Stuff I just don't understand, post here yours.

[The Eye]

So there are a lot of stuff that I just don't understand, so I’ll list them here in the hopes someone cane explain it to me. If you also have your own stuff that you just don't understand, feel free to post it here as well to be clarified or mocked.

1- People who spit in the street, why do why people spit on the street? It's such a horrible habit that I see so many random pedestrians just spiting on the street as if it was something normal and no one besides me batting an eye or calling then out on their horrible behavior. Why? In my 24 years of existence I never felt the need... The urge to do that, why do people feel that they need to? Is there a thing I'm not getting?

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

3- People who work in the career advice field, I can't help but think they were so in doubt about their own career that they were unable to move on and decided to just advise others in something they kind of failed at, they felt they couldn't have to choose a real career so they decided to work with careers instead.

Anyway those are my points for today, what you guys think?

[Velaryon]

1- People who spit in the street, why do why people spit on the street? It's such a horrible habit that I see so many random pedestrians just spiting on the street as if it was something normal and no one besides me batting an eye or calling then out on their horrible behavior. Why? In my 24 years of existence I never felt the need... The urge to do that, why do people feel that they need to? Is there a thing I'm not getting?

I sometimes do this. I don't know if it's post-nasal drip or what, but I get a lot of phlegm in my throat and sometimes I just need to get rid of it. I try not to spit it anywhere that someone could step on it, though.

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

This is just a matter of personal preference. Every person is going to draw the line in a different place of how far they think it's appropriate for people to go in terms of PDA's. Personally, while I have no desire to see this sort of thing, it doesn't really bother me until it gets to the groping stage. Then it's time for them to find somewhere private.


Stuff that I don't understand...

1. Stoichiometry. I did fine in high school chemistry until we got to this chapter. No matter how many times it was explained to me, I was unable to wrap my brain around it. I almost had it when my dad (who used to major in chemistry in college) explained it to me better than the teacher did, but I still couldn't keep that understanding in my mind. I failed that section hard, and it took everything I had to battle my grade back up to a C by the end of the quarter.

2. The appeal of "reality" television. I don't know what to say about this, I just don't get why so many people like to watch other people being jerks to each other in pursuit of a prize and becoming D-list celebrities.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of now.

[Gnoman]

2. The appeal of "reality" television. I don't know what to say about this, I just don't get why so many people like to watch other people being jerks to each other in pursuit of a prize and becoming D-list celebrities.

Not all reality television falls into this category, and the majority of those that did have either folded or took a hard shift back toward a genuine competition. The only now-successful shows I'm aware of that really match your description are Survivor and Big Brother, which rely as much on their longevity to continue as they do anything else. Most reality-TV shows are now just extremely extended game shows.

Apart from that, the bar for a "successful" reality-TV show is far, far lower than that for a sitcom or scripted drama. The "cast" of a reality TV show often get paid (in the form of prizes) less in a season than actors in a moderately successful sitcom get per episode. It is an insanely cheap form of television, which is why networks churn out so many such shows in the summer months when there are a lot fewer people watching TV. (This is also where the "It is all totally scripted" claims fall flat - manipulative editing is cheap, but scriptwriters aren't, and even poor quality actors (who could follow a script) are a lot more expensive than the people who sign up for these things (who probably couldn't).

[BWR]

1- People who spit in the street,

If it's spitting in the street or swallowing a huge chuck of phlegm, I'll spit every time. I try to do it as out of the way as possible, but out it goes.

1 - Public displays of affection

You realize you really do come off as a prude, right? You might want to define just how much is going too far so we don't lambast you for something you didn't say.
Is holding hands inappropriate? giving someone a hug? A quick kiss? Smiling and laughing with another person?

[Eldan]

I'll agree on reality TV. I don't get the appeal. I mean, I see the appeal for the production company. But not for the viewers.

Also, I hate sports.

[Chen]

I'll agree on reality TV. I don't get the appeal. I mean, I see the appeal for the production company. But not for the viewers.

I tend to agree on the ones that have huge drama associated with them (Big Brother for example). Survivor is actually quite interesting from a game perspective since it's been around so long. Watching the manipulation there can be interesting but sometimes it does fall too much into what seems like "forced" drama.

There are a number of other reality shows though that lack the drama all together and are interesting. A lot of the home improvement shows or real estate ones for example. The individual cooking competition shows (Chopped for example) also don't have the continuity to really cause much drama. Even the longer series ones (Top Chef) tend to get rid of the drama after the initial couple of episodes, for the most part.

[Lord Joeltion]

I don't understand how hypocrites function in RL. You know, those people who preach something and then do exactly the opposite anywhere else? There are a lot, from Left to Right, to Upper to Lower class. Education usually isn't a factor either. There's always one in every field, from every religion, philosophy or group. I don't understand how they cope with their own contradictions.

Also, I don't get fanatism of any kind. Ok, well, I get WHY you would become a fan of X. What I don't understand is how people voluntarily become "sheeples" and don't realize the intrinsic meaninglessness of being a fan of anything. Who cares when Kurt Cobain died or how? Just shut up and let me hear this goddamned sweet track!

1- People who spit in the street, why do why people spit on the street? It's such a horrible habit that I see so many random pedestrians just spiting on the street as if it was something normal and no one besides me batting an eye or calling then out on their horrible behavior. Why? In my 24 years of existence I never felt the need... The urge to do that, why do people feel that they need to? Is there a thing I'm not getting?

I do this, because, sadly; I need the air vents to my lungs somewhat open you know? To prevent brain damage and asphyxia. While sometimes I need to do so in public places, I try to avoid doing it in front of other people (my friends aren't people ). I do it on purpose in front of smokers tho. I also cough them in the face whenever their existence pisses me off I suffer from asthma.

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

Ogling people who are showing their affection in public is worse, IMO. It's not only rude and inappropriate by all standards; it's creepy and gross.

Anyway, how much "showing affection" is appropriate, depends on the culture/town you are walking. It's not anything I truly care; I show my affection whenever I have the urge, in the manner my urges tell me it's appropriate for my girlfriend. I have great disregard for people, so they generally don't mean anything in the equation, only my partner's comfort.

3- People who work in the career advice field, I can't help but think they were so in doubt about their own career that they were unable to move on and decided to just advise others in something they kind of failed at, they felt they couldn't have to choose a real career so they decided to work with careers instead.

That's just demeaning. What did they ever made to you anyway?

Also, I hate sports.

Don't we all?

The individual cooking competition shows (Chopped for example) also don't have the continuity to really cause much drama. Even the longer series ones (Top Chef) tend to get rid of the drama after the initial couple of episodes, for the most part.

I thought the appeal of every kitchen related show/series was just the Food Porn.

[FinnLassie]

My eldest sister. She's a freaking mess of a mystery.

[factotum]

I don't understand how hypocrites function in RL. You know, those people who preach something and then do exactly the opposite anywhere else? There are a lot, from Left to Right, to Upper to Lower class. Education usually isn't a factor either. There's always one in every field, from every religion, philosophy or group. I don't understand how they cope with their own contradictions.

They probably don't notice the contradictions, because when they're doing it themselves it's *different* from when other people do it.

[Chen]

They probably don't notice the contradictions, because when they're doing it themselves it's *different* from when other people do it.

There's also the distinction between principle and practice. You can still be for something in principle but realize the impact of going through with it is too detrimental to you personally to follow through on it. Still hypocritical of course. It also depends on the specificity or vagueness of the statement. I can certainly say "You should obey the law" and then jaywalk. It is technically hypocritical but that tends to come from the original statement being overly broad.

[Zurvan]

Ogling people who are showing their affection in public is worse, IMO.

Hey, now just as you have the right to make out with your gf in the middle of the street or in the bus making me uncomfortable I have the right to stare and make you uncomfortable.

Do you want to be able to make out with your loved one without having to deal with people being creepy about it? Well, do it in private.

[shawnhcorey]

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

I remember one documentary on this from PBS Nova, I think. They were looking at where in a small downtown park couples would go. They discovered that rather than finding the secluded areas, couples showed their affection in the busiest locations. They conclude that couples subconsciously wanted to show the rest of the community that they were indeed a couple. Perhaps a behaviour we inherited from when we lived in small tribes.

1. Stoichiometry. I did fine in high school chemistry until we got to this chapter. No matter how many times it was explained to me, I was unable to wrap my brain around it. I almost had it when my dad (who used to major in chemistry in college) explained it to me better than the teacher did, but I still couldn't keep that understanding in my mind. I failed that section hard, and it took everything I had to battle my grade back up to a C by the end of the quarter.
I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can think of now.

Stoichiometry is a NP-problem. That means it is not easy to solve (except for restricted cases), so don't be surprised you find it difficult. It is chemistry's version of the 1st law of thermodynamics.

[FinnLassie]

I remember one documentary on this from PBS Nova, I think. They were looking at where in a small downtown park couples would go. They discovered that rather than finding the secluded areas, couples showed their affection in the busiest locations. They conclude that couples subconsciously wanted to show the rest of the community that they were indeed a couple. Perhaps a behaviour we inherited from when we lived in small tribes.

Going out to secluded areas to perform PDA would probably look a little creepy from a side glance.

[Chen]

Going out to secluded areas to perform PDA would probably look a little creepy from a side glance.

Suspicious perhaps, but creepy? Why?

[Thufir]

I remember one documentary on this from PBS Nova, I think. They were looking at where in a small downtown park couples would go. They discovered that rather than finding the secluded areas, couples showed their affection in the busiest locations. They conclude that couples subconsciously wanted to show the rest of the community that they were indeed a couple. Perhaps a behaviour we inherited from when we lived in small tribes.

This seems to me like a clear case of correlation =/= causation. Generally PDAs are not the actual reason a couple goes somewhere - they might be an anticipated component of spending time together in public, but they don't decide "Let's go to the park and make out in public," they just decide "Let's go to the park." In which case this suggests the busiest locations are the more popular locations to go in general, but it needn't say anything about people's preferences for where to display affection.

[sktarq]

Going out to secluded areas to perform PDA would probably look a little creepy from a side glance.

Then wouldn't it be, well, a Private Display of Affection.

This seems to me like a clear case of correlation =/= causation. ....In which case this suggests the busiest locations are the more popular locations to go in general, but it needn't say anything about people's preferences for where to display affection.

Also since the vast majority of PDA is spontaneous this makes sense. Also most "Lover Lane" type locations are technically public but are secluded and private. Its those type of places most people go if they are planning to get frisky.

[shawnhcorey]

This seems to me like a clear case of correlation =/= causation. Generally PDAs are not the actual reason a couple goes somewhere - they might be an anticipated component of spending time together in public, but they don't decide "Let's go to the park and make out in public," they just decide "Let's go to the park." In which case this suggests the busiest locations are the more popular locations to go in general, but it needn't say anything about people's preferences for where to display affection.

Then wouldn't it be, well, a Private Display of Affection.



Also since the vast majority of PDA is spontaneous this makes sense. Also most "Lover Lane" type locations are technically public but are secluded and private. Its those type of places most people go if they are planning to get frisky.

I did say "subconsciously".

[Velaryon]

Not all reality television falls into this category, and the majority of those that did have either folded or took a hard shift back toward a genuine competition. The only now-successful shows I'm aware of that really match your description are Survivor and Big Brother, which rely as much on their longevity to continue as they do anything else. Most reality-TV shows are now just extremely extended game shows.

Apart from that, the bar for a "successful" reality-TV show is far, far lower than that for a sitcom or scripted drama. The "cast" of a reality TV show often get paid (in the form of prizes) less in a season than actors in a moderately successful sitcom get per episode. It is an insanely cheap form of television, which is why networks churn out so many such shows in the summer months when there are a lot fewer people watching TV. (This is also where the "It is all totally scripted" claims fall flat - manipulative editing is cheap, but scriptwriters aren't, and even poor quality actors (who could follow a script) are a lot more expensive than the people who sign up for these things (who probably couldn't).

I get why they are appealing for networks, since the cost to produce them is significantly lower than a scripted show. I just don't get why anybody actually wants to watch them.

[Thufir]

I did say "subconsciously".

Sure, and I still don't buy it. They're going to those places anyway becuse those are the places they like to go regardless of what activities they may partake in while there. For that matter, the fact those are the busiest parts of the park clearly indicates that they're popular with a lot of people for presumably many different reasons.
If you wanted evidence of the subconscious desire to demonstrate their coupliness which you're suggesting, you'd want to compare the frequency of PDAs between couples (or the same couple at different times) in the same place but with varying numbers of other people around.

[Lord Joeltion]

They probably don't notice the contradictions, because when they're doing it themselves it's *different* from when other people do it.

Well, let's just say it's very hard for me to picture a person in my head having that kind of obvious oversights and not feel at least ashamed.

Hey, now just as you have the right to make out with your gf in the middle of the street or in the bus making me uncomfortable I have the right to stare and make you uncomfortable.

Ok. I'm just saying, you will feel more uncomfortable than me because I'm simply too busy to pay attention to strangers. So, joke's on you

But that's not what I meant to say. All I'm saying is that "making somebody else uncomfortable" always goes both ways; but to third parties (people who aren't ogling or feeling playful), the one who ogles is the creepiest of them. Why? Beats me, for some reason voyeurism generally has worse publicity than promiscuity.

Do you want to be able to make out with your loved one without having to deal with people being creepy about it? Well, do it in private.

Spoiler

Show

I remember one documentary on this from PBS Nova, I think. They were looking at where in a small downtown park couples would go. They discovered that rather than finding the secluded areas, couples showed their affection in the busiest locations. They conclude that couples subconsciously wanted to show the rest of the community that they were indeed a couple. Perhaps a behaviour we inherited from when we lived in small tribes.

Did they mention that people also generally pay less attention to their surroundings on busier places? That's why pickpocket doesn't happen on lonely streets. Also, people generally is more reserved when there is few people than when they are in the middle of a crowd. Paradoxically, crowds tend to make a more private space than a waiting room or a park.

[The Ari-tificer]

Something I don't understand is why TV here in America sucks, while other countries' television (e.g. Doctor Who, Sherlock, most animes) are really good.

[sktarq]

Something I don't understand is why TV here in America sucks, while other countries' television (e.g. Doctor Who, Sherlock, most animes) are really good.

in part because the US gets unrepresentative sample of other nations TV. It is generally the best of British or Japanese TV that makes it across. Thus most of what an American sees of foreign TV is of good or better quality. This can quickly become "The Brits/Japanese/Swedes have better TV" because the utter horrid stuff remains hidden. I mean look up some of the Japanese game shows.

That said there some basis since we Yanks have SO MANY channels which means that major focus of time and effort (which have a better chance of being good) are more rare as a percentage of total work produced.

But there are reasons why shows like CSI (for a few years), House, etc are common American exports to other places too. Which probably makes US TV seem far better than it is to a non-American audience.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Something I don't understand is why TV here in America sucks, while other countries' television (e.g. Doctor Who, Sherlock, most animes) are really good.

Because "here" (regardless of where "here" is) only gets the good product from abroad, while having to deal with Sturgeon's Law for everything local. Growing up, I thought that the TV produced in my country was terrible compared to what the US produced... until I realised that only the most famous and successful TV series produced in the US were imported.

GW

[ve4grm]

Stuff that I don't understand...

1. Stoichiometry. I did fine in high school chemistry until we got to this chapter. No matter how many times it was explained to me, I was unable to wrap my brain around it. I almost had it when my dad (who used to major in chemistry in college) explained it to me better than the teacher did, but I still couldn't keep that understanding in my mind. I failed that section hard, and it took everything I had to battle my grade back up to a C by the end of the quarter.

Stoichiometry is a NP-problem. That means it is not easy to solve (except for restricted cases), so don't be surprised you find it difficult. It is chemistry's version of the 1st law of thermodynamics.

Ooh, here's one I can help with!

At its simplest, Stoichiometry is just algebra, and finding lowest common multiples. If you have X amount of oxygen, and Y amount of hydrogen, how much water do you get? X + Y = Z, solve for Z.

Where it gets tricky is that molecules have defined amounts of atoms that they need. So for the same example:

Oxygen comes in O₂, so you get 2 atoms of O from it.
Same thing with Hydrogen, H₂.

1 molecule of O₂ + 1 molecule of H₂ = H + H + O + O
This can be combined into H₂O, but we have an extra O left over! What we actually need is 1/2 molecule of O₂, which would give us a single O atom.

1/2 O₂ + 1 H₂ = 1 H₂O

But that's silly. You can't have half a molecule. So it's lowest common multiple time. Double the recipe!

1 O₂ + 2 H₂ = 2 H₂O

It can get a lot more complicated, but this is the basis of everything.

---
The other part of stoichiometry is mass-based. But all that is is multiplying the equations you got above by their density. So if you know how much water a molecule of oxygen can produce, you can figure out how much a pound of it will produce.

If you actually needed to learn it, I'm sure I could teach you. But for a forum post, this will have to do.

[shawnhcorey]

Ooh, here's one I can help with!

At its simplest, Stoichiometry is just algebra,...

At its simplest. But it is a NP-problem, so at its hardest, it's trial & error.

[ve4grm]

At its simplest. But it is a NP-problem, so at its hardest, it's trial & error.

I mean, sure, but we're talking high school chemistry, where I don't think it quite gets to NP level. :-P

It can definitely be tricky to wrap your mind around, though, especially if your teacher isn't great at explaining it.

[shawnhcorey]

I mean, sure, but we're talking high school chemistry, where I don't think it quite gets to NP level. :-P

It can definitely be tricky to wrap your mind around, though, especially if your teacher isn't great at explaining it.

They have difficulty at explaining it because they themselves don't fully understand it.

[ve4grm]

They have difficulty at explaining it because they themselves don't fully understand it.

Fair enough!

[2D8HP]

...Also, I hate sports.

But how about fan-fictions?

My first and only laugh of the day (so far) was upon seeing "Also I hate sports" Thank you Eldan!

Anyway, from another thread I've learned that I really don't get Jungian archetypes and non-materialist philosophy at all.

Nor do I get pizza specials.

Have you read my thoughts on gender and the alignment of Vaarsuvius?

And sarcasm, what's that about anyway?
Why don't people just say what they mean?

Also, I hate bluetext.

[Aedilred]

Something I don't understand is why TV here in America sucks, while other countries' television (e.g. Doctor Who, Sherlock, most animes) are really good.

in part because the US gets unrepresentative sample of other nations TV.

This is accurate. The real junk doesn't tend to get exported, so you generally get the idea that foreign TV is better than yours because you're only seeing the cream of it, no matter where you live.

There are exceptions. For many years, the volume of television content produced for the US market rather than the British one meant we did import a lot of crap from the US, and led us to the conclusion that US TV was terrible. Which, to be fair, it was, but then so was ours. We just had less of it. That started to change about twenty years ago with the growth of long-form drama shows like The Sopranos, The West Wing, and the widening of the availability of these shows to audiences beyond those who could afford satellite TV - which has led to a revolution in our thinking about American TV: the assumption now is that, like the converse, they produce better stuff than we do.

1- People who spit in the street, why do why people spit on the street? It's such a horrible habit that I see so many random pedestrians just spiting on the street as if it was something normal and no one besides me batting an eye or calling then out on their horrible behavior. Why? In my 24 years of existence I never felt the need... The urge to do that, why do people feel that they need to? Is there a thing I'm not getting?

It is a pretty filthy habit. The key word there being "habit", I think. Every now and again you need to spit something out and there just isn't another option, but even then, try to do it discreetly. But the constant hawk-spit in the middle of the pavement that you see in some countries (China was particularly bad for it, I recall) is very unpleasant. If you find yourself needing to spit that often, you're either ill or doing something wrong - and even then, try to do it more privately, please.

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

Why is it rude? Also, any time anyone starts a sentence with "I'm not a prude or anything..." it gives rather the opposite impression.

Full-on heavy petting (or more) is something definitely better kept to a private environment. But there is a scale and I don't see anything wrong with the display of affection in public up to a point. Often what PDAs amount to is a spontaneous display of affection that happens to be in public. When it's deliberate and being seen is the point, that's... annoyingly smug, if nothing else, but the assumption that all PDAs are for the purpose of exhibitionism is to misunderstand people.

3- People who work in the career advice field, I can't help but think they were so in doubt about their own career that they were unable to move on and decided to just advise others in something they kind of failed at, they felt they couldn't have to choose a real career so they decided to work with careers instead.

Again we come back to the judgmental thing. While it's true that I suspect not many children grow up wanting to be a career advisor, that's the same for almost all jobs. At the end of the day people have to earn a living. There are worse things they could be doing - more useless, less moral, less profitable. It seems like a strange thing to have a problem with.

And I'm sure there are some people who genuinely want to help others in their careers and really get something out of working in that field. I've met some people who certainly gave a good impression of it if not.

2. The appeal of "reality" television. I don't know what to say about this, I just don't get why so many people like to watch other people being jerks to each other in pursuit of a prize and becoming D-list celebrities.

It depends what one means by "reality TV". It's a huge genre and there are probably a number of shows or formats within it that don't attract the same opprobium.

Shows like Survivor and Big Brother started out with firstly the faux-psychology-experiment gimmick, and novelty value. Over time they have acquired an inertia (although they're not immune from cancellation). Most other shows have something similar to hook people into watching at first, and rely on water-cooler interest and memetic value to sustain an audience.

Plus, as someone has already said, they're generally really cheap to make. Better to make a reality show that nobody watches than an expensive drama that nobody watches.