Isn't It Obvious

NOTE: Originally recorded in the summer of 2021, a year prior to the publication of this episode. Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine.

Phil asks if it is obvious we need to rename the Cold War. Micah discusses the history of the cold war, the continuation of the impacts we face today, proxy warfare, and our American reluctance to look into the mirror. K Sera makes predictions of things to come.

 

Show notes:

n/a

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Well, I was wrong, though we were also kinda right. Russia is currently trying to annex Ukraine and there are absolutely guns and planes and people dying. Russians are fleeing the country right now to avoid conscription. It’s a literal bloody mess and the USA and NATO allies want to help Ukraine, but we also are terrified of escalating this into a full on hot mess of nuclear war, even though I feel like that is just playing for time. Russia is struggling to take and keep territory. The Ukrainians have dug in their heels and are starting to push back. I would guess that Putin is starting to feel backed into a corner. He’s that guy in the fight that is starting to realize he has no way out.

In a recent interview on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Experts podcast, I heard Ice-T say this line: “And you know, we used to say in the hood, the worst person is the scared mother f*er, ‘cause the scared mother f*er will kill you. If you think you go’n bully him, he’s like, well I can’t fight you. I can’t do anything. So you got my back up against the wall and I’ll kill you.”

The world is worried that Putin is the scared mother f*ker in this stupid war over his stupid ego.

- Moving on… I don’t think we can call this Cold War II until this conflict is over, because honestly… if it doesn’t stay “cool” the war is going to have a very different name. Like the Boiling War or Spillover or The Great Radiation or… something. And the fallout is to be determined, but likely nothing positive. I hope it’s nothing worse than the "Warm War" or the "Simmering War"…

- Micah has given up on humanity. Phil has some hope still. And l… have a lot of ‘oh well, it’s out of my control, so… guess we’ll see’ apathy. 

- Also, the United States (and the world) needs therapy. Micah said something along the lines of: “We’ve been dealing with a way of insulting ourselves from our failures for 50 years, and when we didn’t have an ‘other’ of which to blame it on, where does that blame and anger go? It can only go back in. Because there is no outlet.” All I can say is, this is irrational thinking. We can find a better and more constructive way to accept our failures. Aggression (internal or external) being the reflexive response to failure is unhealthy, unproductive and totally stems from toxic masculinity. Stop being the scared mother f*ker afraid of looking like a fool with your ‘wounded’ pride. Deal with your failures like a rational adult and stop being an aggressor. Stop hurting your partners, family, co-workers and allies. Looking at you, shitty toxic countries of the world. You know who you are. The USA is not exempt.

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-A year ago the idea that Russia would annex rest of Ukraine was actually on our bingo card. Although everyone in the US thought that if Russia did invade it would be like Crimea 2.0 (where it would a complete takeover in less than a weekend). To be honest, it almost was (if the Ukrainian president would have fled, we'd be living in Cold War II still).

  -I think Micah's assessment of the American psyche is very harrowing. Our southern states have a state-holiday literally called Heroes Day where schools and businesses take the day off to celebrate the heroes of the confederate army. In some southern states they want to remove references to slavery in US history. The "war of northern aggression" is not double speak for our fellow Americans south of the Mason Dixon Line. I agree with both of you: America, like every country, needs a therapist.   -The Ukrainian War is a proxy war. Nato weapons, with Nato intelligence, with Nato drones, with Nato ammunition, with 5 billion a month Nato cash, to a non-Nato nation. It really feels like that vintage tit-for-tat when compared with Vietnam War, Korean War, and Afghanistan War- Russian Season Pass.   -I think Cold War I is a fine name, but not without flaws. If we are to be so analytical, it should be called "Resource War, circa 1946 to 1991."   -As for being black-pilled, Micah's sentiment isn't wrong. But at the same point, if we can't even predict a year from now, how can we predict the entire span for the future of humanity? I still believe that humans will continue to do suboptimal moves to help one another, and despite some humans being the absolute worst, that most humans will go out of their way to help each other. I believe in this because I must.   K Sera's after thoughts on Phil's after thoughts -I am mostly disgusted when I hear our southern country folk talk about "Northern Aggression" and celebrate fallen "heros" - sadly, I stand by my statement: you can't kill an idea.   -This is a proxy war for NATO. And I believe your name for it is exactly correct. It's resources. It's always about resources. I'd say Micah is right that there is a very high probability that we will destroy ourselves. But, yeah... I hope not. We haven't so far, so hopefully we keep that going.     Micah's after thoughts: -MARS (Micah A**HOLE Rating Scale) = Bananas (pronounced Buh-NAH-NAHS)

In this episode we discuss the hot dog and bun ratios!

 

Shownotes:

N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- I still can’t believe Micah doesn’t use oil or even water in his non-stick pans. I mean, yes, you CAN do that, but, heck, I don’t trust the non-stick-ness of my pans enough to risk that.

- It was a beef chuck roast, pretty sure. Made a French dip sandwich.

- Micah isn’t allergic to bread. He’s got fodmap sensitivities like me, only he seems way more sensitive, poor bean.

- My toaster, btw, is still working great! It will never die. My toaster is immortal. It will have front row seats to the heat death of the universe.

- My dishwasher, however… not so. :(

- Someone shut us up. Ugh.

- The conclusion is: hotdogs and their buns are fine as they are. No need to change quantities. It already works great! Like my toaster!

 

Micah's after thoughts:

-The M.A.R.S. (Micah A**HOLE Rating Scale) for this episode is 3.14

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-I honestly have no idea how we derailed so hard and fast in this episode. For those that are still listening, thank you!

In this episode, Micah discusses introducing laws to ban social media for the first minute of recording. Every minute after that is a total derailment.

Note: This episode was originally recorded in the summer of 2021 (last year from the publication of this episode). We make predictions of things to come, and even our level of pessimism could not endure what Reality has for sale.

 

Show notes:

N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- “Humans are terrible predictors of the future.” - I have never felt so wrong a year later. Are we psychic? Let’s pretend all we said was, “Humans are terrible.”

- That’s really all I have to say on this one.

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-This episode was tough to revisit. The fact that we are moving backwards so fast (and with such vigor) it feels like every new day is a new depth reached of Republican leadership depravity.

-But I remain hopeful of a better future, because despite all the evidence to the contrary, I truly believe that Americans are powered by two things: Innovation and THE POWER TO BE SO DAMN SPITEFUL THAT WE WILL REMAIN FOREVER HOPEFUL TO CHANGE OUR DESTINY FOR THE BETTER; IF ONLY TO SPITE THOSE THAT CONTINUE TO STRIP OUR FREEDOMS AWAY. I WILL BE SPITEFULLY HOPEFUL.

Phil wants to update Tic Tac Toe so that it is more fun. Micah finds a game breaking glitch, and K Sera offers much better substitutes for paperless games.

 

Show Notes:

Tic Tac Toe

Play Chess!

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- As for chess and its current solvelessness… here is what Wikipedia says “solved” means. This assumes “perfect play” or as Micah put it “optimal moves” - all that said, I think the jury is out right now on whether it might be a solved game some day. Probably not in our lifetimes at any rate.

- Go is usually played on a 19x19 board, Micah.

- Adding a gambling aspect to solved games like tic tac toe might make a game more fun and unpredictable for people who enjoy that kind of thing… I guess. Not really for me, though. I don’t particularly care for gambling. If I participate in silly bets, it’s more for the other party’s amusement.

- Also, the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle is not the same thing as solving chess. An irrational number isn’t the same thing as possible moves on a limited board from a limited set of pieces. Sorry Phil. Tic tac no!

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-Good points Sarah (and well played!)

-I really like Chess and Board Games, but that does not mean I am good at them (the Editor frequently beats me). That being said,  I love the challenge and the "act of playing" (if that makes any sense).

-I just don't like it when it becomes too competitive. For me, once it reaches a point where you can't have friendly banter while playing, it feels more like work.

K Sera says that cats should remain indoors. Micah disagrees. Phil talks about Jared Diamond again.

 

Show notes:

Cats are bad for wildlife

Guns Germs and Steel

Zebra domestication

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Some poland scientists have classified the domestic house cat as “invasive alien species: - but before you get your tinfoil hats on, let’s clarify: they don’t mean cats descended from the heavens on space crafts (as awesome as that sci/fi story would be), they mean that the domestic house cat came from a different habitat and was brought into a place where it is not native, has no natural predators, and can quite easily decimate native bird populations if left unchecked.

- Keeping your cat indoors protects your cat and the native wildlife. Also, be a responsible pet owner and have your cat fixed. Your entire household will appreciate it.

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-I wish I could walk my cat around the neighborhood with a leash! I STILL WISH FOR THIS!

Micah asks about tunnels. K Sera and Phil have a very short attention span.

 

Shownotes:

Boston highway system

Saint Paul sad highway story of split neighborhood

Eisenhower road system

2nd largest state fair

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Tunnels are death traps waiting to happen followed by hours of clogged roadways with nowhere to go. 

- Land bridges are a much better idea.

- Minnesota is 4th in the US for most roads, but 13th for most roads per capita. 

- Where is this conversation going? To a bar maybe?

- We really went off the rails on this one. Trains are great, btw.

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-Sorry for the audio quality on this one folks! For that one listener, I apologize!

-It would be nice if Minnesota didn't have to rely so much on cars, but for now it seems that we'll all be driving electric auto-pilot cars before we have a subway in this state.

-I also like trains!

K Sera asks if it is obvious that Merfolk (or any intelligent life that is stuck in the water) cannot advance their civilization because of their environment.

 

Show notes:

Europa Clipper

Medium article about this very subject

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- I have since learned that cement cures just fine underwater, so it may be that there is a way to build cement bricks underwater or somehow pour and set them underwater. Not sure how mixing the materials underwater would work, however. I wish I knew more about this!

- Being able to successfully leave the current, “safe” environment might be a good measure of a species’ evolutionary advancement. It seems like a good measurement for maturity advancement (on a smaller scale), when a child “leaves the nest” and graduates on to adulthood. It’s kind of similar? The next step for us is space. After that? Who knows!

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-I am excited for the Europa mission (should be in two years. from the time of publishing this episode)!

-I do think that a life that is confined only to water (and does not have access to land resources) will never evolve past the stone age.

-But my final question of "What is Humanities barrier to the next stage of civilization, and what would the next stage of civilization even look like?" still has me thinking. 

 

Micah discusses the fall of civilization and driving cars. Phil is terrible wrong with statistics, and K Sera has to listen to us all.

 

Show notes:

-N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Fish with human-like teeth exist!

- Phil was wrong about being in the top 1% in MInnesota. It’s closer to 570k. You are in the top 5% if you make about 250k/year. *Cries poverty tears*

- Don’t listen to Micah, either. He has bad ideas.

 

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-I am WRONG about the percentages of being in the top 1%, 10% and 20%. I am also WRONG about how the hell people can amass so much wealth in Minnesota. I see people driving nice cars with nice homes and having a nice (and large) family. How?!

-The Editor says it's financed by debt.

Phil asks if it is obvious that potions in video games taste like Hawaiian punch. Micah and K Sera disagree.

 

Show notes:

-N/A

 

Micah enjoys accents. Phil enjoys them too. K Sera tells a story about the Editor.

 

Show notes:

N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Ok, I love accents, they are lovely, sometimes funny, mostly charming and I love when people use interesting voices in story telling or dnd or acting out a part or doing an impression. So long as it isn’t a malicious joke being made, or a caricature meant to be insulting or derogatory to a group.
- One of my favorite narrators has a whole bunch of voices/accents for several dozens of characters in one of my favorite pop-corn military sci-fi stories. In the story, there are characters from all over the world (and other parts of the galaxy) serving in their respective country’s military divisions. The narrator gives them an accent that’s, to my uncultured ear, a reasonable representation of a non-native speaker from their respective countries speaking in English.
- I haven’t ever interpreted his narration as a derogatory or insensitive exaggeration for the sake of a “funny bit” in the story. Intent and intended audience are important. The rule of “punching up” is important.
- As an aside to that. I also think it really is important to kindly reeducate others when or if they make a rude statement or do something that is offensive. The first reaction should be kind correction. However, if the asshole is still punching down after that, well, then they probably deserve a kick or two at that point, eh?

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-Accents create the variation that makes life more charming. Fake accents are nice but like many things, if overdone it can ruin the fun for everyone.

  -Also, it implies a level of intelligence too (for real accents) since it means they are conversing in a totally different language from what they were raised with.   -Finally, accents are very useful for story telling.   -But I agree with Micah that speaking with a fake accent doesn't have a lot of room outside of D&D and audiobooks/story presentations.