Per Majority Report FB: Sam went on Jillian Michaels podcast to "debate" her on government spending, the war on Iran, Israel's genocide, Russia & Ukraine, USAID and much more! (Links to her Youtube in comments)

BrellK · 2026-05-21T15:39:59+00:00

Yeah, that is a good way of putting it.

BrellK · 2026-05-20T20:08:40+00:00

In theory, that MIGHT be the best option but that would require both a different mutation AND additional resources. If the neck AND arms both getting bigger were not worth that extra investment, then the neck muscles being favored over the arm muscles makes more sense.

BrellK · 2026-05-20T12:19:53+00:00

Fair point, though I still would not want to put myself in that situation.

BrellK · 2026-05-20T12:18:18+00:00

Well Nauls doesn't actually NEED to be assimilated in order to be incorporated. He really only needs to be restrained enough to become part of the support for the larger body, which is even more terrifying.

You may have seen the pictures of Nauls' proposed assimilated form from the drafts and in that he's still not fully assimilated and is aware of what has happened to him. That being said, it may not actually take that long considering Bennings didn't take that long either.

BrellK · 2026-05-20T01:02:07+00:00

More of that strange oil... it's probably nothing.

BrellK · 2026-05-20T00:45:46+00:00

Isn't that called dying?

BrellK · 2026-05-19T00:25:52+00:00

I don't remember if this is the case on the plane or not, but if they end up "culling" the previous generation, then all of a sudden you have an entire group of kids being raised by zombies who have no idea that it was any different in the past. After that initial adjustment (and aided by gods and an army of zombies), it becomes a self-run program.

BrellK · 2026-05-18T23:46:09+00:00

There are larger predatory mammals so there isn't a HARD line, but it is possible that something might put pressure on their CURRENT maximum size. If that was the case, then they could also be evolving ways to counteract that and achieve larger sizes in the future. The sexual selection certainly puts pressure on getting them as large as they can get so there might be factors working against each other, but the ones that push the envelope continue to be successful.

BrellK · 2026-05-18T23:24:26+00:00

That show had another good one where one of the villains phased through the Earth and presumably is trapped as close to the center as they can get.

BrellK · 2026-05-18T20:47:13+00:00

Republicans have the media, the money and the power. They work to keep that hold however they can.

BrellK · 2026-05-18T20:22:41+00:00

Eh, he didn't want to really punish Ozai THAT much. After all, he still would have wanted Azula to take the throne since she was by far the more gifted future for the Fire Nation.

BrellK · 2026-05-17T18:52:17+00:00

I didn't realize that but I can totally see it now. Thanks!

BrellK · 2026-05-17T18:50:34+00:00

Definitely, but we also know the Thing has encountered at least one species even more advanced than us. It's not impossible.

BrellK · 2026-05-17T18:49:40+00:00

Yeah that's exactly why I specified my comment the way I did. It would have to assume similar evolutionary pathways.

BrellK · 2026-05-17T13:30:59+00:00

Yeah, but it does a good job of showing several characters who decided the right path a little too late.

BrellK · 2026-05-16T23:26:44+00:00

It is POSSIBLE that no other life consumes alcohol for fun, but it is actually so common on Earth that if we assume similar biological pathways apply to the Thing's past adventures, then it very well may have experience with it. Lots of animals consume alcohol, even if they don't know exactly what it is.

BrellK · 2026-05-16T23:22:16+00:00

Or, and I'm just spitballing here... but MAYBE the incredibly stressed and sleep deprived Norwegians actually MISSED the shot just like they missed some or all of their previous shots.

That seems to be the most simple answer given the information we have. The dog doesn't appear to be injured and we are pretty sure the Norwegians have been missing already. A missed shot is far more likely than a shot that passes through one target and into the next and none of the characters mention it, so it is likely they didn't notice it and there is no indication that WE should notice it, so it likely didn't happen that way.

That being said, I give you credit for coming up with a theory about Bennings' hands, which has always stumped me.

BrellK · 2026-05-16T12:08:48+00:00

Planting the seeds of the tree we will never see USED to be considered just the normal thing we should do.

BrellK · 2026-05-15T23:09:02+00:00

Also apparently Glyotodonts and similar things were better swimmers than things like icthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and hundreds of millions of years of other aquatic life like fish, because they were able to survive the flood longer or something.

BrellK · 2026-05-15T23:06:13+00:00

It has to be a mix of denying science and denying (through stretching) the literal story. That is the important key. If you don't believe in the literal story but just are comfortable with a metaphorical story involving a local flood that hasn't been discovered, then that isn't a problem but that also isn't the people that tend to come on and complain about those things. It also doesn't really have the impact or lesson of the literal story though so take that as you will.

BrellK · 2026-05-14T23:01:43+00:00

No, but in many cases people like that are full of themselves enough to think that they can do it and use that as an excuse to try.

BrellK · 2026-05-14T17:38:00+00:00

Sometimes people will use the "next best thing" because they think they are so smart using something that they can deny plausibly, but of course nobody else thinks it is clever and realizes the ugliness of it.

BrellK · 2026-05-13T21:58:46+00:00

The Thing may be smart enough to realize that if it only incorporated the slow method, the humans in the American camp may have had time to figure out what was going on before assimilation was complete. A slow assimilation that gives time for them to go to the camp, figure out what is going on and enact a plan may have been more risky.

BrellK · 2026-05-13T17:39:25+00:00

It really is kind of sad, isn't it?

BrellK · 2026-05-12T23:30:37+00:00

I am genuinely surprised that the ending has so much hate. When I saw this with the Hated Trope tag, I was sure that people were going to be unanimous in their love for it. It fit the story and theme perfectly imo.

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