• Huh, these are really good! I admit I definitely didn’t see people born into rural poverty the same way I saw people born into urban poverty. That gives me a lot to think about!

      • R0cket_M00se
        link
        fedilink
        English
        41 year ago

        Like 75% of my basic training division was either inner city poverty escapism or rural poverty escapism.

        Ironically that became the uniting force of those people, something they could understand when everything else about the person is different.

  • Vode An
    link
    fedilink
    English
    27
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Blue’s Clues. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer’s head. There’s also Blue’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they’re not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Blue’s Clues truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the humour in Blue’s existential catchphrase “a clue a clue,” which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev’s Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Traci Paige Johnson’s genius wit unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools… how I pity them. 😂

    And yes, by the way, i DO have a Blue’s Clues tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the ladies’ eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid 😎

  • @Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    141 year ago

    The Hubble Deep Field image struck the first major blow against my childhood indoctrination in young earth creationism.

    • R0cket_M00se
      link
      fedilink
      English
      31 year ago

      I had a similar experience but with a book about Dinosaurs that contained scientifically accurate eons, etc.

      I started to piece together that while we might not be 100% correct all the time, YEC doesn’t even have an alternative. They just try and debunk evolution but have no scientific method/knowledge that proves they’re correct.

      Where’s all the geological science that shows a 6000 year old earth? None. There should be competing theories, but instead it’s just “you’re wrong, trust me bro.”

  • @pdxfed@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    14
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins

    Daft Punk’s 1997 “Homework” album

    “The Atomic Cafe” 1982 documentary film

    Edit: Vonnegut, the far side and Calvin and Hobbes for making me feel like I’m not crazy and most people are peddling a tremendous amount of bullshit.

    • @tungah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      31 year ago

      The Selfish Gene changed the way I see life itself. That and The Blind Watchmaker. I also love Unweaving the Rainbow.

    • @hydrospanner@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      11 year ago

      Agreed on the Selfish Gene.

      I started on Unweaving the Rainbow but didn’t make much progress.

      Dawkins can be a proper tool, but at least that book was quite interesting.

  • Chahk
    link
    fedilink
    111 year ago

    I read Asimov’s Foundation series of books when I was 14 or so, and it made me a lifelong science fiction fan.

  • Ms. ArmoredThirteen
    link
    fedilink
    101 year ago

    Morrowind because I’m one of those people. But for real, that game in part defined large parts of my life. I got frustrated with the limits of the game so I started making mods, then got frustrated with the limits of the engine so I learned how to make my own. Now I work adjacent to the game industry with plans to get back into the industry proper in a couple years. Making games is all I’ve ever wanted to do and I owe a big part of that to Morrowind and the construction kit.

  • @Juno@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    10
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    https://youtu.be/xUiuVjX2ubQ?feature=shared

    Transplant tourism in China 🇨🇳

    There’s only one reason to make a device to give people an invisible lobotomy with that contraption. Transplant tourism is a real thing, if you need a kidney, they’ll find some poor Chinese citizen who’s broken some menial law or just pull some poor Uyghur, labotomize them, poof there’s your kidney match in short order.

    Here’s a video of what these people are doing https://youtu.be/xUiuVjX2ubQ?feature=shared


    It changed my life because after seeing this, for all practical purposes, I try my very best to avoid things from China because I don’t want one penny of my money going to support this barbaric inhumanity.

    If I see “made in China” I will try my best to find an alternative. For example, I returned to razor mice because they were made in China and got one of the same model instead that was made in Taiwan. It was sort of a luck of the draw, I had to buy two of the same model before I got one from the country that I wanted it from and I returned the one that was made in China. It was about an extra hours worth of annoyance, but it’s important to me to keep doing things like that, because of this video. Fuck the Chinese Communist Party and their treating other human beings like animals.

    • Elise
      link
      fedilink
      21 year ago

      I think it’s important to keep in mind that this happens everywhere in one form or another. For example Frontex, ICE, Solitary confinement and so on. I’m sure you’re aware of more examples.

      • @Juno@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        61 year ago

        I believe it can be quantified in some way. I live in a country that has no problem with solitary confinement of minors at an early age for decades at a time.

        I think that’s deplorable and monstrous also. But something about government endorsed (don’t tell me the CCP doesn’t know about it) organ theft where they kill the donor and keep them alive through controlled brain damage so they can harvest more organs from them. Something about that seems worse to me than solitary confinement, enough that I changed my behavior.

        Yes keep it in context, but whataboutism isn’t an excuse for objectively dehumanizing behavior from anyone.

        (Note: I’m aware of companies and name brands that invest in private prisons, I do my best to avoid those brands, really I try to live my life but do what I can within reason)

        • Elise
          link
          fedilink
          11 year ago

          Yes I agree it isn’t an excuse. Am I right to be worried about people’s frustrations and their resulting anger? Change in China and other places must come from within.

  • @MrDrProfJimmy@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    91 year ago

    Guitar Hero exposed me to the idea that there was great music that wasn’t on the radio and inspired me to pick up an instrument

  • Lightor
    link
    fedilink
    9
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, it’s a collection of short stories with a light meta story connecting them. The man feared technology, thought it would ruin society. It was written in 1951 and some of his thoughts on how technology could ruin people are eerily spot on.

  • rautapekoni
    link
    fedilink
    91 year ago

    It’s a bit early to say if it’s life changing, but Hi Ren made me reassess my thought patterns and negative self talk in ways therapy never could, which is pretty damn powerful for a musical performance.

      • rautapekoni
        link
        fedilink
        7
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        No health care professional ever told me that depression can be something that’s just a part of who I am, and that maybe there is no getting rid of it. Rens message in the video feels so genuine and real that instead of passing it over as just another piece of pop culture, I stopped to really listen and think about what he’s saying about managing your darker tendencies and learning to live with them. The song has maybe helped me accept myself a bit better, but as I said, it’s still a bit too early to call if it’s an actually permanent and useful effect.

        • @Jarix@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          41 year ago

          Hi Ren is one of the only songs I will ever acknowledge as brave.

          Mildy related, have you seen Sucker Punch? You may appreciate it more than the average movie goer (but it could also be off putting)

          • rautapekoni
            link
            fedilink
            41 year ago

            Haven’t seen, will add to the shortlist. Thanks for the recommendation!

    • JackFrostNCola
      link
      fedilink
      English
      21 year ago

      I myself dont associate with any of the personal struggles discussed in ‘Chalk Outlines’ but dammit if it doesnt make me feel something, almost tears every time.