What on earth has happened to anthrogenica?

[Jovialis]

This is what ideologues do: hurl insults at one another. When this is what happens, rational discourse is at an end.
For the first time in my life I'm worried about America. This isn't the way it was when I grew up.
I read an opinion piece by Razib Khan the other week where he said that most of the people who speak to him, on condition of anonymity, believe that there will be civil unrest in America pitting left against right, and that people will have to pick a side even if they don't agree with it.
I thought he was exaggerating, but maybe he's right. In a world where someone thinks he's doing the right thing by driving a van into people taking a stroll on Halloween or ramming a school bus, I guess anything is possible.

I was out yesterday, and saw all the happy kids trick or treating, with their families. Then when I heard about that story, it truly disgusted me…

Ever since my mother and sister got into a car accident by some guy texting and driving; it really made me hyper-aware of human pain and suffering. Thankfully they survived, but were hurt badly. It really had changed my thinking; for example, violent action movies and music seemed far less appealing to me. It boggles my mind how anyone would be able to harm innocent people intentionally. Which is why I have no remorse in justice being served to the people who would commit these horrible acts.

[Dibran]

I've made a few friends from Poland during my summer vacations in Albania and I noticed that they paid attention to physical characteristics a lot. They continuously pointed out and asked me if I'm sure that the children playing on the beach or staying in our hotel and nearby residences were Albanian due to the very high amount of light eyes.

I had to reassure them that although some speak English, German, Italian, Greek, or Swedish, their parents are indeed Albanian. It was very strange for them.


As for Anthrogenica, I joined there recently to ask questions on genetics and I have to say that so far is the friendliest forum I've seen. Here there are many reputable posters but mostly inactive unfortunately.

Yea I feel Anthrogenica has its "apricity like" sections, but it does have well educated discussions. Apricity became too toxic. I post sparingly. Well majority of us Albanians are closer to Italians and Greeks in complexion etc. It shouldn't matter if someone is dark or light. Its evolution.

[Dibran]

i never seen this "racist on italians" and I have been on the site for over 2 years.............there are a lot of Italians that post on the site, especially south italians
.
.
I think you have an agenda and dreamt the whole thing up

There are a few I have noticed, and they were Italian. One of which "Oroborous" or however it is spelled is one of them. The Portuguese guys who think theyre Nordics(Viriatio/Some other guy). Then you have characters Like Bosniensis and others who think all of Europe including ancient Rome and Greece was Slavic and some huge conspiracy exists. Keep in mind all these users post on the apricity. One(Dorkymon I believe) has spewed hate with others on Apricity. Yet most of them on Anthro act "civil" probably only because they would get banned. As far as Anthrogenica goes, whilst Italian users among others(even Albanians) are civil, you can find them with their same username of Apricity spreading the nonsense OP mentions.

[Dibran]

This is what ideologues do: hurl insults at one another. When this is what happens, rational discourse is at an end.

For the first time in my life I'm worried about America. This isn't the way it was when I grew up.

I read an opinion piece by Razib Khan the other week where he said that most of the people who speak to him, on condition of anonymity, believe that there will be civil unrest in America pitting left against right, and that people will have to pick a side even if they don't agree with it.

I thought he was exaggerating, but maybe he's right. In a world where someone thinks he's doing the right thing by driving a van into people taking a stroll on Halloween or ramming a school bus, I guess anything is possible.

To be fair, what America is becoming is a symptomatic series of events that have been in the making for some time. I mean African Americans got their civil rights not too long ago, and many of the same supporters of segregation or even slavery, still draw breath, and even positions of status. The same ignorance is being passed down to their children. So, while things are definitely taking a turn for the worst, it has been on that steady track for some time already.

[firetown]

You ever hear of something called the paradox of tolerance? I'm going to go ahead and assume not.

Thanks for the assumption, but I have. And when fighting intolerance, it is also important not to allow oneself to get so one-sided, that we only look at things from our own angle, overlook the flaws in our own camps and demonize based on boxes you believe people to fit into.

In other words: Your "loser and tittyboy" post is way out of balance. And when this is one's state of mind, it might be good to first accept that everyone looks at life based on their own past experiences. Then and only then will it be possible for you to actually contribute by sharing what your views might be. Otherwise you will just come off as an extremist. And extremism is bad... from every angle.

[Wheal]

We are all proud of our ancestors, but that does not necessarily make us racist. We are all searching for that one ancestor that gave us our desire to learn. We probably all have an ancestor that was a slave at one time or another to another culture. It doesn’t really matter what the color of their skin was. They were mistreated and probably worked to death. The descendants of these people tried to make a better life for their children.

Yes, in the ‘60’s we had many race problems. On streets, in schools, and the effect was to give some children prejudices against other cultures. How close would one girl have to stand next to another girl to have hair flipped over their shoulder and cut the face of the other girl? Hair? Really? Over-reaction was most probably the cause.

In grade school in the late 50’s and early 60’s I grew up learning that all races were equal and should equally be treated with respect. I was horrified when I heard a person from one race make a derogatory remark to, or about, a person of another race. I never knew anything about racism until I went to a public school in 8th grade.

Genealogy is my haven of racial equality. How privileged we are, that our ancestors were able to survive, and gave us life. Our ancestors ALL survived the plagues, the horrors of being conquered and conquering, the horror of being subjected to unimaginable punishments, starvation. We are here. Yes, this is a sophomoric comment. But sometimes the most simple answer is the right answer.

[Angela]

@Dibran,
Don't be so sure the ones with "Italian" names are indeed Italian. If "Claudio" is really Italian I'll eat my hat. Half of them are Sikeliot socks talking to each other.

The number of Americans who are still segregationist is extremely small. Racism is not the defining ideological split. What is driving the split is the post modernist liberalism described above. It's toxic.

Not so long ago Democrats and Republicans were able to recognize the good will in the other and negotiate for the good of the country. That ended long ago, long before Trump. He's a symptom, not the cause.

@Jovialis,
I found out about it because my daughter was in the city visiting her boyfriend. She had taken the afternoon off. His apartment is about a five minute walk from where it happened. I begged her to come home, but their idea of being safe was to go to another friend's apartment in Chelsea! I think it was foolhardy, but the days are gone when I can make her decisions for her.

This is utter insanity, but it may become the "new normal".

See: Political polarization
https://gnxp.nofe.me/2017/10/23/poli...w-it-will-end/

[firetown]

We are all proud of our ancestors, but that does not necessarily make us racist. We are all searching for that one ancestor that gave us our desire to learn. We probably all have an ancestor that was a slave at one time or another to another culture. It doesn’t really matter what the color of their skin was. They were mistreated and probably worked to death. The descendants of these people tried to make a better life for their children.

Yes, in the ‘60’s we had many race problems. On streets, in schools, and the effect was to give some children prejudices against other cultures. How close would one girl have to stand next to another girl to have hair flipped over their shoulder and cut the face of the other girl? Hair? Really? Over-reaction was most probably the cause.

In grade school in the late 50’s and early 60’s I grew up learning that all races were equal and should equally be treated with respect. I was horrified when I heard a person from one race make a derogatory remark to, or about, a person of another race. I never knew anything about racism until I went to a public school in 8th grade.

Genealogy is my haven of racial equality. How privileged we are, that our ancestors were able to survive, and gave us life. Our ancestors ALL survived the plagues, the horrors of being conquered and conquering, the horror of being subjected to unimaginable punishments, starvation. We are here. Yes, this is a sophomoric comment. But sometimes the most simple answer is the right answer.

I am always surprised when I see posts promoting nationalism on a forum like this. If there is anything people should have been able to learn is to look for genetic similarities across man-made borders. I guess obsession is hard to cure.

[Wanderlust]

I was born curious and open.

I was born curious and open to ideas, but unfortunately, not to people really. That has always required work and effort on my part...unless, they're somewhat to very much like me, of course. lol

With many of them I can't have a sane conversation anymore, unless I join their bitterness, complaining, negativism, criticism, and the rest of this toxic culture.

Coincidentally, did you know that the average age of a FOX viewer is 68? lol That means half of their viewing base is OVER 68. I think older, more conservative people ironically take a certain comfort in having their fears and concerns validated and affirmed;perhaps it makes them feel less alone and psychologically isolated in an ever changing world.

When I was a kid, especially, I loved to be around "old people." I always found them to be rather reserved, stationary and somehow easy to talk to. lol And they tended to reminisce fondly and grumpily (which I've always related to) about the old days and how things had changed, which fascinated me about the world they used to inhabit. Some of my best childhood memories involve staying at my Grandparents' home (which is now my own personal vacation getaway space) all the way in the north of Sweden--during a warm spring in Stockholm, if I still wanted more Winter, I'd go up there. lol; it is an eerily beautiful place, so isolated, so wild, so far removed from people (well, it used to be)--for a long time, the nearest neighbors were a moose, a reindeer and a few beavers. lol I come from a family of introverts and so everyone values quiet and space and privacy and alone time. The loudest noises would come from the birds, an occasional wolf, the river, the wind, the rain and the trees bristling. I was the only person my grandfather allowed into his "tinkering" shed; he was a madman like I am and taught me that it was OK for me to have an external "brain" of sorts that I could step into when I needed to be alone with my thoughts.

But within the past decade, they started to build these high end condos, but could barely find anyone who wanted to stay up there (lol) and so they started to use them to house refugees. At first, I was extremely angry and I honestly felt violated, like my private sanctuary, my home, was being taken away from me by unwanted newcomers who wouldn't appreciate it (very selfish and self-centered, admittedly). But emotions, even "deep ones," are fleeting for me and eventually, a cool, calm head takes over. I've always been one to confront my anxieties head on and so once my Grandparents' home became mine, I started volunteering to conduct "Swedish wilderness immersion excursions" with the new immigrants living nearby. lol Most of them came from hot places so unlike the weird, cold North (the people up there are...amazingly interesting to say the least) that I decided to introduce them to our strange world, to bring some much needed levity and connection to both my life and theirs. Some refer to me affectionately as Yeti, because a few of them spotted a big, barefoot, long haired beast moving around in the distance at dusk and it was just me exercising outdoors. I try to encourage people, introverts, old people, introverted old people, to face their fears head on and they might be pleasantly surprised and find that the new and unknown is usually not as scary as they think it is.

I just pity the young people who at their prime are already afraid of the world. What would be their future?

An Alt-Right *****, probably steeped in IT/Computer science, super weird but they call it "edgy," never been touched by a live girl, occupying someone's basement (which they delusionally believe is their version of The Bat Cave).

PS. Last weekend I had a dinner with older couple who are organizing a small inclosed community on one of British Columbia islands, with aim to hid from this crazy and cruel world. Both with master degrees! Their only disappointment was that their kids chose to "enjoy" their family lives in big multicultural cities, like New York and London. Also they looked at me as I was the crazy one. ;) The crazy, optimistic, lost in the world, blind liberal.

lol Never give in Lebrok! People like you give me hope. Automation robotics is my absolute favorite hobby (one of my degrees is in Robotics engineering technology) and I use my vacation home in the north to work on and store all of my cyborg limbs and corpses (my wife hates when I refer to them like this lol) and it used to embarrass me to admit that, at times, I used to feel more connected to machines than actual people. When I was a kid, I got into robotics because I was lonely and thought it would be so cool to build the perfect friend and companion, who would understand me. I've noticed that since greatly expanding my social world, though I will always love my robots (and will continue to design and refine them in case of some Zombie apocalypse), they've become less important to me. I feel like Benjamin Button, the guy who ages backwards--started out as an old man and gradually became young and adventurous!

[davef]

Wanderlust, I find it awesome you're into robotics and your got some cool side projects going on. I almost wish I got into that field, physics goes well with me as well as math.


And Angela, Dibran,

I question how much longer sikeliot plans to keep up with his Sicilian obsession and his constant Sicilian gedmatch posts, I think some degree of intervention is needed, imo.

[Dibran]

@Dibran,
Don't be so sure the ones with "Italian" names are indeed Italian. If "Claudio" is really Italian I'll eat my hat. Half of them are Sikeliot socks talking to each other.

The number of Americans who are still segregationist is extremely small. Racism is not the defining ideological split. What is driving the split is the post modernist liberalism described above. It's toxic.

Not so long ago Democrats and Republicans were able to recognize the good will in the other and negotiate for the good of the country. That ended long ago, long before Trump. He's a symptom, not the cause.

@Jovialis,
I found out about it because my daughter was in the city visiting her boyfriend. She had taken the afternoon off. His apartment is about a five minute walk from where it happened. I begged her to come home, but their idea of being safe was to go to another friend's apartment in Chelsea! I think it was foolhardy, but the days are gone when I can make her decisions for her.

This is utter insanity, but it may become the "new normal".

See: Political polarization
https://gnxp.nofe.me/2017/10/23/poli...w-it-will-end/

I can agree there, but we can't deny all these things are symptoms of decline. With regards to Italian users, I have no idea who Claudio is, but I know Ororborous, and the two Portuguese dudes(one of which is Viriatio) who think they are Nordics or something. Many post on both Apricity and Anthrogenica. One user on Anthro who is civil there is pretty toxic and racist on theapricity. I only recognize a few user names from here on those sites.

[Wanderlust]

I absolutely agree with the thrust of your comment but I believe this statement deserves a hermeneutic of suspicion...

We are all proud of our ancestors, but that does not necessarily make us racist.

I, for one, am NOT proud of all of my ancestors. I know for a fact that I come from an extremely long line of slavers, from the Viking age up until the middle of the 19th century. Why would I be "proud" of people who dealt in misery, brutality and subjugation? Now whereas I am not proud of them, I most certainly accept them because I have no choice. They occupy a part of my heritage and I would not be here if it weren't for them. I also feel no guilt because the actions of my ancestors are not my own. It is what it is, but IMO, possessing "pride" in them suggests something else.

In general, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of taking pride in the exploits of others;I'd rather take pride in what I've built and accomplished for myself. Any pride I have as a person is not attached to ancestors I never knew, because I had no choice in that--the thing is, if you can take pride in the good, then you must accept the bad as well and I'm not willing to do that. There are ancestors that I can appreciate and admire, but taking pride in them is something different; to me, that suggests that my own self worth is caught up in the doings of someone else and I'm unwilling to accept the consequences and repercussions that come along with that, good or bad. But in my experience, most people aren't willing to be that fair and honest about it--they want all of the glory and none of the shame.

And tangentially, though this certainly doesn't apply to everyone, it's no wonder that many who form the foundation of these far right, alt-right, nationalist movements are perpetually insecure and afraid, un/under-educated, unemployed, and usually have nothing going on for themselves; therefore, their only or primary source of pride is rooted in vague, malleable cultural abstractions of nationalism or achievements by others who share their ancestry and bloodlines; they piggyback off of the exploits and achievements of others, as if that gives them value and worth, too. And they are wrong. Just because Bach and Nietzsche were brilliant, doesn't mean all Germans are. Just because I come from people who may have been "great," does not mean I'm great by extension? Why should it? Because on the flip side, if I come from someone who was a piece of sh*t, does that make me a POS also? I think not.

[Dibran]

Wanderlust, I find it awesome you're into robotics and your got some cool side projects going on. I almost wish I got into that field, physics goes well with me as well as math.


And Angela, Dibran,

I question how much longer sikeliot plans to keep up with his Sicilian obsession and his constant Sicilian gedmatch posts, I think some degree of intervention is needed, imo.

Honestly most of his obsession(at least from what I notice) is his constant attempts at proving all of Greece and had heavy Slavic impact. I have seen a few on Sicilians too(as he uses this as a proxy for classical age Greeks).

[Fire Haired14]

Now whereas I am not proud of them (ancestors), I most certainly accept them because I have no choice.

There are ancestors that I can appreciate and admire, but taking pride in them is something different; to me, that suggests that my own self worth is caught up in the doings of someone else and I'm unwilling to accept the consequences and repercussions that come along with that, good or bad.

Ancestors often represent more to people than blood. To many, they represent the ancestors of one's society and culture. The people who laid the foundations of one's society and culture. For example, while I have no blood relation to the big players in American history and most of my ancestors didn't live in America before 1880, I see 16th and 17th and 18th and 19th America as ancestors.

Many "white people" (whites in America and Europeans) are angry at leftist, like yourself, because while rightfully calling for better treatment of the people disenfranchised by westerners you curse the whole essence of the United State's forefathers, of Britain's forefathers, and so on. You credit them for the wrongs they committed but don't seem to credit them for the honestly greater number of goods they committed. White/western people are singled out for the displacement of Native Americans but not the industrial revolution and almost all recent technological advancements, not for modern democracy and liberalism, not for essentially creating the modern civilization that countries like Japan and South Kore copied.

The evils committed by the United States or Britain or whoever in the past isn't all who they were. If you single out a group's ancestors only for the bad things they did, only point out how their traditional culture is bad, guess what they're not going to like you.

From the media and school (white) Americans hear lots about evils the white man committed but almost nothing about the good he did. I'm a witnesses of this. In 2nd grade I told my parents my teacher "hates white people." Like I said earlier, I've been annoyed by the leftist interpretation of history you adire to for a long time, it's something I've seen the error in since I was very young. Class went back and forth between glorious African or Indian cultures and the evils of the white man.

History class got less bias in later years, however "the evil white man" continued to be one of the biggest themes. While, the white man was often singled out for crimes, he was never singled out for achievements or inventions. American frontiers men were singled out as "white American frontiersmen" when slavery or native American replacement is discussed but when we discuss their achievements then they just become "American frontiersmen."Also, every chapter included a special section about glorious African American culture and women who succeeded against all odds.

I'm not a white nationalist, however, I do value western culture and the people in the past who made significant contributions to what it is today. I value the British Colonist and American frontiersmen and I even value Christopher Columbus. I don't know if you call this pride.

Nowadays, if you dare claim modern civilization comes from Europe more than anywhere you else you will be called a racist and probably receive a lecture about the Mayans and the ancient Egyptians and so on. It's just a fact. The Academia we know today, the thing that educated you and other liberals, was more or less single handily created by Europeans. Today you can praise the Mayans or Islamic culture but can't praise European culture.

Now, I'm not saying history books should say "white people are so great. They taught Japan how to make airplanes and spread democracy and liberalism around the world." No not all. All I want is more level headiness. With more level headiness I beleive you'll have less racist Europeans and Americans. Not a whole lot less but less.

[LeBrok]

I was born curious and open to ideas, but unfortunately, not to people really. That has always required work and effort on my part...unless, they're somewhat to very much like me, of course. lol



Coincidentally, did you know that the average age of a FOX viewer is 68? lol That means half of their viewing base is OVER 68. I think older, more conservative people ironically take a certain comfort in having their fears and concerns validated and affirmed;perhaps it makes them feel less alone and psychologically isolated in an ever changing world.

When I was a kid, especially, I loved to be around "old people." I always found them to be rather reserved, stationary and somehow easy to talk to. lol And they tended to reminisce fondly and grumpily (which I've always related to) about the old days and how things had changed, which fascinated me about the world they used to inhabit. Some of my best childhood memories involve staying at my Grandparents' home (which is now my own personal vacation getaway space) all the way in the north of Sweden--during a warm spring in Stockholm, if I still wanted more Winter, I'd go up there. lol; it is an eerily beautiful place, so isolated, so wild, so far removed from people (well, it used to be)--for a long time, the nearest neighbors were a moose, a reindeer and a few beavers. lol I come from a family of introverts and so everyone values quiet and space and privacy and alone time. The loudest noises would come from the birds, an occasional wolf, the river, the wind, the rain and the trees bristling. I was the only person my grandfather allowed into his "tinkering" shed; he was a madman like I am and taught me that it was OK for me to have an external "brain" of sorts that I could step into when I needed to be alone with my thoughts.

But within the past decade, they started to build these high end condos, but could barely find anyone who wanted to stay up there (lol) and so they started to use them to house refugees. At first, I was extremely angry and I honestly felt violated, like my private sanctuary, my home, was being taken away from me by unwanted newcomers who wouldn't appreciate it (very selfish and self-centered, admittedly). But emotions, even "deep ones," are fleeting for me and eventually, a cool, calm head takes over. I've always been one to confront my anxieties head on and so once my Grandparents' home became mine, I started volunteering to conduct "Swedish wilderness immersion excursions" with the new immigrants living nearby. lol Most of them came from hot places so unlike the weird, cold North (the people up there are...amazingly interesting to say the least) that I decided to introduce them to our strange world, to bring some much needed levity and connection to both my life and theirs. Some refer to me affectionately as Yeti, because a few of them spotted a big, barefoot, long haired beast moving around in the distance at dusk and it was just me exercising outdoors. I try to encourage people, introverts, old people, introverted old people, to face their fears head on and they might be pleasantly surprised and find that the new and unknown is usually not as scary as they think it is.



An Alt-Right *****, probably steeped in IT/Computer science, super weird but they call it "edgy," never been touched by a live girl, occupying someone's basement (which they delusionally believe is their version of The Bat Cave).



lol Never give in Lebrok! People like you give me hope. Automation robotics is my absolute favorite hobby (one of my degrees is in Robotics engineering technology) and I use my vacation home in the north to work on and store all of my cyborg limbs and corpses (my wife hates when I refer to them like this lol) and it used to embarrass me to admit that, at times, I used to feel more connected to machines than actual people. When I was a kid, I got into robotics because I was lonely and thought it would be so cool to build the perfect friend and companion, who would understand me. I've noticed that since greatly expanding my social world, though I will always love my robots (and will continue to design and refine them in case of some Zombie apocalypse), they've become less important to me. I feel like Benjamin Button, the guy who ages backwards--started out as an old man and gradually became young and adventurous!

Great post, I wish I had time to respond fully. You must be at your cabin now, having all the time to read and write. :) There is definitely Benjamin Button in me too. I'm more fit than ever in my 50s, healthier too, and enjoying life more. Most achievements accomplished from being active and proactive, and not passive and complacent with what mother nature gave me. I'm vigorously defending my youthfulness and I pushed my old age (living in pain and immobility) at least in my fantasy world, to 110! Still have enough interests and hobbies to fill few more lifetimes. You say too optimistic, I say Hell Yes, but can't be blamed for not trying, and turning the odds my way. Hopefully future medicine can give a helping hand too.

I like robotics myself, though never sinned with manual creativity. Just impatiantly awaiting their arrival. I have so much to do for them. :)
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...l=1#post476072

And not to be blamed for eternal optimism, I see oncoming social and economic problems, world problems, connected to Age of Robots:
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...low-in-economy
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...uce-everything

PS. I have a need for a smart robotic sprinkler head. A sprinkler head with camera and microphone attached to it. And of course WiFi/Bluetooth connection to a computer. The most important part would be the smart AI software on it. Software, which could recognize variety of animals. This could be used to protect our gardens from nature wanting to eat all the good veggies, to scare away squirrels or a deer, with short strong bursts of water. Perhaps also to keep away uninvited guests like racoons, and keep an eye on kids playing in the yard. To chase away woodpecker knocking at your house walls at 5AM. It might serve as a security camera too. It can play with kids during hot summer days. Well, at the end, if it is really bored, it could water the garden too, lol, with intelligent well measured/efficient amount of water and well aimed directional sprays.
Some of these functions could be done with little automated drone too, AI drone. The Yard Defender. Davef could write AI program for it, yes? ;)

[davef]

Great post, I wish I had time to respond fully. You must be at your cabin now, having all the time to read and write. :) There is definitely Benjamin Button in me too. I'm more fit than ever in my 50s, healthier too, and enjoying life more. Most achievements accomplished from being active and proactive, and not passive and complacent with what mother nature gave me. I'm vigorously defending my youthfulness and I pushed my old age (living in pain and immobility) at least in my fantasy world, to 110! Still have enough interests and hobbies to fill few more lifetimes. You say too optimistic, I say Hell Yes, but can't be blamed for not trying, and turning the odds my way. Hopefully future medicine can give a helping hand too.

I like robotics myself, though never sinned with manual creativity. Just impatiantly awaiting their arrival. I have so much to do for them. :)
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...l=1#post476072

And not to be blamed for eternal optimism, I see oncoming social and economic problems, world problems, connected to Age of Robots:
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...low-in-economy
https://www.eupedia.com/forum/thread...uce-everything

PS. I have a need for a smart robotic sprinkler head. A sprinkler head with camera and microphone attached to it. And of course WiFi/Bluetooth connection to a computer. The most important part would be the smart AI software on it. Software, which could recognize variety of animals. This could be used to protect our gardens from nature wanting to eat all the good veggies, to scare away squirrels or a deer, with short strong bursts of water. Perhaps also to keep away uninvited guests like racoons, and keep an eye on kids playing in the yard. To chase away woodpecker knocking at your house walls at 5AM. It might serve as a security camera too. It can play with kids during hot summer days. Well, at the end, if it is really bored, it could water the garden too, lol, with intelligent well measured/efficient amount of water and well aimed directional sprays.
Some of these functions could be done with little automated drone too, AI drone. The Yard Defender. Davef could write AI program for it, yes? ;)

Lol yeah I admit, there's room for improvement in terms of my AI knowledge, I'd have to revisit Baysian probability, A*, and all the other algorithmic/linear algebraic bundles of fun in my hopefully not-too-overly-obsolete AI textbook.

[firetown]

We are all proud of our ancestors,

I've thought about this for a bit and think that this is why the world is in such turmoil. It can lead to glorification and justification of wrongdoing. The example of this can be seen in behind the scenes footage of "Hitler's children"where Niklas Frank, the only really outspoken one and son of Nazi war criminal Hans Frank has been repeatedly attacked by the other Nazi children.

[Angela]

Anything can be distorted. There's no human institution or human activity or human situation which can't be distorted. If you can think something really horrible that a person could do, trust me, there's someone somewhere, sometime, who did it.

That doesn't de-value the initial feeling, activity or situation.

There's nothing wrong with Wheal's comment: there's a lot to be proud of in every culture, and a lot to deplore. Only someone verging toward pathology doesn't recognize the latter.

[firetown]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, but I disagree with the "all" part. Not all are and not all should be. At least not of all aspects of all ancestries.

[davef]

@Dibran,
Don't be so sure the ones with "Italian" names are indeed Italian. If "Claudio" is really Italian I'll eat my hat. Half of them are Sikeliot socks talking to each other.

The number of Americans who are still segregationist is extremely small. Racism is not the defining ideological split. What is driving the split is the post modernist liberalism described above. It's toxic.

Not so long ago Democrats and Republicans were able to recognize the good will in the other and negotiate for the good of the country. That ended long ago, long before Trump. He's a symptom, not the cause.

@Jovialis,
I found out about it because my daughter was in the city visiting her boyfriend. She had taken the afternoon off. His apartment is about a five minute walk from where it happened. I begged her to come home, but their idea of being safe was to go to another friend's apartment in Chelsea! I think it was foolhardy, but the days are gone when I can make her decisions for her.

This is utter insanity, but it may become the "new normal".

See: Political polarization
https://gnxp.nofe.me/2017/10/23/poli...w-it-will-end/

Does anyone question how he even obtains the gedmatch results he posts? It's easy for anyone who can add to 100 to fabricate things and post bogus data. How would anyone trust a random stranger with their DNA test results? He either gains the trust of the dumbest morons he could find or he types it all out himself, ensuring to inflate the middle eastern components and using the same font and format as an actual result from a gedmatch calculator to make it seem authentic.

[Zanatis]

Angela, shouldn't you ban everyone posting here along with yourself for going off topic in different directions? :P

Republicans vs Democrats

Sikeliot vs The World (I don't even know the guy but he became famous in my head)

Mid-life crisis bring it on.

[davef]

Angela, shouldn't you ban everyone posting here along with yourself for going off topic in different directions? :P

Republicans vs Democrats

Sikeliot vs The World (I don't even know the guy but he became famous in my head)

Mid-life crisis bring it on.

By that logic, shoudnt you be banned as well? ;)

[Angela]

Angela, shouldn't you ban everyone posting here along with yourself for going off topic in different directions? :P

Republicans vs Democrats

Sikeliot vs The World (I don't even know the guy but he became famous in my head)

Mid-life crisis bring it on.

I'm not aware of posting anything in this thread other than what is related to my original post.The "off-topic" posts were not mine. If you think "he who must not be named" doesn't speak through socks on that board then you're being naive. Heck, his socks talk to his socks. :) Nor is this an "academic" thread where standards should be higher, and where other members complain, as is often the case.

I have, for the record, never banned anyone outright,not even the unstable and/or drunk, high ones who pm me spouting curses and filth. I issue infractions. When you get too many infractions you're automatically banned. Nor have I ever even given someone an infraction for going off topic on a "serious" thread without having warned them, sometimes repeatedly. You shouldn't comment unless you have the facts straight.

As for any pejorative comments or insults about my personal life, do it again and you'll get an infraction as well.

[Sile]

If we go down the most logical path of society in regards to racism, then since the bulk of our ancient ancestors could not read or write, the education they received in racism etc must have come from the religious educators/leaders, the studied few in all religions. I think they need to lead the way forward or be swept aside.

eventually, the mobile phone will kill off all religions and centuries later will also kill off nations .............but not in my life time.

[Wanderlust]

Thanks for the assumption, but I have.

??? First off, I was neither talking nor referring to you, which should be fairly obvious considering who I actually quoted and addressed. Secondly, I was speaking to someone critically unread and uninformed, who's done nothing but illustrate this in loud, bright colors during each and every one of our interactions.

And when fighting intolerance, it is also important not to allow oneself to get so one-sided, that we only look at things from our own angle, overlook the flaws in our own camps and demonize based on boxes you believe people to fit into.

DUH, you really are preaching to the choir. A talent of mine is the ability to hold, understand, engage, critique and analyze an issue, problem, idea or concept from multiple perspectives and points of view, weighing each of them until I've reached a conclusion about the most logical/practical/efficient method or way to proceed in reaching a certain goal and outcome. In practically every one of my comments on this thread, I've shown the ability to see an issue from multiple perspectives. Did you not see where I've said several times that my instincts tend to veer towards the hard right and that I can understand the "logic" and underpinnings of that ideology but that I've actively and consciously adopted a more liberal (though unorthodox) worldview based on studying/examining historical patterns in attempts to predict future outcomes? Did you not see where I spoke to the various ways my behaviors when interacting with others can produce certain conflicts based on differing underlying mechanisms that shape what/how we value tolerance and decency when engaging a certain topic?

I would expect not, seeing as you're the same interlocutor who couldn't even ascertain that I wasn't talking to him to begin with. If you aren't going to do what you condescendingly suggested I do, that is, to "read" everything and place the dialogue in the proper context before making a comment or embracing a certain stance, then it's best that you not involve yourself at all. And skip over calling me rude and arrogant, I don't care; "arrogance" is what you receive when you "arrogantly" address me pointing out the alleged splinter in my eye while I'm barely dodging the rafter in yours.

In other words: Your "loser and tittyboy" post is way out of balance. And when this is one's state of mind, it might be good to first accept that everyone looks at life based on their own past experiences. Then and only then will it be possible for you to actually contribute by sharing what your views might be. Otherwise you will just come off as an extremist. And extremism is bad... from every angle.

1.) So you accuse me of lacking balance without providing any counterbalancing view points...typical. In other words, your involvement in the conversation is pointless and you're just speaking for the sake of speaking and deflecting.

2.) Much to my chagrin, I already fully accept and acknowledge that many people only look at life based on their own myopic, jaundiced, subjective and limited life experiences; utterly tragic.

3.) Honestly, I don't expect certain lesser thinkers to be able to look past my delivery and "how I come off" in ascertaining the logic and rational behind my viewpoints, you know, the stuff that really matters.