Yes, mathematicians first encountered equations which could only be solved with complex numbers in the 16th century.

The Red Green Show

Easy-going comedy with minimal plot, mostly there to tie together an episode of shorter skits. Some Boomer humor, but not too cringe, I think.

Who set those rules? Is there standards body that promulgates them? I remember that social media emerged as a term to describe media on which the users provided the content, rather than traditional gatekeepers like newspapers and TV networks. Wikipedia agrees, using special jargon, distinguishing between monologic and dialogic media models.

Reddit is quintessential social media.

It may not be the most poetic, but I’m partial to the word holdfast, which is a biological structure that anchors organisms to surfaces. “Hold fast” was an order given to sailors of yore, telling them to grab tightly onto the ship to avoid being washed overboard in storms. The word suggests images of kelp, mussels, or sponges doing the same, determinedly holding fast against the waves, figurative and literal.

WDYM? I can be a railroad mogul one day, or an oil baron, an automotive entrepreneur, a sugar plantation owner, or even a privateer, if I hustle hard enough, right?

“Souvenirs” sometimes being a polite way to say “body parts,” which were not always removed after death.

Children and sex. Recently on local social media, there was a discussion on our topless laws. Of course, there were the predictable comments about women not going topless where children might see.

Well, why not, Karen? It’s utterly ridiculous when you consider what breasts are for, and what children are meant to do with them. Yes, it’s true the children shouldn’t be engaging in sex acts, and the details of adult sexual behavior should be kept from them, since they’re not equipped to understand, e.g. BDSM and power play, yet. But if kids see a pair of boobs, if kids see naked people, or even if kids know the basic functions of body parts, they’ll be fine. Lots of kids throughout human history lived in small dwellings and heard, or even saw, parents and other members of their community having sex, and they all survived the experience.

Communicable disease? Now there’s something that we should be protecting children from…

Every new thing I learn about Florida makes it sound worse.

Medical staff do it routinely.

Yes, absolutely, as the population has increased, so has the feeling of being in the proverbial crab bucket.

Best that I can think of would be to create an endowed institute of political scientists, psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists, et cetera, dedicated to studying and developing ways to counter right-wing populism, and de-program people who fall under its sway.

Sunburn, maybe. Perhaps he’s a “sunscreen skeptic,” too.

I’ll go extra-spicy and point out that there’s no such thing as “ownership” as we know it without government. Legal-wonkishly, ownership is enforceable, transferrable, exclusive title to property. I can “own” land that I’m only physically present on for a few days per year because my name is on a piece of paper in a file cabinet in a government office, and it’s backed up by a court system and police force that’s constituted and willing to enforce my title.

I just mention it because a lot of the deregulation whiners are the same people as the “taxation is theft” whiners.

What a weird thing for her dad to say.

Lot of great options here, but this is the most badass by far!

Google Translate for Conservativese:

LAW ➡️ The exercise of state power, or its agents. e.g. “The law is at the door.”

ORDER ➡️ Social hierarchy. e.g. This pardon restored order by putting this woman a back in the social hierarchy where a white conservative belongs, rather than at the bottom, under the bootheel of the law, with the brown people.

A friend years ago clued me in to the Rosetta Stone for understanding conservatives: At base, they have a deep, abiding self-hatred. Yes, people often say it’s fear, but everybody’s motivated by fear of something. The conservative is motivated specifically by fear that they’re worthless, that they don’t measure up.

It makes so much sense when you game it out: They’re constantly needing external validation that they are good, or at least, better than somebody else. The basis of racism becomes clear as day in this light, and the desperate need to be special is just kind of axiomatic.

Skill issue. Should be doing both at the same time.

I got degrees from both a community college and a major research university. The two don’t share instructors, but on average, the quality is much better at the community college.

Community college instructors are there to teach. They go to continuing education classes to learn how to do it better. Some classes at a research university are taught by similar, dedicated instructors, but some are taught by the professor who drew the metaphorical short straw that semester, and who’d rather be focusing on her research. She will put in her best effort, don’t get me wrong, but her first priority is research.

That is to say, for anyone thinking about a degree, don’t overlook the value of community college.

(ETA: I work at a research university now; the research professors who also teach are some of my co-workers.)

This.

It’s irrational to consider maximum monetary gain to be the only best outcome. Why? What’s the goal? Money is only means to an end, not intrinsically worth anything.

Put another way, if the Argentinians cherish good wine, how are they better off with slightly more money and mediocre wine? (I guess they could use the profits to buy good wine?)