haha that sucks. I have so little sympathy for mental problems.

Unfortunately that's the case for most people.

Evolution. Kick the bums out.
[/eugenic rant]

I don't like being compared to others such as hips roommate.  I hold down two jobs and go to school full time and don't cause any one emotional or physical harm.  I feel like I am normal.  When hip described her roommate she was a unemployed nuisance who was cruel and emotionally draining.  I just have an extreme fear of velvet and velour.  It's just something I can't stand.  I had an ex boyfriend roll me in a velvet blanket and duct tape me into it "as a joke."  I woke up mortified.  I was screaming and pleading with him and he was laughing.  It was horrible.

Irrational fears are silly, but scary nonetheless. It's pathetic that I'm freaked out by cockroaches, cuz they can't actually do anything to me. Doesn't stop me from turning into a little bitch when I encounter one, though.

my wife is scared of bug too, but she's a tiny Japanese lady

At least I have the good sense to be acrophobic...

...to which my response is to stare, fascinated, over the edges of great heights and ruthlessly seek out windows seats on aircraft.


Were you always afraid of velvet?

ALWAYS.  I remember when I was a little girl my mom gave me this velour blanket to use and cried and cried because she wouldn't give me another one.  I just felt like I was on fire being wrapped or covered in it.

Wait. Afraid or disgusted? For me they're quite distinct emotions.

I'm afraid of spending the rest of my life working 50 hours a week at a job which I find incredibly boring f

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that may be some incredibly rare genetic thing, like how most cats are terrified of getting wet.

That or you were trapped beneath a velvet Elvis as an infant and no one wants to fess up to it.

How do you feel about Elvis? Dogs playing poker?

I have a velvet painting of a naked black afro chick.  I think it's Luke's favorite painting.

Are you secretly Scatman Crothers?

no, I am a white girl.. and a twin.

What a coincidence!

I just happen to be a white man with an axe.

How adorable!

What I really wanted to be was Screamin' Jay Hawkins, but sometimes you have to play the cards life deals you.

I have no irrational fears, just rational ones.

Claustrophobia is perfectly rational.

witnessed

and laughed at

Evolution. Kick the bums out.
[/eugenic rant]

Taking an active role in guiding genetic information, i.e. eugenics, is pretty much the opposite of evolution. Our own social (or anti-social) goals are not the same thing as an environmental condition to adapt to.

Besides - a huge amount of the current crazy is probably caused by recombinant hormone pollution in our water supplies. Stop using cleaning products that aren't vinegar and baking soda, and support organic farmers who don't use shit-tonnes of chemical fertilizer.

Irrational fears are silly, but scary nonetheless. It's pathetic that I'm freaked out by cockroaches, cuz they can't actually do anything to me.

They do actually have tiny little mouths, for biting.

I have a velvet painting of a naked black afro chick.  I think it's Luke's favorite painting.

Well, I'm just impressed by its artfulness!

After all, look at the paintings *I* have.  No tits AT ALL.

haha that sucks. I have so little sympathy for mental problems.

Unfortunately that's the case for most people.

Evolution. Kick the bums out.
[/eugenic rant]

Taking an active role in guiding genetic information, i.e. eugenics, is pretty much the opposite of evolution. Our own social (or anti-social) goals are not the same thing as an environmental condition to adapt to.

Besides - a huge amount of the current crazy is probably caused by recombinant hormone pollution in our water supplies. Stop using cleaning products that aren't vinegar and baking soda, and support organic farmers who don't use shit-tonnes of chemical fertilizer.

Oh don't worry, you're preaching to the choir for the most part here. Let me explain:
By saying "kick the bums out," I was adopting something of a eugenic attitude by promoting an active role (i.e. kicking) in guiding genetic information. I believe the failure to empathize with those who have mental problems is probably an evolutionary byproduct of the old adage, "only the fittest shall survive." After all, if those without mental problems didn't coddle those with mental problems, presumably the mentally problematic would have a diminished rate of survival. (Social factors do indeed play into evolution even though they aren't considered "environment" in the sense that environmentalists will use the term.)

Thus, when Dylan suggested that the lack of sympathy displayed by the majority in regard to those with mental problems was unfortunate, I felt compelled to share my controversial theory. Then, recognizing that it might ruffle some feathers I decided to end it with a eugenic bang - something in the way of an over-the-top joke. I obviously could have been clearer.

Evolution is also driven by predator/prey relationships, which is most certainly not a straight environmental pressure.  If some creatures evolve to be a better hunter, it's likely that those creatures will overhunt (and potentially eliminate) weaker creatures which are less able to survive.

Now, am I arguing for eugenics based on intraspecies hunting?  I suppose one might read it in such a way.

Evolution is also driven by predator/prey relationships, which is most certainly not a straight environmental pressure.  If some creatures evolve to be a better hunter, it's likely that those creatures will overhunt (and potentially eliminate) weaker creatures which are less able to survive.

I disagree. Predator/prey relationships are all about environmental pressures. If you are a cute fuzzy bunny and the environment is one that consumes cute fuzzy bunnies (through the agency of predators) then you'll adapt to the environment by becoming less cute and fuzzy. On the other hand if you're a slow but hungry carnivore and the environment is one replete with lightning-fast fuzzybunnies then you'll adapt to the environment by speeding up a bit. In the field of evolution, environment is not just weather patterns and physical surroundings but it is all the elements over which the subject has no control and that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.

As far as overhunting is concerned: Overhunting is a self-limiting phenomenon because hunting is in tension with scarcity. The more effective a hunter is, the more hunters will be produced and the less there will be to be hunted. Then hunters will begin to change prey or will die of starvation and the prey species will rebound. Predator/prey relationships are not about interspecies evolutionary competition but more about intraspecies competition. As predator and prey relate to one another they are simply environmental pressures.

In the field of evolution, environment is not just weather patterns and physical surroundings but it is all the elements over which the subject has no control and that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.

So, if inter- and intra-species hunting can be an environmental pressure, why can't eugenics ALSO be an evolutionary pressure?

Eugenics could be an evolutionary pressure. It's a cultural mode that influences (or at least seeks to influence) gene distribution so yeah it has an effect on evolution although probably a small one.

We'll have none of that intelligence shit on this board!

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed!

Dr. Tran - 100% ICE (Part 1 of 3)

Hickory smoke so crazy!

I didn't realize there was more Dr. Tran out there. Sweet!