What's on your mind?

[Guest]

> We put a lot of effort into raising our children to be right. My Prince still practices spanking our children when reasoning doesn't help. And it proved to be the best cure against stubbornness, shouting, rebellion, disobedience, and aggressiveness. Our only problem is our parents, who wouldn't raise their voice at them when they have been naughty. But our children know my luvs would find out if they were naughty, and they would be punished for that. That's why they behave most of the time.

Edited July 30, 2025 by Evaloves4

[Raven 54]

Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. – Charles Theodore ‘Chili’ Davis           

[Guest]

[porkybork]

I've made a grievous error...

Spoiler

I've added far too much sriracha to my chicken stir fry.

 

[Guest]

[Guest]

> One of my imaginations of heaven

Edited August 1, 2025 by Evaloves4

[Count Chocula]

Just read something interesting regarding the "better-than-average" phenomenon (i.e., most people rating themselves as better than average at just about everything). Part of this might be due to the colloquial meaning of "average" being "not very good," as in "Nicholas Cage is just an average actor."

[Hepar]

1 hour ago, Count Chocula said:

Just read something interesting regarding the "better-than-average" phenomenon (i.e., most people rating themselves as better than average at just about everything). Part of this might be due to the colloquial meaning of "average" being "not very good," as in "Nicholas Cage is just an average actor."

Man, Nick Cage movies can be a whole discussion topic unto itself. I'm not sure I agree with the statement "Nicholas Cage is just an average actor" but I get the point that average = less than a passing grade. Did this study find that people who claim to be better than average are not actually so? Or that to be average is to think you are better than most?

Edited August 1, 2025 by Hepar

[Count Chocula]

4 hours ago, Hepar said:

I get the point that average = less than a passing grade. Did this study find that people who claim to be better than average are not actually so? Or that to be average is to think you are better than most?

It is impossible for more than half the people to better than average (and maybe that's clear to you and I'm telling you something you already know). Clearly some people who say they are better than average are in fact better than average. I don't think it would be very easy to actually assess respondents' skills in relation to the topic of a given survey, in many if not most cases. Take the one a lot of people seem to be aware of, the one in which something like 80% of U.S. (I believe) drivers said they are better than average drivers (which, again, is impossible). How would those who administer such a survey actually test the participants' driving skills?

 

I have no idea if any of these studies assess whether people who call themselves "average" think they better than "most." Obviously that's impossible, too, since to be average means to be better than half, not better than most.

Edited August 2, 2025 by Count Chocula

[Hepar]

14 minutes ago, Count Chocula said:

It is impossible for more than half the people to better than average (and maybe that's clear to you and I'm telling you something you already know). Clearly some people who say they are better than average are in fact better than average. I don't think it would be very easy to actually assess respondents' skills in relation to the topic of a given survey, in many if not most cases. Take the one a lot of people seem to be aware of, the one in which something like 80% of U.S. (I believe) drivers said they are better than average drivers (which, again, is impossible). How would those who administer such a survey actually test the participants' driving skills?

I suppose with a little creativity and some sort of driving test. I can see the challenges you are referring to though. It does seem rather impractical to put the 'better than average' claim into measurable statistics.

[Count Chocula]

2 minutes ago, Hepar said:

I suppose with a little creativity and some sort of driving test. I can see the challenges you are referring to though. It does seem rather impractical to put the 'better than average' claim into measurable statistics.

If the skill being asked about is something that can be easily tested in the same kind of place the survey is being done, maybe.

 

Something else I read is that people are better at rating themselves as worse than average if it's a hard skill not very many people are good at. This is pretty unsurprising.

[Guest]

[steelpanther24]

2 hours ago, Evaloves4 said:

"Its not having what you want but wanting what you have" - Sheryl Crowe

 

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/V_gprRjlflQ?si=ZLLlxBM95uZhi_oQ

 

[Count Chocula]

12 hours ago, Hepar said:

Indeed. Maybe not fascinating, but thought-provoking nonetheless. 

A propos nothing, really, I sometimes like to tell people on the internet I'm a multi-millionaire astronaut and a world-class triathlete. No one ever believes it.

[Count Chocula]

Another brain teaser from Microsoft.

At least for the "Tokyo Quiz" the three choices for the question "What is the capital of Japan?" included two cities that are in Japan, in addition to "Tokyo."

Edited August 2, 2025 by Count Chocula

[Guest]

> Exactly, that's how our children "massage" their tata, and by doing it, they laugh hard because he always goof. After that, they love to lie on his chest while he pats their heads.

[Darkpig]

On 7/29/2025 at 6:05 PM, Count Chocula said:

Apparently it's a thing among folks in the age group we call Gen Z to answer their phone and wait for the caller to say something. If true, that's fuckin' bizarre.

 

EDIT: And rude. If it ever happens to me, I hope I have the presence of mind to also stay utterly silent just to see how long it takes for them to either speak first or hang up. They apparently do this even for scheduled phone interviews, thus sandbagging their chances of getting the job.

Meh. First world problems.

 

If I were to guess why I'd imagine they are just practicing their 5th Amendment Right.

[Raven 54]

                

Edited August 3, 2025 by Caveman 74

[Count Chocula]

11 hours ago, Darkpig said:

Meh. First world problems.

This entire web site is devoted to nothing but first world problems.

[spoonsinger]

22 minutes ago, Count Chocula said:

This entire web site is devoted to nothing but first world problems.

 Obviously first world problems are worth dealing with because the shit does slide downwards. At least the first world will be able to facilitate those problems to mitigate them. Not sure about downstream though. 

[Count Chocula]

8 minutes ago, spoonsinger said:

 Obviously first world problems are worth dealing with because the shit does slide downwards. At least the first world will be able to facilitate those problems to mitigate them. Not sure about downstream though. 

My point was that if we never posted here about first world problems, we'd never post anything at all. If people only discussed weighty, important matters during an in-person conversation, the vast majority of "conversations" would be people staring at each other in silence. Kind of like the way some people in their 20s answer the phone.

[Darkpig]

10 hours ago, Count Chocula said:

This entire web site is devoted to nothing but first world problems.

Edit: I'll have to disagree. There has been discussions on the site about being able to access porn. Access to porn is also something discussed in third world countries. So would it be a third world problem or a first world problem?

Edited August 4, 2025 by Darkpig

[Grey Cloud]

I've not seen any Rich Hall for a while.

 

 

[DrunkenCow]

Good Old Games decided to fight censorship of adult games by giving away censored adult games.

 

So brave.

[Darkpig]

2 hours ago, DrunkenCow said:

Good Old Games decided to fight censorship of adult games by giving away censored adult games.

 

So brave.

A lot of media has been chickening out recently.