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[Aquamarine]

Life is pointless and absurd, so there's no reason why you should be anything BUT happy, kind, and peaceful all of the time.

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

 

[Bacon]

Everybody complains too much about everything

Louis CK: Everything's amazing and no one is happy

 

[Sketchbag]

Life is pointless and absurd, so there's no reason why you should be anything BUT happy, kind, and peaceful all of the time.

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

Being nice is so boring. Pain and anguish can only sate my needs.

 

[RM8]

Rm, what kind of dog do you have? Also, would corgis be considered small or large dogs?

I had a poodle-maltese mix that gave me 15.5 amazing years. Superb dog, at the moment I doubt I'll ever develop such an incredible relationship with any other dog. He was legitimately one of my best friends. Also yes, corgis are on the smaller side and they're awesome I want to make it clear that I don't dislike big dogs and they're awesome in their own way, I just think smaller dogs make much better pets.

Damn dude, sounds like you want a cat. The argument you made is basically a cats vs dogs.

Nah, cats are okay but I'm a massive dog person.

 

[CornBurrito]

here it goes:

*raises shield

I can't feel that much sympathy for people going into internet forums crying desperately for compassion and claiming they are in the most severe depression all while, (upon checking their history), they eat, sleep, go to movies, buy and play videogames and live pretty standard, normal lives. It's pretty disrespectful for people with actual depression, if you ask me.

People with mild or moderate depression can do all those things. This is the equivalent of getting mad at welfare recipients not looking destitute enough when they go out in public.

 

[genjiZERO]

American English sounds rather silly. There's a "H" in "Herbs" meaning that it's not pronounced "'Erbs".

Herb is of French and Latin origin, and in both of those languages the H is silent.

Also, it's not like there aren't plenty of dialectical pronunciations in Britain where people don't pronounce the H silently - 'ello for hello in Cockney is an example.


Here's mine:

Neither the wars the US fights nor the US military apparatus give us the "freedoms we enjoy" nor do they protect us from our enemies.

The US is as successful as it it simply because it's a giant resource rich country that came out of WW2 without having to fight on it's own soil, and has nothing to do with civilisational values such as individualism, hard capitalism, etc.

 

[inm8num2]

I like you, a lot.

Haha, thanks. It's incredibly refreshing to see others have a similar view.

 

[Incognito]

people should not argue with the controversial, carefully-worded opinions voiced in this thread.

 

[KrellRell]

People with mild or moderate depression can do all those things. This is the equivalent of getting mad at welfare recipients not looking destitute enough when they go out in public.

Isn't everyone at least mildly depressed? Maybe some people have more effective ways of dealing with it than others.

 

[J-Rod]

USA is a good place to live.

 

[CornBurrito]

Isn't everyone at least mildly depressed?

Probably not? You shouldn't self diagnose anyway.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Mexico isn't that bad of a place.

 

[RM8]

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

This so much. It's so dumb when people think they have the right to be angry all the time and "vent" - it's selfish, annoying and it doesn't fix anything. Some people somehow don't need to vent and we don't die because of accumulated anger, go figure! I completely avoid dramatic people. No positive trait you might have is worth having to endure silly dramas.

 

[DopeToast]

Law abiding citizens should have access to firearms for self defense and/or hunting/sport.

I agree wholeheartedly for hunting, but I wish people didn't feel the need to own guns for self-defense. That may be too idealistic though.

 

[dapperbandit]

Life is pointless and absurd, so there's no reason why you should be anything BUT happy, kind, and peaceful all of the time.

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

Sounds like you hate negative emotions. Hate is a negative emotion. Stamp yourself out.

Also eternal happiness would be boring if there was no balance and a good amount of my happiness is sourced from and sustained by the misfortune of others.

 

[CornBurrito]

dreams are us experiencing ourselves in another life

Will use this as a springboard for my controversial (maybe not) opinion:

Not all opinions are of equal validity. Opinions that factor in our current scientific evidence and understanding of the universe are more valid than opinions that don't. While it is possible for opinions based on current evidence to be wrong (because new evidence can be unearthed), there is nothing wrong with then admitting you're initial opinion was wrong and changing it. This is still preferable to having an opinion that wasn't based on the evidence, even if evidence later shows that initially baseless opinion was correct.

I shall use a story to illustrate this better: Bob and Dan are brothers. Their kitchen contains a cookie jar with 20 cookies. One day half the cookies vanish. Bob and Dan both know neither of them took it. Bob posits some animal took the cookies. He points to the fact that they had a raccoon problem in the past. Dan on the other hand thinks the cookies gained sentience and escaped the house. Bob's opinion is more valid, even if Bob and Dan later discover that the cookies did indeed gain sentience. It would have been unreasonable to reach such a conclusion even if it happened to be the correct one. Bob was wrong for the right reasons. Dan was right for the wrong reasons.


Also: People that don't think statistics have any weight in an argument, and instead think that personal experience trumps any other form of evidence are less intelligent in my opinion. This goes doubly so for people who try and bash a scientific study and the evidence/findings it generated because it violates what they think is "common sense" without realizing that their common sense is simply their own gut feelings and personal biases.

 

[BeesEight]

here it goes:

*raises shield

I can't feel that much sympathy for people going into internet forums crying desperately for compassion and claiming they are in the most severe depression all while, (upon checking their history), they eat, sleep, go to movies, buy and play videogames and live pretty standard, normal lives. It's pretty disrespectful for people with actual depression, if you ask me.

While I can't comment on any specific cases you allude to with the comment history, it seems really... Uneducated to propose one must have a base level of destitution in order to have a mental disorder. Rich people can and do have "actual depression" as mental disorders, like disease, care little for socioeconomic status or the normalcy of one's life. I mean, it is your opinion and all but this kind of attitude does contribute to the stigmatization of mental disorders.

 

[Denzar]

Life is pointless and absurd, so there's no reason why you should be anything BUT happy, kind, and peaceful all of the time.

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

Wish that was easy to do because you are absolutely right.

 

[The Chef]

Whats with all the bannings?? I thought this was a "controversial" thread for a reason?

 

[layzie1989]

People who are anything more than spiritually agnostic lack the ability to think completely rationally and can't be trusted. Indoctrination of children into religion is evil.

 

[RM8]

Not all opinions are of equal validity. Opinions that factor in our current scientific evidence and understanding of the universe are more valid than opinions that don't.

I agree, and I think shielding unreasonable opinions just because they exist can be harmful.

 

[maxcriden]

Life is pointless and absurd, so there's no reason why you should be anything BUT happy, kind, and peaceful all of the time.

Negative human emotions are so utterly ridiculous and useless that we should all strive to stamp them out as much as humanly possible. Keep drama to fiction and online message boards.

This is a great way of looking at things. I need to remind myself of this. Thank you. I mean, I would say, as a corollary, that life has the meaning you *impart* on it, so if you are happy, kind and peaceful, you can help make your life meaningful in that way.

I had a poodle-maltese mix that gave me 15.5 amazing years. Superb dog, at the moment I doubt I'll ever develop such an incredible relationship with any other dog. He was legitimately one of my best friends. Also yes, corgis are on the smaller side and they're awesome I want to make it clear that I don't dislike big dogs and they're awesome in their own way, I just think smaller dogs make much better pets.

Nah, cats are okay but I'm a massive dog person.

I'm sorry about what happened to your dog. I highly recommend getting a new family member as soon as you feel ready. We had a similar situation with our cat and it was so hard to get a new one but our relationship with Eli is so differently meaningful that it just feels right. I dunno if that makes sense, but I know about feeling like something is missing when you don't have your companion there with you. BTW, have you seen Kekkon Dekinai Otoko? It's a TV show my wife and I are watching, Japanese with subtitles, and I think it would be right up your alley. I really recommend it. You can watch it free online at good-drama.net. BTW, we don't have any dog just yet, but I asked about corgis because those are a particularly endearing breed to me.

P.S. I just looked up what kind of dog you had. Wow, those are cute. As a kid I think I had a stuffed animal that looked just like that!

 

[CornBurrito]

Oh and here is a really REALLY controversial opinion: I believe that some rapists and murderers have the potential to be rehabilitated given the right resources and prison program. Whether it is worth giving them these resources and putting in the effort is something I still am not sure about, but my opinion would ultimately be decided on recidivism rates and the amount of wealth that person could generate for their community if they were able to return to society as a productive person.

 

[Stinkles]

Language protectionism is harmful to the function of a global society. We should strive to have a single language (and sign language) globally in the next hundred years, and I don't care which one it is, as long as it's rational and economically beneficial to the countries who adopt it. There are a billion other ways we can retain our cultures and heritage. Language is supposed to create connections with people, not barriers to change.

 

[besada]

Spring-Loaded made sure you guys were aware that this thread wasn't any sort of proof against banning. You're welcome to express "controversial" opinions, but we're going to ban if those opinions violate the ToS, including racist, sexist, and homophobic statements.

As always, if you have questions or concerns about moderation, please address them to a mod via PM.

 

[jay]

Most philosophy ends up being navel gazing because the deeper answers are biological. We don't make a conscious decision to live for specific reasons, we live because it's incredibly hard to convince our brains that we shouldn't.

Most of our behavior is hardcoded and free will is an illusion. Scientists are constantly discovering little things our brains automate (when it's dark, your brain makes you tired, for example) and other important findings (the brain is like a muscle and can get tired, which leads to a worse ability to make decisions, for example) that point to many things being out of our (complete) control. There will eventually be enough drops in the bucket to convince most thinking people that free will is at best sort of a thing some people sometimes can exercise.

 

[Kater]

Some people make out Hitler as the only real evil person throughout history which is wrong, there were people like him and his cohorts in every period of time.

 

[The_Poet]

Ketchup is disgusting

 

[Valhelm]

I think that while "biotruths" are absolute bullshit, and that pretty much all difference between men and women are the product of socialization, patriarchal systems have emerged because very slight biological differences between male and female people led to large societal changes, in a kind of "butterfly effect".

In the long run, science and mathematics are less important than art and culture. Because science and math are universal, it doesn't matter who creates it, or where they come from. If we ever contact intellectual extraterrestrials, they won't care about our advancements in science. What might blow them away is everything that makes humanity unique: our architecture, our writing, our philosophy, and our music.

 

[jerry1594]

People with deep opinions on some things come off as fake experts who are generalizing something without actually knowing about it.
Online slang is incredibly annoying, moreso than any other slang, Ive heard.

 

[KingGondo]

I'm not arguing that, only talking about taste.

Food that is made using the prior ingredients tastes better.

There's a huge gulf of difference in taste between even a well-cooked homemade meal and your average fast food burger/burrito/fried chicken.

 

[CornBurrito]

Another controversial opinion: African American English is a beautiful variant of English that deserves to be treated with more respect by both regular people and the academic community. It isn't "wrong" or "incorrect" English. It is a dialect pf English with its own history and unique external influences that have shaped it to be fairly distinct from American English. I feel that most people who think it is "wrong/bad/incorrect" are either uneducated about its history, or racist to some degree.

Language protectionism is harmful to the function of a global society. We should strive to have a single language (and sign language) globally in the next hundred years, and I don't care which one it is, as long as it's rational and economically beneficial to the countries who adopt it. There are a billion other ways we can retain our cultures and heritage. Language is supposed to create connections with people, not barriers to change.

Language prescriptivism is doomed to failure.

 

[AkuMifune]

Living your life locked in a delusion is just as valid as facing reality head-on. If you take the time to actually break down reality, it's some pretty surreal delusional bullshit anyway.

 

[Guevara]

Correlation/Causation:

Sometimes I think correlation is good enough. I don't have to understand how something works exactly to guide my decisions. For example: everyone I know who is overweight eats low calorie, low fat, fake sugar, fake food diets. That's probably not why they are overweight, but it is enough to tell me to avoid those kinds of foods and eat delicious real food with real fat. Noticing correlations is a useful observational skill even if it is not the scientific method.

 

[jerry1594]

Language protectionism is good.

 

[RM8]

This is a great way of looking at things. I need to remind myself of this. Thank you. I mean, I would say, as a corollary, that life has the meaning you *impart* on it, so if you are happy, kind and peaceful, you can help make your life meaningful in that way.



I'm sorry about what happened to your dog. I highly recommend getting a new family member as soon as you feel ready. We had a similar situation with our cat and it was so hard to get a new one but our relationship with Eli is so differently meaningful that it just feels right. I dunno if that makes sense, but I know about feeling like something is missing when you don't have your companion there with you. BTW, have you seen Kekkon Dekinai Otoko? It's a TV show my wife and I are watching, Japanese with subtitles, and I think it would be right up your alley. I really recommend it. You can watch it free online at good-drama.net. BTW, we don't have any dog just yet, but I asked about corgis because those are a particularly endearing breed to me.

P.S. I just looked up what kind of dog you had. Wow, those are cute. As a kid I think I had a stuffed animal that looked just like that!

Yeah, I mean, I'd absolutely love having another dog, and indeed not in replacement of my old friend. It's just that I'm 26, my dog lived 15.5 years (and died when I was 25 last year), so my life still feels weird without him particularly Also I'll be sure to check that show! I like that it has few episodes. And yup, that's a great dog mix! A true companion dog like the maltese with the intelligence and spark of a poodle :3
---

On languages: languages are awesome and I'm glad we have tons of them.

 

[PrimaNocta]

Everybody complains too much about everything

Ditto. Especially Gamers.

 

[genjiZERO]

Language protectionism is good.

I totally agree. People like to rag on the French Academy, but I approve of what they do. A plethora of languages is good because different languages communicate (and thus think) in different ways. When one of those languages is lost that way of communicating and thinking is gone.

 

[RM8]

In Mexico we have 68 official languages, lol. Indigenous people keeping them alive also learn Spanish, so it's not like we need to get rid of any language.

 

[Valhelm]

Language protectionism is good.

Why do you believe so? In my opinion, because languages naturally evolve over time, protectionism is a pointless process that does little more than create a vulgar/proper disparity based on culture and class.

 

[Metalmarc]

That almost all religions are a pain the the bottom, and cos more harm than good

 

[CornBurrito]

I totally agree. People like to rag on the French Academy, but I approve of what they do. A plethora of languages is good because different languages communicate (and thus think) in different ways. When one of those languages is lost that way of communicating and thinking is gone.

What they do is doomed to failure. The French language continues to evolve and change. And I don't think the French Academy has demonstrably slowed the rate of change.

Also it seems weird to me that you want to prevent languages from changing to preserve their ways of communicating and thinking. Why shouldn't we accept language change since that also results in new ways of communicating and thinking?

 

[JCX]

Sweet potatoes do not deserve to share a name with the one true type of potatoes. They are simply yams trying to piggyback on the success of their much more delicious cousin.

 

[turtle553]

Sweet potatoes do not deserve to share a name with the one true type of potatoes. They are simply yams trying to piggyback on the success of their much more delicious cousin.

So much wrong in this statement. Sweet potatoes should just go by yams so they are not confused with those bland sacks of starch that only have flavor from what they are cooked with.

 

[Valhelm]

So much wrong in this statement. Sweet potatoes should just go by yams so they are not confused with those bland sacks of starch that only have flavor from what they are cooked with.

Yams and sweet potatoes aren't the same thing.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

1. If the world does move towards one language, I want it to be Latin. It's already the language of science and it's in general a beautiful language I want to see used in everyday conversation.

2. The vast majority of people have little to no knowledge of history, politics, or culture and should not weigh in on major world conflicts as if they know what they're talking about because they really don't.

3. There are two main grammatical issues that piss me the hell off. The first is "less" vs. "fewer." If the subject is plural, you say "fewer" and then vice versa (e.g. "there are fewer rainy days this week," or "there is less rain this week."). The other is when people uses absolutes when they're not supposed to. An example would be "all flowers are not yellow" when they mean to say "not all flowers are yellow." The first statement is basically saying that not a single flower in the world is yellow, while the second statement is saying that while some flowers are yellow, not every flower in the world is yellow. There's a big difference. I don't claim to have perfect grammar myself, but these two examples just annoy the hell out of me.

4. I actually think the Xbox One is a pretty great system. I'm loving the hell out of Titanfall and AC4, while also enjoying some of the downloadable titles like Killer Instinct. I can't wait to pick up Dead Rising 3 and Ryse, and I'm looking forward to the Halo collection this fall. It really deserves to sell better and it certainly doesn't deserve the scorn it gets.

5. A lot of games GAF hates on for being popular (and consequently overrated) actually are just really overrated. Game reviewers last gen went way overboard and threw out high scores like candy. Games like Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, and GTA 4 did not deserve their high scores. Especially Mass Effect 2, which felt so boring and linear compared to the first game. I'd like to think that game reviewers have calmed down a bit and that we're starting to see somewhat more reasonable scores, but since they're still being paid off by publishers, I don't hold out too much hope.

6. It seems like anything that's funny on GAF gets overdone to the point where it becomes painfully unfunny. GAFers criticize sites like Reddit, Tumblr, or 4chan while holding many of the same behaviors. We use recycled memes from these sites, quote first posts 50 times for being mildly funny puns, and spam "humorous" images and gifs to the point of exhaustion. People hate on hipsters but then compete over who has the most obscure taste in music while posting photos in the Real Pics thread wearing flannel shirts and thick-rimmed glasses.

Probably much more to come.

 

[Staccat0]

People who have strong opinions and allegiances to video game consoles are, generally speaking, less emotionally evolved than people who say... care about nearly anything else.

To me, they should be consumer electronic products and nothing more.

 

[Telecinision]

Twitter is a waste of time and Twitter arguments are ridiculous.

JCX's avatar reminded me that Ann Arbor is a tangled hellhole of one-way streets filled with elitist snobs and a chronically overrated football team.

 

[CornBurrito]

Controversial gaming opinion: Mobile gaming is fun and awesome.

 

[genjiZERO]

What they do is doomed to failure. The French language continues to evolve and change. And I don't think the French Academy has demonstrably slowed the rate of change.

Also it seems weird to me that you want to prevent languages from changing to preserve their ways of communicating and thinking. Why shouldn't we accept language change since that also results in new ways of communicating and thinking?

It's not really change I oppose. Change is just fine. Without change it's difficult to introduce new ideas into a languages.

What I think is beneficial however to maintain those things that already exist. So for example, say a word acquires new meaning over time. I think the better thing to do would have that word maintain it's original meaning, but introduce a new word for the new meaning. This creates a more precise language.

The other thing I don't like is the "foreignisation" of languages - adopting phrases or words from other languages wholesale without the nuance of the original language or in spite of the fact that the adopting language is capable of making perfectly acceptable new words with already extant native words. This is the real problem, in my opinion, because this is how you lose ideas.

1. If the world does move towards one language, I want it to be Latin. It's already the language of science and it's in general a beautiful language I want to see used in everyday conversation.

Romance languages are Latin. They're just dialects that have evolved over time. I know you mean Classical Latin, but even in the sciences a large number of words actually date from Medieval times.