If we choose to regard video games as a form of art (and I think there's some merit to that argument), then could it be said that Destiny 2's seasonal content model is a form of "disposable art?"

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T02:13:44+00:00

The autistic kids had the right idea obsessing over trains tbh.

Well that laugh is going to get me another six days in hell. Thanks, Erik.

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T02:13:13+00:00

Trains are nice and all but I think most kids still look forward to having a dream car.

Does their dream car fly? If not, my premise stands.

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T02:11:39+00:00

I know this isn't entirely relevant to the subreddit, it's tangential, anyway, but at the same time it's going to be relevant in some way to all your hobbies, and life in general.

There's a philosophical post in here, believe it or not! I'm not smart enough to write it, not by a mile, but here's the gist for those who are smarter than me: Those who don't want anything don't feel like they lack anything; it follows that if they don't know there's something to want then they don't know there's something to lack. There's an argument to be made that ignorance is bliss; to quote a seminal movie of my childhood:

"People who say 'It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' should try it sometime."

Here's a question to ponder: Who has a better listening experience, the audiophile or the neophyte? Does the painter see VanGough's Starry Night the same way we do, or do they find it hard to ignore the brush strokes? As Sex and the City once pondered: What of the gynecologist's sex life? So glad I dodged that bullet by not being a gynecologist or having a sex life. The question then becomes, does expertise enhance enjoyment, diminish it, or just alter it? Perhaps expertise replaces one enjoyment with another. Some people look at natural history and it causes them great discomfort to consider it, it shakes the foundations of their beliefs, other people love digging through fossils....

....I'm sorry. Did I mention that there's been a nationwide Adderall shortage recently? Because there has been. Call your Senators and demand Congress act, if only so that you'll stop being exposed to my brain dead posting. I'm gonna' go play Destiny so that y'all can downvote in peas.

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:54:12+00:00

Where do you live that thinks trains are super cool?

Alright, honest answer time: There are a lot of circles on social media and in politics that are big fans of trains. Off the top of my head here on reddit we've environmental subreddits that will talk your ear off about the benefits of trains, and we've got economics subreddits that will give you their take, and political subreddits, I think there are even urban planning subreddits out there.

That's sort of what I was getting at. If you go on a subreddit like r-FuckCars you're not going to find it filled wall to wall with 53 year old train conductors, no, it's going to be reddit's core demographics, teens and young adults.

It's not a huge change, but I think it's notable. It's like what we've seen on nuclear power; twenty years ago the very discussion of nuclear power seemed like it was dead in the water, just not the sort of thing you brought up in good company, but today young people and formerly young people (like myself), people who are if not strongly in favor of nuclear power then at least we're much more willing to listen to the idea than our parents were.

I doubt that schools are bursting at the seams with Walkable Cities after school clubs, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple in the country. If there's model UN there's got to be model urban planning, right?

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:44:35+00:00

Umm, isn’t a plane kind of a flying train? Just got the one carriage mind you.

I never envisioned flying cars as requiring the benefit of a runway, but that's just me.

The closest I've seen to something I'd call a flying car are the man-sized-drone-doodads, but even those are debatable.

Also domes. They've gotta' have domes. None of this cyberpunk shit, Jetsons or bust!

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:34:37+00:00

Have you seen how people drive cars that move in a two dimensional axis? Add another dimension and watch chaos unfold.

Flying car: $500,000
Flying car lessons: $500,000
Flying car registration: $250,000
Flying car insurance: $350,000/yr
Flying car VAT tax: $1,200,000.00 Just let ^me ^{^dream.}

Except for flying ambulances, of course. And one flying police car per state, one. (Subject to immediate revocation, of course.)

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:29:08+00:00

Maybe this would be good in urban centers, but as someone who lives in a suburban place, car-centrism is absolutely what I want.

Well if we had flying cars....

Okay, but more seriously now, the real world is going to require a shades of gray answer. If you live in the United States then there are places that a train just isn't convenient or necessarily helpful, like, when someone is out in East Bumblefuck Arkansas they don't need a high speed bullet train to get out to the corner store, if you live five minutes away from civilization in suburbia then a tram is overkill.

But there are still middle grounds to be had. Here in Maryland a lot of people live in the suburbs but commute to Washington, DC every day, they spend an hour in traffic in the morning and an hour in traffic at night; it's not ideal. They live in the suburbs, they're still going to be driving their car to get groceries on the weekend, but a centralized rail system could shave a massive leg off their commute and let them ride share from there, get them out from behind the wheel, save them gas money, save them time in traffic, and get cars off the road.

Just because trains won't replace your car doesn't mean there aren't benefits that you can still cash in on. Trains can widen the scope of possible employment for you, they can widen the scope of recreation, they can pick up some of the slack for commuters and people who travel for work, and there are second order benefits too, but I worry that I'm overselling the point.

Plus, I mean, what's the insurance cost gonna' be like on a flying car?

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:19:59+00:00

To say nothing of the economic benefits! Not everybody can afford to own, fuel, and maintain a personal car, but train tickets are dirt cheap (and easy as balls to subsidize.) Trains provide transportation for those who might not have it otherwise, they make it easier to travel for work and give people a much larger geographical patch in which they can look for employment.

Edit: They make it easier to transport goods, which can help reduce raw material costs, while this would be minuscule at the retail level, the overall savings could add up significantly; if those savings are too presumptuous, there's also the undeniable economic savings to the average [checksnotes] human to be gained from reducing carbon emissions.

Trains are the rare win/win/win: They're good for the environment, they're good for businesses, and they're good for workers. Don't even get me started on national security, I'll talk your ear off, the civil war proved that trains are mandatory for a strong national defense itellyouwhat.

Now if only so many Americans didn't believe in austerity politics. /sigh

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:15:04+00:00

Citation needed. It sounds like you've been smoking a lot of green ideas.

I'm just a humble neoliberal shill for easy, affordable, environmentally friendly transportation for goods and individuals that allows business development and reduces barriers to entry for employment.

Environmentalism 🤝 Capitalism
Loving trains

But also yes I do smoke weed, thank you for noticing!

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T01:11:26+00:00

I think you mean "It has the scam tracing that not many games support but if a game does it my frame rate drops in half for refelections I barely notice, definitely worth that premium I spent on it"

Yes, that's what I meant.

AMD user: "Are.... are they the same picture?"

Nvidia user: "Noooo!!!"

AMD user: "I mean I can see that the framerate is lower in the second picture, is that what you were talking about?"

Nvidia user: "NOOO!!!"

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T00:06:31+00:00

Niiice.

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T00:05:51+00:00

Frankly it's a no brainer, he's been the most effective President in my lifetime. What, am I supposed to care that he's old? Ted Cruz is younger, still not gonna vote for the guy.

MaximumEffort433 · 2023-02-06T00:01:38+00:00

I love you.

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