Archive for March, 2008
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Who is the Bad Guy/Girl?
Help me do some plot spinning, BBQ’ers!
I’ve got a serial story/novella in the works (9,600 words so far), and I’m stumped as to who will be the Bad Guy/Bad Girl.
Plot: A hairdresser in California is subject to psychic visions while she sleeps, which come true. Her husband is a programmer/science type who doubts her. He […]
12 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, entertainment by Marie Mon Dieu
Friday, March 28th, 2008
Has hate lost its meaning?
(A question by proxy, for Keith.)
When I was growing up (Im 21 now, so when I was 13-14) whenever my sister or I said we hate something my parents/grandparents always told us not to say hate its a strong word. Then I was watching Scrubs and one of the characters mentioned that hate has lost […]
3 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, language, philosophy by Josh Millard
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
What gives you a feeling of complexity?
You know when you read a book, hear a piece of music or see a painting, and you think, “Wow! It’s bottomless. I could look at it forever and still see new things!”
This is one of the most profound experiences I get from art (and sometimes I get it from objects and experiences that aren’t […]
4 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, philosophy by grumblebee
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Why do people hate puns?
Not all people, granted; in fact, it only occurs to me because I personally love ‘em. But there are a lot of folks out there who react negatively to puns or even to the abstract notion of puns. Where’s all this wordplay animus coming from? Did puns beat someone up as a […]
11 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, humor, language by Josh Millard
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Proof that we’re living in a computer simulation?
There’s a well-trod (if not exactly widely accepted) argument for the idea that the world we live in now could be not the real world but a simulation being run by far-flung descendents of what we think of as the modern human race. (Nick Bostrum is probably the foremost figure in this debate; but […]
2 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, metaphysics, philosophy, scifi by Josh Millard
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
Would you change your birth place?
If you could change the country where you were born and raised, would you? I’m not talkin’ about being born and moving to another country as a baby. If you could change your birth place and culture, would you? If so, where would you rather have been born and raised? And why would you change […]
No Comments » - Posted in bigbig, culture, sociology by Marie Mon Dieu
Friday, March 21st, 2008
The one thing you’d save from a fire?
Impossibly pat premise: the house is burning down. Everyone is out and safe (pets included), and you know for an implausible fact that you can safely go back in for exactly one thing.
What do you save?
17 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, priorities by Josh Millard
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Will spam get worse before it gets better?
The internet will never be free of spam and shilling and astroturfers — human nature plus a profit motive is a pretty resilient thing — but are we past the worst of it, or are we just in the eye of the storm?
Are things going to get worse? What ground do you see the […]
3 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, economics, technology by Josh Millard
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Where do you draw your pet healthcare line?
Pet animals have a degree of maintenance cost built in that their owners implicitly accept up front: food, shots, routine and incidental medical care. But now and then a pet gets seriously injured, or seriously ill, and the cost becomes a serious and likely emotionally wrenching question: how much is too much?
If you have pets, […]
6 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, economics, family, medicine, priorities by Josh Millard
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
What were you going to be when you grew up?
Astronaut? Ninja? Actuarial scientist?
12 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, work by Josh Millard
Monday, March 17th, 2008
What’s the least immoral or unethical thing you won’t do?
Sure, you’re not going to murder anyone, or rob a bank, and set a house on fire. But what about the little things? What’s the least-bad thing you just fundamentally will not do? Or what’s the worst thing you will do? And in either case, why?
Have you ever stepped over what was at the time […]
7 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, ethics, law, philosophy, priorities by Josh Millard
Friday, March 14th, 2008
What’s the worst thing you’ve read lately?
Lousy novel? Awful non-fiction? Horrific columnist? What’s the worst piece of writing you’ve spent time on in the last year or two?
6 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, entertainment, language by Josh Millard
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
An oldie but a goodie. Interpretations for different values of “God” welcome; personal belief not required, but personal/practical as well as philosophical/abstract takes would be great.
15 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, metaphysics, philosophy, religion by Josh Millard
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
How does it make sense to say that I pay taxes?
In case it’s apropos, I’m American.
So, a friend of mine and I got into one of many arguments about my political apathy, and she trotted out that old horse: “You pay taxes, so you should care about what the government does with your contribution.” I was about to say, “Yeah, you’re right, I guess,” when […]
18 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, economics by grumblebee
Monday, March 10th, 2008
Why is co2 always seen as a problem and not a useful resourse?
Why is co2 always seen as a problem and not a useful resource? For instance large water tanks or reservoirs could be built inside or adjacent to power plants, pumped full of plant life (eg plankton)and exposed to sunlight. The co2 could then be pumped into the water and used to promote photosynthesis thus creating […]
6 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized, bigbig, science by chrisjones
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
What were you meant to be?
Okay, so let’s say that reincarnation as other species is real. What/who do you think you were in a past life, or think you were meant to be in this life?
For example, I think I was meant to be a penguin. I rarely get cold - it can be 30 degrees out and […]
8 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, death, metaphysics by IndigoRain
Friday, March 7th, 2008
9/11 Music
On September 11, 2001 and the days immediately after, what songs did you find yourself playing?
13 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, entertainment, music by dw
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
To Infinity…
Would you go on a mission to mars? What about if it was a one-way mission? And you were by yourself?
Blatant Plagiarism: Gizmodo
10 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, physics, priorities, science by dbl
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Why do we sing?
Setting aside the pat answer of “because we can”, where does singing come from? Why do we do it? What’s the story with bursting into song?
7 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, music by Josh Millard
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
What’s the deal with Yo Mama jokes?
Everybody’s got a mother, and everybody knows yo mama jokes. They’re classics but they’re also fight-starters — yeah, it’s just a joke, but you better not talk about my momma, etc.
Why are the reactions to these jokes so complicated? What makes yo mama jokes funny, and what makes them offensive, and how do […]
5 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, humor, sociology by Josh Millard
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Advice that’s worse than worthless?
Humans seem to like to give advice. Some more than others (Mary Worth, we salute you), but at the base of it it seems more or less universal. It’s also free, in theory, and valued accordingly. But!
But sometimes advice isn’t just as good as you paid for it. Sometimes it’s bad. […]