Isn't It Obvious

Another episode from the COVID backlog! We originally recorded this episode of June of last year (as of this publication) in 2020, so this was the early summer of Covid with no end in sight. Restrictions and curfews and mask mandates were at an all time high, and the idea of having a vaccine roll out (in a year) was out of the question.

In this episode, K Sera asks about the impact of the pandemic and America’s sporting past times. Micah, our resident expert of all things sports and athletics, chimes in. Phillip is enjoying this episode as a fly on wall that occasionally buzzes by.

Show Notes:

Skeleton Luge 

Blitzball 

Are esports sport? Schools are starting to treat them like it is 

Logicial fallacy “If a then be, so the converse is important” is the logicial fallacy of Affirming The Consequent  

Is competitive eating a sport? 

Is cheer leading a sport? 

A game of horse 

Pickle Ball 

K Sera After Thoughts:

- If we all drink every time Micah or I interrupt Phil, our blood alcohol levels may reach the cdc approved percentage required to prevent COVID transmission.

- At the time of this recording I had a lot less faith in humanity than perhaps I should have? (That’s a novel thing to think, Eh?) I had not expected a vaccine to be out and available this quickly. And so, my predictions for this episode were pretty inaccurate. It’s really amazing how one significant variable can change the course of our future. 

- We may never definitively know what is or is not a sport. Similarly to what is and is not a sandwich. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Or a taco? The world may never agree.

Phillip After Thoughts:

-I really love this episode, mainly because I can lob my one-liners and have Micah and K Sera duke it out!

-This episode was recorded a year ago from this publication date. I still can’t believe how much has changed in just a simple year, and how much more we (not just in the United States) will have to endure in this pandemic. While the US is getting vaccinated, many parts of the world are still struggling.

-This conversation, despite being a year old, is still strangely relevant as we are approaching the summer Olympics (already postponed a year). We shall see how sports, Covid, and the world of money intersect this summer.

Micah raises the obvious question of the year: defunding the police. This episode was originally recorded in June 2020 (a year ago from the publish date of this episode) and yet it still remains relevant as ever. Now isn't that sad (obviously).

Show Notes:

Police Reform 

Philando Castile 

Justine Ruszczyk 

Some more police news: 

Porch Pirate: 

How policing works in the suburbs 

Police unions

Phillip’s After Thoughts:

- K Sera is on vacation so, dear moms, you’ll just have to live with my after thoughts this time!

- This is part of the “COVID time capsule” episode (we recorded this episode June 19th of 2020, about a year ago) and suffice to say how terrible it is that this conversation continues.

- In Minnesota you need to have a license to be a barber, but not for a police officer.

- We have a long way before we can start building trust back into our communities. I only hope that I can see real change in my lifetime.

Phillip brings up the question this week and it’s about our olfactory organ. K Sera discusses the importance of being honest with respect to scent. Micah smells a business plan.

Show Notes:

How does human smell work? 

Coping with a co-worker’s body order takes tact 

K Sera Afterthoughts

- Mayo is a great condiment! I like bland fat and protein. (Ngl, I am craving deviled eggs rn.) I had a strange childhood of weird culinary experimentation. In middle school, my friends and I would often dare each other to create strange (often disgusting) flavor combos with our lunches. On extended summer vacations while staying with my grandparents, I would crack open their refrigerator and create the weirdest condiment concoctions and try to see what pantry (and freezer) items went best with ketchup. Part of me wonders if this has something to do with my current dissatisfaction with ketchup in general. Ketchup is probably my least favorite condiment.

- The woman who can smell Parkinson’s disease.

- Dogs can also smell things that are wrong like cancer and viruses with fair accuracy, but there are certainly other factors that need consideration.

- We are also developing AIs to detect issues that are about as accurate as dogs, so that’s neat.

- Update on my anxious cat: I still have no idea about the ultimate cause of his issues, but even as a kitten he has had a sensitive stomach and disposition. Any time I went on an extended vacation especially, his bladder issues would flare up. Switching him to a prescription diet has helped. He is also drinking purified water and drinks waaaaay better than I do. Being home more often because of COVID seems to have helped as well. Since these changes, he hasn’t had an incident, so fingers crossed that he is comfortable and won’t be peeing outside his box anytime soon. 

-As for nose friends, I think it all comes down to tact and compassion. If there is a problem that can be changed or fixed easily by sharing your observations, I think you should consider mentioning the problem and offer advice or knowledge on how to fix it. If it is something they can’t easily do anything about, keep it to your damn self. Likely they are aware and are struggling and would probably appreciate it more if you can look past their present or chronic difficulties and treat them with compassion instead of disgust or contempt. 

-However. For the love of all precious things, TELL ME IF MY HOUSE SMELLS GROSS.

Phillip Afterthoughts:

-Receiving constructive criticism is hard enough, but telling others that they need to improve their hygiene is almost unbearable. But a good friend will figure out a way to help, no matter what.

-Perhaps the way about going through life is recognizing that embarrassing stories are not the worst thing to happen to us, even though I swear it certainly feels like it when I am living through one.

Micah meets with an introvert (Phillip) and an ambivert (K Sera) to discuss who is really calling the shots here.

Show Notes:

Introvert Power 

Are you an Introvert or Extrovert? 

Jared Kushner and his supply stockpile of 2020 

Ambiverts, best of both worlds 

K Sera's Afterthoughts:

- So… who would I want in charge? Probably an introvert… or a small army of introverts? I would like decision makers who carefully think things through before acting whenever possible. Who do I want to lead? Definitely an extrovert. Natural charisma absolutely gives them a huge advantage. That said, I think competence and consistency are more important in the long term. Just because you have the initial advantages of your ‘vertion’ type doesn’t mean you will succeed. I have met plenty of “thoughtful” introverts who overthink, or worse, buy into bullshit that they then perpetuate. I have also met plenty of extroverts who are obnoxious and nosy and fail to empathize with others on any meaningful level, dooming their relationships with others to fail 9 times out of 10 (if not 10/10).

- For the record, I am a great older sister! I am sorry, Phil and Micah, that neither of you had the benefit of amazing and supportive older siblings.

Phillip's Afterthoughts:

-So my dear older sister is/was an amazing older sister, my story just show cased one example of where being the youngest and most naive kid did not work in my favor. I had plenty of more stories where being the youngest was way better than being the oldest.

-To my dear older brother, despite my whiny attitude about not wanting to go anywhere, I am thankful that he dragged me to go to social events and meet people. If left to my own devices I'd be more of a hermit than I am today.

-To the point of introverts versus extroverts... all things being equal, an extrovert will roll the dice more often and this in turn creates more opportunities. Those that stay in the shadows can try to manipulate the scenes but in all honesty it really is who you know these days. In fact, in a human-centric world, perhaps it was always true (and furthermore will always be true).

-I totally get what Micah is saying about "human contact via technological means." And if someone sends me a message or a funny gif, I do feel more connected and pleased. It doesn't have to be a long diatribe of a discussion, just a quick "check this out" is good enough for me!

-I have it confirmed that K Sera is indeed an amazing older sister. Kudos to you K Sera! And thank you (to her brother) for confirming. Please let us know if you answered under duress.

Phill slowly figures out why people socialize. K Sera discusses the intricacies between different types of food-related parties. Micah does his very best to keep our topic from being derailed. Oh yeah, it's about dinner parties!

Show Notes:

Citadels 

Why it’s important to socialize 

Man Ruins Romantic Weekend by Saying What He Was Thinking 

Why we don’t like listening to our own voices

K Sera’s Afterthoughts:

- Back in my college days, I sang for a really neat church with an excellent music department. The choral director was a phenomenal organist. I eventually quit, though, partly because I was busy as heck (19 credits per semester plus 2 club activities where I held officer positions), but mostly because I was being hit on by a man old enough to be my grandfather and I didn’t need that bullshit. Also… it’s a church and we all know how I feel about religion by now.

- People (Micah) should be more inclusive with their use of ‘or’ in sentences. FREE YOURSELVES FROM THIS FALSE DICHOTOMY OF THOUGHT.

- Cocktail parties are for drinking cocktails and sometimes wearing fancy dress. A Shrimp cocktail is… an abomination of a dish sometimes served in a cocktail glass at cocktail parties hosted by people who like to go all out on themed events. 

- What was our topic again???

Phillip’s Afterthoughts:

- I think that shrimp cocktail is an amazing idea that is also well executed. I am also a person that loves a fully loaded and totally impractical Bloody Mary, so perhaps I am not a good judge of the “drink or food” game

- I miss board game nights and I hope to resume them again someday (hopefully soon)

- Mario Kart Party is definitely a Pizza Party, well done K Sera.

- Honestly I don’t really care about the reason why people are over, I just want to socialize and have good food with good company (and Micah is totally right about the fact that good company comes first). Over the past 18 months I’ve been thinking about this more often and I honestly think that having a healthy social life is hard work. It requires effort and energy, both of which seem to be in short supply these days.

- I do miss my pet Peach, she was an amazing cat. She was also a huge asshole. She can be both, and that was why I miss her!

Micah brings up a question about trains in the US. Micah likes trains, K Sera dislikes planes, and Phillip is perpetually confused on how fast they go.

Show Notes:

Amtrak 

Northeast Corridor 

And older article, but Trains versus Planes

K Sera’s Afterthoughts:

- We’re geniuses! Tube trains powered by vacuum? Brilliant!

- Here is a neat graphic map of a possible high speed rail system in the USA created by Alfred Twu. I’d want to tweak this a bit, but overall, it’s a great visual concept. I would probably have two or three different train speeds on each major artery. Express, Limited Express, and All Stops, ideally. There would also be designated cars for different ticket prices, like first class and coach, and probably one or two smoking cars.

- Fun fact about the origins of the word “gymnasium” - the Latin, “gym” comes from the Greek word “gumnos,” which means “naked” then “gumnazein” (naked exercise) - so gymnasium sorta means to exercise naked. Yep. Weird how our train talk goes off the rails so quickly.

- Also. Shut up, me. Ugh. How far was I into my cups this episode? Apologies. Dear listeners and hosts.

Phillip’s Afterthoughts

-I still stand by my reasoning that trains, albeit getting faster, are still much slower than commercial airplanes today. Also, commercial airplanes will sometimes ship goods too, depending on their volume and cargo capacity as well.

-One thing I wish we talked about more is that trains are super-efficient compared to airplanes, and that the carbon footprint of trains are much less impactful compared to the gas guzzling airplanes today

-Also, another thing about this episode: working from a plane is not very fun (especially in the “non-business class” and “non-first-class” experience. For most travelers, working and typing on a laptop in a cramped folding seat is akin to typing up a TPS report while being a human pretzel.

-I also will like to state I am still uncomfortable with locker rooms to this day.

K Sera asks if we are facing the obvious and inevitable future of the next human evolution. Micah brings up the ethics of unleashing a technology upon a tribal humanity. Phill is thinking about Bingo.

 Show Notes:

Well I guess Micah is right: 

Crispr

9th amendment 

Genocide Bingo

Nuclear Arsenal for now

The other, other, other hand. 

K Sera’s After Thoughts:

- Pax Au Telamanus is a character from Pierce Brown’s Red Rising

- Sera is not a doctor, so her “understanding” of vaccines may be totally garbage. Don’t take medical advice from a podcast! Especially from one that doesn’t fact check very well.

- Playing god with human genetics is a super touchy subject and while I think the potential uses for this technology are amazingly cool, the fact that it almost certainly will be used for unethical purposes is a valid concern. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Unfortunately, humanity has never been good at resisting temptation. My prediction is that this technology will eventually exist as a sophisticated tool regardless of any moral quandaries we have about it now.

I really want this technology to exist. So many people could benefit. We know there are genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, or hemophilia that, with this technology, could be rewritten. Poof. Preventable suffering? Gone. I think, if given the choice, most people would choose to be born without the genetic disease they currently struggle with.

But before that, before we start slicing up our dna, there are definitely ethical baby steps we need to work through with this technology, just like with any new technology we develop. I’m not saying I know every ethical challenge we might face with gene editing, but I definitely think we will have to face them in the future. It’s something we need to consider carefully, and soon. There will absolutely need to be globally enforceable laws governing its use. 

Good luck future humans!

Phill’s After Thoughts:

-Well, I didn’t want to get strange about Men’s Rights and abortion in a topic about gene therapy but ultimately if we can’t figure out how we discuss government overreach into autonomy, I don’t know how we can then trust that same government about giving them even more power and control over gene improvements for our society (and by society I mean the future of our humanity). Also I find it weird that “on the other, other, other hand” segment that we don’t address the elephant in the room. What is that elephant? Stay tuned for next week where I will try to never bring it up again.

K Sera wants us to have survival skills. Micah wonders at what length, Phil wants to how to crochet a Pikachu

Note: This podcast was originally recorded in the mid spring 2020 and your hosts are slowly realizing that this period of quarantine is going to go on for a while. Phil actually made a prediction that was kind of correct (survival for blizzard where modern power and electrical is gone) This is yet another a time-capsule episode, but for the most part it remains timeless (well, we hope).

Show Notes:

Ice Lizard 

Poison ivy 

The only knot I tie 

How to start a fire without matches 

Basic first aid conditions 

Year round schooling 

Jnco Jeans (reoccurring theme) 

We like sports (and we don’t care who knows)

Stomp Two Times 

Mushroom soup! (Screams from the silent editor) 

My Dream Podcast Studio 

ASMR 

Crochet Pikachu 

Do people know where meat comes from? 

3d printing of meat 

Impossible Burgers 

Do carrots feel pain? 

K Sera’s After Thoughts:

- Sera the Ice Lizard! ~Hissssssss~ No sorry bones here!

- When I say “paid for by the government” I do in fact realize that means the taxpayers. 

- Micah sews! Phil does not! How amazing!

- Phil is right about the classes being a springboard for continued interest. The key is making it interesting enough to foster a learner’s motivation to continue their education outside of the classroom. ... good luck with that!

- Fuck kickball. Get off my lawn!

- Food printing is the FuTuRe! ...maybe. No more vegetable murdering!

Phil’s After Thoughts:

-Thank you K Sera for a great topic. I have since learned to avoid three leafed plants!

Micah points the bloody obvious and it is up to Phil to defend the indefensible. K Sera makes very prescient predictions.

Note: This podcast was originally recorded in spring 2020 and your hosts are starting to face the pandemic in all of its bluntness. There are a few predictions that Phil has made that were way off the mark. There are other mentions of “cases reaching 50 a day” that while we found to be horrifying back then to not even register a thought today. During this time there was also talk about getting COVID testing and how difficult it was to find a place to do so. This is a time-capsule episode, and while it was only a year ago, it feels like eons.

Show Notes:

So how did the Trump Administration handle COVID-19 response?

The shenanigans of Trump Administrations regarding to N95 mask supplies leads to me actually liking the Patriots

1 in 8 Minnesotans including 20 percent of children, don’t know where their next meal is coming from

Maybe not suspending voting, but certainly election shenanigans were had.

K Sera’s After Thoughts:

- Sorry I keep interrupting you, Phil!

- Step right up! Step right up and get your limited edition Devil’s Argument Sauce! Comes with a side of Devil’s Advocate Spread for all your Disaster Sandwich needs!

- 2020 feels like 10,000 years ago. 

- Insurance shouldn’t be tied to your job in this day and age. As companies and employees have less and less loyalty to each other, the ties of dependence (like benefits) make less sense to keep.

Phil’s After Thoughts:

-Well, another episode released from the time-capsule series. Here at IIO we try to keep our topics non-topical so that they do not expire so quickly. We also have a fairly long lead time compared to most podcasting productions (1 year from recording to publishing). I hope the viewers (and moms) don’t mind a little throwback from a time that felt both recent and forever ago.

-I feel a little vindicated to be honest when I mentioned that (during my Devil’s Argument Sauce) that we cannot blame the Trump Administration for how some folks decided to not follow CDC guidelines. We didn’t even touch on vaccines, masks, and social gathering.

-On a really somber note, by the time this podcast is released over 3 million worldwide have succumbed to the pandemic. I hope that it does not become overshadowed as yet another sad statistic as we enter the final stages of this fight.

-Finally, please keep on interrupting me K Sera! I keep making terrible predictions, you are the only hope to prevent me making more horrible guesses about the future~

Phillip wonders about how to impress others and if doing so essentially defeats the purpose. K Sera and Micah refute.

Show Notes:

This recording originally took place in the spring of 2020 (last year to the publish date of this episode). Some of our comments (about lockdown and empty stadiums) are just scratching the surface of the insanity to come.

K Sera's After Thoughts:

-All I can really say after listening is that I still miss being able to go out and do things. I’ve been trapped in my house for too long. 

- “Impressiveness" impresses no one.

Phillip's After Thoughts:

-I actually want to comment that we started recording "offsite and individually" instead of at the studio where we used to gather around for beers and snacks. While recording at the leisure of our own home (and with separate tracks which makes it easier for the editor), I want to point out that recording an episode isolated has a totally different energy.

-As in the description, some of our comments from early spring of 2020 start to creep up here, I view this as a mini-time capsule of how our optimistic (or pessimistic) views of our ongoing global event are shaping our new reality. In the time of this publishing (almost a year later) we are still not through it, but there is light coming from the end of the tunnel.