A Common Pattern: Obscessive Compusive Rational Thinking

I don't care who is better at sport, but I know I much prefer to watch women play sport than watch men.
 
The main gripe I have in the sex war is sports. A girl in my class gave her speech on why women's sports deserves entirely equal press and money as mens sports. This is such bull. Men are better at most sports. Without a doubt. For one, womens sports have only recently become huge. For two, our bodies are better shaped for a large number of sports. For three, men on average are larger and stronger. There is no shame in this, it's just a simple fact.

Duh!

I don't see the attraction of women's sports either.
Less skill, much more amatuerish. Hey, I like baseball, but I don't watch the Tigers - *ahem*- Little Leauge play.

Cris:
Simple T & A, or somthing else?
 
I was about ready to brain her with my textbook by the end of the three hour lab. Of course, you get a moron lab partner, you have to do all the work by yourself, for three hours, at six am in the morning, and - right, no ranting.

I was a male, blond, moron lab partner. I left a trail of victims who will forever curse the proximity of their surnames to mine, almost all female. I literally reduced one to tears. She was permanently scarred. That is only partly figurative; you have no idea how hard it is to get diazo dyes out. In reality, the competent are better off without our help.
>Sigh< good times, good times.
Academically, the females seem a tad smarter and definitely more conscientious. And puzzlingly they seem to have much, much better handwriting.

In my classes this semester, I've noticed the following trends

Philosophy: Guys, guys, badly dressed guys
Psychology: 60:40 in favour of chicks
Computer Science: Mostly guys
Natural sciences: 50:50

The women tend to have a predisposition to the social sciences, whilst the guys are drawn to what we might call "the techy/nerdy".
 
Sciforums and our young friend.

The quality of the sciforums website is primarily due to the members who post here. But while Dave has furnished the medium and its structure, the content is very much up to us, the members.

There are effectively no rules yet there is significant respect between members and there is almost no abusive language or flaming, at least nothing that lasts for more than the occasional post.

The site is open to everyone and anyone and of all ages. And we do have members from 13, and perhaps younger, to I think around 70. And the variety of interests is also vast, and of course the site is open to all countries.

This represents a superb opportunity to explore and examine an extensively wide set of ideas, concepts, perceptions, and beliefs that would be difficult to find anywhere else.

I have learnt a lot from being here and I hope I may also have amused and helped others. I’m here to learn from others, to have an outlet for my own ideas, and to practice respectful and effective two-way communication with people who I would not normally meet in my usual life.

I hope that most members would have similar expectations. Without being forced, most here have adopted a civilized approach to communicating with other members and with a significant degree of tolerance for often very different perspectives. Certainly the religion forum can create the greatest heat. There are no winners or losers, and while many of us might lose a particular point, we generally move on and try again. There is usually an unspoken forgiveness if someone does screw up, perhaps because we all know we may do that ourselves sometimes.

However, occasionally, the site is used by some for quite different purposes: Some to preach, or to be vindictive, or to just annoy. There are no rules here to say such behavior is not acceptable, and there are no police to enforce standards, since there are few that are official. This means that the quality of the site and the behavior of potentially problematic members are entirely up to the majority of members to control. But there is no formal mechanism that would facilitate that role apart from our own debates and agreements such as this.

I don’t want to have anyone banned; neither do I want to prevent anyone from expressing their views.

Is truthseeker a problem? Perhaps not, but when some place him on their ignore lists then perhaps there is an indication of a potential problem. Perhaps I/we are being too sensitive and should just ignore posts we find foolish. But let’s agree that many of us find his manner and approach largely unacceptable and I think most would prefer he displayed a more mature attitude.

He is a young man with little to no experience of life and is desperately struggling to comprehend the world around him. I hope most can see that he has latched onto some concepts that do not relate very much to reality, and I’m not talking about religious differences here, but more along the lines of misconceptions about how real people view the world, and that seems to be really a lack of experience. Perhaps he just needs to get out more and mix with real people. Hiding behind an anonymous userid as if playing at a computer game will not help him develop any real social skills or understand how to more appropriately interact with other people.

Am I being condescending in discussing another member in such a way? Perhaps, but then I suspect many of you can see the same obvious facts as myself; so what I am saying should not be a surprise to anyone.

The solution: I don’t want to do anything to limit the freedom of another. I hope that truthseeker might read this and re-consider his approach to his posts. Perhaps he doesn’t even recognize he has a problem, and that is a real possibility. Perhaps we should all just give him our unconditional love.

I think I will just carefully choose his rare perceptive posts as a basis for a polite response, and those posts that are particularly arrogant or immature I will simply ignore. I just hope he doesn’t assume that silence means an endorsement for an idea.

Cris
 
"I don't care who is better at sport, but I know I much prefer to watch women play sport than watch men."

Women's volleyball as well as some other sports are better than men's, in my opinion. But not hockey, football, soccer, basketball or baseball. The major sports in our continent. Our rugby or lacrosse for that matter. And no, I dont like womens volleyball better for just the obvious reason! In the women's game there's actually rallies. The mens game is like; serve, set, smash.....serve, set, smash.....serve, set, block, set, smash......

Very boring.
 
Xev,

Simple T & A, or somthing else?
T & A??

I'm simply attracted to athlectic women and watching them perform is pleasant. ;) ;) ;)

As opposed to sweaty aggresive men who don't do anything for me.

Cris
 
Tyler,

Really I just don't like watching sports, and if I do watch a sport it will be for some reason other than the sport - and watching lithe women being physical seems like a good idea.

However, I do like playing sports, or used to. I played rugby at school, and I played serious competive squash in my 30s, typically 2 hours per day, 7 days a week.

Cris
 
Tyler: Yeah, but vollyball....ouch. Hell on the wrists, which is why I quite playing.

Oh yeah, and I had to surrender the last vestiges of my life to school. ;)

Cris: I think many find it upsetting because they don't like to see a promising young man frittering away his life like this. Life is too short and precious to waste in a spiritual fantasyland. We all hope (as I did, and still do) that he will come to his senses.

T&A is a Yank term for 'tits and ass'. I suppose you Brits use somthing else?

*Grins*

I remember the time I didn't know what a 'wanker' was, and asked a Brit.

Voodoo Child:
Please. I have nightmares from the experiance. :D
 
Xev,

Cris: I think many find it upsetting because they don't like to see a promising young man frittering away his life like this. Life is too short and precious to waste in a spiritual fantasyland. We all hope (as I did, and still do) that he will come to his senses.
Perhaps, although my point was not aimed at his beliefs since he is welcome to those, but primarily his immature approach, massive ego, and highly irritating condescending attitude where he set himself above everyone else.

T&A is a Yank term for 'tits and ass'. I suppose you Brits use somthing else?
Nah, we use tits and ass as well, but we might call them something different.

Personally I think the face is the most important part. ;)

I remember the time I didn't know what a 'wanker' was, and asked a Brit.
I discovered a few years ago that Americans think ‘bugger’ means something different to the Brit understanding.

Cris
 
"T&A is a Yank term for 'tits and ass'. I suppose you Brits use somthing else?"

I say tits and ass. No short forms for me.

I LOOOOOOOVE being brutally blatant when speaking to someone who doesnt know me all that well. It either scares them or confuses them.

For instance, I have a REALLY dumb career's teacher and one day in the computer room (we had some dumb research to do) she said 'Now, I don't want you venturing off onto any sites which may be considered not appropriate for school' and I replied, quite loudly; 'You mean pornography? You don't want us looking at pornography?'

It usually works quite nicely. Or when people like hint at saying something like tits or ass and I'll just go 'oh you mean her tits'

I love it.


"Personally I think the face is the most important part."

Agreed, for the most part.


"I discovered a few years ago that Americans think ‘bugger’ means something different to the Brit understanding."

I saw Gangster Number 1 a little while ago and after that and a few other Brit movies I decided a Brit word needs to make its way into Canada. Cunt. It's the greatest insult word. It's sooooo blatant and rude a word. Better than fucker. Much beyond ass. It's cunt!

And so far I've gotten it slightly into circulation. Not enough though.
 
Tyler:
I LOOOOOOOVE being brutally blatant when speaking to someone who doesnt know me all that well. It either scares them or confuses them.

I can't help it. I like to say what I mean, not use mushy euphamisms.

I rather like it when my swearing is criticised. "What the fuck do you mean, I don't fucking swear hardly at all"

That's fun.

I saw Gangster Number 1 a little while ago and after that and a few other Brit movies I decided a Brit word needs to make its way into Canada. Cunt. It's the greatest insult word. It's sooooo blatant and rude a word. Better than fucker. Much beyond ass. It's cunt!

I think it's of American origen. Here, we only use when we wish to be extremely insulting.

Cris:
Perhaps, although my point was not aimed at his beliefs since he is welcome to those, but primarily his immature approach, massive ego, and highly irritating condescending attitude where he set himself above everyone else.

Don't you think that massive ego and condescending attitude are hiding somthing? I think Nelson feels the need to be perfect, and can't stand the thought that he isn't.

That's why it never bothered me.

Personally I think the face is the most important part.

You realize that if I had a quarter for every man who's said that, I'd have next semester's tuition?

In other words, bull.
 
It really isn't. Some guys definetly, but for me it is.

Though it only goes so far. A beautiful face on a horrid body is not a good thing. Just like a horrid face on a beautiful body is not a good thing.

I think I put it somewhere else earlier, but the first thing I notice in a woman is their eyes.

And as for body preferences, I think I'm a tad different than the norm. I can't stand really skinny women. I'm a big guy myself (6'1, 184 lbs...classic hockey player. It's kind of sad. I feel so generic when I watch a high level hockey or lacrosse game, everyone has the same body as me) so I prefer a little something on a woman, not skin and bone.
 
And as for body preferences, I think I'm a tad different than the norm. I can't stand really skinny women. I'm a big guy myself (6'1, 184 lbs...classic hockey player. It's kind of sad. I feel so generic when I watch a high level hockey or lacrosse game, everyone has the same body as me) so I prefer a little something on a woman, not skin and bone.

Pity the folks who design clothing disagree. Somewhere along the line skinny legs got into style, and tiny jeans that accentuate skinny legs and....good lord.
 
Xev

But you are assuming that a woman is ipso facto weaker than a man (intellectually speaking), right?
Not at all. I never said that.

I while ago I was curious about any evidence to support intelligence differences. All I could find really were studies saying the genders were better at different sorts of things.
 
Xev,

You realize that if I had a quarter for every man who's said that, I'd have next semester's tuition?

In other words, bull.
But you misquoted me - you missed off the smiley. ;)
 
Adam: It follows from the need to be coddled.
1: A and B are treated differently
2: A is coddled.

Why should A need coddling if they are not weaker? I play chess. If my partner is weaker than me (fat chance!) I give them a pawn advantage, or play as black, or whatever. I coddle them because they are weak.

Why coddle your equal?

Cris: Damned emoticons. I'd rather use plain text, but then it's hard to convey facial expression.
 
I don't coddle anyone. I don't have the time or inclination. I do, however, open doors for ladies and let them walk through first, hold out chairs for them, offer to carry things, mind my language around them, try to remember to say please and thank you to them, and so on. This is not because I think they are weak or stupid. It is because I like them and would prefer to be polite and helpful. I do these things for guys as well, but I put in more effort for women. Strength and intelligence have nothing to do with it. I would probably offer to carry the shopping bags for the world female weightlifting champion, and offer to hold a door open for Miss IQ 2002, even though both could no doubt whip me in their fields (not an altogether unpleasant prospect :p ). It has nothing to do with respect, or lack of it, for their abilities.

So, if not about them and their abilities, what is it about? It's about me and my principles. I would like to see more people helping each other. If a women held a door open for me, I would not get all worked up about how degrading it is, I would simply say "thank you". I don't see why that is such a difficult concept to understand. Good manners.
 
Originally posted by Xev

Why coddle your equal?
People are not equal, and never have been. People are all different. Most men are stronger than most women. Most people with working legs are better runners than most paraplaegics. I can see a hell of a lot better than blind people. I can think, and my uncle Wayne can not. We are all different.

The only equality (apart from death) exists as a matter of consensus. We make it up to suit us, to improve the functioning of our societies.
 
Counterbalance

In these kinds of situations, you win the game by not playing at all.

Good point, however I don't agree. There are several issues with the *silent* treatment.

Silence is often interpreted as agreement. If the orator receives no disagreement, he and others will interpret this as agreement. The orator will not only continue the onslaught of irrationality but will increase it to new levels. This is of course unacceptable.

Choosing to remain silent towards one individual and not another sets one up as judge, jury and executioner. We have no right to judge who is worthy of debate and who is not. We must treat everyone with the same equality if we are to be treated in the same way.

Choosing to remain silent even though one may have something to say is the same as rolling over and playing dead. With all due respect, it is the way of the wallflower and/or the coward.

Regarding your examples: a preacher on a soap box, an abusive spouse, troublemakers of any kind. These individuals crave the negative attention they so desperately seek. They should not be ignored. In fact, they are the ones that should receive the most attention. However, to give in to the negative attention they crave is not what they deserve. They need to be told straight out in the most rationalized way, why they are craving this attention and what they should do about it. It is a never ending challenge and one that should be taken up at every opportunity.

We should not remain silent but instead speak up, and let those know that the rational will not be held captive to the whims of madmen. If you remain silent, you might as well join them.
 
Adam:
People are not equal, and never have been. People are all different. Most men are stronger than most women. Most people with working legs are better runners than most paraplaegics. I can see a hell of a lot better than blind people. I can think, and my uncle Wayne can not. We are all different.

You know what I mean.

So, if not about them and their abilities, what is it about? It's about me and my principles. I would like to see more people helping each other. If a women held a door open for me, I would not get all worked up about how degrading it is, I would simply say "thank you". I don't see why that is such a difficult concept to understand. Good manners.

Yes, but I am talking about intellectually - not the annoying issue of doors - but a basic intellectual courtesy of ripping a person's false arguments into little bloody shreds.....

Sorry, grumpy mood - The courtesy of debunking.

BTW: I am not your equal, but your superior, and when I become SUPREME MASTER OF THE COSMOS ALL WILL OBEY ME! Mwahahaha!

Q:
We should not remain silent but instead speak up, and let those know that the rational will not be held captive to the whims of madmen. If you remain silent, you might as well join them.

*Strikes up 'Battle Hymn of the Rationalists'*

Very well. There may be hope for Nelson yet, I suppose.
 
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