now__what

Agree that the US can be pretty puritanical, so some of the aversion to cheating is driven by guilt/shame. But on the other hand, when you grow up without the necessity to lie/cheat, and when it isn't normalized, you never learn the methods to get away with it, and sometimes that's enough of a deterrent.

There are things in my life I'd rather lie about, but I don't because I never learned to lie convincingly. The same with cheating. Figuring out how to cheat on a test/interview sounds like a way more effortful and stressful experience than acting honestly (I shudder to imagine how it compounds imposter syndrome).

Imo "moving" to Florida (and similar tactics) got normalized, so it's easier for people to learn how to do it from a friend etc. so they do it more. No moralizing necessary.

Everyone in my (American) family drinks at least a cup, and often 3-5 cups of tea per day. This is considered a lot here. Tea drinking is so non-normalized that despite my entire family's love for tea, I was well into adulthood before I learned of electric kettles (from Tumblr) and introduced them to my family.

They're easier to find these days but still rare. If you ask for a hot tea at a restaurant, you'll often get a suspicious-looking teabag that has spent at least 6 months in the cupboard (iced is more available). I'm sure you can guess at the quality of most of the teas in an American grocery store; I usually wind up ordering from specialty tea shops instead.

These are very good links, and I feel I have a better understanding of "ritual" now. Thank you!

A very interesting take, thank you! I have to wonder if Humanists themselves would accept the label you're prescribing for them ;)

I also find it a little funny that you assume Humanists are only living out their philosophy "by mimicry, requirement, or obligation," as that's often how I've seen humanists describe religious moralism. I appreciate you sharing your perspective!

Western humanism which I find equally dangerous because the two are philosophical siblings from the same immoral thinking.

Do you mind elaborating on your issues with Western Humanism? I've never heard anyone critique it from a non-biblical angle, so I'm curious to hear what the gripes are.

This may be true from a strictly linguistic standpoint, but is this what historians mean by "ritual?"

Now that is a much more compelling critique. Thank you for sending me down this interesting rabbithole...

Did you actually read the article?

The statement about Paine is brief, and the author immediately moves on. In the full context of the article, it functions more to establish context than to bolster an argument. I have no horse in this race, but it's very weird that you've decided to cherry-pick this one statement so strongly.

You also want to consider whether it's more valuable to you personally to have that cash in hand. Are you going to roll it into another investment? Then maybe a low enough interest rate on the loan will put you out ahead despite paying interest.

speaking to the fear of getting caught up in the fallout when bad things happen at the reactor.

The comparison focuses on the normal amount of background radiation from living near a nuclear plant, so fear of fallout "when bad things happen" is a separate issue and irrelevant to the banana example. The Ebola lab comparison is a good one though.

If you're not a writer or artist, you might not find much practical advantage of a fountain pen over a gel pen; I might even advise against them. However if you do frequently write and/or draw, you'll find the customization to be unmatched: you can experiment until you find the exact writing feel you prefer, adjusted by ink, nibs, paper types, etc.

Since I found my match in fountain pens, I've found it impossible to go back to anything else. The small amount of maintenance (refilling and occasionally cleaning) is thoroughly outweighed by the tactile sensation of a writing/drawing instrument perfectly tuned to my preference. But I'm an amateur artist, so finding a well-matched tool is very important to me.

Lamy Safari has been my go-to for years, but for anyone starting out I recommend the TWSBI Eco. Only downside imo is inability to easily swap out nibs in a TWSBI.

If you're one of the "solvers" that gets pinged by random people all throughout the day, you need to learn how to use "do not disturb" and to balance it out with dedicated open time. Otherwise it's easy to get stressed and overwhelmed. Totally learnable, but I've seen a few people on my team take psychic damage from this.

Once you learn this though, it's actually easier to do remotely than in-person.

Very interesting, thank you!

This correlates perfectly with my experience: When I've tried to incorporate breakfast or other frequent small meals into my diet, I've found it wreaks havoc on my energy levels and feeling of fullness throughout the day. Without attempting to "fast," I've found that I feel best and experience fewer "crashes" when I skip breakfast and after-dinner snacks. You've just explained a convincing reason why that would be the case.

No worries :) I mostly agree. With the caveat that, IME, it's easy for one bad "trigger day" to throw you completely off track, and perhaps lead to the full "relapse" you describe. Certainly not in the same sense that heroin or gambling could do so (unless maybe you have a food addiction).

One of the core skills of keeping any daily habit is to not get so discouraged by momentary lost progress that you give up the whole game; but that's easier said than done.

We're talking about children here. Their decision-making skills and understanding of consequences is by nature impaired (compared to the typical adult).

If you've ever tried to lose weight though, you know how it can become a struggle--you're doing fine for a few days or weeks, then suddenly it's like an invisible switch flips and you might spend a day having an intense battle of willpower. Then the next day you might be fine again. It's reasonable to want to know the root cause(s) of those seemingly random struggles, imo.

Edit: this comment isn't as relevant after the original was edited, alas

reduced time between meals not allowing people to exercise their lipid transport in reverse.

I hadn't heard of this before, but it's interesting; despite receiving guidance to consume smaller, more frequent meals, I've found the practice has a negative effect on my own energy levels and weight stability.

Would you mind elaborating on this point, or providing links to further reading?

It sounds like he was an influential early investor, but the situation you've described isn't what I would typically think of as "founding" a company. I'm surely not alone in this, thus the present debate. This isn't to diminish Musk's huge influence either; but folks tend not to love when the meanings of words are changed for PR.

This is great! My Scrabble-obsessed parents will love it.

Happy person speaking. I subscribe to the physical edition of several (paid) local news publications, mostly to keep tabs on local events, new businesses opening, and stuff that requires political engagement (votes, borough and city meetings, etc.) It makes me feel more connected to my community, and I never run out of fun stuff to do :)

I don't bother with online news; most of it is irrelevant to me. If a national story has some bearing on my life, it'll usually end up in the local Sunday paper anyway.

In my interview for my current position, the team mentioned some elements of my website in a positive light, so I think it helped me stand out a bit.

Otherwise it's just good for bookmarking links and ideas that I'd otherwise forget about. And it's handy to link to friends if they ask me about my hobbies, e.g. "here's what I remember about X off the top of my head, but if you want more details and links to reference material, there's a section dedicated to it on my website."

Likely because if the effect of "bad" code is positive enough, you have incentive to just let it keep on being "bad" and not touching it, so you can keep reaping the benefits.

Also, if you're on a tight timeline for a critical function, you may want to push ugly/inelegant/dense/"bad" code just to get the function in prod a day sooner. This doesn't mean the code isn't "bad," it just means that the business needs outweigh the ugliness.

Those of us with regular migraines are experienced with the "no external stimulation" rule. Checking a phone or hearing someone open the door to check on you just brings a fresh wave of pain. Unfortunately the pain even in quiet times is usually too distracting to get any good thinking done. Sleeping too much makes the headache worse, and anything you eat is unlikely to stay down. The boredom of a migraine day is unlike anything else I've experienced.

I really love the design of this website: simple, clean, responsive and readable without sacrificing style.

As with most things, even if there is no "magic point," you need to draw the line somewhere as accurately as you can, or you'll be trapped in pedantic bickering and inaction forever.

one professor who gave us an exam and allowed us to use whatever tools or resources we wanted, his line was always "if you don't know it, nothing will save you".

"Open book/resource" exams are common in some subjects and have nothing to do with "cheating." So I'm curious what you would consider "cheating."

I have neither cardiac disease nor diabetes and am at the lower end of a normal weight range, yet I'm at risk of stroke for other inherited reasons. I consume ungodly amounts of zero-calorie sweetener because I want to stay at my current weight despite my sweet tooth. This conclusion is distressing to say the least :(

Did you form that opinion after going to college yourself?

My SO and I both work in data (in healthcare and higher education, respectively). Neither of us has had this experience. Sure, some of our dashboards have died, but many of them have also provided real value. My SO's have literally saved lives! We each benefit from having direct contact with senior leadership in our orgs, and good understanding of the business side of our industries.

Other than that, I'm not sure what advice I can give to avoid this problem, but I'd like to assert that the worthlessness of data is not a universal experience.