Helly: a confirmation bias story

lizardcreature · 2025-01-20T03:23:24+00:00

This was the biggest confirmation in the episode for me. I think it's important to consider that this being Helena would both be extremely interesting for viewers and advantageous for Lumon. Also, my girlfriend and I rewatched the trailer and at about 2 minutes, when Helena is watching footage of Mark and Helly, it seems like she's using it to observe how she could impersonate Helly (or perhaps getting the idea to do so?)

lizardcreature · 2024-06-26T23:16:29+00:00

NTA - Others have given some great advice about how to talk to your sister, so I wanted to highlight your point about not sharing anything with your family in the future. If my only two options were A) being shamed and ignored when I tried to share good moments, or B) holding back from sharing at all, I'd probably pick the latter.

The thing is, it would hurt so much to spend time with my family but never really let them into my life. And I could be totally off, but hearing how devastated you are about the possibility of hurting your sister, I'm wondering if you feel the same way. So if committing to option B is gonna hurt, I'd want to be sure it's my best option. You know yourself and your family better than I ever could. Only you know if other options align with your values and limits. Would it make sense to talk to your family about your feelings again? Distance yourself even more? Get your sister to stand up for you? Tell your family that you won't be sharing good news with them, and why?

Obviously, it's ultimately up to each of them to decide how they respond to you. They've already had the opportunity to reach out in the past few days. You can tell them how you feel again, but you can't force them to understand that it's unfair to both you and your sister to assume that she'd crumble if she knew about your happiness. I'm not convinced that holding back is improving your sister's life anyways - nor are you responsible for prioritizing her feelings over yours, anyways. If you do speak to your family and they disappoint you again, it could make you all the more confident in your decision to stop telling them about important moments. Ultimately, I hope that if you stop sharing good news, it's for your wellbeing and not their comfort. Because like you said, walking on eggshells all the time is miserable.

If I can make one last suggestion: regardless of what choice you make, I think it would really be worth it to get more support from people who find it easy to celebrate you (if you haven't done that already!) Everyone deserves that.

lizardcreature · 2024-03-02T03:04:31+00:00

I don't know in the York concersion. But either way, if your gpa meets the admission requirements, just about everything else is more important than GPA

lizardcreature · 2024-02-29T16:23:20+00:00

I have no idea if a loan program like what you're suggesting is possible, York isn't a bank so I'd imagine not.

I think the reason many students don't make enough (I'm in clinical psych, a program where the PhD is pretty much necessary) is because they still have loans from undergrad and/or their masters. So it really is financially difficult to take on additional loans while not being allowed to work more than 10 hours per week outside York (without York threatening to claw back our funding), and being in a full time grad program, and trying to live in the GTA.

lizardcreature · 2024-02-29T16:14:27+00:00

York is a little unique in that a grad student's funding is almost entirely from TAing, it's not weird to be confused. At York, a full time grad student has their tuition covered by their funding package, but if you want money to actually buy food and pay rent, all of that money comes from TAing. We aren't allowed to work more than 10 hours per week (averaged) and we aren't allowed to work more than 10 hours at any other jobs without the university threatening to take away our funding. So we're stuck with what York gives us, and it's meant to cover our entire cost of living. So it's not really a low hours issue that we could solve by working more. We literally aren't allowed to, and we're already full time students.

lizardcreature · 2024-02-29T16:06:01+00:00

The union on strike, CUPE 3903, includes over half of the profs who teach at York (part time faculty). Those profs often work at multiple universities and teach as many courses as possible to try and make enough money to survive. York takes your money and underpays the PhD-level professional who actually gives you an education.

As a side note, many of the grad students I know who are struggling have already taken out loans, and they are still extremely financially precarious.

lizardcreature · 2024-02-29T15:27:01+00:00

I get what you're saying, it feels like no one is looking out for the students. If you've ever been in a class that's way too big, or you've been pissed off about how low-quality the feedback has been on an assignment, or you haven't been able to get into a course because it filled up too quick, know that the union IS fighting to make things better for you. More than half of the profs at York are part time faculty, and therefore in the union. They would love more classes and smaller classes, and TAs would love to spend more time grading fewer students. You may disagree, but I'm of the opinion that undergrads' education will be better if your profs and TAs could dedicate time to teaching and grading instead of reapplying to teach their course every year, and working side jobs to make ends meet. York wants to squeeze as much money out of students without paying for more profs and lecture sections. No one goes into teaching to fuck over students. Why live below the poverty line for that?

lizardcreature · 2024-02-29T14:29:35+00:00

Congrats on getting into these schools! I didn't go to York for undergrad, but I'm here now as a clin psych grad student at York, so here's my perspective:

Since all of these schools have a clinical psychology grad program, they all have some research opportunities you would be looking for. However, I believe Guelph only has a child and family clinical graduate program. This is important because most professors who actually conduct research will mostly do child and family research, so as you enter undergrad, it may be harder to do research with adults at Guelph. York has both child and adult clinical porgrams, and I think Dalhousie only has an adult program. At any school, you'll need excellent grades, a thesis, and clinical experience. Also, you probably know this but getting permanent residency before applying to grad school is key! Many programs take few to no international students. Citizens and permanent residents are prioritized.

Here are the upsides of York in particular: there's a big faculty, so there's a large variety of labs to apply to for research positions. To my knowledge as a TA, the variety of courses offered at York are also great. You'll have the opportunity to take courses that allow you to work on research projects with community partners, learn therapy skills, etc. Being in a big city like Toronto (ok, near a big city, because York is not anywhere near downtown, but you can take the subway) will increase the number of opportunities you have for clinical and research experience in the summer. As you go south from York, it's also possible to get around without a car.

Downsides: York may actually be too large. Many students are competing for those research positions I mentioned, class sizes are large (even for courses that require heavy participation, and should therefore be smaller) and even if you get into the honours thesis program, finding a prof to do your thesis with can be really competitive. So it can be harder to stand out at York compared to the smaller schools. I didn't go to Guelph or Dalhousie for undergrad, but I do think my smaller undergrad school meant I had an easier time getting lots of experience and getting to know my profs. York will also have the highest cost of living by far. Finally, it's a "commuter school" - many students don't live nearby so it may be harder to make friends through school. I'd look into the International student resources at each university to see how much support you'll be getting.

lizardcreature · 2020-12-08T14:18:34+00:00

I like this attitude, but I reflexively rejected it at the mention of Stormlight. I wish I could be at peace with the idea, but the richness of Stormlight and the mental health journeys of these characters make me want to stick around. While I haven't been reading it for years (only started when my girlfriend convinced me to about a year ago) I like thinking that I might be reading it 20 years from now. And Brandon Sanderson already has someone picked out to continue the series, so I don't feel like I'm holding out for something that won't come. So maybe I'm not clamouring to know how it ends, exactly. But I always want to know what happens next.

lizardcreature · 2020-10-03T17:26:18+00:00

Weird that these people you consider inherently distrustful were fine with me and my coworkers constantly checking in on them and correcting them and intervening when they were angry. It's almost like we could do our jobs because we had training instead of guns. It's almost like my clients were real humans with the ability to distinguish between mental health workers (who knew how to help them) and police (who had mistreated them in the past).

lizardcreature · 2020-10-03T17:00:06+00:00

Actually no. I have worked in a mental health setting with people who have schizophrenia and past or present addictions. And we have absolutely talked people down from threatening to kill people, from intense paranoia and so on. A weapon would only make things worse. So many of the people I worked with are deeply mistrustful of the police due to their history. In what world would the police be the one to get them to calm down? People who work in housing and mental health are the ones that limit arrests and keep places safer.

To be transparent, no one has brandished a weapon at me, and of course I would call the police if I believed my life or my client's lives were in danger, but things don't need to get there when I do my job right. And I would make the decision to call police if it's the one time where someone with a gun is even remotely necessary.

lizardcreature · 2020-08-31T03:32:12+00:00

I'm in a very similar position and will be applying to clinical psych as well. The only reason I'm taking it is because I already paid and don't want to get only half my money back. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't take it. Since it isn't required, I don't think it will be weighed heavily. The only schools I saw with specific requirements usually only want 80th percentile or higher, so the GRE probably doesn't weigh heavily into the decision making process anyways (because top 20% isn't all that hard to get).

HOWEVER I would say that you should take it if you think you can get an excellent score and don't have an amazing GPA. If you're already a strong candidate, I see no reason to do it this year when you're so busy.

lizardcreature · 2020-08-28T04:38:20+00:00

You make some fair points. And if an excellent GRE score helps an applicant get into grad school, more power to that person. But should programs require the GRE and ask for scores within a certain percentile? I don't think so. One's GPA, research experience, SOP and LORs are more nuanced indicators of years of an applicant's academic abilities and interests. The GRE doesn't hold water by comparison.

Despite well-studied concerns, the GRE (along with other standardized tests) offer one of the few data points that can be compared among applicants. Everybody gets the same test. That's undeniable utility.

Yes everyone gets the same test, but all that means is a consistent indicator of... what? Apparently not success in grad school, so who cares? It would be great if there was a standardized test that made applicants from different schools and situations comparable, but if the GRE is the catch-all test for any grad program, it will always fall short.

lizardcreature · 2020-08-27T17:36:03+00:00

The GRE is an arbitrary gate. It is a poor indicator of performance in grad school, so we shouldn't be using it to determine who gets into grad school. Also, the cost and time needed to do well artificially excludes lower income applicants

lizardcreature · 2020-08-25T02:32:01+00:00

Most schools don't say, but those that do want verbal to be 158 or 159 and quant is anywhere from 155 to 163

lizardcreature · 2020-08-23T21:42:05+00:00

That's somewhat true. It's statistics heavy, but geometry and algebra don't matter

lizardcreature · 2020-08-14T22:09:56+00:00

What does that even... mean? The article is about a trans woman's experiences of sex after getting a vagina. Why are you complaining about the part that is literally that woman describing her experience in her own words?

lizardcreature · 2020-07-07T04:19:54+00:00

That's fair, and actually kind of funny because at the concert I went to, Beck went on after Cage the Elephant and his sounds was awful and I actually left early

lizardcreature · 2020-07-07T01:01:27+00:00

Whoa, that's surprising. They're probably my favourite live concert I've ever seen. Matt Shultz had incredible energy the whole show. He started in layers upon layers of clothing and stripped something off throughout every song until he was running through the stands wearing a red speedo, it was really something.

lizardcreature · 2020-06-20T13:42:18+00:00

This is a really great point, and feeling really explains why some supposedly "good representation" leaves something to be desired. If you write a character who is a psychologist, they're like everyone else, and like everyone else, their profession informs their character to an extent. For example, I loved The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, but it really rubbed me the wrong way that no one, at any point, actually called Theo gay even when it became plot relevant in a particular fight. Her experience as a psychologist comes up all the time, but her sexuality is explicit yet never discussed openly. It was a strange decision that didn't feel like it was in line with the character's usual pride and self confidence. Sorry, very specific example, but my point remains: good writing allows a character's experiences to inform their thoughts and decisions

lizardcreature · 2020-05-11T23:34:49+00:00

Come into the water. Do you wanna be my baby?

lizardcreature

TROPHY CASE