TeaMusic's recent activity
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Comment on 23andMe’s fall from $6 billion to nearly $0 in ~finance
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Comment on Thoughts on anti-Zionism? in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentMy understanding is that genetic evidence indicates that both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims have ancestors who were Canaanites, for what it's worth. Relevant ArticleMy understanding is that genetic evidence indicates that both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims have ancestors who were Canaanites, for what it's worth.
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Comment on Thoughts on anti-Zionism? in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentMy understanding is that people who convert to Judaism can become Israeli citizens.I can't convert to Judaism and become a Israeli citizen
My understanding is that people who convert to Judaism can become Israeli citizens.
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Comment on Ohio embraced the ‘science of reading.’ Now a popular reading program is suing. in ~books
TeaMusic Link ParentSimilar story here. In kindergarden we did sight words but no phonics and I couldn't really read. Then in the first grade my school was extremely phonics heavy and it "clicked" for me practically...With phonics I learned to read so quickly that I honestly don’t remember learning to read
Similar story here. In kindergarden we did sight words but no phonics and I couldn't really read. Then in the first grade my school was extremely phonics heavy and it "clicked" for me practically overnight and from then on I was advanced for my age in reading.
I've never taught reading but I used to teach piano and had a lot of k-2 students so I was able to observe as their reading skills developed and it was very common for them to very quickly go from being unable to read altogether to being quite fluent in it.
I do remember a few students who struggled, too, and it always shocked me when they would straight up guess at words rather than "sound it out" like I was taught as a child. I thought it was some bizarre "silly kid" thing at the time lol but I guess I now know where that habit comes from.
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Comment on An invasion of Gaza would be a disaster for Israel in ~society
TeaMusic Link ParentThis implies that Palestine itself is not antisemitic and potentially genocidal against Jews. They voted for Hamas, which states clearly in its 1988 charter that its intention is to destroy Israel.The real problem in my view is that the Palestinians have been chosen as a scapegoat (the irony of that word is not lost on me) for European sins and European antisemitism.
This implies that Palestine itself is not antisemitic and potentially genocidal against Jews. They voted for Hamas, which states clearly in its 1988 charter that its intention is to destroy Israel.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~news
TeaMusic Link ParentThis is exactly how I feel. For reference, I'm an American Jew and I know a lot of other Jews (NYC-area), and same. To be fair, I haven't discussed Israel with anyone who is ultra-orthodox, and...I think the most important thing to remember is that there's no need to pick a side. Far be it from me to enter the role of an 'enlightened centrist' but things are really complex and nuanced and both sides can be bad at the same time
This is exactly how I feel.
This is anecdotal but according to another friend who is half Israeli, she doesn't know even a single person of Jewish descent (or part of the diaspora here in Denmark) that see it so black and white as that.
For reference, I'm an American Jew and I know a lot of other Jews (NYC-area), and same. To be fair, I haven't discussed Israel with anyone who is ultra-orthodox, and they tend to be quite right-wing, but they are also a small minority of us Jews.
It's tough, though-- even though I myself am a leftist, I hear some leftists say things like "Ashkenazi Jews are evil." I'm not exaggerating-- that is a direct quote, as if I and my family and many friends (Ashkenazis who were born in the US, have never left the US, and have nothing to do with Israel) have anything to do with any of the bad shit that has happened to Palestinians. The only reason I even started paying attention to Israel to begin with is because people started hating me because of it and I figured I might as well learn what all the shit was about.
Of course, any time I call someone out for being antisemitic, they claim "being critical of Israel is not antisemitic," totally missing the fact that they're blaming an entire ethnoreligious group for the actions of a few.
It just gets so tiring. I'm sick of this stupid conflict that has nothing to do with me that I keep getting blamed for. I'm sick of hearing "Jews are Nazis." I'm a leftist because I believe (among many other things) that people shouldn't be judged by their ethnicity. How do these "leftists" not see that they're actively scapegoating Jews?
Of course, not all leftists are like this (if they were I wouldn't be one). But I am so saddened by all the hate towards Jews I regularly see in leftist spaces, and I'm someone who agrees that many of Israel's actions aren't appropriate.
Sorry to go off-- I just needed to get this off my chest. In general it seems antisemitism in the US has risen dramatically on both the right (with literal, self-identified nazis) and on the left (where we get blamed for everything Israel does). I'm mean, after 2001, leftists were good about calling out anyone claiming that Muslims are terrorists. Why don't Jews get the same support?
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~news
TeaMusic Link ParentI agree with everything you said except this. I personally highly doubt most "free Palestine" types are seeing these videos (morbid curiosity even got the better of me and I asked someone on...they are going to lose any and all goodwill from activists in the west who would otherwise chant "free Palestine". I mean for fuck's sake there is a video out there featuring Hamas militants sitting in a truckbed with a half-naked dead Israeli woman's body next to them, and they are parading it around the streets as though it is some kind of victory.
I agree with everything you said except this. I personally highly doubt most "free Palestine" types are seeing these videos (morbid curiosity even got the better of me and I asked someone on reddit for links and he said they had been taken down). As someone who mostly sticks to leftist spaces on the internet, I can vouch for the fact that all of the I/P videos I see floating around are of Israelis treating Palestinians badly and never of what Palestinian terrorists are up to. I'm aware enough of context to know that the terrorism problem is a real and legitimate concern that Israel has to contend with, but if I were less educated and all I knew about the conflict was from social media, I'd believe (as many leftists do) that Israel is a genocidal state and that any and all retaliation by Palestinians is justified.
I absolutely do not believe that Hamas's actions are justified, but I 100% believe that a relatively large subgroup of leftists believe this and are if anything happy to see Hamas attack Israel.
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Comment on We're all living on r/MadeMeSmile's Internet Now in ~tech
TeaMusic Link ParentI'm not sure I buy that reddit has a "singular" ideology. I mean, it's clear that many subreddits do, but reddit as a whole in my experience has a collection of viewpoints from all across the...after years of watching Reddit slowly diverge into having a singular viewpoint/ideology.
I'm not sure I buy that reddit has a "singular" ideology. I mean, it's clear that many subreddits do, but reddit as a whole in my experience has a collection of viewpoints from all across the spectrum-- you just often won't see all these viewpoints within a single subreddit.
I came across a post on reddit yesterday about the Israel/Palestine conflict and it was... not as bad as I expected it to be. There were a number of high-voted posts whose ideology clearly opposed the others but were nevertheless historically accurate.
I'm not saying it was great either, but it was an adequately respectful and informed discussion.
Tildes likes to shit on reddit (for obvious reasons) and I agree with most people here that reddit isn't what it used to be. At the same time, I very much tailor my subreddits to be ones I'm interested in and I use RedReader and not the shitty official app and my experience really hasn't been all that bad. Have I had to unsubscribe to some subreddits that were getting annoying? Yes. But overall I feel that good discussion is there if you look for it and just ignore all the shit.
I will say that Tildes is of a much higher quality and that I'd choose Tildes over reddit any day. Maybe I just don't mind filtering through shit as much as other people do?
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Comment on Culture, community and narratives: key elements of violent conspiracy theories in ~life
TeaMusic LinkI'm sad to see I'm the first to comment after two days-- I think conspiratorial thinking is an interesting topic to discuss. My normal interest is specifically with regards to the role of...I'm sad to see I'm the first to comment after two days-- I think conspiratorial thinking is an interesting topic to discuss.
My normal interest is specifically with regards to the role of antisemitism is conspiratorial thinking (of which there is a lot) but I think this focus on social structures is quite important.
My question, which the author fails to address, is if there is some element of "virtue signaling" when a conspiracy theorist acts out on their beliefs. Are acts of violence (or even nonviolent acts of protest) a way for these conspiracy theorists to signal commitment to the group? Would they still engage if it were not public? Do they do it for show? Or are they actually "true believers" committed to the cause?
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Comment on An effort to focus on long overlooked Roma suffering in the Holocaust in ~humanities.history
TeaMusic Link ParentI think this is important to consider. As an American, the closest comparison I can make to prejudice against Roma is antisemitism. My experience (as someone who identifies as Jewish) is that...I would just caution looking at the problem through the lens of, say, race relations in the US
I think this is important to consider. As an American, the closest comparison I can make to prejudice against Roma is antisemitism. My experience (as someone who identifies as Jewish) is that Americans tend not to understand or recognize antisemitism because it predates the founding of our country and exists outside of the neat framework within which race-relations and prejudice is typically discussed in the US. In many ways, the Roma people have a history that is similar to that of Jews, so I would not be surprised if there are some parallels (beyond the obvious "we were both targeted during the holocaust").
As someone who very much is not familiar with the Roma people and is viewing it through the "it looks kind of like antisemitism lens," I worry that alleviating poverty-related problems among the Roma people would not be enough to ease the prejudice. After all, as a whole we Jews have seen much success, and yet that just further "proves" we are "scheming swindlers." Seems that the swindler stereotype is applied to the Roma people as well, so my bet is it will persist even if they become as integrated into European communities as Jews have in American communities.
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Comment on Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge in ~tech
TeaMusic Link ParentBut don't modern IQ tests already explore multiple axes? Of course there may be axes that have yet to be explored, but my understanding is that modern IQ tests are already designed much the way...Basically, knowing that intelligence can't be reasonably compared as-is (because it's multi-axis - what do you do if I'm better with problem X, but worse with problem Y than you?) is to explore what these other axes are.
But don't modern IQ tests already explore multiple axes? Of course there may be axes that have yet to be explored, but my understanding is that modern IQ tests are already designed much the way you suggest we improve it.
For some background, see CHC Theory.
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Comment on Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge in ~tech
TeaMusic Link ParentMy issue is that I'm not sure I'm looking for a "techy" crowd. I'm not particularly interested in tech myself outside of ai/machine learning (as it relates to my background as a statistician). I...I know a lot of the techy crowd have moved to Lemmy instances
My issue is that I'm not sure I'm looking for a "techy" crowd. I'm not particularly interested in tech myself outside of ai/machine learning (as it relates to my background as a statistician).
I find that tildes is much more diverse than I would typically expect from such a niche website. I haven't been to Lemmy but do you find the same level of diversity (in interests) that you find here?
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Comment on Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge in ~tech
TeaMusic Link ParentSeveral years ago I came across a '90s style personal website belonging to some professor (a physicist, if I recall correctly) who made an argument that a fat-tailed distribution would better...Talking about which, I do wonder whether there's good justification for IQ's normal distribution.
Several years ago I came across a '90s style personal website belonging to some professor (a physicist, if I recall correctly) who made an argument that a fat-tailed distribution would better model for intelligence than a normal distribution. Unfortunately at the time I did not have the appropriate math background to understand his argument, but I would love if I could find the website again now that I do.
I find the whole notion and practice of creating quantitative models of intelligence to be extremely interesting, but unfortunately 99% of conversations on the internet about IQ are full of drivel. Aside from the fact that IQ seems to be a sensitive topic, very few people consider it from a statistician's perspective. People get into big arguments over whether or not IQ is "bullshit," but for me that's besides the point. After all, as they say, "all models are wrong; some models are useful." Is IQ useful? In some contexts, maybe. Can the current concept of IQ be improved? Probably. But when is it useful and how can it be improved? Those are questions worth asking.
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Comment on Do you believe the world is controlled by competing interests, or do you think there is a "power elite" that controls the world from the background? in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentConsidering the history of the word "cabal," I think it would be dishonest to not mention antisemitism any time the word comes up.I disagree that this has to arise whenever there is mention of "a cabal or conspiracy".
Considering the history of the word "cabal," I think it would be dishonest to not mention antisemitism any time the word comes up.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~transport
TeaMusic Link ParentYep, and small town people are much more likely to need to leave town than city people. I lived near NYC without a car for years, but I always knew that anything at all I needed I could find by...what you absolutely need a car for is any time you would want to leave the town
Yep, and small town people are much more likely to need to leave town than city people. I lived near NYC without a car for years, but I always knew that anything at all I needed I could find by hopping on a bus/train and going into the city.
Recently, my dad has had the misfortune of having uncommon health problems. While finding the appropriate resources for him, I realized how lucky we are to not be in a small town. Most small towns don't have medical specialists like cities do. What happens if you get sick? If you have a car, you can find somewhat who is out of town who is competent to treat your condition. If you have no car, chances are you're screwed.
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Comment on The false gospel of conversion therapy: "I went to sessions every week in high school. I came out as trans anyway." in ~lgbt
TeaMusic Link ParentAs someone who was one of those two kids-- I'm glad we made a difference! I was a senior in high school at the time and the girl that was crying was a junior, and in prior years I would have been...Two other kids came out and took the time to talk to me, to make sure I was all right and generally be supportive. It was like providence to me. I had felt so alone, and yet these two people reached out and made me feel like the world wasn't completely shit after all. I don't even know who they are
As someone who was one of those two kids-- I'm glad we made a difference! I was a senior in high school at the time and the girl that was crying was a junior, and in prior years I would have been too shy to go to help or too worried I'd get in trouble for running out of class after the girl but by senior year I had a "Fuck it" attitude so I went for it. I was worried she'd want to talk to one of her friends and not to me-- we knew each other but weren't particularly close. But she had always been very nice to me and never judged me for being "weird" like some kid did, and I wanted her to know that she deserved to be happy.
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Comment on Israeli cops accused of beating Palestinian detainee, branding him with Star of David in ~news
TeaMusic Link ParentI wish more people knew this and other contextual information about these awful incidents. Unfortunately, I've known people who use incidents like these as fuel for blaming Jews for the ills of...The police is currently run by an ultra-right major bigot who 90% of the people disagree with, but he is trying his damnedest to make the police into his own fascist army. In the process he is giving support to all sorts of racist, antidemocratic thuggish behavior from the cops.
I wish more people knew this and other contextual information about these awful incidents. Unfortunately, I've known people who use incidents like these as fuel for blaming Jews for the ills of the world. As an Ashkenazi American who is 100% against the current government of Israel but otherwise has no association with the country, I get nervous when posts about some shit happening in Israel pops up because it often devolves into antisemitism (as if most Jews have anything to do with the treatment of Palestinians-- I'm an American for fucks sake!)
Tildes is much more reasonable than reddit (as demonstrated in this thread) but on reddit I see some really disgusting comments whenever the topic of Israel comes up.
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Comment on What would you change about your past if you could? in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentYep, that's rough. I had a 17 year old that died a few months ago. We weren't initially planning on replacing him immediately, but his replacement literally showed up at our door about 3 weeks...Someone telling me to replace him, after 18 years together, hurt.
Yep, that's rough. I had a 17 year old that died a few months ago. We weren't initially planning on replacing him immediately, but his replacement literally showed up at our door about 3 weeks before my older cat's death needing urgent medical attention. He was 12 weeks old and alone and terrified and even though I really miss my older cat and don't believe in signs from the universe, I really feel like it was meant to be.
About 8 weeks after the older one passed, we adopted a 2 year old who had been stuck in the shelter his entire life. My kitten is very skittish around humans because he started out as a feral (although he's lovely towards us it took a while) but he loves other cats. 2 year old was overweight and stuck in a cage most of the day for most of his life but now he's starting to hit his healthy weight after a few months of running around playing with kitten.
I love kitten and 2 year old, and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but I have to admit they're just not the same. I find myself wishing they meowed more often like my old cat or cuddled more like my old cat but that's just not them. My old cat was extremely attached to us while these two are very independent. Don't get me wrong-- they're both very friendly and if you catch them in the right moments they're the most loving cats around-- but... I just kind of want my old cat back.
I hate to admit this, but I have considered adopting a siamese or siamese/domestic mix (they often have personalities like my old cat and also siamese mixes are beautiful imo) partially because I still want a pet with that big personality my old cat had. And to be honest, I think my two cats-- especially the kitten-- would love having another buddy around (we have a ~10 year old feral who shows up that my kitten adores-- when the feral comes to the door they rub faces and then kitten grooms him and they both purr and it's just precious).
Anyway, I don't know how much of a bad idea it is to adopt another, and I'm only half seriously considering it, but I'm keeping my eyes open at shelter postings just in case the "perfect" cat pops up.
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Comment on Meet Your Tildes Neighbour: August 2023 Edition in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentI'm in the same boat as you and @zeph456. Unfortunately I'm writing a thesis and keep getting pulled into all sorts of cool rabbit holes of research I want to be doing rather than staying on task...I am the same (also ADHD) but this specifically has never really caused issues. I mean, I try to structure my life in a way that makes it so it doesn't result in a problem.
I'm in the same boat as you and @zeph456. Unfortunately I'm writing a thesis and keep getting pulled into all sorts of cool rabbit holes of research I want to be doing rather than staying on task and writing up the results of research I already did. I have loose ends to tie up in my research too that I just never get around to. I absolutely love doing research, but actually wrapping it up is a skill in itself imo.
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Comment on Meet Your Tildes Neighbour: August 2023 Edition in ~talk
TeaMusic Link ParentI mean really, is there anything you can't do with rice? Honestly, my answer is pretty close to yours, but with my "broad" category being beans rather than rice. There are practically unlimited...I mean really, is there anything you can't do with rice?
Honestly, my answer is pretty close to yours, but with my "broad" category being beans rather than rice. There are practically unlimited variations of rice and beans.
I did a 23andme test in 2022 and got 23andme plus (it was discounted to $25; I wouldn't have paid $69 or even $30, probably). To be clear, you pay once and get more stuff shown on your "DNA profile" for a year, and then if you want to keep it you have to renew it again every year that you keep it on your profile. It gave me some extra information, which was nice. But it doesnt give any extra information when you renew. Once I learned I was at greater risk for [insert disease here], I got the information I needed. So what would be the point of renewing my subscription? It's not like letting my subscription expire would suddenly make me forget that I'm at higher risk for the disease. They can take the info off of my account, but they can't take it out of my head.
Perhaps they think I'd continue subscribing for the "updates" that happen once or twice a year? Maybe several years worth of updates would be worth the discounted $25, if you're someone who's interested. But $69 is way overpriced just for one or two updates about risk for diseases you probably don't care about any way.
I see no way anything but a one-time fee would work for 23andme; "just cash burning" is right. 23andme is a fun one-time service, but I was just shaking my head at how stupid the subscription is.