Back in my day sugar was only C and H.

This reminds me of the ASMR video I watched where this person removed my cranial nerves for cleaning and I was so immersed that I was kind of weirded out and upset by their sudden theft.

Everything about biology is a random effect. Even a mutation that’s selected for wasn’t planned; it just happened by chance. Like if you’re an aquatic species maybe you’ll end up being a strong swimmer over generations, but the water doesn’t pressure you towards that on its own. You have to coincidentally develop flukes that make you a stronger swimmer before those traits can be selected for.

Sometimes traits that get passed down aren’t beneficial at all because they don’t make an impact on reproduction. Think of an animal that comes in many colors like a house cat or certain fish species. In such cases it’s clear that the color of the animal doesn’t have any bearing on its ability to reproduce, so a variety of colors are passed down for no particular reason.

I would love to learn why this isn’t completely stupid, if anyone has a way of explaining. We’d be down entire genres of games if developers didn’t copy each other’s homework.

I don’t understand why landfills are a thing when trash can be burned for energy. Obviously recyclables should be recycled, but why is there even a landfill for them to end up in?

You don’t need to be unaware of or even dislike a thing to think a particular joke is bad.

See, this is a much better joke than the original comic.

I’m not saying it’s okay for him to waste resources, but they can just stop trying to stop him if they want. They could even legalize euthanasia of they really want to test him. He has access to help according to the article.

With regard to obesity, I don’t really understand the difference between killing yourself quickly because of poor health and killing yourself slowly because of poor health. Nobody gets to the point of being immobile because they’re doing great, but we still don’t forcibly control them.

We temporarily confine intoxicated people and/or escort them home because public intoxication is generally illegal. Alcoholism isn’t something I’ve heard of someone being held for against their will. I’ve heard of repeat offenders being assigned mandatory rehab, but that’s not something you get for being drunk at home or for ending up in the ER with alcohol poisoning.

We don’t allow people to do dangerous things that might be a liability issue, but it’s completely legal to dive in caves and jump out of planes and climb Everest, even though you could be injured or die. We’re not trying to protect people from themselves; we’re trying to protect ourselves from their lawsuit.

I understand the sentiment behind wanting to protect someone from themselves, but I don’t think society has the right to override the rights of others for their own good. We don’t lock up obese people or alcoholics or ban anyone from risky adventures. I think if you want to help people you must do so on their terms and with their consent.

But if he’s being kept in a hospital, as in against his will, that is a cage. Apologies if that isn’t what you meant with that wording.

I couldn’t tell you how many times a snack has pulled me out of suicidal thoughts, so I understand this.

I think forcibly keeping someone confined is one of the cruelest things you can do, to the point that fear of it makes me hesitant to seek help myself. He deserves his freedom even if he uses it to die.

The fuck do you mean “but the truth was disgusting” Like salmonella soup isn’t?

Who the hell is both on Lemmy and new to Cyanide and Happiness?

I’ve just read An Immense World by Ed Yong and learned that what seems to matter in birdsong is the way the notes change, like mid-note.

Seems to be working just as well as regular voting.

If copyright law were sensible no one would have to involve him or DC Comics to make whatever Sandman work they wanted.

I think they mean on mobile as opposed to PC. I can’t find any option besides the dashboard-style homepage offered by default. I can customize it, but I can’t make it a specific URL.

There’s lots of bad pacing and horrible acting in movies today though. You can obviously watch or not watch whatever, but I think you’re limiting yourself unnecessarily if you put too much weight on the year of release.

None of that makes any sense. An old book and a new book aren’t different in the way a rotary phone and a smartphone are. They are functionally the same object: text on paper.

You could have, for example, a story about someone stranded on an island, and the era it was written in would make almost no difference at all because technology doesn’t have any bearing on the story, and we haven’t changed as a species. The culture of the author would influence things, but that’s true even of media today since we don’t all share the same culture.

Old media can also be very illuminating when it does affect the story because it can teach you something about the era in which it was made. You might think to yourself, “Gosh, people used to be able to feed and house their families on a single paycheck? Why can’t we do that today?”

And yeah, having stuff in black and white is less visually interesting, but I’m not going to rule out something I might find enjoyable just because of that. I watched quite a few old sitcoms in my childhood that I enjoyed just as much as the modern cartoons, and I still enjoy some of those cartoons today alongside modern TV.

Do you think the Home Alone sequels are better than the original?