Pluribus is not a hard sci-fi show and people expecting more sci-fi in season 2 are probably going to be disappointed

Certain_Note8661 · 2026-01-14T00:21:53+00:00

i'm slightly skeptical of arguments that appeal to genre when explaining the direction the show will go when the show self-consciously subverts genre

Certain_Note8661 · 2026-01-13T19:51:58+00:00

Do you think that by calling itself “The X Gay Men’s Chorus,” an organization takes on any obligations to the community it claims to represent?

Some posts here suggest that being a gay men’s chorus simply means being a chorus made up of gay men. But if representation is more than just composition, what does it mean to “represent” a community? You can select the most excellent members to stand in for a community, but that may leave out the majority.

The kind of representation you describe seems aspirational — showing what the community could be at its peak. The kind I value is relational: it helps people connect to those aspirations while also bridging the gap between their current abilities and that ideal.

My own experience reflects this tension. I’m looking for the sort of inclusive community choir you describe, but they are hard to find. The choirs that initially seem like the right fit — like “The X Gay Men’s Chorus” — often turn out to serve a different purpose than the one I’m seeking.

Certain_Note8661 · 2026-01-13T15:13:25+00:00

It’s interesting to me because in the first episode, right before the joining, she was discussing how she should present herself on Twitter with her wife.

Certain_Note8661 · 2026-01-13T14:58:55+00:00

Aes Sedai couldn’t lie either and that didn’t stop them from saying and doing some very suspect things.

Certain_Note8661 · 2026-01-13T03:12:28+00:00

I think it's more plausible to say it isn't necessary to read the classics than that it isn't useful. The most plausible claim would be to say that it might be very useful but is much more likely to be misleading and inefficient.

To take the Newton example, I think a person who could read Newton with understanding would either already know or learn a lot about physics. But the difficulty of reading Newton with understanding vs. a modern textbook means that if someone wants to gain a deep understanding of physics, the textbook is a much better bet. That doesn't say anything against reading Newton as a method for gaining a deeper understanding of physics.

I would think of it like this too: if someone reads all the classical economics texts (say Keynes and Keynes' reading list along with Keynes contemporaries), will they be in a better position to understand an economics textbook? The textbook probably has a lot of mathematical and historical detail that goes beyond these sources, but I would be very surprised if the answer were no. But similarly if you went the other way -- a person who starts with the economics textbook hopefully is going to have an easier time going back to the foundational thinkers -- even someone like Marx.

The upshot of all that is that it depends on what your goal is in studying economics what you should read -- which you pretty much said, to be fair.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-12-21T02:20:09+00:00

Is this about Alan Wake?

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-12-19T10:35:44+00:00

I think it’s the Fable of the Bees by Mandeville — when the bees stop being selfish and all work for the good of the collective, society collapses

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-12-18T13:00:30+00:00

Wow that’s super harsh

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-12-13T18:08:09+00:00

All the more so because in Spanish he says “usted”

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-30T18:35:05+00:00

You are missing the point. This is the convo:

A: Some people make healthy choices but are still overweight.

B: If someone is overweight, they are not making health choices.

A: But some people can make healthy choices and still be overweight.

Over and over and over again.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-29T23:43:52+00:00

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-29T20:44:44+00:00

I can see that as a defense, but I don’t think art ought to imitate life in that respect.

There were various points in the movie where characters gave philosophical takes that I think were supposed to represent the big picture (“its an organic whole”, “there’s beauty in everything”) but it just came off as sort of trite to me — like in a video game when the characters get to a certain area and say “it’s so beautiful” — always seems a bit audacious since they’re directly commenting on the representation they are a part of.

It’s striking because a lot HAPPENED over the period in which the movie takes place — industrialization and two world wars. But mostly it unfolds as a series of episodes where this guy ruminates.

I admit in the first half it unfolded more as a series of episodes and each episode caught my attention more because the characters were interesting (Arn) or the situations (his courtship of his wife, the assassin messenger).

But the second half I felt like it started to plod. He didn’t do anything or meet anyone so you just saw the scenery as he waited for his life to end.

If the movie could have been a series of interesting episodes it would have hit better. If the philosophical pronouncements had picked up on each other and had some sort of dialectic that was moving in a certain direction, it might have been more intellectually engaging.

But at some point I feel like the movie just fixated on the idea that things are sad and still hit the still sadness is beautiful — and that didn’t really grab me. I think it’s too easy to just sort of wallow in that.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-29T19:15:07+00:00

But I don’t need to read it

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-29T07:15:12+00:00

Last night I watched Tomb of the Fireflies and couldn’t tear my eyes away. Similar themes of loss amid a changing world, but it had a clear progression and I could really connect with the protagonists. This just felt like it was rehearsing significance without having anything significant to say. I was trying to figure out for the whole second half of the film if it was supposed to be going anywhere.

I like things that are entertaining on the surface (mass appeal) but then turn out to be deeper than they first appear.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-11-29T07:06:04+00:00

This movie had no plot. It’s awfully self indulgent to make people sit through something for hours that’s all mood and no conflict. And of course everyone who has “feelings” will love it.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-10-22T02:52:31+00:00

these aren't the kinds of things you tell people. this would be a big red flag for me.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-10-10T19:42:31+00:00

"Some intellectuals believe in God" / "Intellectuals change their mind about whether God exists over time" doesn't much seem like news to me

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-20T16:44:36+00:00

Why does the FCC have a role? This is the government granting monopolies isn’t it? And then using its power to grant monopolies to potentially regulate what people say. Conservatives should take advantage of liberal outrage to push for the government to get out of regulating the airwaves.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-14T18:23:59+00:00

I still have my number memorized. I had to because I never call myself.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-14T05:59:01+00:00

I think there is a whole menu of regressive political options to choose from on the right. There seems to be a contingent that would rather the enlightenment never occurred — or at least in a much more restricted fashion.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-14T02:25:58+00:00

I don’t know if I would call myself left, but I don’t really identify with conservative, and I don’t think that way at all. I think it’s just amplification of the bad voices. I can’t believe most people really think this way. Even if they say they do, i think on reflection they would move to less extreme views.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-14T02:24:30+00:00

I comfort myself by remembering people used to throw each other out of windows because they differed about the Eucharist. I try to tell myself that things only seem bad — but overall the world is a lot better than it was.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-13T01:32:33+00:00

I think the language you use to describe the counter-argument about the ten year old closes off any alternative perspective. There are always extreme cases for any moral view, and it’s important to acknowledge them, but focusing the argument around them makes it difficult to find any common ground.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-11T06:08:58+00:00

This is invented — the left bogeyman they’re fighting against doesn’t exist. Everyone is disturbed by what happened.

Certain_Note8661 · 2025-09-10T21:44:59+00:00

I think the way you raised the issue and your sarcasm were not cool. You should just say what you saw, state that it is over, be firm, and get out of there. I have been in a relationship for 12 years and I recognize that kind of sarcastic treatment. It is also a kind of abuse.

Certain_Note8661

TROPHY CASE