Taboo Topics (Heavily moderated)

Crawfish · Post by **Crawfish** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:31 am

Oh my fucking god, Hairi. I don't even know. It's soi...... aybe I'm desensitized or whatever, but idk. It just doesn't affect me.

OH MY GOD SHADLKLSFKDN?FKD

Deiphobus · Post by **Deiphobus** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:44 am

Miss StarSeed wrote:Yes, because saying "You can't put yourself in the shoes of ten thousand" automatically means "Anymore than one and we don't give a shit."

I can't put myself in the shoes of over 500 people. That is my threshold before my reaction is stunned silence. That is why I said I entered shock and not that everyone did. I would think everyone has a point where, after so many people have suffered or died, they just... have no idea how to react. That is what I was getting at.

no, i mean like looking through the eyes of some ten year old boy, through his all of his childhood memories with his parents, and then the earthquake, waiting for rescue workers to pull his parents out, only to find they're dead, and see them laying on the street, side by side with all the other victims, covered in blankets. and then thinking what if you were in his position, how will life be afterward.

i don't think i can handle even a few of those

Miss Starseed · Post by **Miss Starseed** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:50 am

My threshold for imagining something like that used to be very low. It has become bigger because I want to help people, but still. I can't imagine five hundred children knowing they will never get to be hugged by their parents again, or hear their voices. It's heart-breaking.

Deiphobus · Post by **Deiphobus** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:57 am

yeah, that's what i usually think when i try to get into someone's shoes. sorry if i sounded like a jerk or a numbnut or something like that.

i can't imagine what the future will be like for them either. where will they go? what will happen to them? or how traumatizing it must be. or, as foo said, if they develop lung problems, maybe even cancer in the future. it's too much.

Post by **Superior Bacon** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:29 am

oh god this thread is going to make my cry this is why i stopped watching the news

Karilyn · Post by **Karilyn** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:39 pm

Deiphobus wrote:are you saying one person can only handle one other person's suffering, anymore than that and we're overwhelmed?

Within reason. Not just one person. But rather the limits of their mental capacity after taking account of all the people in their past, present, and future life that they have dedicated a "I care for you" spot in their brain for.

Ye olde Dunbar's Number

It's less a fixed number, and more the concept that it becomes harder and harder for the brain to care for people they more people they already care for. Generally around 150 people is commonly accepted average number.

Which would include things like, people from your past like schoolmates you still care about, or deceased relatives. Or people from your present like coworkers you like, or family. Or people from your future like your unborn child.

People who land outside that dedicated space in your brain for the number of people you care about, tend to be more like scenery. Road bumps in life, that you really never think about much as being a person. For example, those ten thousand other drivers on the road who are just as stressed out and annoyed about traffic as you are, but in your mind, are just getting in your way. Just like in their mind, everyone else is getting in their way. Nobody conceptualizes them as people with real problems.

The human brain is finite, though we don't think of it that way very often. You can only fit so many people in the "I care" disk, before you run out of memory and start having to delete things to fit more people on the hard drive.

LeftRightLeft · Post by **LeftRightLeft** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 2:56 am

I really like Karilyn's posts, so informative

(no sarcasm intended just a simple compliment)

Defenestrator2.0 · Post by **Defenestrator2.0** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:45 am

LeftRightLeft wrote:I really like Karilyn's posts, so informative

(no sarcasm intended just a simple compliment)

Anyway, I figured that the discussion about America and other countries is better suited for here rather than Fooflyer's thread. We've derailed that topic enough already. It's not fair to Fooflyer, nor does it do the news story justice. I figure that nationalism and the expression of distaste for other countries is pretty taboo, as it is not often talked about.

Post by **Superior Bacon** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:59 am

Decker, I love you, but please shut up about America. We know you don't like America. We know you like Britain.

So drop it, okay?

Sloth · Post by **Sloth** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:04 am

I'm actually glad I'm American. We have a lot of freedom compared to the rest of the world. I just sometimes feel ashamed of our countries history.

Myk · Post by **Myk** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:06 am

daisies. What happened in Haiti is horrible.

Don't we have devices that can predict Earthquakes now?

Post by **DarkSurfer** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:09 am

Yeah, as they're happening. Far as I know, the nature of earthquakes and how they work is still theoretical. That, and I'm not sure how common earthquakes are say, compared to California where its more pertinent to have precautions. If there's much of any early warning system for them I don't know about it.

Post by **Shad** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:21 am

The Big Cheese wrote:Yeah, as they're happening. Far as I know, the nature of earthquakes and how they work is still theoretical. That, and I'm not sure how common earthquakes are say, compared to California where its more pertinent to have precautions. If there's much of any early warning system for them I don't know about it.

Last big earthquake in Haiti was back in 1834 (Edit : 1843) I believe.
Also yeah we can't detect exactly when an earthquake will happen. Wikipedia says we can only estimate the probabilities of an earthquake affecting "a given location over a certain number of years".

Miss Starseed · Post by **Miss Starseed** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:03 am

I really don't pretend to dislike any kind of country if I haven't lived there myself or done very extensive research.

So in other words I only know about Canada, and even then, just the areas I live in.

But I like the areas I have lived in. What would that be? City spirit?

Snarf · Post by **Snarf** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:05 am

I have a strong indifference to every country.