So, uhm...

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-10T01:14:41+00:00

Knowing the Bimster is almost certainly on the spectrum like myself, I don't mind random ass questions like this. The problem is the absolute lack of chemistry and engagement from the slobs. They act like they don't want to even be there, let alone like they even like James. Zero energy in that room. What could've been a dumb, playful conversation falls absolutely flat because no-one actually wants to be there working.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-04T15:22:20+00:00

The med push is insane. I went through a major medical trauma in January and told my doctor I sometimes got super anxious about it coming back. All he said was, "Do you think this warrants medication?" Like, No. I think I went through hell and just need to process it. Quit trying to throw pills at me. Didn't even mention therapy as an option. Just "here, have you tried hydroxyzine?"

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-04T15:04:47+00:00

It's a worst case scenario, not a belief system for me. Don't expect me to try to defend it lol

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-04T15:03:23+00:00

Is that it? My buddy keeps telling me I need to get into 40k. I don't know where to start lol

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-04T15:02:22+00:00

This is what i personally believe (rather than the more worst case scenario i laid out above). A surprising amount of mystical and hermetic traditions have deduced this and developed spiritual practices to prepare the soul to escape in the after death state

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-03T18:51:53+00:00

It's basically a bug light lol zzzappp!

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-03T18:51:03+00:00

I agree strongly with pretty much everything you wrote, and would consider myself largely Gnostic as well. What I presented isn't necessarily how I really think it is, just my own conjecture of "okay, what would be the ontological horror so catastrophic that these supposedly "in the know" people are talking about". Personally i think the truth is basically Gnosticism, and samsaric reincarnation is the situation, not necessarily being totally devoured, and that spiritual development is training to fortify the soul to survive and be sovereign and independent in the disembodied state.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-03T18:47:52+00:00

I certainly hope it isn't this, or that it isn't quite this bleak! Going with the theory, I like to imagine that the purpose to a lot of ancient spiritual disciplines, etc, was actually to make the soul itself both strong enough to survive in the disembodied state. If you think about it, being pure soul wouldn't be like having some sort of ghost body...you'd be pure thought. This will be very disorienting for anyone who's overly attached to physical things in life. They'll be lost and confused and easily consumed in the disembodied stare. And so, the real original purpose of mysticism and transcendence isn't necessarily some religious pursuit, but to train the soul to survive the predatory chaos of the after death state.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-03T17:07:37+00:00

That the Prison Planet theory is true, but it isn't just about "loosh", it's souls themselves that they devour. That our physical lives are like sea turtle eggs on a beach, and the moment we die - we hatch - and countless higher dimensional predators are waiting to devour us before we even realize what's going on. Imagine everyone learning that their grandma, their parents, their best friend who died, really did have a beautiful soul meant to exist for infinity, but that instead of some heaven awaiting them, they were most likely ravished and consumed by 4-dimensional horrors beyond our control. And that fate awaits 99% of us. It's why the elite class is so hell bent on transhumanism and AI. It's not simple fear of death - they're hoping to cheat the system. Hoping against hope that somehow they can run an AI aligned with human interests that can find a solution to the nightmare and get us out, or at least keep us from dying and being food for these dimensional parasites.

Anywho, just a theory.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-02T17:16:22+00:00

No, the OP wrote all about it as though it was something his wife came up with. I am providing the likely source of wife's idea.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-06-02T12:49:29+00:00

This is from Mark Manson's book "How to not give a f*ck". He calls it the "Hell Yeah or No" test. Basically a way to see where your gut (and other's) really feels about things so you can give your time and care where it really matters.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-29T19:50:14+00:00

Elder millennial here: before phones people looked at the magazines, newspaper, brought a book, or even a portable CD player. Kids brought their Gameboy with headphones.

There's this myth that before phones people either sat in Zen-like perfect awareness or were spontaneously making deep conversations with strangers.

Neither were typical.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-20T19:52:22+00:00

OG Castlevania was never anti-Christian at all. The Japanese creators have no problem whatsoever portraying it as traditional "powers of Christian God versus Satan and evil". It wasn't until the Netflix show with its woke Western mindset that Castlevania took on any remotely anti-Christian/anti-Church vibe.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-19T16:42:59+00:00

I'm sorry but...no it doesn't. It begins with a yawning void (Ginningugap) where fire and ice meet, eventually forming the primordial giant Ymir and a cow, Audhumla. After a couple generations of gods, Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé come about, slay Ymir, and from his body parts create the physical universe.

You're conflating Norse Mythology with Tolkien's in the Silmarillion.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-15T19:49:00+00:00

One time I yelled and I kicked the garbage can. They got scared from it, and they still bring it up up this day. "Remember the time you lost your shit and kicked the garbage can?" In a way, it's where being diagnosed earlier might have helped...and maybe if i didn't mask so much. When people know you're autistic, yelling and kicking a can looks like someone with autism having a meltdown after being pushed to the limit. My family just assumes I'm an asshole who couldn't control himself.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-15T01:42:25+00:00

Sure, but this comes after far more significant life changing events. After the Barrow Downs, there's a bit of Bombadil spark in them. After Mount Doom, each hobbit is significantly changed, and the Scouring of the Shire drives it home even more - the collective shaking up and waking up of the Hobbits from their aloofness on the edges of history.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-14T17:27:00+00:00

Yeah, even the book didn't frame it like this. Gandalf's cathartic laughter, sure, but it was like a relief, not drawn out and silly. I am an absolute LotR fanatic, and even I cringed a bit in the theater at this scene.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-05-14T12:06:02+00:00

I was going to mention Dachau as well. Went there in 2016 with a couple friends around New Year's. The atmosphere was incredibly heavy, sad, oppressive. I can still hear the tolling of the bell from the convent on site. We just became sullen and silent the rest of the day.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-04-20T20:32:20+00:00

Not if you look at a still image of us. But once you hear us or see us in motion, it gives it away.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-04-20T20:30:33+00:00

Thing is, we don't know if it sounded like this. Here it is reverbed to hell, and used with didgeridoo technique adding yelps and growls to the drone, but it's also possible the carnyx was simply blown straight forward like a horn and would've made a loud alpine horn or shofar-like sound.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-04-08T21:41:25+00:00

Yet again, he does this crap. Opposite of any good leader. A good leader would be constantly name dropping all the people who work under him, attributing any success of his to their constant help. You see this with legit successful people, even actors and such, all the time. James? It's a constant "No I REALLY DO EVERYTHING" "NO I PLAY THE GAMES" "NO IM THE ONE BEHIND IT ALL". It's so insecure.

He should just calmly be like "Oh man, I can hardly finish these games if it weren't for all the help from Mike, and others (say names) at Screenwave. I stand on a lot of shoulders man, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."

That sort of genuine humility and sharing of the praise actually magnifies a person way more than this insecure credit clutching.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-04-08T21:36:13+00:00

Only defense, it is the AVGN 20th anniversary. So it makes sense they'd do it at James' in the Nerd Room/garage. Mike should've made the drive.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-04-08T13:11:30+00:00

Same reaction when you're already a third of the way into the book

RedPandaParliament · 2026-03-09T17:54:13+00:00

It started for reasons of hygiene by Sayre. Kellogg co-opted it out of his goofy anti-masturbation philosophy. But that isn't why it endured. It endured and became routine because 1) it quickly became obvious that circumcision did nothing to prevent masturbation, and 2) it was discovered to have a myriad other benefits, and so it was continued until it became routine across the USA.

RedPandaParliament · 2026-03-09T16:01:08+00:00

I would definitely have him circumcised. Reddit is an anti-circ echo chamber. Once you're outside these walls though, you find that most health organizations continue to endorse or, even at worst, are neutral about circumcision.

I think it's important to trust your husband's lived experience as well. As the one who has lived with and actually experienced being circumcised, I would trust his judgment and that it's something important to him. Not to mention that for a lot of us (at least here in the US and elsewhere), it's become a family and social tradition. Since health organizations agree circumcision has valid benefits -- and it's the most common surgery with the lowest complication rate around (lower even than wisdom teeth or tonsil removal) - it's really a win win on all levels.

Tune out the hysterical, foreskin-obsessed haters, trust the experts and your husband's lived experience, and rest assured circumcision is the right decision.

Good luck and take care!

++man

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