J Edward MD

I access X intermittently, and at my own convenience. Reply, follow, block, or report me at yours. I don't care. This place is a hive of scum and villainy, and its ongoings are immaterial to my well being and happiness. If you can't say the same, meditate on that.

Where do you see the word "hero". You keep saying that. I didn't say that. The meme doesn't say that. And societal norms ARE a good. Social cohesion IS a good. Even if the society itself is bad. Even if the actors enforcing it are bad. Even if things need to change and ultimately will - the concept of social norms is still good. You talk about an ideal world. But that isn't THIS world. And that isn't THIS society. This is a society that is worse off for the proliferation of disordered behavior and thought (for many reasons) that would have benefitted more than it lost from the bullies you and I experienced. Those lessons are simply lost in a childhood devoid of the threat of simple, and almost always harmless violence. So yes. That bullying can be a net good. This isn't me defending something I don't believe in. And it certainly isn't simple. This is something I see as true.

@TigerStripedDoc A bully's bad behavior can serve an ultimately productive purpose without that bully being "a hero" (your meme, not mine). What happened is, you shared an edge, half-baked take in a meme, and now you feel compelled to defend it.

Of course he (and occasionally, she) was (were). But you won't see that in media. Why? Because Media is run, by in large, by theater kids. The very ones who were bullied. They are the weird/abnormal (re: disordered) individuals who needed to be kept in check.

Your error is in assuming that bullies have but one function. That's not the case. Bullies are an antigen that forces and immune response from the strong and culls the weak from the herd. They serve a purpose. It's why we evolved bullies in the first place. Bullies are a necessary part of any social system - and are present across MANY mammalian species. For a reason. Behavioral norms are worth enforcing. Disordered behaviors are worth pressuring out. And the most effective way to police that is both from without (teachers/parents) and from within (bullies/peer pressure). When we remove bullies we lose something important.

The bullies didn't shape me in the way your braindead meme suggests. They were wrong. The fact that we put them in their place shows we thought so too. I didn't become how the bullies wanted me to be. Dull, boring, "normal." The bullies were antagonistic obstacles who made my life worse. Yes, I overcame them. Yes, overcoming them made me stronger. But overcoming an obstacle doesn't make the obstacle a hero.

@theramblingfool Amen. Traveling for work is the worst.

I've never enjoyed traveling for work. But ever since we had a new baby, I downright resent it.

@theramblingfool If you don't think the bullies shaped you, you do not know yourself. And had you not been bullied - and come out of it stronger, you would not be yourself. Your own story proves you wrong. I too was bullied. For a time. Until I put a stop to it.

Nah, bullies are not heroes. Bullies deserve to get the living shit kicked out of them. Proudly, I did my fair share of this when I was younger and decided to start fighting back. The bullied didn't deserve it. *Some* of them became bullies themselves when they chose resentment over growth. Once they become bullies, they deserve to be put in their place. I was bullied my entire childhood. The bullies didn't fix me. They left me alone when I beat the shit out of them. And then, slowly, over time, on my own terms, I fixed myself. Like an adult.

Imagine knowing MORE about this universe and seeing LESS reason to believe in God. Sad. Pray for people like this. They are pitiable.

I am a white American, as white as white can be. But I claim a culture - a beautiful culture. Full of triumph, art, philosophy, and industry. If you are a white American and can't say the same, consider that perhaps its because you've been conditioned to feel that way.

@HistoryBoomer Do you imagine that calling people uninformed and stupid is some kind of noble defense? Is racism more odious to you than stupidity and ignorance? Talk about drinking the Kool-Aid.

I have regular political arguments with a buddy, and when he says Americans are racist, etc., because they voted for Trump, I counter that most Americans have only the vaguest clue why they voted. They're ill-informed about everything. He finds it hard to believe they don't know who Trump really is because in his bubble (that I share), we're hyper-informed on these things. Matthew's essay backs me up! This line rang especially hard: "just know for sure that your intuitions are no good." That's why I love data. I want to see numbers, not just vibes from people who live like me. (And my buddy sometimes checks my Twitter feed, so Hi "Bob!")

I just saw the much talked about film “Project Hail Mary.” It's very entertaining and uplifting and features a fine performance from Ryan Gosling. But what most intrigued me were the powerful Christian themes at play in it. The title, of course, refers to the Hail Mary pass in football, since the adventure undertaken is a fairly desperate attempt to save the planet. But it also becomes eminently clear that the reference is not just to football but to the Blessed Mother herself, for the Gosling character is undoubtedly a Christ-figure. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but it involves a willingness to sacrifice one's life utterly in order to deliver the entire human race from disaster. It is, of course, no accident that Gosling's character is called Ryland Grace, for throughout the movie, his presence and actions constitute undeserved favor to others. A particularly intriguing character in the film is a sober German scientist who relentlessly presses Grace to make the supreme sacrifice, even when he is unwilling. She represented for me the great moral demand that presses upon us throughout our lives, continually summoning us to self-gift. A last observation: Jesus had a second in command whom he called Peter (the Rock); Ryland Grace has a very unusual sidekick whom he calls “Rocky.” I'll leave it at that. I know lots of people say that Christianity is in irreversible decline and that we are inhabiting, at least in the West, a post-Christian society. I'm not so sure. Like it or not, we remain a Christ-haunted culture—and a film like “Project Hail Mary” makes this clear.

False. Moana undertakes the hero's journey when she realizes there is something wrong with the island. Despite her desires (and mind you, it was never Belle's desires I disagreed with, it was her attitude about the village and the people) Moana remains dutiful to her family and tribe. Good for her. I do think Moana's desires are also more noble. They are related to her ancestry, the greatness and courage of her people. And when she does strike out she does so for the betterment of her people.

@TigerStripedDoc @MorgonAuthor It’s insane you say Moana is better but she does literally the same shit as Belle that you hate about her.

This take always bothers me because that’s not what she’s doing at all, nevermind that the townspeople are being terrible about her in the same song. She’s lonely and bored and wants adventure like her books (a sliver of “be careful what you wish for”). The commentary about how Gaston would be the hero in other stories is also interesting, and I think that’s more intentional than people give the movie credit for. But he’s also an utter boar who is willing to lie and manipulate to force someone to marry him because he thinks he deserves her. He occupies the village hero slot but does not fulfill it. That’s literally the point, and part of what makes him interesting. Gaston and the Beast are ultimately foils of one another; and each is given the choice to be changed by love and be a better person. Gaston turns away from it and the Beast embraces it. I feel like a lot of the current year commentary is based on the live action movie, which makes Belle a bitch and Gaston more sympathetic.

This made me lol. Well done. If I said it was heroic, that might have been an overstatement for effect. It wasn't heroic, but her father undergoing psychiatric evaluation/treatment would have been the norm. And any reasonable/caring citizen would have recommended the same thing giving that the dude was raving about a monster (keeping in mind of course that at that moment nobody knew the monster was real). But offering marriage to Belle, and in doing so taking on the non-institutionalized care of her father? Certainly there is some nobility in that. Anyone who has cared for a psychiatrically unwell in-law will 100% agree with that!

Look the French aren't perfect but I'm fairly certain that threatening a woman's father to coerce her into marriage was not considered heroic in 18th-century France.

Of course they do! Many people in real life are self-righteous patronizing assholes. That is the point. Thinking you're better than your home town is shitty, and stupid. You're not. It doesn't mean you can't leave, or do something else. But imagining that you're better than these "poor provincial" people is a terrible attitude. You're not better. Different, maybe, but not better. Wisdom, real wisdom is understanding that. Belle didn't. Not surprising, she's a teenager (I think?). Most teenagers are selfish, deluded, and imagine themselves as knowing better. Kids don't know shit.

@TigerStripedDoc @MorgonAuthor She doesn’t think she knows better? She just thinks they live in a bubble. And they do. They’re content because they don’t know that there’s more to life than the mundanity. People irl say worse stuff about their small towns.

@elliearomalady @MorgonAuthor ... that is even worse. Now she's a 16-18yo who thinks she knows better than these hard working villagers. Belle sucks. Probably one of the three worst Disney "Princesses". You want a hero, try Mulan, Moana, or Maid Marian.

@TigerStripedDoc @MorgonAuthor You’re assuming she means poor as in financially destitute. She pretty clearly means poor as in “oh, you poor thing!” because they’re content. She also doesn’t mock anyone for their job? She remarks that the baker sells the same stuff every day.

@elliearomalady @MorgonAuthor Have you listened to her song? She puts down the "poor" town she lives in. And mocks the villagers there for their respectable and totally normal lives.

@TigerStripedDoc @MorgonAuthor “Entitled, narcissistic, deluded” girl she just reads books.

...really? Going to outsource your own thinking? For an internet debate about a Disney movie? That is pretty sad. But, um, aight. 1 +2) Grok is incorrect (is anyone surprised given your framing?). Every state that I have practiced in has involuntary commitment laws for psychotic episodes/breaks (which, claiming to have been kidnapped by a monster would qualify as). There are time limits, but there is reason to believe Belle's father was susceptible to self harm (going back out into the woods in winter to confront the "monster"). A 72 Hour Hold/Peace Officer Hold is the most common form of short-term commitment until the patient can be stabilized. 3) Again, your framing. You ask Grok to argue from your position, not make a claim as to what could or could not have been. This is sadder than asking Grok to provide context or historical accuracy. We are in the earliest stages of AI adoption, and you're already willing to outsource your brain. 4) Gaston presents an option, of course the implied other option is "if we are married he won't be committed" in which case the implication is that Gaston and Belle would care for her father. FFS.

@grok, please answer the following list of questions: (1) J Edward here claims, "Involuntary commitment is standard practice today for someone who raves about seeing monsters." Explain why this is false. (2) Although the claim I quoted above is false, it is true that a delusional person today might be involuntarily committed IF there is evidence that their delusions present an imminent danger to themselves or other people. Based on what we're told in the movie, does it seem like Gaston believes this to be the case for Maurice, or has credible reason to do so? (3) If you answered "no" for (2), does it seem like Gaston attempting to have him involuntary committed anyway is considered standard practice within the movie's setting? Or, based on the way the characters talk about it and react to it, does it seem like his doing so is regarded as a wicked and cruel act even in-universe? (4) J Edward also claims that the reasonable thing to do in Gaston's situation would be to offer to care for Maurice himself, conditional on Belle marrying him, and have him committed otherwise. Granting the premise, does Gaston actually do this in the movie, or does he only ever make the threat of involuntary commitment and not do the first part?

What did communists use for light before candles? ... Electricity! *badumm tsss*

Recommended homeschooling curriculum for the next five years.

@Grand_DM What are you talking about? That show is unwatchable trash! No troll brought me to that conclusion. The show did that all on its own. Ffs.

The funniest part of the Starfleet Academy discourse was this: modern shows never fail on their own merits. It's always trolls. Always review bombers. Never the show.

Her father WAS a raving lunatic (at least at that point in the story). While YOU, the watcher, know that there is a monster, Gaston doesn't. In fact, at that point he has to rightfully assume Belle's father (already an eccentric) had gone off the deep end. Involuntary commitment is standard practice today for someone who raves about seeing monsters. It is for their protection, and the protection of those around them (especially Belle). In 18th Century France, assuming insanity again shows Gaston's rationality and progressive nature. Commitment was by far the most compassionate option Gaston would have known about. And yes - of course he would offer to forego that, and extend care to his own would-be father-in-law. What caring reasonable person wouldn't? But would YOU take into your home and under your care a raving lunatic you weren't related to? At every turn you expect Gaston to act completely selflessly, and even dangerously. You ignore his perspective in the story - as if he could possibly know things from a narrator's point of view. It is absurd.

@TigerStripedDoc @SmokingWR3CK4G3 @VeronicaGr4210 @MorgonAuthor Also, "goes for the different girl" is a very *interesting* way to say "attempts to blackmail a woman by threatening to have her father involuntarily committed if she doesn't marry him."