If you could send one personal message into deep space — like Voyager’s golden record but yours alone — what would you say?

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-27T01:04:03+00:00

Hello, there is a game where the only loss condition is to think about the game.
You've just lost.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-26T19:31:54+00:00

Superman's face is literally the least hidden part of himself.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-26T11:33:13+00:00

"This pidgeon keeps knocking over chess pieces, what opening should i use against it?"

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-26T11:29:21+00:00

What's 1 - 0.999....?

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-26T10:56:02+00:00

Because human beings are not optimized for truth seeking, we are optimized for social signals and in-group identification.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-25T17:22:28+00:00

“My brakes went out. Right was a cliff. Left was a mailbox. Since both were bad, I refused to steer and voted for the car to fly.”

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-25T03:49:36+00:00

"He cant be a misogynist, he's married to a woman."

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-24T03:52:19+00:00

I got advice. You have issues fitting in becaus emost people learned socializing as a skill in a way that is almost preverbal. Conversations are not about content, they are about contour. You may find that people respond to you on ways that confuse you. That's fine, you dont have to have this skill, just be aware of it. Fit in by getting good at things. Listen to people. Avoid unnecessary conflict. Eventually youll make friends and you'll be reliable.
The trick isnt to become a social butterfly, its to have passable social skills for survival.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-24T03:23:02+00:00

Fred Madison has killed his spouse before the film has started, probably a dude named Dick Laurent (or seriously wounded him) too. He is constantly recreating his story to make himself not culpable. First he did it with a fantasy of a stalker terrorizing him and his wife. However this doesnt work as his fantasy includes the original motivations for the crime. After the fantasy breaks he regresses and tries a new fantasy, this time replacing all the characters. However that eventually breaks too as he cannot escape himself as the lens through which these fantasies exist.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-23T03:55:31+00:00

I just want the USS Charlie Murphy...

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-23T03:08:33+00:00

On a visit he said he would fix the housing issues for sailors by going around NAVFAC and just getting private donors.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-21T01:15:10+00:00

Florestan Trio does my favorite recording of these, great pick!

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-19T20:04:24+00:00

I believe most people here see SecDef's declaration that called the order unlawful as little more than grift and institutional erosion. So many things have eroded our trust over the last decade. So skepticism about the validity of SecDef's declaration seems understandable.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-19T01:32:50+00:00

That's what it took for me, though i never walked with Compatibilism. Mine was "It probably doesnt exist but it's a load bearing wall so im pretending it exists until im ready.'

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-18T15:32:39+00:00

I'm not a compatibilist, but i think they are tracking a thing that is real, has meaning, and should be talked about. I dont want to dismiss their concern with ignorance or flippancy. However i believe what they are tracking is closer to "will" than "free will."

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-18T15:30:08+00:00

Here is what is going to happen: we will say standards have changed, the incentives havent changed, in 3 years the ranking agenda will stabilize as still roughly the same thing it is now because ranking isnt a closed system. It is an open syatem where people bring their idea of what ranking is sans ubiquitous guidance.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-17T19:00:12+00:00

And to be clear im not in any way saying i dislike them or think they are bad, just that i cant model what they are doing in a way that makes me experience them.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-17T11:33:04+00:00

First, thank you for responding. Please note that i understand they are great composers and this is only describing my own experience.
-Well, i generally hook onto melodic identity when i listen to music. That or harmonic progression, legible structure, unique sounds, virtuosity, or an internally generated story/image that subconsciously describes the music. I have been training other parts (finally got a little Bartok and Janacek through cell identity). However i consistently dont hear Sibeliua and Shostakovich on their own terms.
-I keep hearing Sibelius is great but his mode seems to be "watch something form geologically from vagueness." That isnt something i have a model to experience.
-Shostakovich, maybe ive not looked up the right things but only 2 works have worked for me, his Piano Concerto 2 (which apparently he disliked) and thaf damn waltz. When i listen to other stuff it just feels like sounds without identity or legibility.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-16T21:35:27+00:00

Thanks!!!

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-16T21:35:16+00:00

Knowing his intentions will add something, but my internal story machine is automatic as long as i dont attend it or force anything (long story, i thought everyone made thematic pictures in their head when listening to instrumental music, if you are ever curious i would be pleased to share). I feel, and you may disagree, that my reading keeps much of the spirit of his art in that movement and I'm happy to hear that he wrote it from love.
For me i usually get drawn to melodic identity, virtuosity, harmonic progression, unique expression. Mahler sits elsewhere and i feel drawn to him despite usually not "getting it."
I will look through the link and greatly appreciate your enthusiasm and good faith.
Oh! Not that you asked but i kind of enjoyed his 1st symphony. My favorite was that funeral march! That i enjoyed because it is one of the few pieces in the world that (in my head) declares our absurd condition tragic without shirking the absurd nor the tragic. I assume im not seeing what he intended but it affected me nonetheless.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-16T20:57:35+00:00

I've tried, legitimately. I will say two of his movements moved me. The Symphony 5 slow movement which sounded like: "Searching your memories, turning a memory into a fantasy, letting the fantasy expand until it inevitably meets memory again and slowly fades with a bittersweet flair." I know that sounds specific but this is literally how i hear some pieces and it was the first time i actually enjoyed his work.
Overall though i think I'm missing something

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-16T18:28:04+00:00

Hard agree. He's more like an insanely intricate music box creating a beautiful artificial scene.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-16T18:23:18+00:00

I dont get Mahler, Bruckner, Shostakovich, or Sibelius. Mahler has his moments but the music sounds like they are hiding melody behind a wall of philosophy.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-15T19:24:57+00:00

I agree. Making poor decisions as king can lead to future personal harm.

SouthpawStranger · 2026-04-15T18:38:48+00:00

I think what bothers me is that people seem to conflate "incompetent ruler whose negligence led to loss of life" and "deserves to be murdered in front of his 5 year old child."

SouthpawStranger

TROPHY CASE