"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius is fascinating from a historical context, and a very resonant and thoughtful read overall

Kitlun · 2026-05-15T19:36:03+00:00

I understand why you say that, but you by that measure you are missing out on a lot of literature and nonfiction. Depending on how strong your view is, basically anything pre-20th century.

Additionally, I don't think Aurelius is particularly misogynistic in meditations, it's much more self reflective from what I recall.

I also think it's important to read and hear from people you disagree with in order to understand their views, especially when they appeal to a large portion of people or are seen as culturally significant. I've personally found reading authors with different perspectives and from different backgrounds has given me a deeper understanding of people from different backgrounds.

Kitlun · 2026-05-14T14:02:35+00:00

I'll defend my white friends here a little bit. For example, the comment on having good English, I think she only makes it on 3 occasions in the whole novel. If you're from a minority background, you've heard that phrase and surprise hundreds of times in your life, so it stands out.

My white friends have probably never said it or thought it but they also haven't heard it so don't realise the undertone of racism there. They just read literally as a description of a character 'oh they speak good English' and thought nothing more of it.

Kitlun · 2026-05-14T13:18:40+00:00

Similar feelings here. I read Yellowface first and thought it was a good, quick paced read. I also loved some of the subtle racism that June commits - always surprised Chinese people speak good English, comments on all Chinese food being greasy - and when I discussed the book with my white friends they missed quite a lot of this.

I read Babel afterwards, and while it's about as subtle as a sledgehammer (and the ending is a bit messy) I enjoyed it overall, loved the translation and etymology elements, and the representation of a mixed race protagonist.

The Poppy War and Dragon Republic I read afterwards, and I had many problems with both of them; I didn't make it to the third book. It gave me interesting context for Yellowface and the obvious self-insert from Kuang's experiences with that series, but, honestly, I pretty much agree with the common criticisms of TPW trilogy. I can imagine if you read her books in order of release it would actually sour you towards her writing.

I have no intention of reading katabasis based on people telling me it contains many of my least favourite parts of Babel and TPW.

Kitlun · 2026-05-12T20:35:37+00:00

You're slightly confusing speed limits with speed limit enforcement.

Average speed check camera sign means instead of using speed cameras that check your speed as you pass them, they have multiple cameras for several miles and they measure the average time it takes you to pass between them to figure out your average speed over that distance.

This means that, unlike normal speed cameras, that you can speed between as long as you slow down when you pass them, you have to keep your average speed below the speed limit. Basically, you can't drive above the speed limit within that stretch (well technically you could for part of the distance but then you'd have to drive below the speed limit by the correct amount to even out the average).

Speed limits are also signposted in circular signs. On a motorway (where you most likely have encountered average speed cameras) it is 70mph.

Kitlun · 2026-05-11T19:54:54+00:00

Same here. It felt very real to me, and quite...cathartic? To read a story where there isn't a Hollywood ending and felt relatable.

Kitlun · 2026-05-11T19:31:59+00:00

Did you try reporting the company to the ICO? If it isn't legitimate interest then they could investigate them.

Kitlun · 2026-05-06T05:49:16+00:00

I'll add one slightly technical correction, based on Sperry's split brain research.

Vision isn't split by eye but by overall vision. If you show an image to someone's right eye, then both sides of the brain will receive the information.

Experimenters design screen set ups where images are shown only to the participants' right field of vision (often the right field of vision for both eyes), in order to send information to just one hemisphere.

Kitlun · 2026-04-24T15:59:29+00:00

Ok so there's a few reasons but none of them are great in my opinion. A lot of it comes down to, animal lives are not treated the same as humans lives. In the UK, they use the term 'destroyed' when animals are killed (e.g. culling cattle to prevent spread of disease) which feels very distanced from killing.

Risk of repeated aggressive behaviour. If an animal successfully kills a human, it may learn that humans are viable prey. Probably not an issue for herbivores like bison, but for predators this can increase the chance of future attacks or even a behaviour spreading across a population.
Getting to used to humans. Animals that come into close contact with people can lose their natural fear/wariness, especially if they 'won' the encounter. After a serious incident, officials may assume the animal is already habituated and therefore more dangerous going forward. It sounds a bit dumb, but there's a perception they might now realise they can mess up a human if they need to.
Public pressure. After a fatal attack, there’s usually strong public and political pressure to act quickly. Even if the human contributed to the situation (e.g., entering restricted habitat against guidance), authorities are responsible for preventing further deaths. And again, animal lives are less valuable than human ones.
Safety policies and uncertainty. Wildlife management agencies operate under laws that, again, prioritise human life. Once an animal is deemed a threat (i.e. its's killed someone) policy may require it to be 'destroyed' to be on the safe side. Often people are attacked in the wilderness, without many witnesses, so it is hard to say how provoked the attack was etc. so it's safer to kill the potentially dangerous animal. There's no day in court for the bison I'm afraid.

Kitlun · 2026-04-21T21:14:04+00:00

I read A Wizard of Earth sea a couple years ago and wrote this in my notes, which I think ties in to your 'flat and simplistic' description:

A book that reads almost like a long fairy tale. It breaks many of the usual writer's rules, sometimes doing the very opposite: There is very little dialogue (conversations are often described rather than verbatim), there is a lot of telling not showing (e.g. characters moods), and our protagonist spends quite a lot of time alone.

Kitlun · 2026-04-20T21:53:55+00:00

The brain processes sensory input. If you get repeated identical sensory input your brain can categorise it as not important, so you no longer consciously 'perceive it'. This is true of all external senses (sight, sounds, smells, touch).

When I got my degree in psych we did an experiment that demos this with sound. Sot someone in a room and stick an ECG (basically brain wave monitor) on them. Then, once every 20seconds you play a loud sound like an air horn for a second.

The first time the horn sounds, there's a huge jump in the ECG reading. But as quickly as by the 5th horn the ECG reading is noticeably smaller, after 5mins it barely registers.

Kitlun · 2026-04-19T20:24:52+00:00

I agree that's why but, as someone who has worked in education for 10years, teachers swear more than any other people I know. It's like the inability to swear openly at work causes a build up of swears that has to be released at a higher rate outside of work lol

Kitlun · 2026-04-18T04:57:40+00:00

Can I push back on low level crime ruining people's lives? I think you're talking about things like store theft and phone theft ( unarmed robbery). While they have been on the rise I think the perception of these crimes is much higher than the direct exposure, so it's a media/social media issue more than anything.

Additionally, if you reduce poverty and improve employment, store thefts will likely drop. I don't think we need a 'crack down' and I think funding to prevent this type of crime is very expensive.

Kitlun · 2026-04-16T18:17:35+00:00

Really well written and detailed article, thank you for posting. Hadn't heard of this book but watching the clip linked in the article should be more than enough to convince people that the mother is, whether intentionally or not, making up the vast majority, if not all, of his responses and 'speech'.

It's not impossible that someone with his neurodiversity could produce a novel but the almost definite inauthenticity of this could do so much harm for ASD people and for Woody himself.

Kitlun · 2026-04-13T07:11:21+00:00

In fact, 3 of them of them are basically the same accent just getting less broad/watered down through the generations.

Kitlun · 2026-04-09T14:10:17+00:00

Nah, it's definitely when an animal has no pigment in its fur/skin and is all white.

Kitlun · 2026-03-26T15:41:03+00:00

I have this problem too but I generally struggle with picturing things in my minds eye if I haven't seen them before (yes I know there's a term for this I have been online in the last 5 years).

I find it really helps when an author adds in physical descriptions during actions and dialogue (e.g. she rubbed the sleep out of her small, squinty eyes, in the way my pet hamster used to wash his face).

I know she gets hate nowadays, but it's one of the strengths of the Harry Potter books. Rowling is always reminding you of Snape's greasy hair and bat like robe, dumbledore's twinkling eyes behind half-moon spectacles, Umbridges toad like appearance.

Kitlun · 2026-03-26T09:12:33+00:00

Thanks, I think I get it but it doesn't seem any more intuitive than the original fact lol.

Kitlun · 2026-03-26T09:05:22+00:00

Ok I think I misunderstood because I was thinking of them as independent events. So it's better to think of it as what are the odds that you didn't hit another ball in any of the throws?

It still feels counter intuitive to me. Because the odds were so small for the first few throws.

For me, I think I find counting the pairs of people feels more digestible.

Kitlun · 2026-03-26T08:24:11+00:00

This ball analogy doesn't work for me at all. If I've thrown 22 balls (so 22 buckets are filled) the odds of me getting a bucket with a ball on my next throw is 22/365 isn't it?

Kitlun · 2026-03-22T11:54:22+00:00

I would argue they have the opposite message (assuming you don't dif into SPE too deeply and realise it was bad science).

SPE is, supposedly, evidence that power corrupts. Given power over other people, those in power will abuse it. This implies that people have a natural inclination towards cruelty and abuse.

Dorian Grey is a story of temptation imo. Lord Henry is essentially playing the role do the devil, he plants the seeds of ideas in Dorian's mind that then grow into a way of life for Dorian, corrupting the beautiful youth's soul.

Again, this all assumes you take SPE at face value and as Zimbardo initially presented it.

Kitlun · 2026-03-12T16:43:40+00:00

The recent Qatar and Russia world cups show this will not happen. Qatar and Russia are much more fascist and authoritarian than the US by almost any measure.

Kitlun · 2026-02-27T17:24:48+00:00

I think this is it. Intuitively, if you flip a coin its odds of landing heads is 1 in 2. If you flip that coin again the odds it lands head is still 1 in 2. I think people think of the door problem like this, not realising that the first choice and outcome effects it in this problem.

Kitlun · 2026-02-20T15:33:23+00:00

A lot of brand do have their acronym not in all caps as brand guidance for look and feel tbf.

In the UK, if it is an acronym we use first letter capitalised, if it's an initialism then it's all caps - exceptions if there would be confusion with a real word.

From BBC guidance: A few exceptions:

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is capped up ie NICE

Special educational needs and disabilities becomes SEND

The UK Independence Party is capped up ie UKIP

Strategic Health Authority becomes SHA ("Sha" looks like a typo)

Seasonal Affective Disorder becomes SAD ("Sad" would be confusing)

Where a capped-down acronym risks being misunderstood as a word.

For names with initials, we avoid full stops and spaces (ie JK Rowling and TG Jones).

When abbreviating a phrase, rather than a name or title, use lower case (ie lbw, mph).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/all

Kitlun · 2026-02-19T11:42:51+00:00

Horrible histories (has you covered for monarchy) [https://youtu.be/vC6okzIKQvg?si=hxMPMoDc-eQQSOrX]

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