Legend Of Korra: Will It Bend!

[Xondoure]

For that matter, when I'm just making dinner at home, I've usually got two or three things going at a time - meat in the oven, pasta on the stove, and putting a salad together, for instance. I don't see any way, short of the "bend-rings around the tools/ingredients" idea (which would be all kinds of complicated to set up and maintain) that any kind of bending would be of benefit there. Even when I'm just baking bread, do I want to sit there for more than half an hour actively keeping an eye on the heat and figuring out when I need to breathe on it again/add another fireblast/whatever? No, I want to let the oven produce and maintain the heat for me while I go do other things.

In short: I still fail to see any way bending would be more useful than iron-age tools in such cooking as is within my experience.

Now how is that too complicated to set up? For one it would probably be part of standard manufacturing once the idea occurred to someone. And it would undoubtedly cut time. Are you honestly saying telekinesis has no place in manual labor of any kind?

[Brother Oni]

Are you honestly saying telekinesis has no place in manual labor of any kind?

Telekinesis does, pyrokinesis is a bit more specialised.

[Kd7sov]

Now how is that too complicated to set up? For one it would probably be part of standard manufacturing once the idea occurred to someone. And it would undoubtedly cut time. Are you honestly saying telekinesis has no place in manual labor of any kind?

Have you ever noticed the shape and weight of, for instance, a whisk? Is there any place on it where you can add a bunch of dirt or water (let alone both) without making it unwieldly to grip and/or awkward to use? Remember that these things take up space and mass.

And as for using it telekinetically, that would take two things: the ability to do that kind of fine motor control with bending (which I can't recall seeing from anyone except maybe Gyatso and Toph), and the ability to judge by sight (or TK-feedback, if that's a thing) when it's sufficiently stirred. Also some way to keep the bowl itself steady, and for it to be actually useful you'd need the ability to focus on more than one thing at a time, which is a difficult skill to train in its own right.

As for ingredients, all right, you can keep your sugar and flour and spices in crocks, but what about the produce? Are you going to slap a bending-ring around every carrot, every head of lettuce, every apple? That takes extra time and manpower, for frankly not a lot of return.

And what about when the rings break or leak? That's the kind of thing I meant as far as maintenance. Nothing works forever.

So, basically, no, I don't see that telekinesis would actually be of a lot of benefit in the kitchen. Are you willing and able to convince me otherwise?

[Absol197]

Telekinesis does, pyrokinesis is a bit more specialised.

Plus, there's the fact that bending requires physical motions to perform. Only the true masters can bend with minimal motion. In several professional environments that are, rather crowded, needing to perform those motions would get in the way.

[dehro]

Which is a nice way of ignoring the argument on every other job out there. So really you might ask why I'm willing to discuss the cooking at all when you have completely ignored the overwhelming advantage bending gives in the vast majority of jobs. And then not point fingers at who is grasping at straws. .

if you'd read both my last 2 posts, you would have noticed that I was answering to those posts that were specifically debating the merits of bending in cooking. I never said that other jobs wouldn't be made easier. which may or may not be true. I was only pointing out that anybody who has at least sat in a kitchen whilst someone else was making anything more complicated than... soup out of a can, would know that bending simply isn't a viable thing in the kitchen.

quite simply, the debate about cooking was being dragged on for so long and was so nonsensical to me that I decided to have may say on it.
as for the other jobs... I agree that some would be made easier (some even a lot easier..like mass production of bricks..something I think I actually was first to mention..several pages back).. and some others still would be putting benders and non benders on a level playing field. I have no intention of going through a list and debate each and every single one of them.

[Xondoure]

@Dehro: And I apologize for going a bit off the hook. I too am finding this argument a little tasking.

As for the rest, well, Gyatso is an excellent point as we seem him using his bending for cooking. And just deposit the sand water mixture inside a capsule in the handle (big question here is whether or not they could bend through the metal. I'm inclined to say yes given that Aang and Katara bent water deep below them they couldn't see.

As for specific movements... think of it this way. Bending's root in the physical world is a way for the mind to consciously track it's actions. Were everyone to teach themselves bending, styles among the elements would be as diverse as people (Toph for example.) The more martial forms have become dominant because they provide structure, and are easy to train.

But as we've seen with lightning and metal bending, more advanced techniques can easily be shared with those who are not master class benders. Is it so hard to imagine that in a world where fine motor control would be more valued than martial prowess different forms would start to appear?

Me and my friends had a field day with this thinking of all the possibilities. Such as an earth bender with ceramic keys on his keyboard: typing on his lap half way across the room. Or using counters as conveyor belts / reorganizing a whole room in seconds since everything would be built with benders in mind.

The point is that someone working in a kitchen with just the rings on items it would make sense to put them on could grab things in less time which would ultimately mean a more efficient workspace. The rings themselves perhaps I have not described clearly. They wouldn't even have to be rings, and the space they would take up would be minimal. And they would probably be made out of metal/clay so any damage to them would either be enough to break whatever they are carrying, or could easily be fixed. Which is another reason you'd want a bender in the kitchen. Broken plates? Spilled soup? Gone with a few gestures. Again, it doesn't have to be direct. All it has to be is enough that given a choice between the two the bender wins out.

[Kd7sov]

Me and my friends had a field day with this thinking of all the possibilities. Such as an earth bender with ceramic keys on his keyboard: typing on his lap half way across the room. Or using counters as conveyor belts / reorganizing a whole room in seconds since everything would be built with benders in mind.

All right, let's look at this.

What, in your view, are the advantages to being able to type from across the room?

I am having difficulty coming up with any beyond "start before you get over there". Whereas I can think of a couple of disadvantages right off the top of my head - you can't see the screen so well, and you have a tendency to get distracted by other things that are physically closer.

[Brother Oni]

All right, let's look at this.

What, in your view, are the advantages to being able to type from across the room?

I can think of several advantages to being able to remotely operate things - working with dangerous materials with you outside the hermetically sealed chamber and not having to rely on robotic arms or a pair of rubber gloves built into the side of the chamber.

On a more specific example, being able to safely search through potential hazardous environments with nothing more than some ceramic manipulators and a pair of binoculars - invaluable for bomb/IED clearing and disposal.

[Xondoure]

All right, let's look at this.

What, in your view, are the advantages to being able to type from across the room?

I am having difficulty coming up with any beyond "start before you get over there". Whereas I can think of a couple of disadvantages right off the top of my head - you can't see the screen so well, and you have a tendency to get distracted by other things that are physically closer.

Well it isn't as if you couldn't type right there if you wished. And such a use is really only just scratching the surface. But let me put it this way. If current developers for the kinect could arrange it so that their motion sensors were sensitive enough to pick up on someone lap typing they would all be taking the week off. Similar things could be done with other bending disciplines with the end result being faster, easier, more intuitive interfaces.

On the other side of the scale let's look at a plane. Think of how much more energy efficient and faster they could be just by having a metal bender on board. It would basically be Mass Effect with benders instead of element zero decreasing the weight allowing the propulsion (which hey! could be fire bender enhanced) to send the ship much faster and with less fuel than would otherwise be possible.

And of course I already mentioned get enough air and water benders in the air. And you could potentially have complete weather control of the planet. Hell get the Avatar to visit Yue and you could even have the moon help maintain the new balance.

And benders in space could quickly become all but required. As such abilities could literally be life saving. It wouldn't surprise me if air benders especially were called into service as astronauts. They're used to working in three dimensional environments and could maintain healthy air pressures in space. Which could possibly help simulate gravity.

[Morty]

Rewatching the end of the third episode, I once more notice just how great the soundtrack for this series is. I hope we hear more of the track that plays at the end, when Korra, Mako and Bolin flee and chi-blockers swarm out of the building to chase them.

[Knaight]

Reiki is Japanese and was invented in 1922. Also at least in the hodgepodge of the Western practice apparently does make use of said concepts.

And if by "internal alchemy" you meant Qigong it certainly does.

Reiki's origin is contested, and among the places it theoretically might be from is China. That also applies to when exactly it originated, though it is recent (and hence, it's less traditional than some). I'd disagree to some extent regarding Qigong (though I was originally thinking of Neidan), and in any case, that still leaves a whole host of traditional medicines that don't make sense. Traditional medicine is a hodgepodge of interacting traditions that don't form a cohesive whole, and there's no reason to expect all of it to show up.

[dehro]

I'll just write a wall of text and then retire from the debate as to whether jobs aside from the obvious moving stuff for it's own sake are enhanced by bending.
yes, some jobs are enhanced by bending. most often however bending doesn't really give that much of an edge you're giving it credit for.

many of you seem to seriously underestimate 3 very important hurdles as to bringing bending to the workplace:

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1) physical involvement.
basic jobs can be enhanced by bending if they require hard labour and toiling, where there is a sensible advantage in using bending over straining your body otherwise. if you're a farmer, ploughing the ground or pulling carrots from it becomse a lot more manageable. if you're an airship pilot you can create your own fire to inflate the balloon with hot air. if you're an icecream maker you can bend your own ice..etc etc..
all of these things however do require moving about. maybe only your hands if you're really good. if not, you'll have to move your arms and often you will have to be in a particular stance to obtain the desired effect. in other words, this works only when you have the room to manouvre, and if the physical side of bending stuff doesn't tire you out faster than other methods of doing the same thing. many jobs that are done in crowded workplaces and maybe involve different people doing different tasks in the same area, would pose a problem. technology may, and in many areas already has, surpass the benefit of bending. look at the old "pushy carty like a skateboard" style of getting around in wagons they had in Ba Sing Se. 2 airbenders would tire themself out and need to hang on to a wagon's side, to push it forward and get people around. now a satomobile bus driver sits confortably on the inside of the vehicle pushing levers and steering, much less tiring. would he be any better at it if he were a bender? not in any significant way.
the list of similar examples goes on. put simply, if a job can be done with less effort than what is undeniably required by bending, this levels the playing field entirely. only top level benders like Bumi could dispense with performing movement and katas to obtain any form of bending. this is undeniably true or we would have seen it happen all the time.
bending is physically tiring and engaging.
the whole "I'll stick some dirt/earth/water to it and then move it with the awesome power of my mind. whilst enjoying a mojito in my chaise longue" routine is bullcrap. bending is NOT telekynesis and cannot be separated from physical involvement..otherwise all Appa would have needed to do was to stay awake..and he would've been able to fly forever. instead, Appa needed to rest from her airbending regularily...because of physical and mental exhaustion.. not just lack of sleep.
2) concentration.
any work environment other than the lonely artisan shop, especially so in the more modern Republic City, is strewn with distractions, interactions with colleagues, things and people that move about. most jobs require a number of different actions to be performed in sequence, sometimes 2 or more at a time. bending is a one thing at a time job. 2 if you're very good. and if you get distracted by a colleague asking you a question or by a customer walking in or any such stuff, you must either stop what you're doing and then start again once you've solved the distraction... or resign yourself to seeing stuff fall on the ground all around you. say you have a ring of earth around a duster and are using bending to dust the top shelf of a library.. a customer comes in and you give him your attention..most likely the duster will fall right on your head. the more complicated the job, the truer this becomes. the more articulate your bending needs to be, the less you'll be able to compensate for interferences...which neatly brings me to point 3.
3) accuracy.
you people are vastly overestimating the accuracy and fine detail that your average bender has displayed in pretty much every episode of the show so far. punching a keyboard? seriously? most likely half the earthbenders on the planet would punch 2-3 keys at a time by mistake. bending is either very slow, which is where it can become accurate, or fast but rather .. bulky. there has been exactly 1 episode I can remember where bending showed fine detail and refinement... and that is when the best earth bender of her day, Toph, made a model of Ba Sing Se made out of sand. every other time, every other bender, including Aang, was rather heavyhanded or simply did not display the ability to do anything very refined or accurate to within millimetres. there is no ground to believe it's possible, certainly so for the average bender. whenever a bender does something it involves a consistent ammount of "moving element around" we have no idea that a bender could, for instance, pilot a satomobile by bending the steering wheel, or move a needle with the accuracy it takes to do decent stitching, or.. well..examples abund. bending, in pretty much most cases involves big and bold actions and effects..that would be destructive in many a working environment, counterproductive or would actually slow down work considerably. even Gyatso, when he used bending for cooking, was paying close attention to his bending as he did so...and performed rather simple things

this is of course not true for each and every job that's out there..but to say that most if not all jobs would see a bender having an edge on a non bender is simply not true.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Now how is that too complicated to set up? For one it would probably be part of standard manufacturing once the idea occurred to someone. And it would undoubtedly cut time. Are you honestly saying telekinesis has no place in manual labor of any kind?

I for one think you are trivializing the difference between telekinesis and bending.

By evidently all evidence fine control is a very advanced art. I don't think lightning and metal serve as any kind of precedent since they represent different capacities of what can be bent. At least from metalbending essentially seems to be an entirely different skill set from earthbending because it requires you to think in different terms. Ergo methods being found to expand these do not have anything to do with the more fundamental relationship with control that requires long practice. So fine manipulation should remain advanced while say metalbending is in contrast just specialized.

At the same time the advantages are minimal, turning screws at a distance is still just turning screws. There aren't that many applications where you can't just have a normal (and cheaper) laborer go and turn those screws with a driver. An assembly line isn't going to be improved by having benders on it, since the whole point of that approach is to divide a complex task into many simple ones that can be done extremely quickly. A bomber an hour I seem to remember a Ford factory pulling in WWII. Bending would not speed this up appreciably even supposing fine control does not make benders suddenly super-humanly fast. And you will have a much easier time getting three shifts of normal workers to fill out your assembly line.

[Brother Oni]

An assembly line isn't going to be improved by having benders on it, since the whole point of that approach is to divide a complex task into many simple ones that can be done extremely quickly.

I disagree since you can have smaller numbers of people doing the same job. Suppose it takes 20* people to roll out, shape and fit a plate of metal for a structural section - a single metal* bender could do that, freeing up the 19 other people to be employed elsewhere (or employed at all).

Even if the metal bender takes the same time as the team of non-benders to do the same job, that's still a massive reduction in the number of man hours required.

Whether it actually speeds up the process is dependent on the bottlenecks in the process - if the bottleneck is the rate that raw materials can be delivered to the factory, having benders doing the job won't make it any quicker (unless they can help shift the stuff from the suppliers as well).

*Arbitrary numbers and arbitrary bending for sake of example before people start going off about limited numbers of metal benders and how they're all employed in law enforcement

A bomber an hour I seem to remember a Ford factory pulling in WWII. Bending would not speed this up appreciably even supposing fine control does not make benders suddenly super-humanly fast.

A more accurate measure of the impact of benders on that process would be to look at how many man hours per bomber, rather than just looking at the absolute rate of production.

That bomber an hour figure also isn't making it from scratch, it's the rate the finished product is rolling off the production line.

Looking around on google, I believe you're referring to the Willow Run bomber plant. I'm not 100% sure but I believe that it took somewhere in the region of several days for them to make a bomber (it looks like 27, from the number at the start of the process but at least 23), thus there's plenty of margin to insert some bender optimisation somewhere in the process, be it in man hour reduction or actual speed improvement.

And you will have a much easier time getting three shifts of normal workers to fill out your assembly line.

If you only need a single bender to working per shift on a non-rate determining step, that shouldn't be too hard to acquire.

Any more detailed discussion than this would need a more intricate assembly process model to work from.

Of course, this is all assuming they have the level of fine control that Xondoure is proposing. If they're only capable of heavy load lifting, then all they'd pretty much do is replace forklifts and moving finished product/bulk raw materials around.

[Morty]

Something just occured to me - why doesn't Republic City employ chi blockers in the police forces? Amon's henchmen show that skilled chi-blockers can put down benders fairly efficiently, so they'd make a great "elite" law enforcement unit alongside the metalbenders. And even aside from their purely practical value, non-bending policemen capable of taking on bending criminals such as the Triple Threat Triads would make Amon's message look weaker.

[ThePhantom]

Just saw the latest episode, very interesting.

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The flashback combinded with the little bit of Amon's face visible seems to be saying that Amon faced Aang when Aang was alive, and that he was arrested.

[dehro]

Something just occured to me - why doesn't Republic City employ chi blockers in the police forces? Amon's henchmen show that skilled chi-blockers can put down benders fairly efficiently, so they'd make a great "elite" law enforcement unit alongside the metalbenders. And even aside from their purely practical value, non-bending policemen capable of taking on bending criminals such as the Triple Threat Triads would make Amon's message look weaker.

who says they don't? maybe we just have yet to see them

[Morty]

who says they don't? maybe we just have yet to see them

Well, obviously if they show up, my question will be rendered moot. Still, I feel that if they existed, they'd have shown up by now - when Mako told Korra about chi blockers, he referred to them as "Amon's henchmen", which kind of suggests that most if not all chi blockers in the city work for Amon.

[Mutant Sheep]

Latest episode blahblahblah?

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Yeah, that Aang flashback is very awesome. Gives us more Adult Aang, for one thing. I am just WAITING for Tenzin to beat ass with wind though, him laying the smackdown on something will be amazing to watch. Councilman guy was cool, though I wish Tenzin would try to stress the non-unanimous-ness of the Task Force decision. Him giving a few cool speeches about balance and legitimate non-bender grivances would be very helpful. (Though I expect a certain faceburnt Firelord to be doing that.) Cant wait for Avatar state Korra and Korra talking with Aang.

[Spacewolf]

Im putting money on satos benefactor turning out to be or be close to amon

[Dr.Epic]

So I woke up late and missed the first 10 minutes. Mako's got a new love interest that isn't the Avatar?

Also, I liked the mini dream sequence where we saw a bunch of old characters in adult form: Aang, Toph, Wang Fire. I love those guys, especially the last. Why isn't he in this series?

[Kobold-Bard]

Im putting money on satos benefactor turning out to be or be close to amon

So I woke up late and missed the first 10 minutes. Mako's got a new love interest that isn't the Avatar?

Also, I liked the mini dream sequence where we saw a bunch of old characters in adult form: Aang, Toph, Wang Fire. I love those guys, especially the last. Why isn't he in this series?

As previously suggested maybe use spoilers until the Sunday after it airs, to let people who missed it catch up?

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I want the benefactor to be Sokka, but I know deep down it won't be.

He does indeed. I hope it sticks, but it could just be more trolling of the shippers.

[Dienekes]

So new episode

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Ehh, pretty dull episode until the last 5 minutes. Seems more focus was being put on replacing the love triangle with a love conga-line. Dull. They even introduced female-girl with a cheesy slow-motion hair toss.

Anyway there were a few good bids. The Tarlock guy was amusingly like a normal politician, and his interaction with the "precocious" daughter of Tenzin was hilarious. "Why do you smell like a girl? You're weird!" Hilarious, and immediately reminded me of "perfume boy" from my college years.

Also, anyone else think it's weird that Mako's dad gave him a scarf that must have been twice as big as he was tall at the time. And that cars get an avatar-ed name: Satomobile, but moped is just a moped.

Anyway, it started getting interesting once Korra joined the task force. But really, Korra, you're a complete moron. There's being a bit rash and hotheaded and setting up yourself to be in a position were you can get ambushed without support and lose everything. I was glad that Amon was smart enough to take advantage of that, and at least he had a reason for giving up the chance to destroy his opponent, I'm not sure I agree with his reasoning since I think the situation presented makes the loss on Korra's head as long as they could cover up the evidence so it looks like an actual fair fight. But hey, maybe they couldn't. And also, Korra having to say that she was outsmarted and brushed off by Amon may help to not make her a martyr when he inevitably destroys her. Making the opponent look a fool is a decent strategy.

Though it did give us a montage, and now I'm really curious what was happening. Geez show, just tell me what happened to Sokka, Toph, and Aang already.

On characters

Korra: Disappointed this episode, stupid Korra, stupid. Though I admit that the development of her bluster to cover up her fears and insecurities is nice, and offers a different reaction to Aang who runs away.
Bolin: So it seems that he's being set up to be the funny/weird one, but honestly so far he hasn't really impressed me.
Mako: Ehh, he's still morose and broody. I actually like serious characters so that's fine. But so far his development is: likes a rich girl, and is focused on some sport. I can make some fun of Zuko for starting the series as a whiny failure, but at least he had a goal I could appreciate.
Female-girl: Ehh, no discernible interesting personality, seems her only purpose is to increase romantic tension, not much to go on.
Tenzin: The voice of reason. The scene with him and Korra at the very end was very well done. I'm really liking this character. Which is a bit surprising since he's essentially in the same position in the story as Iroh who is a tough act to follow.
Tenzin's kids: They're awesome.
Tarlock: I like him as a character, could be interesting to see what his end goals are, since I doubt that he's as straightforward as gaining notoriety with a strike force.

Next episode preview:
More sports... ugh.

[GenericGuy]

Well, obviously if they show up, my question will be rendered moot. Still, I feel that if they existed, they'd have shown up by now - when Mako told Korra about chi blockers, he referred to them as "Amon's henchmen", which kind of suggests that most if not all chi blockers in the city work for Amon.

Perhaps chi blocking itself is an illegal technique, it would make sense for the bending elite to actively discourage such an ability.

[Dr.Epic]

If this episode taught me one thing it's that you can hit someone with a moped and get away with it if you're an attractive, young woman.

[Dienekes]

Perhaps chi blocking itself is an illegal technique, it would make sense for the bending elite to actively discourage such an ability.

I kinda doubt it, since it was established that chi-blocking was being spread by the Kyoshi Warriors and since Aang probably had political power for all but the last 17 years and Zuko even beyond that, I don't see them crushing a school of martial arts.

[Silverraptor]

Anyone else thinking when watching this, "Okay, how to separate this attractive, caring, and wealthy woman from... Dammit! Sorry Korra."

[Kobold-Bard]

Anyone else thinking when watching this, "Okay, how to separate this attractive, caring, and wealthy woman from... Dammit! Sorry Korra."

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No, because I deeply despise the potential Mako/Korra romance, so Asami is everything I could hope for. I'm ok with Bolin chasing her because it'll never go anywhere (I'll burn Nickolodeon to the ground if they end up together though).

[Dr.Epic]

This episode also taught me that is indeed not a toilet.

[Kellhus]

If this episode taught me one thing it's that you can hit someone with a moped and get away with it if you're an attractive, young woman.

I think that rule applies a lot more broadly than just hitting people with mopeds.

Anyone else get the subconscious vibe that she was evil though? The too convenient meet-cute, the slow motion hair, the chi blocker color scheme, the fac that she looks like Lust from FMA...