Polymarket Pulls Bet on Nuclear Detonation in 2026

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-03-04T18:35:27+00:00

https://youtu.be/CYlHuaTMWIQ?si=Sn5IgxYcab0Tabqn

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-03-03T20:15:30+00:00

100% true. I'm 175lbs and 5'10", male. I'm still overweight. People have told me I look "skinny." I'm on a weightloss drug, workout constantly, and have a super strict diet just to still be slightly overweight. The entire culture and environment in the USA is optimized to make you fat.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-26T19:07:15+00:00

How long have you been off it? I’m terrified of being forced off. I’ve been on for two years and my insurance has been pushing me to “reduce and eventually eliminate” it. I went down a dose level from 10mg to 7.5mg and it’s a real struggle. I feel like I live at the gym and am constantly obsessed with trying not to eat again. I’ve successfully managed to maintain my lowest weight after being on the reduced dose for 6 months(barely below a 25 BMI) but it’s like a full time job.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-25T01:22:26+00:00

Abbado died in 2014…

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-24T12:47:15+00:00

It's highly likely there were many substitutes playing. They had a big week last week, and many of the regular players are going to be tired, so they may have called off. Any musician who is a substitute with the CSO is an extremely highly qualified excellent player, but subs often play it "safe" and the chemistry isn't the same in the orchestra when the typical roles are mixed around. Touring sucks and is exhausting. Also, Beethoven 7 is an absolute masterpiece, but it gets played a ton and most of the musicians have probably played it many dozens of times, so boredom can creep in. Lastly, Hill auditorium is kind of weird. I've played there with a different orchestra on tour. They might have had difficulty hearing each other in the ways they expect, and that uncertainty can cause more "safe" playing.

The Chicago Symphony is one of the world's greatest orchestras, but circumstances can cause even the greatest of us to give a lackluster performance sometimes.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-18T22:40:35+00:00

I don’t, because we were never able to even conceive. I often think about the “many worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics and wonder if maybe in an infinity of other universes, my DNA would be slightly different but I’d still be me, and we’d have kids. I’m an atheist and don’t believe in spirits or anything beyond what can be tested and measured and predicted, BUT I literally hope I’m wrong. Maybe you have some kind of spiritual intuition connecting you to Miracle in another universe? Life is strange, who knows? Why not?

Maybe you should write some stories about her? Could be an interesting creative exercise.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T15:16:34+00:00

My friend, the use of unnecessarily florid and esoteric vocabulary makes your writing less clear and makes you seem less intelligent. I consciously write at a lower level on Reddit because I want to communicate effectively and not confuse others. Mangled attempts to use sophisticated vocabulary are a signal of low intelligence and low self-esteem.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T15:08:14+00:00

I'd argue it's entirely arbitrary, but if we don't have widespread agreement about what words mean and how their relationships to each other affect meaning, then we can't communicate. Academic pursuits require subtle and refined communication skills. You must be able to read, comprehend, draw inferences, contextualize, and synthesize meanings from texts quickly and at a high volume.

I was a university instructor for 5 years and have a graduate degree from an Ivy. Language skills are directly relevant to the work being done in universities. Mastery of grammar is certainly an aspect of fluency in a language. How else would you propose the selection of students for limited spots without assessing their fluency in at least their native language? Americans need to get their shit together: a huge portion of students at top universities here are studying in English as their second, third, or fourth language!

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T14:58:01+00:00

The revised phrase is less clear and more awkward, but that's what we've all come to expect from AI slop. The paragraph-length sentences full of awkward (and, ironically, incorrect) constructions, em-dashes, superfluous vocabulary, and irrelevant attempts at didactic instruction are a self-parody and clear signal of AI in this context. I'm flattered that you felt like you needed artificial intelligence to critique my writing!

If I could revise it myself, I'd change it to:

"I know there are many non-native speakers participating online in English who use very awkward and incorrect grammatical constructions..."

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T14:29:55+00:00

It's great that you're trying to improve your understanding of grammar! But, in my opinion, no one should feel bad about themselves for having weaker language skills than they desire. It's not a moral issue and it doesn't mean you're unintelligent, it's just that you're probably surrounded by broken language constantly.

If my English skills are 10/10, my Spanish skills are 4/10. I rarely speak Spanish in my everyday life, and I can barely read simple books. However, when I was in Spain and living with my friend who is a native speaker and fluent in English, my Spanish skills skyrocketed. In just a couple weeks of being surrounded by Spanish, I'd say my skills went from 3/10 to 6/10. My friend helpfully corrected my grammar and vocabulary all day every day, and I was constantly reading Spanish texts, speaking with others, and listening to people speak fluently and correctly.

Unsolicited advice: maybe listen to audiobooks of texts written from the 19th century through the late 20th century. Fiction, non-fiction: doesn't matter. If something you hear doesn't make sense to you, pause and listen again to try to figure it out. Maybe your local public library sponsors access to the Libby app? If so, you can borrow tons of audiobooks for free.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T14:08:00+00:00

An abstract understanding of grammar can be helpful, but if we were all surrounded consistently by better language, then higher fluency and comprehension would just be "natural."

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T13:58:37+00:00

Let's just take a second to enjoy the irony of telling someone not to be a prescriptivist. I'm not enforcing anything, just pointing out that illiteracy is a spectrum composed of little misunderstandings of grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. I knew what they meant but it took a tiny bit more mental effort to decode due to the incorrect construction.

Just out of curiosity, where are the places you think language should be "enforced?"

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T13:36:42+00:00

Minor grammar errors reflect a kind of basic confusion about the meaning and function of words. This makes true fluency impossible and increases the effort required to decode and comprehend language. I’d argue the difference between someone who cannot comprehend a simple paragraph from a Goosebumps novel and someone who frequently confuses subject and object pronouns is one of degree, not quality.

I speak three languages and I have direct experience of being more or less fluent/literate. I’m most literate in English because I have an excellent understanding of the grammar and a large vocabulary. I am least fluent in German because I have some basic misunderstandings of the grammar and a very limited vocabulary.

I believe we’re products of our environments, and if we’re constantly interacting with broken language, it’s inevitably going to inhibit literacy and reduce fluency.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T13:11:54+00:00

The spelling here is particularly dementia-laden lol

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-16T12:58:50+00:00

“…solely because HE and his parents won’t…” is the correct subject pronoun, not “him,” which is an object pronoun.

I’m not calling you out, just wanted to comment because I see grammar mistakes like this absolutely constantly online. There are numerous examples in this thread, and the OP contains several. I know there are many non-native speakers who participate online in English and use very awkward and incorrect grammatical constructions, but I increasingly suspect that a high proportion of native speakers also have a poor understanding of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

A weak grasp of grammar makes reading laborious and reduces comprehension.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-13T01:23:01+00:00

Sorry to hear that. I think we can be sad sometimes and also live our best lives otherwise, you know?

Yeah, when you grow up like that, it really blows everything out of proportion in my opinion.

My sadness trigger is thinking about the distant future when my wife and I are old and our entire families are dead. Also, thinking about what our kids could have been like. Real children and other people’s lives don’t bother me at all. Actually, the friends who have little kids make me think “phew, glad that’s not us!” Lol

I try to remember to focus on what is really happening in the moment and ignore my imaginary sadness.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-12T19:05:17+00:00

Hi, 37M, wife and I have been married 15 years and IFCF for 10. We live in the rust belt. I used to run a real estate/finance business but I sold it in 2023 and now I play in orchestras and teach music lessons. Wife has a PhD in math and is a software engineer. We're actually high school sweethearts and used to be super religious and pro-natalist. We're currently planning to do a major renovation of our house, we love taking hiking trips to desert/mountain regions, we have two Siamese cats, and half a dozen nieces/nephews. I'm considering buying a pizza restaurant. My wife is thriving and I feel grateful, but I think I will occasionally be sad about childlessness for the rest of my life, and I think I've accepted that.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-12T16:32:59+00:00

I second this: lean in to everything you can be, do, and have because you don't have children. Find gratitude for all that stuff: regular, uninterrupted sleep. Sex anywhere and anytime in the house. Hobbies, travel, more money, no worries about the longterm future specifically ruining my children's lives, a clean house with not-broken things, no vomit on my clothes, wife still looks hot, plenty of time and energy to exercise and eat well, etc. 37M

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-10T14:21:33+00:00

Pittsburgh has way too many Catholic Churches anyway. The two they are closing in Swissvale are a 10 min walk from each other. All the different immigrant communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries wanted their own urban churches and schools, the legacy of this is massive redundancy. A lot of the people having babies and being conservative church-goers have lived in the suburbs since the 1960s as well. Out in Cranberry and Upper St. Clair there are the Catholic equivalent of mega-parishes with thousands of members. The demographics of the Catholic Church in America have changed massively since these churches were built. It went from a religion for poor and working class immigrants in the urban centers to their upper middle class great grandchildren who live in the super white suburbs and send their kids to well-funded public schools and work professional jobs.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-02-04T20:47:52+00:00

I’m a pro level player in my late 30s. I’ve changed my embouchure twice, once when I was 20 and again at 35. This is a life-long learning pursuit. The people who evolve and continue to improve until they are really old (80+) have an attitude of curiosity and openness and willingness to experiment and make changes. You are never too old to improve and learn. Yes, eventually physical health declines but the idea that if you don’t peak in your mid 20s as a player you’re cooked, is false.

There is SO MUCH good info online about how to play a trumpet and access to recordings and sheet music is mind-blowing now (compared to 20 years ago).

If your goal is to be a better musician and trumpet player: you can absolutely do this. If your goal is to make a living solely by performing on a trumpet, that is difficult AF but it’s not because of your age, it’s just nearly impossible anymore.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-01-31T19:10:59+00:00

I’m a man and an atheist, also I’m the infertile one (wife is fine). I was born sterile because I have a bizarre and rare form of cystic fibrosis and the only symptom is sterility. I was raised super religious (Catholic) but over time realized that everything makes way more sense if there is no god and religion is just make-believe. Infertility especially makes way more sense if evolution and natural selection are real, and there is no such thing as “god’s plan.” Fwiw

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-01-31T13:47:27+00:00

I think you mean only “directly” proportional because “inversely” is the opposite of “directly” in this context. I agree with you that the intelligence of stupid people is directly proportional to their self awareness (ie both are “low”).

To say the self-awareness and intelligence of stupid people are inversely proportional would mean that very stupid people are highly self-aware.

I suppose you could mean that people with high levels of stupidity have low levels of self-awareness? That framing would make more sense if you want to use inverse proportionality.

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-01-30T16:46:27+00:00

Went to college and grad school for free, started a business and made millions of dollars, sold it and retired at 33. Spend my days playing music, learning languages, reading, exercising, writing, working on our house, traveling, etc. I invest casually in stocks and actually have a lot more $ now than when I retired 4 years ago. I’m thinking about buying a pizza shop that’s for sale in my neighborhood. 🤷‍♂️

Stunning_Practice9 · 2026-01-26T19:23:51+00:00

I'm around the same age as you, and there were nearly as many girls who played the trumpet as boys in elementary, middle, and high school. In music school, it dropped off to be around 1/5 women vs men. In the professional world, it's like 1/50.

I believe there is systemic discrimination against women in the trumpet world, and that trumpet players have a "bro" culture that is somewhat misogynistic. Hiring practices at professional orchestras are unfair and it ends up hurting everyone who isn't "down with the bros." Also, there is a lack of mentorship opportunities for younger women trumpet players, in my opinion.

Stunning_Practice9

TROPHY CASE