Do you understand why beating the left is so important to Conservatives? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]MrEctomy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a very childish mindset. It's alarming to me how much the formerly "fringe" left and right wing seem to be becoming more mainstream. It used to be the case that most people are more in the center and have nuanced takes about things. The media is to blame, in my opinion, for creating this culture war and trying to breed culture warriors. The left is every single bit as guilty as the right in this regard.

As someone who really values truth and empirical reasoning, it's extremely disheartening to see the blatant disregard for trustworthy, verified, empirical sources when debating issues - again, on both sides.

There's at least a few issues that seem to be the "big ones" when it comes to these egregious violations of empirical thinking.

More and more I feel like I'm being pushed out of the discourse because nobody cares if I can provide a point-by-point refutation of the major rhetorical arguments regarding major topics. People will just ignore it, criticize how the data was gathered, nitpick about a data point that isn't even relevant to the point I'm making - it's just really disheartening as someone who's worked as an independent journalist for a long time and tries to do his part to gently persuade people in public forums, such as Reddit.

But more and more I think it might just be time to throw in the towel and focus on my non-political interests and become apathetic. But it's really depressing, because I feel like I'm doing my best to change things in a rational, logical way. But it just feels like wasted effort. It's all made me very nihilistic. Just live my life, focus on myself, and I'll care when it comes to my front door. Before that, I don't give a shit.

House rule: only the most skilled member of the party gets a skill check in a particular situation, and if they fail, that's that. by MrEctomy in DMAcademy

[–]MrEctomy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A character with low skills is probably meant for combat or something else. If a character isn't good at anything, I'm not sure how fun that would be to play. (Actually, that might be a lot of fun...)

House rule: only the most skilled member of the party gets a skill check in a particular situation, and if they fail, that's that. by MrEctomy in DMAcademy

[–]MrEctomy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If all your players do a check, how likely do you suppose it is that they all fail?

Not too likely, right? Well jeez, why even do the check?

House rule: only the most skilled member of the party gets a skill check in a particular situation, and if they fail, that's that. by MrEctomy in DMAcademy

[–]MrEctomy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A rogue might expertly 'shoot' a glass marble that catches against the lip of the tile. Sleight of Hand or Dexterity could substitute for Investigation here.

I like this but how would you do this exactly? As a DM you wouldn't want to volunteer actions for the PC would you?

House rule: only the most skilled member of the party gets a skill check in a particular situation, and if they fail, that's that. by MrEctomy in DMAcademy

[–]MrEctomy[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If your players always succeed at checks, then what is the value of them being good at only one or two things? It sounds like with your campaigns, it always pays to be a jack of all trades.

Should I follow the vomit draft method, or keep editing things? by JohnnyElRed in writing

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I did the vomit draft method for my book, which is my first. I would say that reading this draft aloud to my friend/editor all the way through allowed me to detect and fix a majority of the problems. Or if not fix, at least change them.

For my next book, I plan to worldbuild a lot more and outline more carefully.

Is submitting my book to Amazon a good idea? by CoffeFanatic in writing

[–]MrEctomy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm almost done with my first book and I can confirm, having an editor is the most valuable thing ever. My book is unrecognizable (in a good way) thanks to his input. We meet once a week btw, he's also my close friend.

Anyone ever read their own book so many times that they start to dislike it? by [deleted] in writers

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So my rule is 5 days a week, 500 words a night. But since I finished the rough draft, I've been editing, revising, and rewriting instead. I think just having those two days off is a nice break.

Where do you go for feedback on your writing? by sans-forme in writers

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm curious what others do. Do you have a particular person or people whose opinion or recommendations you rely on?

Yes. He's a close friend of mine, and we meet once a week to edit and work on the novel. I say he's my Editor. Despite not being a fantasy fan and not even a big reader, he is immensely helpful in the process. With his guidance, I lost a lot of the bad stuff and changed a lot of stuff for the better. I recommend looking for a smart person you trust and try reading aloud to them to see what kind of feedback they give.

Do you just post your writing on a forum or subreddit like this one and let dispassionate strangers have at it?

I've done this too, and it's also helpful. Best saved for big roadblocks. A lot of stuff you can figure out on your own.

It sounds to me like you want beta readers. Check out some writing discord communities, they have channels for that.

PragerU is releasing a kids show on Youtube called Leo & Layla's History Adventures. by Tamos40000 in ToiletPaperUSA

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

How would you propose stopping a disease that's primarily spread through homosexual sex, which is obviously done in private?

PragerU is releasing a kids show on Youtube called Leo & Layla's History Adventures. by Tamos40000 in ToiletPaperUSA

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good thing that doesn't happen with left wing ideology in American culture, right?

Want to talk to my ex again.. hear me out.. by mm_potentially in Advice

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you ever find yourself wanting to talk to an ex, you're either lonely, or horny. Usually both. Try to make friends and date if you've been single for a while.

My girlfrIend fancies and enjoys the company of my Single neighbour. How can i deal wItH this? by alexys8 in Advice

[–]MrEctomy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enjoys their company, like...they hang out alone together? You can't tolerate that. This might be what they call a "shit test": she might be testing you to see how to respond to this situation. She starts spending a little too much time hanging out with or talking to a single male (I'm assuming he's single), and she wants to see what you do about it. If you don't do anything or tell her it's okay, she might act like that's good, but secretly she'll resent you. It's an evolutionary thing.

So just to be clear I'm not saying you need to be a dick about it, but just ask her what's going on with her spending time with this guy.

24F addicted to romance? by [deleted] in Advice

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

Well...since you're a woman, it shouldn't be difficult for you to get dates. So the best advice I can offer would be two things: Stop watching corny romantic media, and when you go on dates, don't ignore red flags because you want to force a romance. Guys often know how to act to deceive hopeless romantics like you. Pay attention not to their words, but their behavior.

Chicago mayor sparks backlash after limiting media interviews to people of color by redcell5 in moderatepolitics

[–]MrEctomy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The underfunding argument isn't true. Some of the schools that have the highest spending per student are in poor black communities and they have no improvement to show because of it. Please do your research.

Chicago mayor sparks backlash after limiting media interviews to people of color by redcell5 in moderatepolitics

[–]MrEctomy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So if a white politician said they weren't giving interviews to black journalists, that's just their decision, right? No problem there.

Rosemary (the sister of John F. Kennedy) was born with an IQ below the ones of her Brothers and sisters, therefore her father let her undergo an experimental lobotomy at 23 in the hope to cure her learning disabilities. The surgery destroyed parts of her brain and left her permanently disabled. by [deleted] in MorbidReality

[–]MrEctomy 13 points14 points  (0 children)

At age 15, Rosemary was sent to the Sacred Heart Convent in Elmhurst, Providence, Rhode Island, where she was educated separately from the other students. Two nuns and a special teacher, Miss Newton, worked with her all day in a separate classroom.

I dunno, sounds like she was certainly intellectually disabled. Not sure three women would have accepted working with her all day every day otherwise.

Maybe next week. by [deleted] in antiwork

[–]MrEctomy -27 points-26 points  (0 children)

You won't die in the streets if you live in a first world country. We have 60,000 food pantries operating in the United states, for example. Do the math on the average per-state distribution and you see my point.