Prince Myshkin

Don't you just love them? On Monday my Dad got his car bumped whilst we were out. We were in a shop and some people came in and told us (as they'd seen us get out of it). My Dad went out and jogged down the street to where they were, at a traffic light waiting to turn. They claimed that they were in the process of turning around in order to come back. Anyway my Dad and the driver (a 19 year old with his Uncle) swapped details and it was decided that my Dad would get a quote from the garage and get back to him with a price. Because the car is expensive (Dad's mid life crisis purchase) it will have to go back to the dealer to get a specialised part as my Dad wants the job done properly given how much pride he takes in it. The other driver said that he couldn't pay yet as his Dad was the one with the money and he was overseas at the moment and wouldn't be back for a little while. So my Dad got all his insurance details out when he got back and noticed that his insurance ran out next week. Given that there were going to be complications with getting the money, and since my Dad's insurance was running out so time was of the essence he informed them that he would be going through his insurance rather than sorting it out personally. We received a phone call tonight from the Dad of the driver asking why he was going through his insurance. When my Dad explained he was told he was acting like a Paki and made remarks about things happening when he got back in the country. My Dad asked if he was threatening him and the guy kind of backed down a little then went back to saying he's doing things that a Paki would do. My parents go away on Tuesday for four days and I'll be home alone. Hoping there won't be any form of revenge when I'm on my own. The guys were very muscular with plenty of British Bulldog tattoo's and Union Jack tattoo's, so given their aggressive nature and racism I imagine they may be a little better at fighting than me (perhaps that's an unfair presumption to make). Pretty annoying. I was looking forward to the alone time at home. Now I'm not. They obviously know where we live given our exchange of details, and the driver has already been to the house to take a picture of the car and the damage. My Dad went to speak to the police officer who lives a couple of doors down and she recommend we log it with the police tomorrow morning just in case anything does happen, whether it's damage to property or worse. We are also informing the insurance, too. Fun times. Anyone had any experience of threatening phone calls?

As violence declines that's an unusual thing to say. Anywhere, there we have it. I figured you'd be one of those types. Well done.

J'espere que je parlerai francais toute la semaine pendant mes vacances. Je vais a Ile de Re samedi prochain! (je souhaite que mon clavier a des accents!)

I'm not too sure. I know British things in more detail and Catholics/Protestants have a monopoly. The second paragraph almost made my sig.

Oh no, sorry that's bring on the wall.

I'm getting closer Nick, but I can't see it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/apr/24/religion-gay-marriage-america There's another. I know that the church were originally against it. I'm trying to find the money side of it. Likely to be an opinion piece too so it's best taking that side of it with a pinch of salt i guess. Makes sense to me though, given the churches obsession with wealth back then (and even now).

Battering them.

Haha, City are so hateable.

Trying to track it down. I have a feeling it was a Guardian article I read last year. I will find it. In the meantime, religion in the western world only got it's hands on it after the fall of the Roman Empire for certain, as before then it had been purely civil: http://theweek.com/article/index/228541/how-marriage-has-changed-over-centuries Completely repression of any thought is bad. Even racism, homophobia and sexism. It is true that there is a long way to go until religion does not receive preferential treatment and it still has many problems to give us, but education and discussion is the way forward. Ideally we would live in a more rational world and religion wouldn't be here and people would cope with that and pursue other things but this is not the case.

If it was true, which I have no idea if it is, I don't see why you are using terms such as pitiful. It just makes me think that there's something sinister about your ramblings. It's nature. What is pitiful about nature?

Very true. It's amazing (and I've done it myself) how once the argument progresses people keep arguing with the same certainty whilst merely regurgitating. Definitely regarding the economy. So complex. Ah yeah, I remember i signed up to an online course on arguments. I should do it sometime. Too busy learning French right now though. I used to be a bad sport when it came to arguing. Twisting things around and bending the truth a little to win an argument. Saying things more forcefully to convince the other person. I've pretty much completely phased that side of me out now though. Can't remember the last time I did it. Well it's good that you don't use the techniques I used above. Also good that you don't let it get to you that you don't argue too much. You're very right about it being hard to change peoples perceptions. There's a guy i talk to often (i'm sure I mentioned him in another thread recently) and he always comes out with the same things about immigrants etc. And I calmly explain where he is wrong and by the end of the conversation he agrees with me. Then I see him in a couple of months and he's forgotten everything I've said. Sometimes I wonder what the point is. I don't have time to correct him on everything. He really is like a character in a bad book who is there just to get things wrong so that the lead character can correct him and look good. I've heard him saying he thinks africans should have lower age of consent because they have lower life expectancies. That;s the level he's at. He's 27 and he was being deadly serious. Said it should be 12 or something like that. I spent ages explaining mortality rates in childhood leading to a drop in life expectancy, but once you got past four of five years you were likely to live until you were very old. I explained the problems some areas of Africa has with education into contraception and the spread of disease. I explained the problem of overpopulation in some areas. I explained how sex and rape is often used as a weapon to control women and OF COURSE I explained the whole twelve year old not being old enough to give consent. Saw him a month later and he'd forgotten all the points he'd conceded on the topic. 45 minutes it took me.

I'm 25 and I don't know what I want to do. Study hard and when you come out of education (at whichever level you choose) and you will have more freedom over which areas you explore. Either something you have a passion for or something you excel in. Or something that pays well and allows you to flourish outside of work. Just because you don't know where you are going, doesn't mean you're going to end up in a crap place. And just because you start out in a crap place, doesn't mean you'll be there forever. And of course, this works the other way around. Just try your hardest and went you aren't studying do fulfilling things.

A good point about nudging there. There are nudges that aren't beneficial for people, such as placing junk food at the tills at supermarkets to encourage impulse purchasing. Good for business, bad for health. But placing these things out in the first place, free of charge, was not a nudge as such. I think it was more convenience. I guess you could say that it was linked to making the business as convenient as possible and therefore more likely to attract custom, but I wouldn't say it was nudge on the same level as junk food by the tills or the removal of sauces from tables to improve health. I guess in a world of capitalism there are few things that are not there to part you with your money and influence your behaviour.

When they get high brow, or anywhere near complicated, don't you always feel that it becomes people just repeating the arguments of people who know more, or who they think know more? Stuff's so fucking complicated and multi layered. It's all fucking difficult. Half the time the people with all the information are speculating, or interpreting it in a way that reinforces their previously held beliefs. That doesn't make it wrong, of course, but yeah.

It's weird how everyone knows about that stuff now. It was what I listened to as I went to sleep a good few years ago. I've been woken up many times by Ricky's laugh. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I prefered it when it was only a select few who knew the references. edit - I'm talking when it was podcasts and audiobooks - before they animated it. I do like the animations though.

According to Jay Neitz, and ophthalmologist, all you'd need is a fourth photopigment. It could be possible simply with a shot. Given he's American I imagine that means an injection, rather than a chaser. But it's early days.

Colour blindness is becoming more and more important in our colour coded world. Anyway, they have cured colour blindness in chimps and are now working on doing it in humans. The only obstacle appears to be how to do it safely. They even believe it will get to the stage where they will be able to offer everybody tetrachromatic sight. And you'd imagine everyone would take it. I would. It'd be like getting somebody a better tv, but it would be their everyday sight.

It made me all

I have now sent two questions to Kat for Emma. Don't forget you can do this peeps. Any news on when yours will be up Kat? Looking forward to it.

I got 81, so poor, but as I said, there is a major problem with monitors in comparison to real life. That test is useful though.

How did you make such a test? Scientists are struggling to test for this and have had to develop new systems for this given that there is a huge learning experience to our experience of colour. Monitors and screens only show the colours trichromats would see, and most commercial paints are based on similar colour mixing. If you're surrounded by human made objects then there is nothing to stimulate the extra colour sense.

Close thread.

My Dad suggested it may be to give some of the youngsters experience without the pressure.

It says un usually. Which doesn't make sense. I presume it means unusually.

I think I have it between greeny browns and browny greens (I'm fine when there isn't any ambiguity - so I see the traffic light as green). Anyway, I was reading up on it recently and found out that there is such a thing as a tetrachromats. As a species, humans are trichromatic. But there is a polymorphism in the red pigment, so not everybody has the same. It is possible for a female to have two different red receptors - say, orange-red and yellow-red. Tests have been done on retinas from an eye bank and found that some had the gene expression for four types of receptor. This was present in about 1 in 200 women. After carrying out genetic tests on people who say they have experiences seeing hues that other people can't see, it turns out that they have genes for the extra pigments. These people are tetrachromatic. It is believed these people see a hundred times more colours than normal. Sounds pretty fucking cool. So basically, does anybody have colour blindness or tetrachromatic vision?