Michael Marsh

Thanks guys! It's too bad that one study is behind a paywall, I'll see if anyone I know still affiliated with a university can get it for me. I'll also continue to get more creative in my googling search terms and post anything else I can find. Also Eh Steve, love your name. Haven't been to homestarrunner.com in forever!

Hi All, When urging men to choose virtuous women, Stef always references scientific studies showing how men "turn stupid" when merely thinking of sex. That makes a ton sense intuitively and anecdotally, but a quick search on various search engines reveals very little actual scientific literature to read or share with interested others. Does anyone (Stef or Mike in particular) have links to these studies? I'd love to be able to learn more about this. Thanks, - Mike

Thanks!

I work for a middle-stage YC company, and having traded "startup stories" with the founders, it's entirely unbelievable that this woman is able to "maintain a stable life for my young daughters and make the most of YC." Well, maybe the latter is true, but definitely not the former. My ex, who I met through my university's startup community, was a similarly ambitious woman, ironically with a dream of "helping children", but seemed to have a little to no regard for our own potential future children. From circumcision to women she knew getting artificially impregnated and raising the child on their own (both things she was very much for), she was a perfect picture of mainstream uncritical feminist thought. The tech community in general seems very eager to be seen as more "feminist". While there are undoubtedly some cases of unfair sexism in the industry (like all industries) that need to be addressed, it can be disheartening to see so many otherwise smart men and women embrace so many feminist tropes, like "the working mom", so uncritically, dismissing any dissenting opinion as "sexism". Ironically, the author is ignoring the needs of helpless, dependent future women (her own daughters!), to build a social forum for adult, independent women. In 15 years: "Sorry I couldn't be there for you girls, remember to register at women.com so we can chat about how your life problems now are all patriarchy's fault!"

Oh man, that's brilliant. I need to get my hands on some eggplant and try that soon.

I was just thinking this myself! I've always enjoyed Stef's references to Nietzsche (particularly slave/master morality) sprinkled throughout the videos, and would love to hear his thoughts on the man and his ideas in more depth.

Just watched Dead Poet's Society last night, and there's so much to talk about! I'll definitely try to finagle my way into this GMT call, even though I'm in the U.S.

Mindfulness In Plain English is probably my favorite book on the subject, and it's free here: http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

That movie left a bad taste in my mouth on a very fundamental level. It was undoubtedly a superbly acted and directed thriller, which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, but also had me viscerally disturbed and unsettled throughout most of it, with very little relief at the end. <spoilers> The brutal torture of the character Paul Dano's character "Alex" by Hugh Jackman's character was gut-wrenchingly difficult to watch, even when I as an audience member was convinced that Alex had done something terrible to the children. It was made infinitely worse in retrospect by the revelation that Alex had been a victim himself for the last 10 years of the same traumatic treatment the children captured by the old lady were currently receiving. When the movie was over (after that little girl just barely survived her lethal injection), I couldn't help but think that the old lady had "won": Alex has his mental growth stunted and was subject to unbelievable trauma, the younger children are burdened with their terrifying experience, and Hugh Jackman, although he "survived", will forever be haunted by the realization of the senseless brutality he inflicted with his own hands. </spoilers> While watching "Prisoners" was undoubtedly a powerful emotional experience for me and the friends I was watching it with, I don't think I could recommend that anyone else watch it, since the emotions invoked were overwhelmingly negative.

Just saw this movie, on the recommendation of another thread here, and I loved it! The most fascinating thing to me watching the movie was my own subconscious "white knighting": I didn't see any bad Scarlett Johannson's character until her first direct confrontation with Jon (the "Swiffer" scene). At that point I caught myself in what I had been doing and saw her more clearly for the rest of the movie. NGardner, do you mind sharing why you turned it off? I can understand the gratuitous nudity being off-putting, but I think anyone on this forum can tell you that the rest of the movie is a worthwhile and rewarding watch.

Hi Steve! I've been a web application developer for roughly 3 years now, and although I've been very interested in Tor and Tails ever since hearing about them, I've yet to take a deep dive into either (other than occasionally using them for no other reason than curiosity and fun). That being said, I would definitely appear to be an expert on both to an "average" (for a wide enough definition of "average") web user, and would love to hear more about what you're planning, in case it's something I'd like to help out with. Thanks, - Mike