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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2024

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  • I prefer fresh ideas and thoughts, even (especially) if they don’t align with my own values and beliefs. I thrive in that kind of environment. We, for the most part, seem to be at that stage. A stage Reddit was at circa 2009.

    What I don’t want is this place becoming so popular that everything moves too fast and becomes derivative. I am not looking forward to an endless September. It’s probably inevitable, but if it could hold off another 5 - 10 years up to the point when I’m more into gardening or something rather than the Internet, that would be ideal.

    I also fear that the model is unsustainable at a certain point. I trust Dessaslines and co aren’t chasing endless profits, but there does need to be enough people out there willing to donate and fund operations. Lichess is able to make it happen, so I hope we do here too.






  • New for the 60 year anniversary of 20th Century Studios “Planet of the Apes” - the Complete Deluxe Blue Ray Box Set! With over 72 hours of primate auditions - find out who made the cut and who didn’t. Witness the movie magic that got them to make those such true-to-life facial expressions! Listen to their off-screen reactions to Charlton Heston repeatably calling them damned and dirty!

    It’s all in the “Planet of the Apes - 60th Anniversary Complete Deluxe Blue Ray Box Set!”




  • Consider the numbers presented. If you can figure out the math on how to get the 24th ranked countries out of 102 rankings to be below 100, then I’ll reconsider.

    The countries who rank higher than 100 only have about 1.5 billion people within them and their average is only slightly higher compared to the countries that have an average significantly lower. For example, India with its 1 billion people is on there at an average of 82.

    The math doesn’t add up for an average global human. I think we need to know more about how the scores in the study are calculated.



  • This is a well written article. I’m not sure how the OP came to their conclusion. The US ranks 24th on average IQ (with an IQ of 98) and is in good company with France, Denmark, Australia also at 98. For those curious, Canada, Finland and Germany were 99.

    24th out of 102 should not be considered “dumber than average”. Additionally, as the article clearly states, the average has been going up, approximately 3 points per decade, and this is partly due to an increase in logical thinking.

    East Asia is the outlier here, with many countries at 101 or higher (China at 105) though I find it curious that Hong Kong and Macau were singled out separately from China.

    I wonder if these higher numbers have something to do with the homogeneity within these cultures, the average age of the county’s population, and/or, as another commenter mentioned, the way in which the higher IQ countries approach education.







  • Seriously!? A Cinderella team spends a full year working their way to the sweet 16 and perhaps eventually the final four? Then loses by one point. Do you not see the struggle, the passion, the determination and the heartbreak in that?

    Or a champion tennis player, significantly past her prime, coming back to championship after multiple years out and winning the title.

    Or two soccer superstars at the absolute peak of their field going head to head. Can you not sense the tension, and suspense as these two juggernauts battle it out to see who comes out on top?

    Or a man, born without arms, overcoming adversity at all points in his life to become the fastest swimmer and winning the gold.

    Do you not see how sport can be an allegory for the human condition? The struggle, the heartbreak that comes with failure, the celebration of success, the toll of aging.

    If not, I challenge you to take up a sport for a year, just a year. Try to get as good as you can with it. Celebrate your successes. Reflect on your failures. Document your milestones as you progress . Try not to give up. Make friends along the way. Become the true definition of an amateur. Living through your own experiences, you may discover that sport is full of emotion.


  • I visited Panama for an agricultural trip about a decade ago where we focused on coffee agriculture and production. Coincidentally, there are some coffees that blend in beans or peanuts to mellow the flavor. This is usually done for cheaper coffees that use robusto beans instead of arabica. It’s also to relieve some of the acrid taste that can develop during the drying out process if the beans are dried around animal droppings.

    If you’re interested in what a mellowed coffee would taste like, I think chock full of nuts is a brand you can try in the states.

    Edit: ok so I did some more research and it appears that chock full o nuts likely no longer does this, they just have typical coffee nowadays. I’ll leave it to you other internet sleuths to find a brand that does.


  • What a fun city. Having lived in the South most of my life, I somehow associated it as not a great place to visit. I was so wrong. Yes, it’s a party city, but it’s so, so much more. The food is top notch, the gardens are beautiful, and where else in the south can you ride a cable car, as regular public transportation!

    As for the coffee, yea the chicory was different, but it tasted good, added a bit of a root bear kind of taste, mildly pleasant. I wouldn’t drink it every day, I don’t like sweet coffee, but occasionally a nice treat. Coincidentally, I live in Chapel Hill now and the place up the street sells chicory coffee, both brewed and cold brew. It’s nice when, like you, I want to reminisce about that beautiful trip.



  • There are some alternatives to cheese that are pretty good. I’m an omnivore but my wife has convinced me that there are some good vegetarian options out there. Might be worth exploring if the low-fat cheese isn’t palatable.

    • Cashew cream on enchiladas is fantastic
    • the fake shredded cheese made out of almond isn’t so bad. We use it on salads, chili, etc. It’s expensive though.
    • TVP gives things that umami flavor, good in chili, but it more so acts like ground beef. Don’t put too much in.
    • Blended tofu with nutritional yeast acts as a very good ricotta substitute (coincidentally tofu also makes for a very good chocolate pie)

    With this, and trimming down my meat consumption to just a few times a week, as well as a little exercise, I’ve kept my LDL numbers below my late 20s highs, which were borderline - I’m nearing two decades older now.