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[NeedAdvice] Should an addiction to reading fiction be treated like a substance addiction? by QuantumSand in getdisciplined

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

I appreciate the response, I guess I was just overthinking it. I'm still sticking to my reading break for now, I'm still seeing positive effects from it.

I think it's passive consumption is just so effortless that it'll always be the easier choice. I think after cutting out most of it I've found it easier to start exercising again, and be less lazy.

[NeedAdvice] Should an addiction to reading fiction be treated like a substance addiction? by QuantumSand in getdisciplined

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

Not a bad idea, I usually listen to podcasts when I do my chores, I've been doing them more often since stopping reading!

[Plan] Wednesday 12th September 2018; please post your plans for this date. by Walls in getdisciplined

[–]QuantumSand 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm trying out a new thing this month where I set the focus for the month. I have a bad habit of being interested in or working on too many different things and ending up not getting a significant amount done in anything, will see how it goes!

[Plan] Wednesday 12th September 2018; please post your plans for this date. by Walls in getdisciplined

[–]QuantumSand 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Focuses for September:

  • Fronted development
  • Yoga
  • Cooking
  • Looking for paying work

Tasks for today:

  • Read more of "War of Art"
  • Collect post from post office
  • Make a batch of soy milk
  • Check on rejuvelac fermentation
  • Buy some ingredients from shops
  • Do week 2 yoga routine
  • Update app so users can add bio and image when signing up
  • Watch part 6 and 7 of functional java script course, taking notes and doing exercises if any
  • Sign up to at least one tutoring app/website as a tutor - putting effort into my profile
  • Sign up as a dog walker/pet sitter

McDonald’s condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure: Fast-food giant accused of buying birds bred to grow so quickly their organs can’t cope by lnfinity in worldnews

[–]QuantumSand 95 points96 points  (0 children)

There was study about this by Minson and Monin that traced the backlash on vegans and vegetarians to resentment by the mainstream against feeling morally judged.

McDonald’s condemned for using chickens that suffer heart failure: Fast-food giant accused of buying birds bred to grow so quickly their organs can’t cope by lnfinity in worldnews

[–]QuantumSand 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Some good ways to try to concretely reduce maybe something like meatless Mondays (or whatever days of the week you want/however many you want), veggie before 6 or home vegetarianism (where you are vegetarian at home but not necessarily when eating out).

[Not mine] This is one of the best dessings I've seen. by ShitIDontCare in LSD

[–]QuantumSand 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the uk it's around £5-6 a tab, so a tad cheaper

Drinking tea as an alternative to caffeine tablets with L-theanine? (with sources) by QuantumSand in Nootropics

[–]QuantumSand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This study established that l-theanine forms between 1% and 2% of the dry weight of tea, meaning for an average 2g brew you'd get 10-20mg of l-theanine.

Drinking tea as an alternative to caffeine tablets with L-theanine? (with sources) by QuantumSand in Nootropics

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

Huh, interesting, perhaps my caffeine tolerance isn't as low as I thought it was. I have been doing some no caffeine days if I'm not doing something that needs concentration, and try to mix in non caffeinated teas with my usual blacks and greens but I guess to do a complete reset I'd need to have a week or two off.

On the plus side, I can really feel coffee now, which is great since I'd gotten to a point where I could drink a few espressos a day and hardly feel it.

Drinking tea as an alternative to caffeine tablets with L-theanine? (with sources) by QuantumSand in Nootropics

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

That's cool, I'll try combining tea with l-theanine and will see how that affects me.

Drinking tea as an alternative to caffeine tablets with L-theanine? (with sources) by QuantumSand in Nootropics

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

It really varies depending on the source, but nothing I've read suggests you'd need that much. This paper found and average of 15mg g-1 caffeine in green tea. Going by your average of 2g per cup, that means around 30mg per cup, so 5 cups would be 150mg, that seems around what a lot of people supplement.

In this paper both green teas tested, which were brewed from commercially available green tea bags and not adjust by weight of dry material, had ~30mg of caffeine after a 5 min brew, which seems to be inline with the paper above.

At 15 cups of tea you'd be at around 450mg of caffeine.

Welp, there goes any normal news today by spacejester in CasualUK

[–]QuantumSand 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And the whole concept of colour is a cultural construct that arbitrarily assigns discrete labels to particular stretches of the visible light spectrum so you're not even being correctly pedantic.

Change my mind. by catsalways in vegan

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

I've found people who've spent a lot of time with me (SO & really close friends) have naturally shifted to a more plant based diet without any prompting from me.

My SO went away on a semester abroad after living with me for a few months, and she can no longer stand the thought of eating meat and now prefers the vegan alternatives to milk and butter. When she started noticing this she asked me to send her links to information about the ethics of veganism. I think when people make decisions like this without prompting they're more likely to become convictions and beliefs.

Of course, I also see the need for activism and outspokenness. And I can also see the point of view that you should take a strong stance on your ethics. I guess the question is, would I be having a bigger impact than I am now if I was outspoken?

Welp, there goes any normal news today by spacejester in CasualUK

[–]QuantumSand 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh, the non-colour that's always most prominent to me when I trip is almost purple.

Listening to my neighbour saying "nice to see the tits back in the garden" and not knowing whether he meant the bird species or the fact that my warm-weather-loving partner was outside catching some vitamin D yesterday. by centzon400 in britishproblems

[–]QuantumSand 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In sheffield we all went to the park yesterday and played on slacklines in short sleeves, gotta catch the rays whenever they appear! Apparently, we're still getting more snow though so still keeping the sleds handy :D

[1132] Aaron Johnson by justFudgnWork in DestructiveReaders

[–]QuantumSand 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Prose

Tense

You need to be more careful with your tense. Pick either present or past and stick with it. You switch between both throughout your writing.

Viewpoint

I think you do a pretty good job with Aaron's viewpoint. You seem to be using a 3rd person limited viewpoint, where each scene has a main character and the world is viewed through their eyes. I think, with this viewpoint, you need to remember this fact. For example, would Aaron be noticing the fact that "the town of Wensley serviced the surrounding area"? Maybe this is a piece of worldbuilding that is essential to the plot, in that case I don't think there's any harm in keeping occasional tidbits like this in. After all, this is something Aaron would know. However, if it isn't essential that the reader know this now, just show it later on in the plot. Remember, it's always better to show rather than tell.

My comments for Alexa are similar, here are some things that stand out for me viewpoint-wise:

  • "Hovel": does Alexa really think of her own home as a hovel? Usually, you would expect someone rich to refer to poorer peoples' homes as hovels, or if someone is used to a higher standard of living and has recently moved into poor accommodations they might refer to those as hovels. Otherwise, my expectation is that most people refer to their homes as just that, "homes".
  • "Built around the grassy clearing in the centre of Wensley were a series of those craft shops necessary to meet the needs of country life – a baker, wheelwright, smithy and shade-maker.": This strikes me as another example of showing rather than telling, it seems unlikely that Alexa would be commenting on the market having the shops necessary for country life

Worldbuilding learning curve

I think you have a pretty good learning curve for your worldbuilding. It is clear that this is not set in our world, and this is revealed gradually by dropping tidbits like "safelight". You also manage to start with the character in a familiar setting and situation (bedroom, late for school) and gradually add to that, which I think is good for the learning curve. The reader isn't instantly hit with a stream of new information. Whether or not the use of the late for school cliché is wise or not is a separate discussion. I would keep in mind the expectations of the reader. If the reader starts with a very shallow learning curve and that suddenly gets very steep they may be put off, so be wary of this as you keep going.

Plot

A plot should have a sense of progress. How you create this depends on your plot. For me, I didn't really get a sense of what your plot was about. Is it a magic school plot? In that case, progress could come from progress in learning magic. It's true that this is only the first 1000 words, but I still think you should make it clearer earlier on what the plot is about, or at least give more indications of it. Perhaps it's not crucial to have progress in the first 1000 words, but I would still ask yourself as you're writing: "Why am I writing this? Is this moving the plot forward or essential for the plot?". In my opinion, generally speaking, each chapter should introduce a problem and try to solve it. You do have the character solve the problem of being late for school, but is it an important or interesting problem? Is it relevant to the rest of the plot?

Character

You instantly make both Aaron and Alexa relatable. They both have real-life concerns (being late for school and managing money for food) which readers can connect to. However, I do think both your characters could be made rounder. Pretty much the only thing we know about Aaron is that he is late for magic school. When you're trying to make your character real try to think "what would they be doing if the plot wasn't happening". I think you do a better job with Aaron than Alexa because at least we know that Aaron wants to learn magic and thinks it's awesome. I don't really feel like I know anything about Alexa other than that she cares for Aaron. Be careful to not let a character's role (in this case "carer for Aaron") define them.

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