It’s not just cognitive. We lose taste buds with age, and the ones that remain shrink and lose sensitivity.

It makes sense if you think about it. Bitterness is associated with a lot of poisons. Sourness is associated with spoiled foods. Having a strong aversion to these tastes during childhood compelled our ancestors to avoid dangerous foods during their most fragile stages of life.

Then of course, sugar is a quick source of energy. It should be a given why a quick source of energy benefitted our ancient ancestors (for whom food was much more scarce.)

In short, that increased childhood sensitivity allowed our ancestors to survive until adulthood.

So parents - next time a kid complains about their dinner being too bitter, take comfort in knowing that if they were ever exposed to actual poison, they’d avoid it with the same urgency.

Goddamn, way to make me flashback.

There was a point in my life where I was facing homelessness, was constantly job searching but hearing nothing back, and had to count coins to make sure I could afford to eat each day. Not only that, but the closest family member, who had invited me to stay with them if things went tits up, had just died two days before in a sudden and tragic way.

And my then-bf dragged me to a bar, where he and all his friends told me to “just let it go” and “loosen up” as if the basement rock of my world hadn’t just eroded out from under me. I sure as shit couldn’t afford bar prices, and not a single one of the group offered to get me anything, leaving me stone sober while they all got shitfaced. I ended up crying alone in the bathroom for an hour, and when I came back out, “bf” was getting a fucking lap dance from his friend’s fiancee.

That wasn’t even the worst part of the night. It definitely got darker before the light returned.

I’m okay now, over a decade later, in an infinitely-better place with supportive friends and partners. But man, what a journey.

Nah, kids deserve more credit than that. I’m honest with kids (to an age-appropriate level) because it’s vital that they develop critical thinking skills. Considering the world they’re growing up into, they’re going to need all the training they can get to become able to discern fact from fiction.

I give kids legit reasons. I explore their “Why” questions. Then when I don’t know the answer, I’ll be honest but supportive, “I don’t know, but let’s find out.” We have to model what being a rational adult is like, and how we come to logical conclusions. Children aren’t going to learn this stuff from being brushed off or told some silly explanation.

That being said, it’s important to be smart about context. It’s reasonable and responsible to disengage from the conversation if someone demonstrates that they aren’t arguing in good faith, whether they’re an adult or a child. The problem is, a lot of adults jump to whatever explanation makes their own life easier, without any regard to how their response can shape the future adult they’re speaking with. If you’re truly concerned about kids’ futures, you have to acknowledge that there is a lot you know that kids don’t know yet. Offer them the benefit of the doubt and seize these opportunities to teach kids how to think for themselves.

For critically-panned movies that are arguably good, I recommend a scroll through this thread: [Meme] Which movie was this for you?

It’s interesting to see what everyone’s opinions are. I’ve already downloaded a few of the suggestions out of curiosity.

Dating someone of equal height: you can easily kiss on the lips without anyone awkwardly bending to reach

Dating someone shorter: every hug gets a bonus motor-boating

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It definitely has some lows in quality at points and the plot could’ve been stronger. But its highs were very solid.

Would you say that overall, it managed to achieve … Equilibrium?

Never heard of this movie (or if I did, I was too young to be interested in it.) However, your comment and those in response to it got me curious to look it up.

I got as far as to read that it’s directed by Danny DeVito, and two of its stars are Robin Williams and Jon Stewart.

That’s all I needed, I’m sold. Queuing it up to watch this weekend.

That’s how I felt about Paranormal Activity. It was like I spent the entire movie waiting for something scary to happen. A thing just… stood there. Every “night” on screen felt the same: a being… just standing there. Not standing there sharpening a knife. Not standing there ominously stroking people’s cheeks. Nothing attacked or even made threats to do so. It just. fucking. stood. there.

Then when something finally started to happen, the movie ended.

I don’t know if my standards for “scary” are too high, but I found the entire film (save for those last few seconds) to be extremely boring. How it’s so popular (and even spawned a sequel?!) is beyond me.

It sounds like we’re on the same page. I didn’t mention foreign influence, only monied influence, which is the same thing you’re saying.

My point was that these influences previously existed in the U.S. long before now. They didn’t materialize out of the blue. Anyone who’s been explicitly anti-fascist prior to the past decade knows that there was already an undercurrent pulling people in that direction.

I appreciate hearing your perspective, and you’re absolutely on point. One thing I know for sure is that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

pretending that this neofascism is some kind of external infection is tantamount to covering one’s own ears.

See, I think it’s mixed. You’re absolutely right that people voted for this. At the same time, years of propaganda by monied interests have led us up to this point. Authoritarianism has been low-key popular at least since the 90s (maybe earlier, but the 90s was when I started school, and learned by experience that fascism is how the school system operates.) People are scared to rock the boat against their “leaders,” and given enough time, this is the result.

I wish I had time right now to write more about this, because there is some deep psychological manipulation that’s embedded in the fabric of this country. It doesn’t excuse people’s behaviors, but knowing how and why they operate is crucial to understanding the big picture.

It’s always a pleasure to come across a hoopy frood who knows where their towel is.

Yeah, this isn’t unusual for a religious school.

I remember, as a little girl, playing the part of the angel Gabriel… except I thought the character was named Gabrielle. The only reason I tried for the part was because I thought it was the only explicitly female role, besides Mary (and my unpopular ass wasn’t about to complete for the role of Prima Donna.)

It was a huge let down to find out that Gabriel was yet another male character in the perpetual sausage-fest that is The Holy Bible. Combined with how practically nothing was written about how Jesus would’ve been as a child, I never understood how I was supposed to relate to anything in that book.

I remember this progress as a kid. Nothing was taught until after I did something wrong. It ended up discouraging me from trying, because every time I did something that I thought was “right,” my mom complained about it.

At first the rule was “put dirty dishes in the sink.”

Then when I put dishes in the sink, the complaint became, “Why did you put dishes in the sink without washing them?”

So then I learned to wash dishes, and set them in the drying rack. To which my mom would complain, “Why are there dishes in the drying rack? You should put them away.”

Okay, so I washed and put dishes in the cabinets. “Why are the dishes all wet?”

…

How about teaching kids each step beforehand, instead of complaining that they don’t magically know/do everything?

If you directly translated them, a lot of the time you’d get like “cabbage the horse wheel” or something.

That reminds me of the “Password Strength” comic by xkcd. All right, it’s settled. Next time I need new password, I’m feeding random names into a phonetic name translator.

“However, I did make it with a hot alien babe. And in the end, is that not what man has dreamt of since first he looked up at the stars?”

This is exactly what spurs me to wash my dishes right after using them. It’s much less stressful to clean a single plate & fork now, than to return to a sink full of dirty dishes later. I’d rather just get it over with while it’s still easy to do.

The storm was mainly weakened by wind shear.

Here are some key points:

Wind shear is defined as the change in wind speed, wind direction, or both, over some distance.

Hurricanes thrive in environments where their vertical structure is as symmetrical as possible. The more symmetrical the hurricane is, the faster the storm can rotate, like a skater pulling in her arms to spin.

Too much vertical wind shear, however, can offset the top of the storm. This weakens the wind circulation, as well as the transport of heat and moisture needed to fuel the storm. The result can tear a hurricane apart.

Source: What is Wind Shear, and How Does it Shape Hurricanes

As to the destruction being less than the worst-case scenario predicted, that’s because the storm ended up making landfall south of Tampa Bay:

Tampa Bay remained in the hurricane’s northern eyewall, which meant that winds blew from the east—offshore—during the worst of the storm. Not only did these offshore winds spare the region the worst of the surge, but Tampa actually experienced an “anti-surge” as the storm made landfall. Strong winds pushed more than a metre of water out of Tampa Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: How Hurricane Milton’s Destructive Surge Mostly Spared Tampa Bay

It’s not just Japan, and it doesn’t just apply to women. K pop has the same situation, and boy bands are no exception.

Although modern media allows for much less privacy, this idea is far from new. Back when The Beatles were a fresh, new band in the early 1960s, John Lennon had to hide his first marriage from the public. Long before Yoko Ono, there was Cynthia Lennon. John was pressured to hide his relationship for the same reasons that K pop and J pop idols do - in order to create the illusion of “attainability” among fans.

Times have changed in the west, where celebrity couples have found greater public acceptance. I’m not well-versed in Japanese and Korean celebrity cultures, so I’m not sure why this prohibition on dating/marriage still occurs there. All I know is, this situation is not unique.

While we’re at it, is it too much to ask for leniency in some instances of tone? It’s not my fault my autistic brain can’t hear the way my words come out. I overcompensate in work and in public by going “into character” as someone very cheery and positive - because any less than that inevitably leads to my “tone” overshadowing the content of my speech. My line of work requires my bosses to be knowledgable about autism, and I’ve even told my manager that my tone does not reflect my emotions.

Yet if ever I get tired, overwhelmed, or simply have several new instructions thrown at me in a short amount of time, I’m left not only grappling with whatever I’m told to do, but my facade slips and I also get a talking to about “my tone.” I’m sorry, I do my best to control how I speak, but despite living over 30 years on this planet I still struggle with this “basic” aspect of communication. Holding it against me won’t solve anything, but it will contribute to my social anxiety and the sense that I simply don’t belong in society.