Mixed bag August 24, 2004 7:42 AM Subscribe
Multiple Metatalk things. Your amaglyda and why politics on MetaFilter achieves nothing, outsourcing Ponies and a free meal at Wagammama. (more inside >>)
I eagerly await the study that says conservatives are made of snips, snails, and puppy dog tails, while liberals are composed of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
posted by darukaru at 8:22 AM on August 24, 2004
posted by darukaru at 8:22 AM on August 24, 2004
My amygdala was stripped in order to activate my psychic powers.
posted by tetsuo at 8:41 AM on August 24, 2004
posted by tetsuo at 8:41 AM on August 24, 2004
Alternately:
Left-wingers drive like this, and right-wingers drive like this.
posted by darukaru at 9:32 AM on August 24, 2004
Left-wingers drive like this, and right-wingers drive like this.
posted by darukaru at 9:32 AM on August 24, 2004
Am I the only person who finds it amazing that there may be a physiological component to your political belief system. That the reason we can't understand people with opposing political views may be for the same sort of reasons that (for example) dogs can't get the finer nuances of color coordination. If proven. this sort of research shows that most political debate is useless and the fundemental principles we use to develop our moral beliefs are not only different but hard-wired.
Personally, I think it's astonishing.
In fact I don't know why I couched it in a metatalk context instead of posting it to the blue.
on preview - pretty, and witty ... and gay.
posted by seanyboy at 9:55 AM on August 24, 2004
Personally, I think it's astonishing.
In fact I don't know why I couched it in a metatalk context instead of posting it to the blue.
on preview - pretty, and witty ... and gay.
posted by seanyboy at 9:55 AM on August 24, 2004
if that coupon's good til 9/15, send it to me (more on that later) : >
posted by amberglow at 11:12 AM on August 24, 2004
posted by amberglow at 11:12 AM on August 24, 2004
On the last point, there are huge overheads to working with outsourcers, you need a lot of work of a fairly consistent nature to give them to make it worth the startup and communication overheads. MeFi is not a technically very complex site as such things go (having written a few with roughly the same technical scope I know more or less of what I speak.) If I'm not mistaken, there are experienced MeFi users who understand the issues already who have volunteered to help for free. Some subset of them are probably technically up to the task. So if Matt were to farm out work, it would be a lot cheaper and a more efficient use of his time to take advantage of the community than to send it to India.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:35 AM on August 24, 2004
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:35 AM on August 24, 2004
I think I just overloaded my amaglyda just trying to decipher this post. There's blood coming from my ears and I'm having sexy thoughts about Ann Coulter. Please call 911 and have them come to the corner of MeFi and WendellWit.com, and bring something to clean up all this everloving shit. And a pony.
posted by wendell at 12:34 PM on August 24, 2004
posted by wendell at 12:34 PM on August 24, 2004
I'm having sexy thoughts about everloving shit. And a pony.
posted by mr.marx at 12:42 PM on August 24, 2004
posted by mr.marx at 12:42 PM on August 24, 2004
But..but..does the amygdala ever change in size over time?
What about all those who cross the floor [of the House of Commons] - similar to, say, the neocons moving rightwards from the Dems to the Reps.
I dare say that Mefites listen to the argumentsa nd change their minds on some issues, don't they?
Amber: you visiting the smoke soon then? Give us enough time to organise a meetup!
posted by dash_slot- at 3:22 PM on August 24, 2004
What about all those who cross the floor [of the House of Commons] - similar to, say, the neocons moving rightwards from the Dems to the Reps.
I dare say that Mefites listen to the argumentsa nd change their minds on some issues, don't they?
Amber: you visiting the smoke soon then? Give us enough time to organise a meetup!
posted by dash_slot- at 3:22 PM on August 24, 2004
Damn those shitty snips! Now I can't get them out of my amaglyda. Snitty ships of Wagammama.
Wait. Didn't Lewis Carroll write a poem about that?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:42 PM on August 24, 2004
Wait. Didn't Lewis Carroll write a poem about that?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:42 PM on August 24, 2004
I'm coming--get ready : > (9/8-15--i'll post for a meetup closer to then)
posted by amberglow at 3:54 PM on August 24, 2004
posted by amberglow at 3:54 PM on August 24, 2004
jeez - what's confusing here. Three points, completely unrelated, all of them unworthy of a post, but possibly worth putting together into some kind of roundup.
posted by seanyboy at 4:42 PM on August 24, 2004
posted by seanyboy at 4:42 PM on August 24, 2004
What's confusing here?
posted by majick at 4:54 PM on August 24, 2004
- All three points are incoherent, unrelated, random, and not worth discussing
- Three wrongs don't make a right
- Due to drunken presentation, nobody can tell what the fuck you're saying.
posted by majick at 4:54 PM on August 24, 2004
Miguel, are you drunk?
stonerose, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the post. Thanks for a good laugh.
seanyboy, are you planning to duel EB for the honor of being the Next Miguel?
posted by languagehat at 5:08 PM on August 24, 2004
stonerose, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the post. Thanks for a good laugh.
seanyboy, are you planning to duel EB for the honor of being the Next Miguel?
posted by languagehat at 5:08 PM on August 24, 2004
i think someone's been 'visiting the smoke'.
posted by Miles Long at 5:25 PM on August 24, 2004
posted by Miles Long at 5:25 PM on August 24, 2004
Three wrongs don't make a right
But three rights make a left.
[/Steven Wright]
posted by wendell at 5:31 PM on August 24, 2004
But three rights make a left.
[/Steven Wright]
posted by wendell at 5:31 PM on August 24, 2004
seanyboy, are you planning to duel EB for the honor of being the Next Miguel?
Remove your Laphroaig-stained thieving pincers from my trademark, languagehat. The Next Miguel (working motto: "Just when you thought you knew what annoyance was...") is currently in the last stages of preparation and will be produced, as usual, in its highly specialized Lisbon laboratories.
It should be unveiled come October. Funereal Bore has been employed on a temporary basis only, to dull the senses and incapacitate the rhetorical immune system, so that the upcoming onslaught will have maximum effect.
I am, at this juncture, only allowed to divulge it will involve massive doses of stilted pachanga, leavened by the odd tincture of badly executed guaracha. Some hula-hooping (but no promises) and puréed poutine with Georgian champagne in a Soviet era toothbrush mug can also be stupidly expected.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:58 PM on August 24, 2004
Remove your Laphroaig-stained thieving pincers from my trademark, languagehat. The Next Miguel (working motto: "Just when you thought you knew what annoyance was...") is currently in the last stages of preparation and will be produced, as usual, in its highly specialized Lisbon laboratories.
It should be unveiled come October. Funereal Bore has been employed on a temporary basis only, to dull the senses and incapacitate the rhetorical immune system, so that the upcoming onslaught will have maximum effect.
I am, at this juncture, only allowed to divulge it will involve massive doses of stilted pachanga, leavened by the odd tincture of badly executed guaracha. Some hula-hooping (but no promises) and puréed poutine with Georgian champagne in a Soviet era toothbrush mug can also be stupidly expected.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:58 PM on August 24, 2004
I like this thread. I'm pretty sure I'll find my moss-covered, three-handled family gredunza in here somewhere.
posted by Shane at 6:30 AM on August 25, 2004
posted by Shane at 6:30 AM on August 25, 2004
Isn't it funny how black guys have names like Carl, while white guys have names like Lenny?
posted by tr33hggr at 8:41 AM on August 25, 2004
posted by tr33hggr at 8:41 AM on August 25, 2004
I'm assuming amberglow got the Wagammama freebie but if not I'll go for second dibs. Actually, is there anything to stop you mailing (ahem) more than one copy?
posted by carter at 8:57 AM on August 25, 2004
posted by carter at 8:57 AM on August 25, 2004
seanyboy, I just wanted to let you know that I too am fascinated by the amygdala story. And I would have thanked you for pointing it out to be, had I not already found it on my own.
You're getting made fun of here, because you posted something on the gray that belongs on the blue -- and because your post was confusing and unorganized.
I like well-organized posts, and I like things to go where they belong, but I like interesting ideas and conversation even more.
But I think I'm part of a VERY small minority here (a minority of one?). If I bought a book about Victorian England and discovered, halfway through, a chapter about Saturn's Moons, I'd be a little weirded out for a while, but if the moon chapter was really interesting, I'd be glad I read it.
But there are many people here who, I sometimes think, would throw away a $20 bill if they found it in the part of their billfold where $1 bills were supposed to me.
Matt, who owns this site, seems to be in favor of strong organization, too. And I don't fault him for it. To each his own. But that IS the flavor of the site, like it or not.
In any case, it's really cool to find that one's political persuasion might be localized to a brain region. I was totally surprised, since all thoughts and isms obviously come from the brain. But it's neat that they may have been able to pin it down.
Usually, in cases like this, they can find someone with damage to the specific part of the brain. I was suprised that wasn't mentioned in the article. Have there ever been people who have switched their party allegiance after damage to the amygdala?
On a practical basis, I doubt -- even if people accepted a biological basis of for political ideology -- the world would change in any noticeable way. Maybe we're programmed to be democrats or republicans, but I suspect we're also programmed to fight with the other side.
On a personal level, I find it interesting that I don't have any strong political bias. I'm not a member of either party, and I have friends on both sides. I DO have some strong opinions on particular issues, but I am pretty good at understanding the other side -- sympathizing with it even if I don't agree with it. So what does that mean? Do I have a huge amygdala? No amygdala at all?
posted by grumblebee at 12:58 PM on August 25, 2004
You're getting made fun of here, because you posted something on the gray that belongs on the blue -- and because your post was confusing and unorganized.
I like well-organized posts, and I like things to go where they belong, but I like interesting ideas and conversation even more.
But I think I'm part of a VERY small minority here (a minority of one?). If I bought a book about Victorian England and discovered, halfway through, a chapter about Saturn's Moons, I'd be a little weirded out for a while, but if the moon chapter was really interesting, I'd be glad I read it.
But there are many people here who, I sometimes think, would throw away a $20 bill if they found it in the part of their billfold where $1 bills were supposed to me.
Matt, who owns this site, seems to be in favor of strong organization, too. And I don't fault him for it. To each his own. But that IS the flavor of the site, like it or not.
In any case, it's really cool to find that one's political persuasion might be localized to a brain region. I was totally surprised, since all thoughts and isms obviously come from the brain. But it's neat that they may have been able to pin it down.
Usually, in cases like this, they can find someone with damage to the specific part of the brain. I was suprised that wasn't mentioned in the article. Have there ever been people who have switched their party allegiance after damage to the amygdala?
On a practical basis, I doubt -- even if people accepted a biological basis of for political ideology -- the world would change in any noticeable way. Maybe we're programmed to be democrats or republicans, but I suspect we're also programmed to fight with the other side.
On a personal level, I find it interesting that I don't have any strong political bias. I'm not a member of either party, and I have friends on both sides. I DO have some strong opinions on particular issues, but I am pretty good at understanding the other side -- sympathizing with it even if I don't agree with it. So what does that mean? Do I have a huge amygdala? No amygdala at all?
posted by grumblebee at 12:58 PM on August 25, 2004
Oh, and I LOVE Wagammama. I wish we had it in NYC.
posted by grumblebee at 12:59 PM on August 25, 2004
posted by grumblebee at 12:59 PM on August 25, 2004
I fucked up the Wagammama freebie. 2 days after downloading the coupon bitmap and closing the page, I discovered they'd used some freaky bitmap hiding juju, and what I had was useless. Stupid of me considering that (a) I knew at the time that I could print to PDF or screenprint the thing and (b) I should have checked what I'd downloaded before closing my page & then offering it out to people.
Live & learn.
posted by seanyboy at 1:52 PM on August 25, 2004
Live & learn.
posted by seanyboy at 1:52 PM on August 25, 2004
it's really cool to find that one's political persuasion might be localized to a brain region.
No. It isn't. The first step in dehumanizing your opposition is to claim that they are somehow intrinsically different from you.
posted by darukaru at 3:41 PM on August 25, 2004
No. It isn't. The first step in dehumanizing your opposition is to claim that they are somehow intrinsically different from you.
posted by darukaru at 3:41 PM on August 25, 2004
The science is cool, but the potential for it to be exploited is not so cool. Sort of like fission.
posted by seanyboy at 3:53 PM on August 25, 2004
posted by seanyboy at 3:53 PM on August 25, 2004
But how does this amygdala thing work in the majority of the world that has more than two political parties? And for the fact that there isn't a simple one dimesional spectrum, but many different ways of splitting up political ideas (political compass has just two of many).
This would definately have been a good blue post - but also, I guess that perhaps you were hoping people would discuss the rather gaping divide in metafilter itself. I blame the internet. It lets people exagerate and become overly heated to each other because they cannot see the other person, and loose the ways we have of disagreeing politely when you still have to face the person everyday. If everyone posted like they would speak to someone who has invited them for tea and disussion, then maybe the internet would be a very different place.
posted by jb at 6:22 PM on August 25, 2004
This would definately have been a good blue post - but also, I guess that perhaps you were hoping people would discuss the rather gaping divide in metafilter itself. I blame the internet. It lets people exagerate and become overly heated to each other because they cannot see the other person, and loose the ways we have of disagreeing politely when you still have to face the person everyday. If everyone posted like they would speak to someone who has invited them for tea and disussion, then maybe the internet would be a very different place.
posted by jb at 6:22 PM on August 25, 2004
I think it's worth a metafilter post too, if there's other links to go with it.
posted by carter at 10:58 PM on August 25, 2004
posted by carter at 10:58 PM on August 25, 2004
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Secondly, This article at NYT (reg:req) discusses how your political viewpoint may be affected by the size of your amygdala. The bigger it is, the more likely you are to be of a liberal persuasion. It's offered me a new insight into the huge differences in opinion between people who (to me) seem just as smart as
each other. (via slashdot). Do we finally have a reason to stop the madness.
Finally, with all this talk on MeFi about a developer outsourcing development to India, I wondered if our time-poor leader could ever consider doing this. Our ponies may never be cheaper
posted by seanyboy at 7:47 AM on August 24, 2004