their primary link be to WordPress, with the original Tumblr version in parentheses. I won't explicitly include Wayback links for these, just as I don't explicitly include Wayback links for links to my own Dreamwidth: they'll go into the Wayback Machine in a few weeks when I upload that month's posts.


Comments on my own posts:

Ask me about my special interests [two comments]

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Comments on other people's posts:

[cw: amnesia, (fairly mild) drugs] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by slatestarscratchpad; also in response to how-about-a-nice-game-of-chess) The moral relevance of dreaming selves.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by lydamorehouse) Unlike Facebook, Dreamwidth-based image hosting works on Firefox by default.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by rustingbridges) Grumbling about Google CAPTCHAs. [two comments]

[cw: amnesia] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by contrarianarchon) What falling asleep feels like.

[cw: nsfw text (and arguably images) in the link] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by asexualactivities) On setting up a sex-education website in a manner friendly to sex-repulsed people. (With test subject: a masturbation sleeve review.)

[cw: amnesia] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by staff) An update on how to handle Tumblr's latest wave of censorship: tumblr-utils needs some tweaks in order to continue functioning. [two comments, one of which is new]

[arguably cw: fire] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by ultrastimpaks) Do you sleep with your door open, or closed?

[cw: poverty] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by siderea; in response to etirabys) More on the importance of storage space and stable housing.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by transgenderer; in response to sigmaleph and pedanther) Even in the age of smartphones, wristwatches are still useful. Even and perhaps especially dumbwatches. [two comments]

[cw: Pyrebound spoilers] [WordPress; Wayback] (OP by theredsheep) Today on Pyrebound reactionblogging: population estimates.

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Links:

[cw: medical, self-harm (ego-dystonic), death] [New Yorker; Wayback crawling forbidden, but paywall is of the type easily circumvented by hitting ctrl-a ctrl-c before it pops up, then pasting into the word processor of your choice] (by Richard Preston; h/t GeneralDisarray) An article about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which I had not heard of before.

Two laugh-rule entries:
[arguably cw: nsfw text] [The Register; Wayback] (by Richard Speed; h/t compusever)

the software has been taken up by clients seeking to hand over control of their computer to someone else in exchange for a fee and a promise not to email their partner. The prospect and thrill of the loss of control is apparently an enticing one.
[...]
The Register reckons that same effect could be achieved by putting an unpatched version of Windows XP on an open internet connection for a few minutes.

[cw: murder] [Tumblr; Wayback] (by ficklefackle; h/t consumptivesphinx) That knife was from *what*?!



There is a blanket [cw: illness] on the rest of this post.

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I was too tired to do this last week, so here is a longer three-week post.


Comments on my own posts:

Another mind-blowing these-songs-are-by-the-same-person fact:

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Comments on other people's posts:

(This is from March 4th, but I overlooked it while making the previous roundups.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by archosaur-automaton) The adorable cover of this textbook is harder to appreciate when you've actually taken the course it's used for.

[mild cw: food, apocalypse] (This is from April 8th, but I overlooked it while making the previous roundups.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by 1rakus) A quiz with weird question weightings, and a digression on emergency power generation.

[arguably cw: aging] (This is from April 24th, but I overlooked it while making the previous roundup.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by thejogging) The many meanings of a half-broken key.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by sigmaleph) A short puzzle game about meeting password construction requirements.

[cw: amnesia] [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by staff) Tumblr is ramping up its censorship, under the guise of "keeping hate speech in check".

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by wolffyluna) Fun with Project Gutenberg.

[cw: food] [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by rustingbridges) Preference ranking of starches.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by wolffyluna) Space-efficient email apps.

[cw: nsfw text, (mild) discourse] [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by tototavros; also in response to shieldfoss and eightyonekilograms) Today in people getting separated by a common language (and not always geographically): how to distinguish between different types of plug. [three comments]

[Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by lavenderfables) I like Rincewind *because* of his cowardice, not in spite of it.

[cw: Pyrebound spoilers] [WordPress part 1; WordPress part 2; WordPress part 3; Wayback part 1; Wayback part 2; Wayback part 3] (OP by theredsheep) Pyrebound reactionblogging. (It's amazing! If you're okay with stories getting pretty dark sometimes, go read it!) [four comments]

(I noticed while archiving those that each section had exactly one previous crawl, manually requested, starting in July 2019 but continuing for the post written afterward. It's good to see that someone has taken the story under their wing.)

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Links:

[none suitable for this section]



There is a blanket [cw: illness] on the rest of this post.

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Comments on my own posts:

[cw: what it says on the tin (no pictures)] Recipe: Chocolate Nut Torte

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Comments on other people's posts:

[cw: venting] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by yvannairie) Understaffing bullshit.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by sigmaleph) What to do when a public holiday falls on a Sunday.

[Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by little-brisk) Various ways to back up a Tumblr.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by sigmaleph) Mathematical (and other) mnemonics.

[cw: amnesia, arguably unreality] (Note: the Tumblr reverse-post-order glitch continues.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by reasonsmysoniscrying; in response to maryellencarter) Minor precognition, or so your brain insists.

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by sigmaleph) Stratford-based news broadcasters won't tell you what Justin Bieber is famous *for*, but by God is he from Stratford.

(I've decided that tag rambles are a substantial enough contribution to be worth including.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by minatokun) "Accounting majors, who hurt you?"

(Note: I do not actually *endorse* the claim that people imposing [selection pressure for accounting talent] on my *ancestors* are harming *me* (though I can see why someone might argue it, and certainly it was harming *them*). Personally I've been rather enjoying having won accounting in the lottery of fascinations, *especially* because it is--by the standards of the general population--a fairly rare prize: people keep being appreciative of and impressed by my contributions, and it's nice to feel like a Valued Member of Society.)

((A little while ago I impressed *the Dean of Business* while chatting with her about US-expat-friendly investment strategies, which was quite the ego boost.))


[cw: heteronormativity, amnesia] [Dreamwidth; Wayback crawling forbidden] (OP by hebethen) Horrified screaming regarding the view of sexuality a character in "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" espouses.

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Links:

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by gdgdbaby) Secret Santa compliment meme! Here is my thread.

[Tumblr; Wayback] (by bobacupcake; h/t consumptive-sphinx) Art thieves vs Disney.

[Tumblr; Wayback] (by Carl Muckenhoupt; h/t prokopetz) I'm told that this game is not for newcomers to the genre, so perhaps I will not actually play it, but there is just something so satisfying about reciting the blurb:

Finally, here you are. At the delcot of tondam, where doshes deave. But the doshery lutt is crenned with glauds.

Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes uncren them.

But you are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. And no glaud will vorl them from you.

(As for the experience of attempting to *understand* it, it reminds me rather of reading French. "[???] the card on your head and walk [???] [???] the table. If it doesn't fall, [lose?] $1000."

(When we salvaged our bilingual version of that game, the English and French decks had gotten all jumbled together, and rather than sift them out we just went "what the hell, it'll be educational" and played with a shuffled English/French deck.))


Laugh rule:
[cw: unsanitary, violence] [Rock Paper Shotgun; Wayback] (by Nate Crowley)
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(I think I'm going to have to keep an eye on this guy.)

Comments on my own posts:

Comment and Link Roundup: October 14, 2019 [three comments]

Delayed reactionblogging: 'A Confusion of Princes,' by Garth Nix [two comments, not counting the edit notice]

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Comments on other people's posts:

[cw: food] (Note: this post is subject to a formatting glitch. The last post is still last, but all *other* posts in the thread are in reversed order.) [Tumblr; Wayback] (OP by star-anise; second response is to misskillamarmalade) No Name's graphic design is very itself. (I mean this as a compliment.) [two comments]

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by wolffyluna) Incompetent redirects to country-specific websites. [two comments]

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by contrarianarchon) Paradoxical lullaby effects.

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Links:

[Tumblr; Wayback] (by carry-on-my-wayward-butt; h/t itsmaledict (Halloween alt of itsbenedict)) Ex nihilo fandom memes.

[WordPress; Wayback] (by Siggy) The 2019 Ace Community Survey is now open!

Two laugh-rule entries:
[Harvard; Wayback] (by James Mickens) Hey, remember "The Night Watch"? Turns out the guy's written some other hilarious stuff too, such as this:

Yes, I am aware of the “use a vivid image” technique, and if I lived in a sensory deprivation tank and I had never used the Internet, I could easily remember a password phrase like “Gigantic Martian Insect Party.” Unfortunately, I *have* used the Internet, and this means that I have seen, heard, and occasionally paid money for every thing that could ever be imagined. I have seen a video called “Gigantic Martian Insect Party,” and I have seen another video called “Gigantic Martian Insect Party 2: Don’t Tell Mom,” and I hated both videos, but this did not stop me from directing the sequel “Gigantic Martian Insect Party Into Darkness.” Thus, it is extremely difficult for me to generate a memorable image that can distinguish itself from the seething ocean of absurdities that I store as a result of consuming 31 hours of media in each 24-hour period.

[cw: food, alcohol] [McSweeneys; Wayback] (by Ross Bullen; h/t Matt Levine)

Brandon (age 4) is currently on a five-meal streak of throwing away any piece of food that does not bear a sufficiently strong resemblance to Olaf from Frozen.