"This question gets asked a lot. Especially in October." October 24, 2010 5:38 PM Subscribe
"This question gets asked a lot. Especially in October."
There are two recurring AskMe questions which fascinate me. One is (to paraphrase) "how can I stop myself from browsing time-wasting websites, using a technological solution?", and this is the other.
How would you paraphrase it? I see it as something like "Eating food involves too many choices. How can I eliminate that distraction from my life while remaining healthy?".
What's tipped me over into asking on MetaTalk is the October data point, which I hadn't noted before. Is it something to do with the northern-hemisphere academic year? And, no offence meant, but a kind of engineering mindset which sees the infinite variety of food as irrational and inefficient?
There are two recurring AskMe questions which fascinate me. One is (to paraphrase) "how can I stop myself from browsing time-wasting websites, using a technological solution?", and this is the other.
How would you paraphrase it? I see it as something like "Eating food involves too many choices. How can I eliminate that distraction from my life while remaining healthy?".
What's tipped me over into asking on MetaTalk is the October data point, which I hadn't noted before. Is it something to do with the northern-hemisphere academic year? And, no offence meant, but a kind of engineering mindset which sees the infinite variety of food as irrational and inefficient?
I thought this was going to be about all the "What should I dress up as for Hallowe'en?" questions. (Which I thoroughly enjoy!) I hadn't noticed either of the other questions.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Yes.
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010
No.
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010
Maaaaaybe.
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by nomadicink at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
A guy walks into the doctor's office. There is a banana stuck in one of his ears, a cucumber in the other ear, and a carrot stuck in one nostril.
The man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?"
The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you need to eat more sensibly."
posted by netbros at 5:46 PM on October 24, 2010 [85 favorites]
The man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?"
The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you need to eat more sensibly."
posted by netbros at 5:46 PM on October 24, 2010 [85 favorites]
I thought this was going to be about Halloween costumes too, but it's an interesting observation. I've noticed this too. Studies do show in many cases that too many choices sort of scatter us. I notice that when I have several ideas in the works for what to cook that sometimes I can't decide what to make at all.
posted by cmgonzalez at 5:48 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by cmgonzalez at 5:48 PM on October 24, 2010
Textured vegetable protein. (Though I probably eat a lot less healthier now than I did then.) Also, October.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:50 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by octobersurprise at 5:50 PM on October 24, 2010
One obvious inference is that there's a gap in the market for a sort of no-choices, home-delivery food service to college students. Advertise in the right places in late September, early October, PROFIT!
Suggested slogan: 'Math is hard! No, wait. Math is easy. Deciding what to eat is hard.'
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:57 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
Suggested slogan: 'Math is hard! No, wait. Math is easy. Deciding what to eat is hard.'
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:57 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
Those questions fascinate me; I think they say a lot about the user base on this site more than anything else.
posted by Forktine at 6:05 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by Forktine at 6:05 PM on October 24, 2010
One obvious inference is that there's a gap in the market for a sort of no-choices, home-delivery food service to college students. Advertise in the right places in late September, early October, PROFIT!
You could totally do this and just depend on Peapod to do the delivery. "How many dollars per month do you want to spend, how many calories per day do you want to target, which foods do you especially love/hate?" Every week: order groceries, charge an extra couple percent as a fee to the credit card, email recipes for the week. As future enhancements, you could use ratings and a Netflix-like intelligence to figure out which recipes a person might like.
posted by Plutor at 6:08 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
You could totally do this and just depend on Peapod to do the delivery. "How many dollars per month do you want to spend, how many calories per day do you want to target, which foods do you especially love/hate?" Every week: order groceries, charge an extra couple percent as a fee to the credit card, email recipes for the week. As future enhancements, you could use ratings and a Netflix-like intelligence to figure out which recipes a person might like.
posted by Plutor at 6:08 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
Forktine: "Those questions fascinate me; I think they say a lot about the user base on this site more than anything else."
Yes. Specifically, that if deciding on what food to eat is so hard, then Googling for the answer is even harder.
And, perhaps more interestingly, that the membership here ranges from epicurean gourmands to potential monkey chow eaters…
posted by Pinback at 6:12 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
Yes. Specifically, that if deciding on what food to eat is so hard, then Googling for the answer is even harder.
And, perhaps more interestingly, that the membership here ranges from epicurean gourmands to potential monkey chow eaters…
posted by Pinback at 6:12 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
I suspect it's got something to do with the shorter days. I love home-cooked meals, but my motivation to cook has plummeted since mid-September or so.
Eating in college? That's beyond easy if you're on a meal plan, if not necessarily healthy.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:19 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Eating in college? That's beyond easy if you're on a meal plan, if not necessarily healthy.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:19 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Eating food involves too many choices
It is inefficient and irrational.
Far better for food provision to be provided with a market-based solution as is the internet and phone service as has been proven to work in the real economy. Alimentation Service Providers (ASPs) could provide capped monthly plans to end-users, with special rebates for food left uneaten, or with shaping applied to unhealthy eating patterns—for instance, someone with a diet too high in protein might be forced onto a fibre-to-the-node plan.
Alternatively, users could choose to have their eating provided on a pre-digested basis, topping up their accounts irregularly by credit card or cash. Business eaters could have access to wholesale consumption rates with monthly food fees being waived, say, in favour of a lower overall set of peak/off peak rates, or a lower flagfall price. Naturally international and ethnic-minority food would incur long distance charges but these could be arranged with a VoIP card.
That's much easier, and simpler than just cooking for yourself, isn't it? The only problem would be obviously when water gets in the pipes in your street or you go into a rail tunnel, in which case, you'd better stock up on frozen pizza bases and cans of tomato paste.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:23 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
It is inefficient and irrational.
Far better for food provision to be provided with a market-based solution as is the internet and phone service as has been proven to work in the real economy. Alimentation Service Providers (ASPs) could provide capped monthly plans to end-users, with special rebates for food left uneaten, or with shaping applied to unhealthy eating patterns—for instance, someone with a diet too high in protein might be forced onto a fibre-to-the-node plan.
Alternatively, users could choose to have their eating provided on a pre-digested basis, topping up their accounts irregularly by credit card or cash. Business eaters could have access to wholesale consumption rates with monthly food fees being waived, say, in favour of a lower overall set of peak/off peak rates, or a lower flagfall price. Naturally international and ethnic-minority food would incur long distance charges but these could be arranged with a VoIP card.
That's much easier, and simpler than just cooking for yourself, isn't it? The only problem would be obviously when water gets in the pipes in your street or you go into a rail tunnel, in which case, you'd better stock up on frozen pizza bases and cans of tomato paste.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:23 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
I'm having food delivered directly to my eyeballs right now.
posted by boo_radley at 6:26 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by boo_radley at 6:26 PM on October 24, 2010
I bet it has something to do with the working world's deadline cycles, too. If you work in a field like mine, where you have monthly and bimonthly end-of-month deadlines, this is when you're hitting your last relatively easy deadline of the year. The next two deadlines are hell to navigate due to the holiday season. Not only that, this is the point at which you have to figure out how to use the rest of your non-rollover vacation days or lose 'em—so naturally, you start thinking ahead about schedules and food and saving money and how to fit everything that needs to be done into each day...
And then in a couple of weeks, there's the goddamn time change, which makes all of that even worse, and plunges us into darkness before and after work.
I could easily see all of that adding up to the urge to lay in an easy food source for the stressful times ahead. Or murder someone.
posted by limeonaire at 6:35 PM on October 24, 2010
And then in a couple of weeks, there's the goddamn time change, which makes all of that even worse, and plunges us into darkness before and after work.
I could easily see all of that adding up to the urge to lay in an easy food source for the stressful times ahead. Or murder someone.
posted by limeonaire at 6:35 PM on October 24, 2010
YEARRRRRRRRGH! Oh, god it burns!
posted by boo_radley at 6:35 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by boo_radley at 6:35 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Those questions fascinate me; I think they say a lot about the user base on this site more than anything else.
They also fascinate me because they're all essentially the same, yet new ones keep popping up like mushrooms after rain, as if the latest is somehow unique and different than the parade of similar q's that came before.
posted by smoke at 6:40 PM on October 24, 2010
They also fascinate me because they're all essentially the same, yet new ones keep popping up like mushrooms after rain, as if the latest is somehow unique and different than the parade of similar q's that came before.
posted by smoke at 6:40 PM on October 24, 2010
Some of us don't like cooking and would like to reduce our food prep time to a bare minimum, while remaining healthy.
posted by orange swan at 6:40 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 6:40 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
Alternatively, like the loving care and attention a penguin gives its chicks, one could make an arrangement with an older relative to have undigested fish regurgitated straight into one's open waiting mouth five to six times a day.
I'm so glad I'm not a uni student anymore.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'm so glad I'm not a uni student anymore.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I get more annoyed by the questions that are clearly NaNoWriMo-related, but not marked as such. Perhaps the questioners think we don't realize they're asking us to do their homework for them. They would be wrong.
Now that you mention the Nutraloaf question, I'm intrigued. Maybe someone can chart the rise and fall of "Can I eat it" questions, too. I have the feeling they have a related root cause.
posted by ErikaB at 6:47 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Now that you mention the Nutraloaf question, I'm intrigued. Maybe someone can chart the rise and fall of "Can I eat it" questions, too. I have the feeling they have a related root cause.
posted by ErikaB at 6:47 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
My boyfriend says that if his body didn't require to need to eat, he would never eat food. It's a waste of time and money. Of course, when given choices, he will eat the foods he prefers but he can actually eat almost anything put in front of him (as long as it's vegan). Not everyone eats for pleasure and sees this ritual as a distraction and time consuming activity. So some people do just want to get it over with, trying to spend the least amount of time while reaping the most health benefits.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:54 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:54 PM on October 24, 2010
I meant "Not everyone eats for please and they see this ritual as a distraction and time consuming activity."
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:55 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:55 PM on October 24, 2010
Dilberito
Note that I have tried it, and it's actually pretty damn good (if a bit annoying to prep) -- unfortunately, it is hard to find and anything marketed with Dilbert on it these days is pretty passe.
posted by davejay at 7:14 PM on October 24, 2010
Note that I have tried it, and it's actually pretty damn good (if a bit annoying to prep) -- unfortunately, it is hard to find and anything marketed with Dilbert on it these days is pretty passe.
posted by davejay at 7:14 PM on October 24, 2010
That question and its variants always depress me -- life without the culinary delights is no life at all!
posted by diocletian at 7:16 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by diocletian at 7:16 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
My boyfriend says that if his body didn't require to need to eat, he would never eat food.
I too wouldn't do a lot things if they required to stay alive. Yeah, I'm looking at you vido games.
posted by nomadicink at 7:18 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I too wouldn't do a lot things if they required to stay alive. Yeah, I'm looking at you vido games.
posted by nomadicink at 7:18 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I had a co-worker once who would eat Dinty Moore stew every day for lunch. I started calling it Purina Man Chow.
posted by zinfandel at 7:19 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by zinfandel at 7:19 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
Too many choices? What do you mean? All I've got is this fucking plate of beans.
I wanted to say "plate of fucking beans" but then it would have been ambiguous and somebody would probably ask how beans can fuck, which I don't want to get into at all tonight.
posted by A dead Quaker at 7:20 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I wanted to say "plate of fucking beans" but then it would have been ambiguous and somebody would probably ask how beans can fuck, which I don't want to get into at all tonight.
posted by A dead Quaker at 7:20 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Why do you need a plate just for fucking? And why would you put beans on it?
posted by nomadicink at 7:26 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by nomadicink at 7:26 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Man, the people asking these questions must have hated MetaTalk circa 4 months ago.
posted by auto-correct at 7:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by auto-correct at 7:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm sensitive to sugar, and sometimes I get hit by surprise by something I didn't realize had too much sugar for me to tolerate well. When I'm having a string of these, I often just wish there were something I could buy that I could just eat and be sure that it wouldn't cause headaches and crashing. I do mentally call this Human Kibble.
posted by galadriel at 7:35 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by galadriel at 7:35 PM on October 24, 2010
> Eating in college? That's beyond easy if you're on a meal plan
Is that the thing I've seen on movies and TV where you have some sort of card, and you have to go to the cafeteria and pick out food? That not only includes decisions, but leaving your room and appearing in public, so for my pasty-engineer hypothesis, it's just as bad.
> they're all essentially the same, yet new ones keep popping up like mushrooms after rain, as if the latest is somehow unique and different than the parade of similar q's that came before.
That's part of it. But is it hard to search for? What phrase would you use? But each person asking does seem to believe they're the very first to come up with the idea, you're right.
> Man, the people asking these questions must have hated MetaTalk circa 4 months ago.
Can you explain that? Am I asking a meta-question that's also a recurring thing?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 7:52 PM on October 24, 2010
Is that the thing I've seen on movies and TV where you have some sort of card, and you have to go to the cafeteria and pick out food? That not only includes decisions, but leaving your room and appearing in public, so for my pasty-engineer hypothesis, it's just as bad.
> they're all essentially the same, yet new ones keep popping up like mushrooms after rain, as if the latest is somehow unique and different than the parade of similar q's that came before.
That's part of it. But is it hard to search for? What phrase would you use? But each person asking does seem to believe they're the very first to come up with the idea, you're right.
> Man, the people asking these questions must have hated MetaTalk circa 4 months ago.
Can you explain that? Am I asking a meta-question that's also a recurring thing?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 7:52 PM on October 24, 2010
Um, 3 out of the 8 similar questions found by Houstonian were in October.
Sure, that's more than 1 in 12, but what makes you think it's anything but a random distribution? Without a more serious statistical analysis of the distribution, you're really begging the question here.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:54 PM on October 24, 2010
Sure, that's more than 1 in 12, but what makes you think it's anything but a random distribution? Without a more serious statistical analysis of the distribution, you're really begging the question here.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:54 PM on October 24, 2010
In fact, I'm sure there's a probability fallacy going on here.
The chances of 3x "1 in 12" results out of 8 is probably a lot higher than one might think, and not anything like (1/12)^3 because of the way that the "1 in 12" shot can fall anywhere within the series of 8.
Perhaps a mathematician can enlighten us?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:03 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
The chances of 3x "1 in 12" results out of 8 is probably a lot higher than one might think, and not anything like (1/12)^3 because of the way that the "1 in 12" shot can fall anywhere within the series of 8.
Perhaps a mathematician can enlighten us?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:03 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Um, 3 out of the 8 similar questions found by Houstonian were in October.
Sure, that's more than 1 in 12, but what makes you think it's anything but a random distribution? Without a more serious statistical analysis of the distribution, you're really begging the question here.
There are also questions he missed, which don't fall into the October category. I asked a question that would fall into this category in the month of September.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:06 PM on October 24, 2010
Sure, that's more than 1 in 12, but what makes you think it's anything but a random distribution? Without a more serious statistical analysis of the distribution, you're really begging the question here.
There are also questions he missed, which don't fall into the October category. I asked a question that would fall into this category in the month of September.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:06 PM on October 24, 2010
Even though I haven't been a student in more than five years now, I find that fall is the time of year when I am most inspired to Change My Life For The Better, especially regarding issues about buckling down, getting serious, etc.
That said, I enjoy eating a varied diet and dick around on the internet entirely too much.
posted by Sara C. at 8:14 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
That said, I enjoy eating a varied diet and dick around on the internet entirely too much.
posted by Sara C. at 8:14 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
hmm...Making Sense of Probability: Fallacies, Myths and Puzzles
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:18 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:18 PM on October 24, 2010
Not all MeFites are in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's possible that questions asked at other times of year actually fit the October pattern. But boringly, I've checked them all and can't prove it.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 8:37 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by AmbroseChapel at 8:37 PM on October 24, 2010
You can buy frozen pizza all year 'round.
There.
Also, apples.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:44 PM on October 24, 2010
There.
Also, apples.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:44 PM on October 24, 2010
Also, in the fall it gets dark and ones thoughts turn to sweet potatoes and chestnuts and leeks.
Insomnia returns and those thoughts that seem to railroad all your anxieties into a set pattern that drives through your brain until you're too exhausted to think but still can't sleep. Sleep, as elusive and incomprehensible as a whale distractedly humming Satie to itself as it plunges to the bottom of the antarctic ocean in search of lunch. Why couldn't i be that whale, I wouldn't have to file quarterly and the weird rumble when I turn left would not allude to the imminent demise of my shitty fucking but desperately useful car.
Oh fall, you rip my guts out every fucking time - how I hate you could fill the empty sound outside while I wait for the alarm to just fucking go off already so I can get up and get on with it.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:57 PM on October 24, 2010 [9 favorites]
Insomnia returns and those thoughts that seem to railroad all your anxieties into a set pattern that drives through your brain until you're too exhausted to think but still can't sleep. Sleep, as elusive and incomprehensible as a whale distractedly humming Satie to itself as it plunges to the bottom of the antarctic ocean in search of lunch. Why couldn't i be that whale, I wouldn't have to file quarterly and the weird rumble when I turn left would not allude to the imminent demise of my shitty fucking but desperately useful car.
Oh fall, you rip my guts out every fucking time - how I hate you could fill the empty sound outside while I wait for the alarm to just fucking go off already so I can get up and get on with it.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:57 PM on October 24, 2010 [9 favorites]
Even though wearing lighter summer clothes hasn't prevented me from always feeling fantastic, when it starts to get cooler, and I pull out my sweatshirts and jeans and jackets from the closet and, even though they still fit, they still don't hide things the way I expect and wish, no matter how baggy....
Oh wait, you weren't asking why I feel like asking this question every October. Sorry.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:03 PM on October 24, 2010
Oh wait, you weren't asking why I feel like asking this question every October. Sorry.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:03 PM on October 24, 2010
I enjoy the rush of winter because I am secure in the knowledge that everyone else is as miserable as I am in this sunless netherworld.
posted by The Whelk at 9:14 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 9:14 PM on October 24, 2010
It's like The Ant and the Grasshopper; fall comes and brings a bunker mentality of preparing for the cold, stocking up, getting into a routine. Grasshopper people realize they don't quite have all their shit as together as they need to, so these questions come up more.
BTW all of these slavish, time-consuming eating processes go away when you get your own Futurama nutrient vat. Do you run your body or does it run you? Wake up sheeple! GOOGLE H2OGFAT
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:14 PM on October 24, 2010
BTW all of these slavish, time-consuming eating processes go away when you get your own Futurama nutrient vat. Do you run your body or does it run you? Wake up sheeple! GOOGLE H2OGFAT
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:14 PM on October 24, 2010
Oh sure the ants looks organized and ontop of things, but they're just randomly reacting to the number of responses in a day in a mass panic swarm devoid of meaning or purpose. At lease the grasshoppers get to sing a few songs.
Fucking ants.
Fants.
posted by The Whelk at 9:18 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
Fucking ants.
Fants.
posted by The Whelk at 9:18 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
Tough talk for someone banned from the human chessboard.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:22 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:22 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Somethings are more important then games.
Did you remember to Checkmate?
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:03 PM on October 24, 2010
Did you remember to Checkmate?
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:03 PM on October 24, 2010
The probability of there being something that, upon casual inspection, looks like a statistical anomaly in a given data set is 1.
posted by 256 at 10:17 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by 256 at 10:17 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I totally understand why someone might want something like this.
It isn't, for me, to do with disliking food. It's not even about not wanting to cook, although I wish it weren't so time consuming.
But when I am in the middle of a really intense project, especially if there is a deadline looming, what I want more than anything is one of those cans of FOOD from Repo Man. And I won't even put it on a plate. If someone could just open that for me, stick a spoon in it, and set it on the corner of the table that would be awesome, thanks. Yeah, just set it anywhere there's a relatively clear spot - here let me throw some things on the floor.
Also bring me a beer while you're up. You're the best.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
It isn't, for me, to do with disliking food. It's not even about not wanting to cook, although I wish it weren't so time consuming.
But when I am in the middle of a really intense project, especially if there is a deadline looming, what I want more than anything is one of those cans of FOOD from Repo Man. And I won't even put it on a plate. If someone could just open that for me, stick a spoon in it, and set it on the corner of the table that would be awesome, thanks. Yeah, just set it anywhere there's a relatively clear spot - here let me throw some things on the floor.
Also bring me a beer while you're up. You're the best.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
AmbroseChapel: "> Man, the people asking these questions must have hated MetaTalk circa 4 months ago.
Can you explain that? Am I asking a meta-question that's also a recurring thing"
It's a reference to the longstanding tradition of every callout thread on MeTA devolving into a recipe exchange, up until a few months ago when the mods started telling people to knock it off with the recipes. (People were deliberately invoking pancakes to shut down discussions.)
posted by the latin mouse at 11:44 PM on October 24, 2010
Can you explain that? Am I asking a meta-question that's also a recurring thing"
It's a reference to the longstanding tradition of every callout thread on MeTA devolving into a recipe exchange, up until a few months ago when the mods started telling people to knock it off with the recipes. (People were deliberately invoking pancakes to shut down discussions.)
posted by the latin mouse at 11:44 PM on October 24, 2010
The October thing is totally not important.
As UbuRoivas pointed out above, this is a version of the birthday coincidence problem. That is, it's a not actually that unlikely occurrence. See his link, or if you'd like a different approach (with pre-written mathematica notebook!) see this MathWorld link.
I ran that for the setup in question (12 months, 8 data points, 3 in the same month). The probability that three of the data points will share the same month is 181147/663552 or 0.272996. In other words, just over a quarter of the time, if you take 8 data points, 3 will be in the same month.
(If you make it 9 data points, 3 are in the same month 37.2986% of the time).
posted by nat at 12:45 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
As UbuRoivas pointed out above, this is a version of the birthday coincidence problem. That is, it's a not actually that unlikely occurrence. See his link, or if you'd like a different approach (with pre-written mathematica notebook!) see this MathWorld link.
I ran that for the setup in question (12 months, 8 data points, 3 in the same month). The probability that three of the data points will share the same month is 181147/663552 or 0.272996. In other words, just over a quarter of the time, if you take 8 data points, 3 will be in the same month.
(If you make it 9 data points, 3 are in the same month 37.2986% of the time).
posted by nat at 12:45 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would like to see some citations for that highly rated comment about lack of variety leading to food intolerances. Someone else would say that I eat *very* non-varietaly and have done so for years, but I have 0 food intolerances (when eating out or at someone else's house, say).
And kids, mine not excepted, are notoriously parsimonious with food variety yet rarely (in the overall population) develop allergies. (We have one who seems to be slightly allergic to apple skins, but since he loves apples it can't be because of lack of exposure. Besides, it seems to be genetic.)
posted by DU at 3:02 AM on October 25, 2010
And kids, mine not excepted, are notoriously parsimonious with food variety yet rarely (in the overall population) develop allergies. (We have one who seems to be slightly allergic to apple skins, but since he loves apples it can't be because of lack of exposure. Besides, it seems to be genetic.)
posted by DU at 3:02 AM on October 25, 2010
My first thought was, in the Spring everything is new and fresh and green. In the Summer, everyone is active and outside and playing. The Winter is full of year-end festivals and family gatherings and living off what is stored away. Fall is the harvest season when we are all preparing and storing nuts food for the coming cold. What could be easier to prepare and store away than some version of Monkey Chow?
posted by Houstonian at 3:52 AM on October 25, 2010
posted by Houstonian at 3:52 AM on October 25, 2010
two words "soylent green"
posted by HuronBob at 4:32 AM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by HuronBob at 4:32 AM on October 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
The culinary version of this is stews and cassoulets and things of that nature. They still need to be made but only once and then stored and eaten over days and days. In fact, they often get better and better as the flavors of the ingredients mix together more.
Anyways, it is the closest thing we have to Bachelor chow in this household. Want dinner? Go to Fridge. Slop out some Lasagna/Cassoulet/Stew. Heat in microwave. Eat.
posted by vacapinta at 4:54 AM on October 25, 2010
Anyways, it is the closest thing we have to Bachelor chow in this household. Want dinner? Go to Fridge. Slop out some Lasagna/Cassoulet/Stew. Heat in microwave. Eat.
posted by vacapinta at 4:54 AM on October 25, 2010
And kids, mine not excepted, are notoriously parsimonious with food variety yet rarely (in the overall population) develop allergies. (We have one who seems to be slightly allergic to apple skins, but since he loves apples it can't be because of lack of exposure. Besides, it seems to be genetic.)
That's interesting, I assumed that the argument was that the intolerances develop if you eat too much of a certain product, not because you do not get exposed to it (and like I said in the thread: I do not believe that it is as simple as that.).
posted by davar at 5:03 AM on October 25, 2010
Oh, you are right. It seems that comment was claiming that it was too much, not an insufficiency, of a food caused an allergy. That doesn't alter my comment about kids in general, although it destroys my apple example. On the other side, it significantly strengthens my personal anecdatum, since in the many years of me eating basically the same things I don't eat "outside" foods that often.
And from an evolutionary perspective, the claim doesn't make much sense. Wouldn't a lack of variety have meant that the person couldn't find much else? To then have the immune system destroy even that would be a significant disadvantage over a person who had a more permissive immune response to monotonous foodstuffs.
Anyway, the point is: [citation needed]
posted by DU at 5:11 AM on October 25, 2010
And from an evolutionary perspective, the claim doesn't make much sense. Wouldn't a lack of variety have meant that the person couldn't find much else? To then have the immune system destroy even that would be a significant disadvantage over a person who had a more permissive immune response to monotonous foodstuffs.
Anyway, the point is: [citation needed]
posted by DU at 5:11 AM on October 25, 2010
Anyways, it is the closest thing we have to Bachelor chow in this household. Want dinner? Go to Fridge. Slop out some Lasagna/Cassoulet/Stew. Heat in microwave. Eat.Want to get even nuttier? Make (or portion the food) in muffin tins, and then freeze. Once frozen, pop the single-portions into freezer bags. Then you can just go to the freezer, pick from your assorted meal-pucks, heat in microwave, eat.
posted by Karmakaze at 5:30 AM on October 25, 2010 [6 favorites]
Glad to see someone else is on the Grasshopper's side. Thanks, the Whelk. Why yes the world does owe me a living, thanks for asking
posted by jtron at 6:27 AM on October 25, 2010
posted by jtron at 6:27 AM on October 25, 2010
I was recently charmed when I ran across some information on seasonal food suggestions in Chinese traditional medicine. I love theme food!
The seasonal roster for fall is basically a lot of stuff which is in season this time of year (nuts, seeds, root vegetables) plus the flavor "sour." I have been amusing myself by making a point out of eating sour things. Grapefruit juice, pomegranate juice, pickles, etc.
posted by ErikaB at 8:12 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
The seasonal roster for fall is basically a lot of stuff which is in season this time of year (nuts, seeds, root vegetables) plus the flavor "sour." I have been amusing myself by making a point out of eating sour things. Grapefruit juice, pomegranate juice, pickles, etc.
posted by ErikaB at 8:12 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Have a lot of people flagged this question as a double post?
posted by box at 9:55 AM on October 25, 2010
posted by box at 9:55 AM on October 25, 2010
i'm fascinated by this. i posted one of the variations of this question years ago.
my life is so different now from what it was when i posted my version of this question.
when i asked this i was depressed, tired of everything, and emotionally exhausted. i just wanted to get through my days with a minimum of interaction. i didn't want to create anything, i didn't want to be inspired to try new things, and i certainly didn't want to learn and grow. i wanted to make it through today and get to tomorrow, because tomorrow seemed like it might just have to be better than today and if i do that enough i'll get on the other side of this but right now GAH.
etc.
i made it to the other side of that, married a talented & beautiful mefite, and now her culinary talents have inspired me to try (and to try making) all sorts of things i never would have experienced on my own. we hash out modifications to ideas we see online, we shop with lists to make sure we get each and every little what-have-you that tonight's (and tomorrow's) inspiration requires, we repurpose and we retool and we explore.
there are certainly days where we say "fuck it, mac and cheese", but not having that be the default answer helps it feel less like defeat and more like comfort food when it does happen and either way i'm not wishing i could just swallow and be done with nourishment anymore.
i certainly don't mean to suggest that everyone who craves a food pill is somehow depressed or broken, but i was. the October convergence might be related, as well, as people start gearing up for the onset of seasonal depression. it might be related to the fact that this is the time of year that fresh produce starts looking sad and tired. it's probably a combination of all of that.
i'm no whiz in the kitchen by any stretch but i can make more now than i could before and i can toss out "oooh, what if we did this..." ideas. it's enough to make me want to keep moving forward, to keep learning and to keep being inspired.
i don't want a food pill anymore. i look forward to dinner, whether i'm cooking it or chattering at my wife while chopping things for her. i look forward to those moments shortly after we start where we look back and forth at each other amazed by the tastiness and by the brainstorming that inevitably follows trying something new. "next time, we should... i think the ____ is too _____, let's..."
i enjoy being inspired again. i enjoy experiencing new things. i enjoy thinking and deciding and considering, and i enjoy eating the finished results.
thank you, metafilter, for reminding me of how it used to be and for reminding me again how much better today is.
posted by radiosilents at 12:26 PM on October 25, 2010 [8 favorites]
my life is so different now from what it was when i posted my version of this question.
when i asked this i was depressed, tired of everything, and emotionally exhausted. i just wanted to get through my days with a minimum of interaction. i didn't want to create anything, i didn't want to be inspired to try new things, and i certainly didn't want to learn and grow. i wanted to make it through today and get to tomorrow, because tomorrow seemed like it might just have to be better than today and if i do that enough i'll get on the other side of this but right now GAH.
etc.
i made it to the other side of that, married a talented & beautiful mefite, and now her culinary talents have inspired me to try (and to try making) all sorts of things i never would have experienced on my own. we hash out modifications to ideas we see online, we shop with lists to make sure we get each and every little what-have-you that tonight's (and tomorrow's) inspiration requires, we repurpose and we retool and we explore.
there are certainly days where we say "fuck it, mac and cheese", but not having that be the default answer helps it feel less like defeat and more like comfort food when it does happen and either way i'm not wishing i could just swallow and be done with nourishment anymore.
i certainly don't mean to suggest that everyone who craves a food pill is somehow depressed or broken, but i was. the October convergence might be related, as well, as people start gearing up for the onset of seasonal depression. it might be related to the fact that this is the time of year that fresh produce starts looking sad and tired. it's probably a combination of all of that.
i'm no whiz in the kitchen by any stretch but i can make more now than i could before and i can toss out "oooh, what if we did this..." ideas. it's enough to make me want to keep moving forward, to keep learning and to keep being inspired.
i don't want a food pill anymore. i look forward to dinner, whether i'm cooking it or chattering at my wife while chopping things for her. i look forward to those moments shortly after we start where we look back and forth at each other amazed by the tastiness and by the brainstorming that inevitably follows trying something new. "next time, we should... i think the ____ is too _____, let's..."
i enjoy being inspired again. i enjoy experiencing new things. i enjoy thinking and deciding and considering, and i enjoy eating the finished results.
thank you, metafilter, for reminding me of how it used to be and for reminding me again how much better today is.
posted by radiosilents at 12:26 PM on October 25, 2010 [8 favorites]
I like to think he's that guy from Savage Love who wanted his dom to make him bland, flavorless, but nutritious food so that he would take no pleasure from eating but stay alive and healthy.
Dan's reply? Vegan restaurant.
posted by MuppetNavy at 12:39 PM on October 25, 2010 [5 favorites]
Dan's reply? Vegan restaurant.
posted by MuppetNavy at 12:39 PM on October 25, 2010 [5 favorites]
Speaking of which, I always imagined Bachelor Chow as being the stuff they put inside Taco Bell's cheap burritos. Just this low-flavor goop that's oddly appealing when you're drunk, stoned, or too broke for proper food.
posted by MuppetNavy at 12:40 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by MuppetNavy at 12:40 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I kind of get the impulse to reduce food to a more simple function, maybe some kind of food bar that would have all the essential nutrients, fiber, etc., require no cooking at all (but be microwaveable in case I wanted something warm) and go well with coffee. When I think of it, I think of the generic "food" that Emilio Estevez's character in Repo Man, straight out of the can, as well as the food described by Arthur C. Clarke in his novel of 2001 (a bit different from the book), in which Bowman eats some of the stuff in his hotel suite; although it comes in different packages (created by the aliens/Monolith/whatever from images seen in TV ads), it's all the same--this sort of blue, crumbly stuff with a taste that's evocative of a number of different types of food without tasting like anything in particular.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:37 PM on October 25, 2010
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:37 PM on October 25, 2010
Eh, that should be "eats straight out of the can."
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:37 PM on October 25, 2010
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:37 PM on October 25, 2010
> when i asked this i was depressed, tired of everything, and emotionally exhausted. i just wanted to get through my days with a minimum of interaction. i didn't want to create anything, i didn't want to be inspired to try new things, and i certainly didn't want to learn and grow.
Very interesting. So now even the Classic AskMe Generic Food Question can be placed in the category "get therapy".
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:58 PM on October 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
Very interesting. So now even the Classic AskMe Generic Food Question can be placed in the category "get therapy".
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:58 PM on October 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
Possibly. The concept of all-purpose nutritional chow could arguably fall into a form of orthorexia, and might indeed be a way of trying to exercise some kind of almost obsessive planning & control, in response to a general feeling of being overwhelmed in life.
Contrast that with what radiosilents wrote - that whole idea of the fun of cooking & eating; exploring & experimenting, seemingly without end. It's so much better & more fulfilling.
Over here, it's very rare that we cook the same dish twice even twice in a year, no matter how well it turned out. Last night's dinner was a Moroccan lamb stew (inspired by a discussion of halal & kosher buthery) with pumpkin, chickpeas, harissa & preserved lemon (as well as mint & parsley straight from the garden) on couscous with sultanas, and no matter how much I want to eat it again, there's another recipe just waiting to be made next...yesterday I saw one for mackerel ceviche with avocado & ruby red grapefruit, for example, which is only waiting for the next trip to the fish markets.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:20 PM on October 25, 2010
Contrast that with what radiosilents wrote - that whole idea of the fun of cooking & eating; exploring & experimenting, seemingly without end. It's so much better & more fulfilling.
Over here, it's very rare that we cook the same dish twice even twice in a year, no matter how well it turned out. Last night's dinner was a Moroccan lamb stew (inspired by a discussion of halal & kosher buthery) with pumpkin, chickpeas, harissa & preserved lemon (as well as mint & parsley straight from the garden) on couscous with sultanas, and no matter how much I want to eat it again, there's another recipe just waiting to be made next...yesterday I saw one for mackerel ceviche with avocado & ruby red grapefruit, for example, which is only waiting for the next trip to the fish markets.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:20 PM on October 25, 2010
I kinda want this, too, but I want it to taste and have the texture of a chocolate chip cookie.
posted by maxwelton at 6:21 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 6:21 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
buthery = butchery, not some kind of buttery goodness.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:22 PM on October 25, 2010
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:22 PM on October 25, 2010
i am the poster of that thread and i myself was not surprised to see that many had asked the questions before me. i just had no idea how someone else would have phrased the question, hence my fruitless search before posting it.
and funnily enough i am an engineering student.
posted by triceryclops at 5:12 AM on October 27, 2010
and funnily enough i am an engineering student.
posted by triceryclops at 5:12 AM on October 27, 2010
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posted by The Whelk at 5:42 PM on October 24, 2010