thereticent's recent activity

  1. Comment on Mundane Musings Monday in ~talk

    thereticent
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    Plato and Derrida were onto this, and it sounds like you're hitting that wall personally. The technology to even write things down turned a lot of our problem-solving and memory tasks secondary to...

    Plato and Derrida were onto this, and it sounds like you're hitting that wall personally. The technology to even write things down turned a lot of our problem-solving and memory tasks secondary to search/recognition tasks. We have a lot more useful information at hand and saved time, but the problem-solving and memory sharpening are casualties to some extent.

    It doesn't help that Google is now taking away the ease to which we are accustomed, but I get the frustration about feeling some kind of mental "laziness."

    I don't have any answers, but rest assured that you are in good company across the millennia. :)

    3 votes
  2. Comment on American politics is undergoing a racial realignment – Democrats are rapidly losing non-white voters as the forces that ensured their support weaken in ~misc

    thereticent
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    As someone blue in a deep red state, I agree. There are a lot of habitual Republicans around, mostly in the deepest red rural areas, who would swing if the focus were just decency, calm dialogue,...

    As someone blue in a deep red state, I agree. There are a lot of habitual Republicans around, mostly in the deepest red rural areas, who would swing if the focus were just decency, calm dialogue, bipartisan problem solving, and less identity politics and wedge issues.

    The GOP is getting these new voters because of beliefs and practical issues, I think because the identity framing of "But you're X, of course you would support Y" is infantilizing and squicky, especially from the DNC in the past few decades. Gun-toting liberals are a strong base in some states, and only one among many that could be better drawn to a party/coalition with improved messaging and platform choices.

    But I'd rather fix the election format and build a multi-party system to encourage coalition-building as a pragmatic necessity than fix the current problems with the Democratic Party.

    19 votes
  3. Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    It really was so fun. I remember using the shell to bind an extra "Fn" key at the top right of my clicky Tandy keyboard to a lightweight VOIP program called Roger Wilco so that my friend and I...

    It really was so fun. I remember using the shell to bind an extra "Fn" key at the top right of my clicky Tandy keyboard to a lightweight VOIP program called Roger Wilco so that my friend and I could basically walkie talkie any time we were in our rooms. :)

    2 votes
  4. Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Thanks! WSL has saved the day a few times when I had no Linux box running, but because all my Windows machines lately have been managed by my employer, it can be fresh hell every time I need to...

    Thanks! WSL has saved the day a few times when I had no Linux box running, but because all my Windows machines lately have been managed by my employer, it can be fresh hell every time I need to activate/install WSL. If my kid starts to want to branch out into games that we just can't get to run well with Steam/Proton on Linux, we may need a Windows PC at home, and WSL is a great idea for making it useful for both of us.

    3 votes
  5. Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link
    I'm finding a lot of the comments...non-resonant with me. I'm a lifelong Windows user, since v3.1, mostly due to parents, later school, and later work. I used every version along the way. But I...

    I'm finding a lot of the comments...non-resonant with me. I'm a lifelong Windows user, since v3.1, mostly due to parents, later school, and later work. I used every version along the way. But I started with MS-DOS, liked non-windows interfaces, and went through phases of GeoWorks, Windows with alt-shells like LiteStep, Linux Mandrake, RedHat, Puppy, Ubuntu, Mint, and lately ZorinOS.

    I finally have my home PC solely with ZorinOS, and I get all I need out of it, including my 13-yr-old using it as a gaming station. He doesn't do a lot of graphics-heavy play, but so far that's been by his choice. Minecraft, Celeste, Among Us, Mindustry, and any number of flash and itch.io bundle games have been enough for him. They all work with Steam and its emulation options like proton. To do work stuff I just use Office 365 on the web, and because it's Linux I can use better neuroimaging analysis software than if I were on Windows. We've been doing this for more than a year with daily use and no problem. Sometimes I do wonder if the "not quite perfect" issue or "always have to tweak issue" is less that things break out of nowhere or don't work out of box (as in the old days) and more "I wish the defaults were what I would have picked" and even moreso "things break when I customize the system."

    I get all of the above kinds of frustration, but maybe more optimistically, it sure seems to me that unless one of your sources of joy is tinkering a lot with your setup while also expecting the ultimate satisfaction of never needing to tinker after a certain point, there is probably a distro out there for you. I like my setup because it does what I need with just a brief refresh of my old Linux knowledge and a couple weekends of initial tinkering. I'm not saying anyone here is asking too much--I'm saying that there is a tradeoff between retaining control and getting headaches that should be accepted and optimized for each person.

    6 votes
  6. Comment on World's fastest camera drone vs F1 car (ft. Max Verstappen) in ~sports.motorsports

    thereticent
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    I have no interest in auto racing and no interest in drones, but I enjoyed that whole video. Too cool!

    I have no interest in auto racing and no interest in drones, but I enjoyed that whole video. Too cool!

    3 votes
  7. Comment on Would a fairy or a walrus surprise you more if you found it on your doorstep? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link
    A walrus. A fairy is a small delight, found upon investigation after a caught glint from aside. A walrus is just unreasonable.
    • Exemplary

    A walrus.

    A fairy is a small delight, found upon investigation after a caught glint from aside.

    A walrus is just unreasonable.

    41 votes
  8. Comment on David Lynch's Dune coming to theaters in February in ~movies

  9. Comment on David Lynch's Dune coming to theaters in February in ~movies

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Gabriel Wars did a 4K upgrade of the 2012 spicediver edit using AI if you want a nice-looking version. It's not spicediver's 1080p version with color corrections and so on, but this is the one I...

    Gabriel Wars did a 4K upgrade of the 2012 spicediver edit using AI if you want a nice-looking version. It's not spicediver's 1080p version with color corrections and so on, but this is the one I plan to watch if I can't find it.

    GW Dune Remix

  10. Comment on What’s something you wish more people understood? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Reading the description, it's most likely because schizotypy is a spectrum, and the disorder is only if it is a chronic, life-interfering level of schizotypy. The DSM doesn't address traits so...

    Reading the description, it's most likely because schizotypy is a spectrum, and the disorder is only if it is a chronic, life-interfering level of schizotypy. The DSM doesn't address traits so much as the disorders that can result from traits, so schizotypy researchers don't want to pathologize it. I'm thinking like autism spectrum vs autism spectrum disorder, performance anxiety vs an anxiety disorder, etc.

    3 votes
  11. Comment on What’s something you wish more people understood? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Because it was a proposed change that they thought merited inclusion based on the science, but they didn't change the categorical system from prior editions. "They" being the psychiatrists who...

    Because it was a proposed change that they thought merited inclusion based on the science, but they didn't change the categorical system from prior editions. "They" being the psychiatrists who were on the DSM committee. Also because people wrote a lot of editorials and public comments at the time.

    2 votes
  12. Comment on What’s something you wish more people understood? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    It is, but it's called schizotypal personality disorder. The DSM-5 put the proposed "dimensional model" of personality (where disorders are extremes of dimensions that interfere with your life) in...

    It is, but it's called schizotypal personality disorder. The DSM-5 put the proposed "dimensional model" of personality (where disorders are extremes of dimensions that interfere with your life) in an appendix because psychiatrists weren't ready to change. They didn't make the discussion underlying that decision public, which is foul in my opinion.

    Interesting fact: Tom Widiger, one of the dimensional model originators (and an immensely talented and productive researcher) was the lead editor of the DSM-IV/DSM-IV-TR sourcebook, which chronicled all of the scientific basis of all the discussions and decisions leading to that edition. It wouldn't have existed if he hadn't insisted, and he took on the challenge of "fine, if you want it, you do it." That included sitting in on ALL of the section committees. I think he was the only person to attend all of them, and he's one of the few contributors who was a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. For the DSM-5 they ditched that process and the sourcebook, and made Widiger and co's new approach to personality disorders an appendix. The regression in transparency pissed off so many people in the field, and yet here we are.

    I've seen many schizotypal patients over the years, and only two who ended up inpatient because they became dangerously psychotic. Overall a super interesting and fun sort of person to get to know.

    3 votes
  13. Comment on What’s something you wish more people understood? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    I would welcome a rant, because this is a major disappointment of mine. I have a special and lovely job, where I get to spend more than an hour (sometimes several) with neurology patients who...

    I would welcome a rant, because this is a major disappointment of mine.

    I have a special and lovely job, where I get to spend more than an hour (sometimes several) with neurology patients who nearly all have complex medical, socioeconomic, and mental health histories. They get to see their neurologists for maybe 20 minutes every few months, and many are handed off from PA to resident to APRN over the years. Our medical providers are great, and the schedule is perverse, but many never do the work to develop the skill it takes to help a person make changes in that short amount of time (it is possible, believe it or not). Some don't even learn how to adequately introduce and help process a diagnosis, even a horrific one. So I get to spend part of my "assessment" appointment listening, validating, educating, problem-solving, processing grief, and just getting to know my patients. I'm just glad my job exists and isn't micromanaged in the same way.

    8 votes
  14. Comment on Are there many furries on Tildes? in ~hobbies

    thereticent
    Link
    I can think of two.

    I can think of two.

    3 votes
  15. Comment on He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable. in ~music

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    HA! Great point. I abjure my use of "ever"

    HA! Great point. I abjure my use of "ever"

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Is anyone else here completely unable to imagine any faces? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Wise. I'm not seeing anything in the literature about a connection between the two. Just a thought.

    Wise. I'm not seeing anything in the literature about a connection between the two. Just a thought.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on Is anyone else here completely unable to imagine any faces? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    That really does suck. Thanks for sharing. She and I are both major introverts, and I fit the profile of "highly sensitive person" so I most definitely have fewer than 150 stable relationships. At...

    That really does suck. Thanks for sharing.

    She and I are both major introverts, and I fit the profile of "highly sensitive person" so I most definitely have fewer than 150 stable relationships. At a quick count, I'd say 40 max for me, including work relationships. Maybe more if you count extended family who are always happy to see each other every few years but otherwise don't keep in touch. Then it's maybe 60. And even what I have feels like a stretch. I'm usually the passive one in keeping up the relationship, too, except in about 20 of them. In those I'm all in and I'm told I'm very highly valued.

    2 votes
  18. Comment on He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable. in ~music

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Agreed. Short counterpoint: compromise a little if you can comfortably hit the overlap in that Venn diagram. If you ever expect to sell.

    Agreed. Short counterpoint: compromise a little if you can comfortably hit the overlap in that Venn diagram. If you ever expect to sell.

    9 votes
  19. Comment on Is anyone else here completely unable to imagine any faces? in ~talk

    thereticent
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    Neuropsychologist here. I also cannot imagine faces. I don't have prosopagnosia (I process faces just fine in day to day life), and I don't have aphantasia (I'm a very visual thinker). But ever...

    Neuropsychologist here. I also cannot imagine faces. I don't have prosopagnosia (I process faces just fine in day to day life), and I don't have aphantasia (I'm a very visual thinker). But ever since I can remember, I have been able to picture nearly anything and anyone...except the faces are just kind of not there. Sort of a blur or swirl or cloud or something, but never a face.

    It doesn't cause any issues. It's probably something to do with connections between the visual cortex and fusiform gyrus, if I had to guess. It's an interesting phenomenon, and one I've only heard from two or three other people in my work and personal life. Glad to know we are growing in power!

    Interestingly enough, I do think it has to do with processing faces differently than others do. My wife is a super-recognizer, and when we discuss who someone looks like, we always disagree until really "looking for" the other person's suggestion. Then it eventually clicks.

    I do come from a very neurodiverse family. Maybe you do too?

    19 votes
  20. Comment on I do not like this timeline, now I cannot even indulge in Smuckers blueberry syrup anymore! in ~food

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    That was very kind of you. That's a Gordon Food Services brand, so they would be the distributor as well. Sadly, they don't carry them in their brick and mortar stores.

    That was very kind of you. That's a Gordon Food Services brand, so they would be the distributor as well. Sadly, they don't carry them in their brick and mortar stores.

    2 votes