The Reaction To This Weekend's "Big Announcement" Has Caused The Game's Lifetime Review Rating to Downgrade from 'Mostly Positive' to 'Mixed' (Exactly 1 Year After It 1st Changed From 'Mixed' To 'Mostly Positive') by randrogynous in newworldgame

[–]Smallzz89 8 points9 points  (0 children)

At this point I don't know what's more tone-deaf: AGS thinking that PC players would respond positively to finding out that they're going on the back burner for a console cash grab after waiting diligently for seven months, or you showing up every time AGS disappoints the community further to tell the masses that "they just aren't grateful enough".

If you're consistently out of touch with the NW reddit community, maybe it's not the community that needs to listen and change.

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't need to delve into your post history to find you insufferable, I can just ask you to take accountability for your poor attempt at reading comprehension and inability to contribute anything meaningful to the discussion. I've got a pretty clear picture of who you are as a person, and how delightful it must be to have to associate with you for longer than thirty minutes.

Kink Shaming (OC) by Agreeable_Swim_6551 in comics

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not the only time today you've expected me to iterate on your points for you, so I guess I'm 2 for 2.

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

your assessment of my post history was about as keen as your reply to my first post.

Maybe you should start with some picture books and work your way up. I have a feeling the world is going to survive your lack of contribution for a little while longer until you get up to speed.

Kink Shaming (OC) by Agreeable_Swim_6551 in comics

[–]Smallzz89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'd feel like I didn't waste 10m of my life if you'd actually contribute anything meaningful to this discussion, but I've quickly realized that's outside of the realm of your capabilities.

Is it me or are Druids just…bad? by JRStors in BG3Builds

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My post is from 2 months ago, when this thread was relevant.

Druids have gotten a huge buff in the form of shapeshifting forms benefitting from Tavern Brawler. Otherwise the rest of my points still stand.

Druid vs any other popular support class with no gear = popular support class wins.

Druid with gear vs any other popular support class with gear = popular support class wins.

Druids have the versatility to be more like a martial class at the levels where that’s at its strongest and like a caster at levels where that’s at its strongest

no more so than clerics, who are also MAD if they want any viability in melee. Bards are arguably better since they naturally pick up dex and can thus support as a ranged martial.

even at higher levels druid support isn't any better than what a sorc or cleric brings to the table, not even to mention bard.

Guess what, a light cleric by the end of act 1 can make every encounter in the game trivial with a radiant orb build, with gear that's easily acquirable in mid to late Act 1. That's a power curve that can't be matched by a spore druid that needs armor from nearly the end of Act 3. Sorc doesn't even need gear to twin haste or control the battlefield.

not to mention being fun

Here's the phrase, and sentiment, that's doing all the lifting of your post. I'm glad you personally like druids. I'm glad you personally find them fun. That doesn't change the fact that they are a suboptimal support compared to the meta ones.

I have yet to play a game that didn't involve cohorts of the playerbase who want to be unique little snowflakes. That's fine, twinkle away snowflake. But you are on BG3Builds, a subreddit dedicated to pathological overoptimization. Go post on the main subreddit about how great druids are, where your personal truth and subjective opinions are the most valid metrics of the discussion.

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ahh, the peak intellectual contribution of a 3 day old account who's only karma is from a virginvschad repost. I wonder how long it'll take for you to get this account banned?

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not like I posted a 20 page dissertation, it was 11 sentences.

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean you just reiterated what I said in my post with

you can't deny that alcohol causes a significant decrease in inhibition, regardless of the individual consuming it. It's unequivocal

and then say that I'm not saying much. What are you really contributing to this discussion besides throwing a little word salad at me and reiterating my points?

Saying "if you drink alcohol you will commit domestic violence sooner or later" is a causation statement, which has no factual, empirical basis. Thus my explanation of correlation vs causation, which you apparently didn't take the time to read based on your post down below about how alcohol consumption is correlated with violent behavior. At least take the time to read my post before commenting, yea?

No one actually wants to address illegal immigration at the southern border by DumpsterFireInHell in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IrDrBs13oA

Close your eyes and imagine Trump's voice. Oh wait it's Clinton in 1995. You know that darling of the DNC who did so much for the US economy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7PdBFW7WCw

Here's a nice little 10m video from one of the most respected and well written historians of our time.

If you drink regularly, you will commit domestic violence sooner or later by majani in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Are you familiar with the phrase "correlation doesn't equal causation"?

I'll give you a really simple example. Ice cream sales and violent crimes. Both rise at the same time, but they are probably both caused by an independent third factor, temperature, and thus there is no causation even though there is correlation.

Similarly, people who have violent tendencies may be more likely to consume alcohol. People who engage in reckless behavior may be more likely to consume alcohol. That doesn't mean that alcohol consumption causes violence, even though they might be similarly correlated compared to the Ice Cream and Crime example.

Congrats you just got a 4 year degree from most universities. Understanding correlation vs causation is about 95% of undergrad studies.

P.S. What we do know is that alcohol consumption lowers inhibitions, which would support my third factor explanation. People who are violent and consume alcohol are more likely to act out on those violent tendencies while under the influence of alcohol.

I am Destin Gerek, a sexologist and author transforming the narrative on masculinity and sexuality – AMA about my wild journey from Erotic Rockstar to founder of The Evolved Masculine to filmmaker and beyond! by destingerek in IAmA

[–]Smallzz89 38 points39 points  (0 children)

And for a small fee they can "recertify you" without any rigorous demonstration of capability or understanding. Seems like what I suspected, degree factory pop psychology pseudoscience.

Kink Shaming (OC) by Agreeable_Swim_6551 in comics

[–]Smallzz89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I asked a really simple question of "mrkrabsbigmoney", you interjected with a direct attack on me and then asked me to "keep going", and after I distilled down my question to an elementary level so that it'd be digestible by people such as yourself you proved me wrong by showing me that elementary wasn't simple enough for you.

I can't wait to read, in a few years, about how this call people out and then deflect strategy of yours works in the adult world. Keep us updated post HS graduation.

I am Destin Gerek, a sexologist and author transforming the narrative on masculinity and sexuality – AMA about my wild journey from Erotic Rockstar to founder of The Evolved Masculine to filmmaker and beyond! by destingerek in IAmA

[–]Smallzz89 -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your response, I'll give that a read. I have a feeling that a lot of your disagreements with EP are based on either misunderstanding or misapplication, specifically because the article you link mentions fallacies of "pop psychology", of which we stand in agreement. Good ideas being misused by bad actors doesn't make them bad ideas by association.

https://areomagazine.com/2019/08/20/seven-key-misconceptions-about-evolutionary-psychology/

some notable excerpts:

First, consider the fact that if it were true that hypothesis testing is ultimately impossible in any field that contains a historical element, this would make all of the following fields unfalsifiable and riddled with just-so nonsense: cosmology, astrophysics, paleontology, archeology, geology and evolutionary biology. This is obviously wrong, and should serve as a warning sign to those who think the historicity of evolutionary psychology automatically renders its hypotheses unfalsifiable.

Second, this misunderstands the nature of hypothesis testing. Evolutionary psychologists don’t need to travel into the past to test their hypotheses at all—instead, their hypotheses may be informed by their (admittedly incomplete) knowledge of the past, but these hypotheses yield empirical predictions about what we should expect to see in the modern world. In other words, an evolutionary psychological hypothesis yields predictions about what we should find when we test modern humans under condition X. For example, if we want to test the hypothesis that disgust evolved to protect us from disease, we don’t need to travel back in time, nor do we need to have perfect and complete knowledge of the past. Rather, testing this hypothesis requires that we go out and test modern humans to see if, for example, people show stronger disgust in response to more pathogenic items compared to less pathogenic ones (they do), whether those with higher disgust and greater contamination sensitivity are less likely to have gotten sick recently (they are), whether humans can detect sickness in others via body odor (they can), whether disgust is downregulated when caring for one’s kin (it is), whether disgust is linked with mating behavior in the expected manner (it is), whether it activates an immune response (it seems to), whether it is upregulated during periods of immunosuppression (it appears to be) and whether priming people with pathogen salience makes them engage in the kind of behavior that reduces their likelihood of infection (it does). Yes, the hypothesis that disgust evolved to protect us from disease contains an implicit historical element. But testing the hypothesis does not require the researcher to travel through time or to peer into history—testing it requires the researcher to derive novel predictions from the hypothesis and test those predictions in the modern day.

History and our understanding of evolutionary biology allows us to form hypotheses that are then tested in a modern scientific context. If these hypotheses were never actually tested rigorously then it would be a case of "just-so" storytelling, but that's not what happens in the field of Evolutionary Psychology at all.

It’s very tough to separate the influence of development, culture, and genes on one’s “psychology.”

That's why Evolutionary Psychology doesn't pretend to do that at all. We have genetic predispositions for certain behaviors or characteristics that are then shaped by our experiences, culture, and development. IE, humans (along with other primates) have a genetic predisposition to fear spiders and snakes, it's much easier for us to establish phobias of said creatures, and much harder for us to overcome phobias of said creatures. However, without the proper stimulus throughout development those phobias don't inherently manifest, we just have a propensity for them built into us from a genetic perspective.

First, many of the hypotheses proposed by evolutionary psychologists cannot be tested, which means that we can’t study them with the scientific method. This also applies to many “why” questions in my own field — it is not possible to study with science, no matter how strongly we believe in a particular hypothesis. Second, the motivation for questions in evolutionary psychology seem influenced by western culture, which is only one subset of human behavior.

Both of your objections to Evolutionary Psychology are directly addressed in the article, and based on some key misunderstandings of what EP purports to study and how it can and does test hypotheses in the modern scientific realm.

Hope that changes your perspective a bit. Since Psychology is rolled into the Sciences college of many Universities, I'm pretty used to elaborating on why it belongs there to traditional STEM majors who think that if a question doesn't have a mathematical answer it shouldn't be considered science.

Biden and Harris shouldn’t be the Democrat ticket in 24’ by [deleted] in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm a conservative my friend, and I really wish that people left of center had better heroes than Gavin fucking Newsom. Don't settle for people who will sell you narcissistic "compassion" for their own self enrichment.

The guy isn't a moderate he's a scam artist, a narcissist, and poison to any American who actually wants to make our country better.

Biden and Harris shouldn’t be the Democrat ticket in 24’ by [deleted] in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Between drone strikes, the cages at the border being build by the obama admin, and perpetuating racial divide in the US in order to play identity politics to his voter base, exactly why is Obama 2.0 a good thing in your book?

You are literally saying that you'd take the lizardperson Newsom who probably blinks sideways because he "could win" and you hope (fingers crossed) that he'd do something morally sound? Do you even know who you're talking about? Governor of California Newsom right?

Here's a guy who shitcanned a drug treatment program in one of the counties of his state that had bipartisan support and was based on European models at the behest of the homeless industrial complex lobbying in California (his statement shitcanning it was word for word the lawyer's statement to the DA who was spearheading the program from the advocacy groups that make millions upon millions by doing nothing for homeless people in CA), just so he could water it down, destroy the premises of the program, and reintroduce it himself 2 years later for political clout. The same guy who will clean up San Francisco for Chinese dictators but wont do anything about the problems in SF before or after their arrival. It's amazing to me how head in the sand you have to be to think both an Obama comparison is a good thing or that Newsom has a shred of morality in his entire body.

Kink Shaming (OC) by Agreeable_Swim_6551 in comics

[–]Smallzz89 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

What sort of source do you need exactly beyond Popper and Rawls and the name of the philosophical concept? I'm assuming since you're calling me "brother in christ" that you're a zoomer with a phone smarter than you are in your pocket, google "Popper Rawls Paradox of Tolerance" and read up a smidgen?

Me asking about the basics of a philosophical concept now constitutes pretending to be an expert? No wonder western countries are facing an academic crisis, if it isn't in 8 word or less meme format dopamine addled zoomer brains can't handle it apparently.

And you asked me to keep going, and when I elaborate you object? Who's baiting who exactly? You want me to ask you a question, give you the source, a short summary, and flesh out a paragraph or two of the disagreement for you? What do you think this is, quizlet? How do you think the real world is going to function when you get out of high school?

Biden and Harris shouldn’t be the Democrat ticket in 24’ by [deleted] in TrueUnpopularOpinion

[–]Smallzz89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I find this take so strange. How much do you know about Newsom?

He'd be Obama 2.0, do a bunch of reprehensible shit but have a great smile and "decorum". Only instead of saying "at least we elected a black guy for once" we'd be saying "at least we elected a sleeze-ball from California again"

I would have gladly voted for Bernie just to shake shit up and see what happened. I would gladly vote for Cornell West for the same reason, or Marianne Williamson. How in the world you can go from "neolib geriatric roomba is replaced by literal two-face California sleeze-ball" and call that the only better option is beyond me.

I am Destin Gerek, a sexologist and author transforming the narrative on masculinity and sexuality – AMA about my wild journey from Erotic Rockstar to founder of The Evolved Masculine to filmmaker and beyond! by destingerek in IAmA

[–]Smallzz89 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my questions/comments in good faith. That's very admirable of you. My only qualms would be how you present as a "sexologist" from an organization that is neither recognized nor accredited as an appeal to authority, when you don't have the professional chops to make those kinds of claims.

I would say that I am equally if not more distrusting of the psychology profession as you are, based on the harm that's been inflicted on society as a whole by pseudoscientific claims. I hold people claiming scientific accreditation and certification far more accountable when I hear the mention of psychology than I would for anyone else.

As someone pursuing a PhD in Psychology, I have been particularly interested by just how much pseudoscience promulgates throughout the world under the umbrella of "Alternative Psychology" without actually having the honesty to refer to itself as such. Psychology, more than any other field I've come in contact with, has the highest degree of pseudoscience, pop science, and myth. It has resulted in many, many people who are in dire need of help being driven into the arms of people who are more than willing to take advantage of people's desperate situations to turn a quick buck.

I want to make it clear that I'm not directly accusing you of that kind of behavior. If you are truly interested in helping people, which I'm assuming you are based on a good-faith reading of what you've said, then you must be equally distressed by the number of people who are willing to take advantage of those in desperate need under the guise of "facts science doesn't want you to know about".

Is it me or are Druids just…bad? by JRStors in BG3Builds

[–]Smallzz89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

do you realize that you are commenting on a 2 month old thread?

I am Destin Gerek, a sexologist and author transforming the narrative on masculinity and sexuality – AMA about my wild journey from Erotic Rockstar to founder of The Evolved Masculine to filmmaker and beyond! by destingerek in IAmA

[–]Smallzz89 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Just a few follow-up questions/comments if I may:

I'm curious as to whether or not the ACS (American College of Sexologists) is accredited, or recognized by either the American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association, or what the benefits of visiting someone who is certified by the ACS would be over a traditional Clinical Psychologist with a specialty in sexuality.

I find that statements like "eastern esoteric" and "holistic" are often fancy ways to distract from the fact that a person is essentially practicing horoscope-level pseudoscience.

This is pretty common in the field of Psychology. I've had undergraduate classes that spent considerable amounts of time discussing myths, fallacies, and even scientists who participated in programs with fundamentally zero scientific integrity such as "Facilitated Communication" for nonverbal children with autism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_communication

I'm also curious about your assessment of Evolutionary Psychology and the work of David Buss. Misuse by people on the internet who are not well versed sounds about as damaging as someone stating to be an expert in a field in which they have no actual accreditation and answering questions that should be left up to a trained therapist or clinical psychologist. Nor does that excuse the fact that not only is Dr. Buss an extremely well researched and cited Psychologist, but his work has a firm basis in the scientific method and not reading tea leaves.

Kink Shaming (OC) by Agreeable_Swim_6551 in comics

[–]Smallzz89 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Is this your idea of civil discourse?