Everyone has something they can’t stop themselves from nerding out over - but often it’s hard to find people to talk to about it. So go ahead, share your interests, and tell us about them!
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The original moon landing programs at NASA. I massively nerd out over Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
I feel ya. Space exploration in general is my jam, why aren’t people as excited as me about how there’s theoretically more water on some of Jupiter’s moons than there is on earth??
How about a selection of your favourite facts on this topic? :)
The Gemini 8 mission was very nearly a disaster if it weren’t for Armstrong’s exceptional piloting skills. Gemini 8 was scheduled to rendezvous with an unmanned Agena rocket and dock in Earth orbit. The Agena had been a problematic vehicle so the default if anything went wrong was to assume it was the Agena and to decouple. In this case, after Gemini docked successfully, both craft started gyrating in an unexpected manner. Armstrong decouples from the Agena and the movement gets worse (a maneuvering thruster was stuck open) and the Gemini starts to violently spin, which ultimately would have been fatal to Armstrong and Scott. Armstrong realizes they’re in danger and fires the reentry retros, slowing the Gemini craft and aborting the mission early but saving both himself as well as astronaut David Scott.
Oh man, that’s scary! I’d guess that one scene in Interstellar was inspired by this event?
I honestly couldn’t say but I know what scene you’re talking about! NASA has Col. John Stapp to thank for a lot of knowledge about the effects of acceleration on the human body. The “fastest man on Earth” was a career Air Force flight surgeon who worked on Project Manhigh. He often put himself into the rocket sled they used to observe how acceleration and deceleration affected the human body, surviving a 38g deceleration. He was temporally blind for some time after that because of bleeding into his retinas.
I remember this scene being depicted in From The Earth to the Moon. Really awesome mini series.
Formula 1, but talking about it here really isn’t the same. I want to have a conversation with someone about it, get excited, or upset, with them, the internet just doesn’t do it.
I’ll talk about it with you!
Classical music, film history, and Quake
What are some of your favorite classical composures? Also, this a shot in the dark, but are you by any chance into metal covers of classical music?
My favs are Chopin, Bach, and Rachmaninoff, but I listen to dozens of different composers. Not sure what kinda classical u might like but, id be happy to recommend some
And I’m familiar with some metal covers but not a huge fan myself, but my dad is haha
I have grown to appreciate all classical music and enjoy several that I can remember by name. Haha.
It’s funny how I looked at the name “Chopin,” and thought that I hadn’t the slightest idea of the kind of music they produced. Turns out, I remember the sound of Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2. I either need to thank my parents or my music grad school teacher for introducing me to Chopin.
Bach is one of my favorites. Besides the “nearly everyone has heard this,” songs, like Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prelude and Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air. I enjoy BWV 988: Aria, and Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro. I’m sure there are more but I don’t have the time to go deep into his music catalog atm.
I can appreciate Rachmaninoff. But from the songs I’ve listened to so far, his music is too easygoing and/or loo lovey-dovey in sound. I feel like I’m about to step onto the stage in an 1800s romance play. Hahaha.
I’m into Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Modest Mussorgsky, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Who would you recommend? =)
For metal covers, I recommend the following.
Exmortus - Moonlight Sonata (Act 3)
Exmortus - Night on Bald Moutain
Joe Stump - Speed Metal Messiah
Warmen - Salieri Strickes Back
Tell your dad for me, that he’s a badass! 🤘🤘
Null models for weighted bipartite networks, and why people choose dumb network summary stats because they are lazy
Linguistics and the prescriptive bias of assuming a word’s meaning based on its blatant etymology
How skill makes games less fun and we need to embrace more chance in board games and video games
How cool it would be if we wrapped copper wire around the moon and used the earth-moon system as a huge electrical generator
Trains are awesome and we should have more of them
Smacking children and how it literally has no benefit to the child whatsoever, and makes you a bad parent if you still do it.
I used to be a strong supporter of smacking kids, I even signed a government petition to revoke the NZ anti-smacking bill, but after studying it at uni and then keeping abreast of the research afterwards, it has only negative effects, and yet bad parents still defend it.
Hard to talk about because people get weirdly defensive even when there’s NO evidence that smacking kids is either beneficial or effective.
I told a guy I worked with about how when I was a kid I’d have to stand in my dad’s office and, as a 6 year old, explain to him with reason and logic why I did a thing he thought was dumb. “I don’t know” was not an acceptable answer and I had to just stand there until I could come up with something that was acceptable while he asked questions to press. I didn’t yet have the mental ability to understand that as a 6 year old I didn’t really know anything, so the "dumb "thing I did was testing out a hypothesis to learn something and be slightly less dumb than I was before. That’s all any of it was; I wasn’t a trouble maker. I don’t even know if that answer would have been accept, if it was, I’d image I could only use it once.
The guy I told responded that he was glad his dad just hit him and sent him on his way. I sometimes wonder how I would have turned out if my dad would have just gave me the occasional slap upside the head instead instead of fucking with me mentally.
I don’t know if anyone makes it out of childhood unscathed.
There’s more than two choices here for you and your father that don’t boil down to logic puzzles or child abuse.
It sounds like his heart was in the right place, but without understanding your mental capabilities.
At that ages, punishments need to be clearly established and actionable. The child is behaving badly, the parent demonstrates "if you keep doing that, you’ll lose out on (Xbox, free time, family game night etc etc), then following through. If that fails, then removing the child to isolate for a while. Once they’ve calmed down, then following through with the aforementioned punishment.
Your father’s punishments would probably start working around 9-10 years old according to research.
Finally, the “I got hit and I turned out okay” is terrible logic. That justifies any behaviour that someone can survive through. Just glance at the research to see why smacking is a wholly negative ordeal with no upsides for the child.
I never said that guy turned out ok, just that he didn’t like the sound of how my dad dealt with things and he would have rather been hit. I’m sure in a perfect world neither would happen. He has his issues as well, which is why I said no one comes out of childhood unscathed. Everyone has some shit from their childhood, it’s just a question of how much it impacts them in adulthood.
What is the appropriate way to parent children? All my friends who try the “gentle parenting” approach have horrible children. They don’t listen and their only gear is shrieking banshee. Most children I’ve witnessed don’t listen to logic or reason so how do you discipline? I don’t have nor do I ever want children, I’m just curious. I also dislike children so my perspective may be slightly jaded.
IMO I’m pro spanking within reason. There’s circumstances where it’s warranted. I don’t believe in going overboard but the problem is that’s all based on opinion from person to person. Lots of kids I see need a spanking based on how they act in public. I’d agree that the parents I’ve seen “gentle parent” have kids who are assholes and the ones I’ve seen grow up are still assholes but older. Could be a fault in the parent somewhere but idk. I was spanked as a kid and looking back, when I was spanked it was absolutely warranted. Spanked my oldest as I deemed necessary and he’s turned out to be pretty caring for others and a really solid dude. He’s my son and best friend.
I guess my thought is that spanking is OK but should be seldom used and within reason. Unfortunately “reason” is subjective.
There is no “within reason” for child abuse.
The vast vast majority of scientific research proves that hitting children only results in negative outcomes, not only in child development, but it’s constantly shown to not reduce the undesired behaviour.
If a child can’t be reasoned with for why it’s actions were wrong, they can’t reason why their loving parent strikes them.
If you choose to ignore what’s essentially scientific fact and continue hitting children, then the adage “I was hit as a kid and I turned out okay” might be plain wrong.
Furthermore, suggesting that an action is okay because the child “turned out fine” can be used to justify any objectionable behaviour. “I was molested and I turned out okay, therefore molestation is justifiable”. If your child did indeed turn out okay, that is despite you choosing to assault them, as ALL research shows you were in the wrong.
I read through it and in all honesty, what I’m gathering, is that it’s common for people to go overboard. Either that or my family (father, myself, son) are some kind of insane statistical anomaly. Relationship down the line is fantastic, and son doesn’t have outbursts and isn’t violent.
Seems the underlying thing is that people use corporal punishment beyond a simple spank swat or hit on the butt. The things they speak about seem to be referring to beating, pulling hair, using sticks, paddles, etc. Even resulting in physical marks or hospitalization. Again, the line between spanking and beating is subjective. ALL research isn’t showing I’m in the wrong. It’s statistically showing that it has negative impacts overall, but this also, again, complies spanking into sticks, paddles, pulling hair, etc. together.
Ofc a child will be violent when you beat them with a stick or belt. A smack on the butt? Quick and effective. Hot sauce is spicy, therefore all sauces are spicy. Show me a study where they separate the difference.
Imagine defending hitting kids…
I was also spanked as a kid. My dad’s was fueled by hatred and anger. It was very rough and mean and he’d yell afterwards. We have a terrible relationship and are basically no contact. My mom spanked rarely but it was a compassionate spanking. Afterwards she would explain why, ask me not to do the bad thing again, and then hug me and make me tell her I loved her. We have an excellent relationship. So I yeah, I think spanking can be done in a positive way but only reserved for dire situations. So, I’m not quite sold on the gentle parenting. The world isn’t gentle and will rarely cater to your needs. I’m willing to hear perspectives and view outcomes though!
Right, I think the core issue is that most people (a LOT) use spanking as an immediate, “no!” which leads to many beatings, excessiveness, and more than likely, actual physical abuse.
The people I’ve met where their parents were responsible with it are great dudes. The people I’ve met who were simply… Beaten and battered, do not live successful lives for the most part.
My opinion, is that it can be effective if used responsibly and within reason.
Most comments I get are along the lines of, “ha have fun asking why your son doesn’t talk to you in the future.” what they don’t see is that we’re best friends and my kid is an adult and is “punishing us” by threatening to live at home longer every time we ask him to clean up the basement. He’s responsible af, has a good savings, bought a new car, works full time, etc. I don’t understand the issue when everything has turned out amazing. Yes, I spanked my kid. I did not hit him with any object, throw him, punch him, throw things at him, etc.
It’s difficult to accept the other perspective of gentle parenting when most of those kids I meet are total selfish assholes. Even more so when I compare to the level of responsibility, competency, and integrity that my son has compared to other people his age. Like I said in another post, I must be a backwards ass statistical anomaly or something. Either that, or I did it right. If not, I did something right.
I’ll start with the wholly negative effects of hitting children, specifically the section on Effects on Behaviour and Development. Time and time again, scientific studies prove there is literally no benefit to hitting children, with only poor outcomes.
My understanding is the most effective means of punishment involve first establishing an environment of rich support and love for the child. Then when there’s poor behaviour, short time outs.
You remember that episode of The Simpsons when Bart steals the game cartridge, and what upsets him most is Marge’s total loss of attention?
A secondary strong punishment is removal of positives, like revoking video game access etc.
It’s hard to critique whatever parents you mention without knowing specifics, but it often comes down to:
- Poor follow through, with parents threatening punishment but rarely enacting
- Limited positive attention given to the child, likely due to “no time”
- Poor communication of reward/punishment system, or poorly established system.
Finally, sometimes children and just little shits with bad temperament. It’s vital to understand that countless studies show physical abuse does not result in corrective behaviour, with only negative developmental outcomes.
That was a great response! Thanks for being so thorough. I’d love to see this in action and see what kind of thriving adults it produces. I’m not knocking my friends because I’m not a parent so maybe they are doing great but their kids just have crazy personalities. I try not to judge them as parents since I don’t know what it’s like.
Honestly I get where you’re coming from with the gentle parenting approach, and I think some people use it as an excuse to not engage with crappy behaviour. But I think kids whining and behaving a bit crappy is normal, and they’re often expressing complex feelings that they haven’t learned to understand and manage, and that they don’t know how to explain. Maybe kids that learn to suppress that behaviour at a young age, through fear of punishment, or being shunned and isolated (eg ‘go to your room’) may go on to be adults who supress their feelings and don’t express and advocate for their needs and. I guess we’ll see won’t we, as this generation of kids gets older. And some other parenting style will be the ‘correct’ one by the time they have kids. My niece is going through a really annoying whiney and whingey phase and it makes her very exhausting to be around at the moment, so I do sympathise with where you’re coming from!
Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and the original edition of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG - the lore, the artwork and tracking down the books missing from my collection!
Old radio shows! I’ve been listening back through episodes of Suspense (about 400 so far) and there’s some great stuff in there. There’s some stuff that doesn’t age too well, but there’s also some surprisingly relatable stories. It’s also fascinating to hear ads and snippets of news segments of the time, and to get a window of what people were worried about at that time. Not to mention that some of the episodes are just plain good thrillers that can be genuinely chilling. I can’t wait to get through these and move on to The Twilight Zone.
One of my favorites has been “Please Believe Me” (https://youtu.be/J8kbEL1332A?si=ro-K9VK3X3Zi5DMI), the performances are so good.
I love otr as well! Gunsmoke, mysterious traveler, escape etc… My dad got me into them as a kid, and I’ve never found anybody else who even remotely gives a fuck lol.
It’s a shame, people should know that there’s hours of great entertainment just waiting to be found! I don’t think I could listen to Dragnet straight through like I do the horror/mystery stuff, but the puns with the completely deadpan delivery get me every time. Is Gunsmoke a full continuous story? I need to give that one a listen.
It’s episodic, but occasionally references will be made to older episodes. You can totally listen in any order.
The municipal waste management industry.
I even learned game dev in unity so I can work on a game about the waste management industry.
For context I dont even work in that field.
Garbage Truck Simulator 2024?
Honestly, I would love to know more about this industry because it sucks where I live and I would like to better understand the issues we are facing.
Digital mixers. I know a lot of people who use them and know them but very few know how they work internally which is fascinating and interesting and the only people who do are under NDA’s
I admit, at the beginning when you just said ‘digital mixers,’ I thought that I could talk about the early days of them to you back when I was a studio manager, but the inner workings I know nothing about.
What’s digital mixers? Music production mixer?
Yeah
The difference between town, zip code, school district, village, hamlet, and city where I live. I pay taxes to town A, by zip code is named after a hamlet in town B, our school district is named after town C. If you ask people where they live they will answer any one of these things.
In my opinion the town you pay taxes to is the best answer. The zip code, or location on your address, is deceptive because they are often named after small hamlets where the post office is. This small hamlet is a very distinct place where you probably don’t actually live. School Districts are often named after the biggest town they pull from so if you are not from that town it’s not really accurate. If you happen to be in a city or village that’s a good answer. However hamlets are so small and local that anyone not from the immediate vicinity will have no idea what you’re taking about if you say you are from there.
This is so true, and while i have never discussed the concept. I definitly adjust my answer based on the recipient.
From the name of the hill my house is on, for locals. Via hamlet,muncipiality, county,region. Up to : “the western part of norway, with the fjords and glaciers”, to forigners. I have never had to go for northern europe, or northern hemisphere. I am looking forward to the day i need “the third planet of the sol system”, that will be an interesting day.
I just talk about my stupid interests all the time. Do you all not do that?
I try to, but some of them are very niche, so it can be hard to find someone willing to listen. Especially for things like programming language design!
My husband is a programmer. I really love when he tells me about a cool way he solved a problem at work. You could tell me! But I reckon your friends would be more interested than you would think.
Hah, thanks! I already try to tell my friends often enough, but usually they lose concentration while I’m still explaining prerequisites :D
One thing I’m very interested in is Turing-completeness of type systems. In every programming language you have pieces of data, and the computer has to know what kind of data it is - for example a number, or a piece of text. Some languages are “dynamically typed”, in that you don’t have to specify what kind of data you’ll put somewhere, it just accepts any kind of data and you have to give the right things (it keeps track internally what you’re putting where). This is something the industry is moving away from after it had been a hype for a couple of years - it leads to problems in the long run, since it’s more difficult to understand the code when reading it (the more information there is, the better, as long as it’s not duplicated or irrelevant).
Turing-completeness is an attribute of computer systems. Turing proved that, if a mathematical system supports a couple of operations, you can do any calculations with it - it’s what our computers today, and information theory, are based on.
(prerequisites mostly done here!)
Some languages are going further than just specifying what kind of data you’re putting somewhere. You can take one of these type definitions, and calculate a new definition from that one! For example, I might store the state of an internet connection as either “connecting”, “connected” or “disconnected”. In another place I can take this list of three words, and add one or remove one - essentially, I can compute a new definition from this old one. And it turns out, if there are a couple of specific operations implemented, you can actually do anything with this!
For example, let’s say you have a piece of data that is executable code for the computer. You can write a type definition that executes this piece of code, which means you’re running the calculation before your program is running! There are many cool development things you can do with this, mostly to prevent bugs or make your life a bit easier. But it’s incredibly fascinating just how global these concepts are. Heck, you can even build a computer from literal crabs that is Turing-complete, which could run this Turing-complete type system for a Turing-complete language!
Oh! I know about data types a little already. Why are languages moving away from strict data typing? That’s very disappointing to hear. Which languages were you thinking about? Will they at least let you configure the compiler to use strict data types in the future?
It’s the other way around, dynamic typing has been hyped in the last decades to years, but the industry is moving away from it, back to static typing :)
Great examples are JavaScript and Python: both are fundamentally dynamically typed, but both have efforts to add static typing (TypeScript for JavaScript, and type hints for Python). So we’re slowly but surely rectifying these problems!
Oh! Good! I’m glad to hear that.
my mental issues 🥴
Wanna have a go? I’d be happy to listen, as far as is possible through text :)
Morrowind lore and FNAF lore
Oooh, then I have a question: what’s your best guess as to what happened to the Dwemer?
Todd was hungy and ate them all
Leading thory right now is that they transported themselves to another plane of oblivion using tonal manipulation.
I wouldn’t call myself a Fnaf fan, but honestly I love the lore. Reading into it reminds me a lot of those kids in school who knew every detail about the Bionicle universe. I’m glad kids have something like that to get (reasonably) into.
It’s also genuinely getting people into animatronics, both for restoring existing ones and creating new designs, which is pretty damn cool.
The theory of relativity (special and general).
It is more that 100 years now, and it is perfectly true according to all current physicists, but still hardly anybody (outside of physicists) knows it. What a shame.
For example, GPS wouldn’t work without it - your position would be wrong by a few miles all the time.
My mind was blown when I learned that a difference of just a few centimeters in height is enough to detect time dilation. I always thought the effect was so subtle that it could only be detected on a galactic scale, but it turns out we deal with it every day!
It’s so weird to think about, time is one of the few “constants” we have in life, but it’s really not so solid.
a difference of just a few centimeters in height is enough to detect time dilation
I’m sorry, what?
https://youtu.be/hzLTgtFaPLY?si=QOJa4sQJ6Aqijhjn
You can skip to about 3 minutes for the relevant experiment, it’s wild. They also talk about the GPS stuff in that video.
My topic failure - My son totally nerds out over amplifiers and guitar pedals. He frequently tries to talk to me about noise and resistance and power supplies and other words that i can’t even remember. I really want to listen but i know my eyes glaze over and he gets irritated.
Try to find some closely related topic that you find interest in that he can relate to. Maybe old music or some other electronics topic. Then your son can meet you in the middle.
