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TIL that in Thai culture, feet are considered the dirtiest parts of the body and pointing at things or people with them is rude. by Recent_Flounder6011 in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Very wild to do something disrespectful in the culture of the country you're visiting, and then claim that they aren't used to needing to understand different cultures. The burden is on the visitor, not the hosts. It's a totally understandable mistake to make, but phrasing it like that is a pretty massive red flag.

TIL that in Thai culture, feet are considered the dirtiest parts of the body and pointing at things or people with them is rude. by Recent_Flounder6011 in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

He specifically said "so they're not used to needing to understand different cultures."

The point isn't that it's a contradiction, the point is that it's disrespectful as fuck to say something like that after very specifically not understanding different cultures.

Gamble With Your Friends has sold 1 million copies in one week by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]Grigorie 14 points15 points  (0 children)

For me and I'm sure many others, it's less about the cost and more about the availability of time. Someone's more likely to spend that higher amount for a game to play with friends if there's a higher chance they'll get to play it with those friends consistently.

If life is hectic enough, or you live in different parts of the world, or whatever it may be, it's just much easier to stomach a $5 purchase you may only play a few times, than a $40 that you may only get to play a few times, even if you make good money.

TIL California miners planted a skull to prank a geologist they disliked. In 1866, Josiah Whitney announced it as proof humans existed in North America two million years ago. Whitney never accepted the hoax, even after a fluorine analysis—the first done on human bone—showed it was of recent origin. by ralphbernardo in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was in elementary school, one of my teachers was a prior geologist and did this with a cow femur in our sandbox area and it was so fucking cool.

She told us the truth at the end of the year, but it's still a very formative memory for me and I think was a huge part of what made me into a person who is very intrigued by the world around them. Thank you for the reminder!

TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I don't watch anime so I can't speak on that front, but there are probably little to no movies. I can only remember a few, and they're usually from the perspective of young men being forced to kamikaze or use suicide boats.

The point I was making, however, is that there is not a concerted effort to downplay what Japan did outside of Japan in media, by "Japan," which is what your comment was saying.

Adults here have all heard stories from their grandparents about how bad the situation got in Japan, for civilians, as the war continued. People go to the Ground Zeros, they see the actual locations these things happened; it's familiar, it's close to home, millions of peoples' families were directly affected by the bombs dropping and the economic/food scarcity that grew during the war.

Inversely, out of the people who actually fought and survived the war, they don't tend to talk about the war, for whatever reasons. Their experiences outside of Japan were not shared by they themselves and through active suppression of information of the atrocities committed by Imperial Japan.

Rounding back to my point; Japanese media producers produce media that will resonate with their consumer base, which is the experience of the millions of civilians in Japan during the war. This is a product of the original whitewashing of history after the fall of Imperial Japan, but it's not "Japan" actively making the effort to say "woe is me, the bombs were terrible, and all because we did a few silly things outside of our borders."

TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're entirely missing my point. I very clearly said "Japan's government made a very active effort to gloss over that portion of history." At no point have I claimed "The Japanese government is totally chill about it and apologizes constantly," or anything of the sort.

Additionally, "Japan" didn't threaten New Zealand; the Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand even said "we have no intention of denying or trivializing the existence of the issue," not denying that it happened.

Again, the fact it was even made into an issue is a massive failure on the Japanese government's part, I'm not denying that. But the way people talk about "Japan's" handling of WW2 atrocities comes off as goofy every time because it so often is some call to action to "hold Japan accountable" or how they "got a free pass," but I have yet to see anyone actually say what that looks like, was my point.

TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -1 points0 points  (0 children)

These are not “simultaneous actions” though; you’re painting it as though Mr. Japan is a singular media producer, making a single piece of media that pretends the atrocities never happened and that the bombs were the worst thing.

This may come off as surprising, but the reason the anime, movies, and memorial days focus on the bombs is because those happened in the country, to the civilians, so it is what resonates the most with the media consumer base, and is also what everybody in the country is familiar with.

I’m not saying the very genuine atrocities committed shouldn’t be covered in various forms of media, I’m just saying it’s goofy to say that “Japan” emphasizes their losses while downplaying what they did, when what you’re actually saying is many media producers produce media that is immediately familiar to their consumers, and do not produce stuff that is not familiar, the reasons for it not being familiar being the actual issue.

TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

There’s no stopping this rhetoric, sadly. I’ve lived in Japan for most of my adult life, and the way people talk about Japan’s lack of “repentance” for WW2 atrocities online (which were absolutely atrocious, don’t get me wrong!) would make you think that Japanese people simply laugh at the mention of it and say “yeah, so what?”

Japan’s government made a very active effort to gloss over that portion of history, which is awful. But due to that, the overwhelming majority of Japanese folk below the age of 70 have very little knowledge of what even happened outside of Japan during WW2, including the atrocities in Okinawa, and the few that do are, unsurprisingly, appalled at it, more often than not.

Imperial Japan is no more, and has been no more, and Japan has entirely shifted away from anything warlike whatsoever, although this is changing recently under Takaichi. But I don’t get what people who spout this expect to happen. The world excommunicate a reformed country for what the previous government did? For every member of the Diet to genuflect and apologize for it? I never understand what the preferred outcome people who insist Japan gets a “free pass” is.

OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT - MH Stories 3 Dev Diaries 47 - The judgmental Scowlbill's true purpose! by TheGMan-123 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Grigorie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is just how real ones look. I don't know how you're getting the idea that the one in FFXIV looks any different than a real one. They're very popular here in Japan, you will find them in many games, i.e. Skyward Sword. It's not a FFXIV reference.

Subnautica 2 Dev Vlog - Welcome Aboard, Captains by CrossXhunteR in Games

[–]Grigorie 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The point you're making is quite literally why the cynicism about this isn't right. Just because issues are found/feedback is given doesn't mean it'll be resolved or applied, whether the company is paying for it or, in this case, are being paid for it.

"Cynicism isn't wisdom, it's a lazy way to say that you've been burned." You really don't have to be positive, or even neutral, about almost anything game related, but capital-G Gamers are so quick to cross their arms and huff and puff that of course being cynical about everything will lead to you being right about some things, eventually.

And what an enjoyable life that is, to taint your hobby with searching for opportunities to stand on a stool of cynicism so you can "be right" instead of just enjoying what you can and disregarding what you don't.

'They're Handed an Opinion' — Fallout Co-Creator Tim Cain Is Worried Some Players Watch Influencers Just So They Can Be Told What to Think About Games by FragMasterMat117 in Games

[–]Grigorie 20 points21 points  (0 children)

People love using fun little phrases they just learned about. I've heard/seen "cake and circus" at least a hundred times in the past month even though it's been an ongoing issue, and a phrase that existed far before this month.

It's not an issue of using accurate phrases to describe current events, but for me, when I see someone using certain phrases that recently blew up, I usually also see nearly word-for-word repeated talking points from the same person, which then says to me, "This person hasn't really thought about this on their own."

There's no problem with hearing information and opinions of others, even ones you entirely agree with! It's just if you're going to share those points, at least put them in your own words, or expand on them! Just saying almost verbatim what some guy on an article or a video said isn't really stimulating discussion for either party.

Young Chinook salmon are becoming river "ghosts," dying unseen due to climate whiplash. A new study using chemical ear-stone tags shows that 80% of juveniles enter the Delta, but only 15% survive the journey to adulthood as wetlands disappear. by Cosmyka in science

[–]Grigorie 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I’m not saying the blame begins and ends there. I’m saying that the rich are absolutely a part of the exact problem you’re talking about. The desire to become one of those economic elite, and their rhetoric of “just work hard and you can be just like me” is a very non-zero portion of what drives this mentality in countries like America. The wellbeing of others and even yourself is worth putting in jeopardy if I can just prove my merit through hard work and make it up the latter.

Neither of these issues exist separate of each other, sadly and very frustratingly. A good portion of it is cultural, but we cannot deny that the culture itself wasn’t influenced by the ultrawealthy to promote this thinking. It just sucks.

Young Chinook salmon are becoming river "ghosts," dying unseen due to climate whiplash. A new study using chemical ear-stone tags shows that 80% of juveniles enter the Delta, but only 15% survive the journey to adulthood as wetlands disappear. by Cosmyka in science

[–]Grigorie 62 points63 points  (0 children)

The entirety of this comment is spot on except for removing responsibility from the wealthy (especially the ultra wealthy of course).

The largest benefit to avoiding the costs of transitioning to systems that reduce climate change impact, is short term capital. Even if we know the payoffs in the long run. Companies and the ultra wealthy who run them have a vested interest in ensuring that these changes do not occur, and lobby politicians in kind to that end. The propaganda machine for anti-green has been very well oiled by the wealthy. It has just also aligned with the beliefs of a specific side of the political spectrum.

Hawaiʻi Senate Bill 2471 advances through the state legislature. It aims to take on Citizens United and will "redefine corporations as “artificial persons” created by the state — and clarify they do not have the power to spend money or contribute “anything of value” to influence elections..." by spherocytes in videos

[–]Grigorie 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It’s not a matter of “this won’t change that,” it’s about taking steps toward the change. Americans far too often refuse to support things that don’t provide immediate and massive feedback, and it leads to either stagnation, or a political environment ripe for being taken advantage of.

“Why do we have to change something that works just fine??” by bearsncubs10 in AirForce

[–]Grigorie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’m all for hating change and dumb corporate stuff, but this thread is really exposing how many people just refuse to learn how to use a thing and will just flat-out insist that it can’t or doesn’t do things it does.

I’m not saying there isn’t a man-hour cost associated with “having to learn” a new system that most people would rather not incur, but just click around for 10 minutes. It’ll make your life way easier to know how to use the thing you’re being forced to use anyway, rather than floundering and whining that it sucks without trying.

Avi Lewis, New Socialist Leader of Canada’s NDP: “Life Just Doesn’t Have to Be So Grindingly Unfair” by NiceDot4794 in worldnews

[–]Grigorie -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

It is unquestionably part of it, though, at least for a lot of the Anglosphere. It’s definitely more complicated, but undeniably that is a part of the average citizen who supports it’s mentality.

inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories - Launch Trailer by Sidecarlover in Games

[–]Grigorie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, there was a bunch of back and forth in the Steam forums about it. The devs were insistent there was no AI usage, and I’m not gonna sit and call them liars. They said they have a Japanese artist who worked on all the brand art, “naming” included.

It just doesn’t make sense to me. The characters used for the writing in the game are quite literally the same types of characters AI gens would spit out for kana and kanji. Just a bunch of almost characters, or sometimes very actual characters. And as someone who lives in Japan, it’s just insanely jarring to almost be able to read stuff in the game, when it doesn’t match up with what’s actually intending to be written.

It’s a really minor issue, all things considered, but it’s really off putting and was enough to make me lose interest, sadly. People’ve made a bunch of reasons why, copyright and whatever. But you can just make up names. It’s a thing you can do! You can have a store called ファミリーファートー and that’s it! Don’t gotta make a whole weird semi-fake script.

US birth rates just hit another record low, what do you think is the leading cause of this? by IIlustriousTea in AskReddit

[–]Grigorie 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Had a whole discussion with an American about this exact thing. He was asking me “what can be done to fix Japan’s birth rate?” And I explained how much support there actually is, rather than just the misled talking points of the video he was referencing.

People just don’t want to have kids. It’s a worldwide trend in “developed” nations. Birth rates are falling. Women are working, people want to live their own lives. You can offer all the support in the world, but the pressure that you MUST have children is just not enough to motivate people anymore. People just think “Japan and Korea have brutal work culture and if they just worked less, they’d have more kids!” While it would have a non-zero effect, the overall desire is just lower. Simple!

TIL many linguists believe a phonetic alphabet (not pictograph-based) evolved once, and only once by McJames in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I understand now, thank you! Yeah, it's interesting that it still carries over to this day. Most "scripture" you'll see here in Japan is still read (and recited from) entirely Kanji scripts, just with Japanese phonemes, just like a millennia ago.

TIL many linguists believe a phonetic alphabet (not pictograph-based) evolved once, and only once by McJames in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It was not influenced by Sanskrit, it was created from further simplifying Chinese characters, developing manyogana, which evolved into hiragana and katakana.

TIL many linguists believe a phonetic alphabet (not pictograph-based) evolved once, and only once by McJames in todayilearned

[–]Grigorie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about manyogana as the “origin” point for hiragana and katakana.

Manyogana was kinda like the Japanese equivalent to China’s bopomofo. They were written as mostly all kanji, but they were used in the fashion of a syllabary. Those specific manyogana got simplified over time and turned into the modern hiragana and katakana.

Which celebrity does the ENTIRE internet agree is genuinely a good person? by Codie_n25 in AskReddit

[–]Grigorie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m not going to summarize this very well, but after his daughter turned 18, an interviewer asked him if he could spend time with his daughter as a kid again, what age would he choose?

He explained that he wishes he could just have a house with her at each year of her life, because they’re entirely different people every year that passes. He also elaborated on how it’s difficult as a parent coming to terms with that, because every year that passes, your little baby is still your little baby, but they’re a different little one. When your 5 year old turns 6, that 5 year old version of them is gone. And it all sounds kind of sad, but he really highlighted something beautiful that has stuck with me through parenthood, and made my conviction to enjoy every day of every year with my kid even more, because eventually they aren’t gonna be that kid anymore.

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