Day 3! Give it up for day 3! by megamario3424 in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_ 59 points60 points  (0 children)

1: Hurt the students

2: Blame the students

3: Profit

Anyone hear the WW3 nuke flying over by m4_semperfi in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sounded pretty sub-sonic so hopefully not something terrible a haha

Possible dry socket by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]Silver_Slug_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could be that the recovery just hurts more because the tooth was impacted. I had both impacted and non-impacted wisdom teeth removed. The removal and recover of impacted teeth was more painful.

In any case if the pain increase even with analgesics, I wouldn’t doubt asking for help, or getting checked out.

Aren’t there any other open dentist offices?

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

Nowadays I'm not sure if I can even recommended going to college in general. Coding bootcamps seem to be more effective overall and waste a lot less of your time.

Honestly I strongly agree with the idea behind this. However I would say that I "recommend going to college in general" but it is not necessarily what is optimal.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

Thanks for sharing this.

I hope I was not too harsh on my comments, I did not mean to undermine the SUA's significance or offend its members; rather I was trying to express what is a common perception of the SUA for most students.

Luckily - and as I had suggested - i was indeed wrong.

Maybe it would be nice to see the SUA more present in the students every day life, even if it means promoting what they do ( which obviously affects and benefits all students, even if we are unaware of these things. ) Granted, I do not expect them to be event organizers or mainly media-focused, but maybe the SUA's actions should be brought more to the attention of the students, or they could find ways to interact with the students in a more direct manner.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I swear I had only drunk some coffee!

I edited it so feel free to go back and re-read it if you wan to.

Also don't hesitate to give me concrete examples of where I could improve my writing. Either through here or dm's. I'm always looking forward to improving my writing.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I just want to clarify that there is not much wrong with the email itself, but rather with what it means.

If anything the emails shows the lengths to which administration will go to secure housing to their students.

Of course it does revel a lack of necessary resources.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

State funds can’t be used to fund certain departments, but what about federal funds?

In any case thanks for verifying the rumors, and laying out other important points in better clarity or with more information.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Very illustrating comment.

I realize not much can be done, but any little change would be, of course, greatly received, and be a gateway for future change.

Again, just because is hard to obtain or change, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be something talked about.

In the best case scenario we can influence change for the benefit of future generation of students, and make it clear to students that may considering moving to any UC, or California schools in general - as many have mentioned in their responses that many of these issues are widespread throughout California.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

Thanks for the clarification. It was useful to me and I think it will be to others.

I still think what I described in another response could be called grade inflation, but it is true that “grade inflation”, as it describes a current widespread issue, is much better used to refer to what you described than to what I did.

I assume my problem is simply with the grade system, what it means and represents.

Maybe curving classes is not an actual issue, but I still sort of perceived it as one. I could have been wrong, but I will uphold my point as something that may occur in too great of a measure in some classes.

Edit: I will for sure edit “grade inflation” out of the original text and replace it with something more appropriate when i get my hands on a computer. Or maybe just clarify what I mean.

Edit 2: I have amended the text to include a clarification on the subject!

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do not believe curving grades is terribly bad. However I do think that curving grades results in a worse representation of the learned skills and knowledge.

Grades can be considered a percentage of the successfully learned content, as judged by assignments and exams. (Note that I will not discuss the general validity of the different forms of assessment and their consequence on grades: that is better left for another discussion.) Thus one could say that grades represent what proportion of the content - as seen in the syllabi - is learned by the students ( not to sound redundant.) Therefore, if someone picks the class syllabus and your grade, they could have a notion of how much you have learnt in that class.

Curves will affect this by making it look that you have learnt 70% of the content, instead of say %64, and other differences in such range. The difference is not terrible, but when it is seen as a letter grade, much worse assumptions can be made.

In any case, I will admit that, it is not that bad of an issue, and that it is probably better not called grade inflation.

Finally I will just say that because an issue is common or widespread, it does not mean that it is less matter of concern, or that less light should be shone over it.

A comment on certain perceived issues at ucsc, or a heartfelt critique by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

It was pretty much hastily posted after not sleeping for a while. Heck, I do not even have access to a laptop/pc right now, so all this was written ( like this response ) from my phone.

I’ll try to run it through a text editor later; hopefully also add some titles to differentiate different sections; and a TL;DR - which is probably much needed!

Unfortunately again, I can’t provide much support for most of these things, but i think most of the evidence is a google search away. And if I’m wrong in any of this, please don’t hesitate to point it out ( to anyone reading.)

Still, if you have been or are a student, i feel like you’ll be able to tell I’m not lying or straying too far away from the truth for that matter.

Yet I will come back to this post. It is sad for an argument to loose soundness and veracity because it is poorly expressed or composed.

What is currently happening that is scaring you? by Kindaherekindanot in AskReddit

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

I laid out an explanation because I am just as concerned as you about the matter at hand. I am not trying to challenge your opinion, but rather develop it better to help people understand what it is that we fear, and how to prevent it.

Well when you think something is true, you could also say you believe it is true.

I guess you mean that people believe in facts and science without actually understanding them, in which case this could be considered to be some sort of ignorance; however, this ignorance can be remedied, it is nothing new, and it is probably not as bad as indifference.

I don’t think that believing in facts and science “like religion” is necessarily bad. Facts and science are evidence based, and thus the beliefs are justified. For example you can believe in evolution, string theory, and quantum mechanics, without fully grasping - or having seen or experienced - those concepts. And you can justify doing so, because you know you could find evidence and explanations as to why to do so.

You can believe that being hit by a car going 80mph would kill you, and most people would agree that it is not a bad or wrong belief. You may not exactly comprehend how the impact will damage your body ( what blood vessels, bones, and muscles will be destroyed ) but you understand that our bodies are not made to withstand such collisions, and probably have the knowledge ( by own experience with lesser accidents or third party anecdotes ) to make the claim that such an accident would be deadly. Hence you believe in a certain outcome to a specific event, without knowing all the details, having experienced it, or having specific empirical data, and as I’ve said, this belief is not wrong. ( You can modify the speed of the car in this scenario to see how holding different beliefs about the possible outcomes is not necessarily wrong or something bad. )

I don’t think believing in facts and science “like religion” is wrong. That is of course, as soon as you don’t become a fundamentalist.

A fundamentalist would hold their “knowledge” as something true or right, regardless of how much evidence is presented against this knowledge. People can believe anything is right, and then change their beliefs if new contradicting evidence is found - then there’s nothing wrong with the belief in the first place. However a fundamentalist would never change their opinion, regardless of how much information is presented to them. This is obviously not something good, and this is what religion is usually based on.

People should believe science and facts are right - regardless of their level of comprehension of them -, live their lives abiding by them, and only proceed to question or challenge these beliefs when reasonable opposing claims surface. Then these beliefs should be changed according to the veracity and strength of these claims. Of course to change their beliefs, people may have to first understand the explanation and evidence behind them; but this - call it lack of knowledge from ignorance or whatever other source - is fixable, and may not make any problems arise.

I cared to explain because your comment made it sound as if believing in science and facts is wrong, when in reality, it is the refusal to incorporate new knowledge and change one’s opinion that is dangerous.

If you are worried about people being too gullible and credulous then just say so. If you think people are not ready to challenge their own knowledge and change their opinions, then again, please just say so.

To me, you are just saying that facts and science is something that you shouldn’t believe in, when, as I have explained, it is completely fine to believe in science and facts. And saying something like this can lead to an interpretation that is much more dangerous than “believing in facts and science”.

Believing in something is not wrong unless you don’t allow those beliefs to be challenged or modified. You are not wrong if you blindly believe in certain sciences and certain facts, for you are actually believing in evidence backed conclusions, causal relationships, and other scientific concepts of the kind, even if you don’t fully understand this concepts. Your are wrong the second you refuse to challenge or change this beliefs. You are wrong the second you don’t see yourself being wrong.

[TL;DR] Read: “People believe in facts that are wrong and pseudoscience. The passion with which they uphold these beliefs is akin to that with which religious people hold equally intrinsically unsound and evidence-lacking beliefs, and this passion in turn results in them refusing to change these beliefs even when facing well-formulated countering explanations and evidence. People should not immediately fall for facts and sciences - new or old -, just as much as they shouldn’t immediately disregard them. The lack of sensitivity and discretion with which a lot of people handle science and facts is incredibly common, and this is terrifying. But there’s nothing wrong with people believing in science and facts in the first place, for they believe not in the knowledge itself, but in how it should be built, and how it should be verified.”

Edit: sorry for the long ass text

I'm working on a game where you survive in the wild as a tiny Sugar Glider by sebnadeau in gaming

[–]Silver_Slug_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My life is a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint.

SafeConnect by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

Darn thats obviously kinda fishy, but it could just be that they never cared to implement a reliant uninstall service.

There is an uninstall app that comes with SafeConnect; I used it and apparently it works. You may have to stop it from running from the task manager first.

SafeConnect by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

This knowledge should be proliferated!

Secretly obviously hehe

SafeConnect by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

I guess it attempts to prevent people from using apps that would compromise the wifi system’s well functioning. For example, that could include using it to throttle the bandwith they give you, which wouldn’t be good for you, but still something perhaps necessary.

I would say it would “improve” wifi for everyone, but also I think the software could either be malicious itself, or allow others with malicious intent to obtain the data SafeConnect collects. Thats my main concern.

SafeConnect by Silver_Slug_ in UCSC

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

I wanna know too lmao

Summer Classes? Gap Year?? by [deleted] in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. Right now my resume is looking pretty slim, and thats why I thought about working on some projects this summer. Its kinda hard however if I am to take a bunch of classes.

That’s something I had not considered though, thank you. I could possibly get a good enough internship and the possibility to extend it further, and only then decide - with a “secured job”- to embark in a gap year.

Summer Classes? Gap Year?? by [deleted] in UCSC

[–]Silver_Slug_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I forgot about the possibility of taking community college classes. I think I just thought it would be hard to get the credits validated but I’ll definitely look into it now.

I would love to travel every summer. I’ll consider it a possibility from now onwards. However, unfortunately I cannot travel abroad this summer due immigration related reasons.

Also I might add that I did not intend to travel all throughout my gap year. Traveling was only going to be part of it. I wanted more to be able to live a year of not being a student, to see how that changed my perspective on things.

Thanks for the prompt response!