Chat Thread 34: Something I Shouldn't Be Chatting About

RancidRabbit · Post by **RancidRabbit** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:16 pm

To college! That's what I did, but it really depends on what career you want to take for where to go after high school. I know plenty of people who live well without college education in fields they enjoy working that required some other training, but then there are the ones who want to be physics professors and computer programmers who need college experience.

The Grey Wolverine · Post by **The Grey Wolverine** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:45 pm

Well I'm learning to work in a trade, but I'm thinking of trying to get into Mass Maritime Academy, but I don't think I have the grades to go into there. So I have NO idea what I'm going to do.

sonic id furreh!!! · Post by **sonic id furreh!!!** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:48 pm

The Grey Wolverine wrote:Well I'm learning to work in a trade, but I'm thinking of trying to get into Mass Maritime Academy, but I don't think I have the grades to go into there. So I have NO idea what I'm going to do.

so you're gonna be a marine? :3

The Grey Wolverine · Post by **The Grey Wolverine** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:57 pm

What? No, Mass Maritime teaches the matinence and operation of large ships, it has nothing to do with the marines.

RancidRabbit · Post by **RancidRabbit** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:11 pm

Captain of the sea, then! A fine career. If you feel you may not make it in but still really wish to make a living with boats or the like, you could always see what other options around that category are available.

sonic id furreh!!! · Post by **sonic id furreh!!!** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:14 pm

The Grey Wolverine wrote:What? No, Mass Maritime teaches the matinence and operation of large ships, it has nothing to do with the marines.

oh... you should be a marine :3

The Grey Wolverine · Post by **The Grey Wolverine** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:22 pm

I won't. Joining the military violates one of my rules, to stay out of conflicts unless I am involved.

Rook · Post by **Rook** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:34 pm

The Grey Wolverine wrote:I won't. Joining the military violates one of my rules, to stay out of conflicts unless I am involved.

Same. I'm not sure I'm willing to risk my life unless my country's security is in danger.

CaptainPea · Post by **CaptainPea** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:43 pm

RancidRabbit wrote:Captain of the sea, then! A fine career.

Even finer than Captain of the Pea

I get motion sick, I'm not good on boats. Planes are cool, other than the fact that I'm afraid of heights and that thing where during take-off it feels like you're falling instead of rising, that's always fun. Piloting large passenger vehicles may not be the best avenue for me to pursue.

FlintTheSquirrel · Post by **FlintTheSquirrel** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 11:09 pm

Hmm.... well the last thing I would ever want to do in life is join the military. I am not one who would want to take the lives of others, directly or indirectly.... I am not patriotic at the least either. Why can people just stop fighting each other pointlessly. ;<

RancidRabbit · Post by **RancidRabbit** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 11:45 pm

Because we keep finding points to fight for, or at the least making them up. It's pretty much a condition, but most join in hopes of preventing any threat from getting to their loved ones, not for some silly 'I wanna kill stuff' - which I'm sure actually gets you disqualified automatically.

Anyway, I thought of joining the military after high school, but it didn't feel quite right. My family has a history of veterans, but its more like you are or you aren't, and I'm not.

In silly news, beware the beast of Pirate's Bay if you're ever out that way. He'll eat you up and spit you out, so you better stay away.

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 11:55 pm

The Grey Wolverine wrote:Well I'm learning to work in a trade, but I'm thinking of trying to get into Mass Maritime Academy, but I don't think I have the grades to go into there. So I have NO idea what I'm going to do.

beg borrow and steal until you can get in
life's too short to sell yourself short.
Find a way in.

And if all else fails be a starving artist it's a socially acceptable way to never get a real job.

yehoshua · Post by **yehoshua** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:10 am

People don't pay you that much because they know you're used to starving!

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:14 am

yehoshua wrote:People don't pay you that much because they know you're used to starving!

But it' such a great way to stay in shape!

yehoshua · Post by **yehoshua** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:15 am

And dead, don't forget dead.

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:17 am

Well
at least you can die beautiful

GunRacer · Post by **GunRacer** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:18 am

Guess I take too long to post when three new replies have come up. Anyways...

Flint: Why can't people stop fighting each other pointlessly? It comes down to this: persuasion and force. Those are the only two ways I can get another person to do something.

For example, I could walk up to you and say, "Hey, Flint, I was wondering if I could have your video game collection. Do you mind?" If you're any sort of sane, you'd say no. Now if I said your collection would be the basis of the Smithsonian's new exhibit on video games, and that you'd be handsomely compensated and lauded through the ages, maybe you'd say yes. But I couldn't just get you to give me the games and consoles; I'd have to make a case for why. And you'd decide. Persuasion.

Or I could just put a gun to your head and say, "Your collection or your life." Much simpler and easier for me, no? That's force.

Some people will choose force over persuasion, because they could frankly care less about the lives of others. The only effective response is also force-- odds are, you're not likely to persuade me to stop pointing my .357 at your noggin. You've got nothing to bargain with; I can already make you do whatever I want.

But if I find my gun swatted away and yours in my face, well, I might back down. Or not. And if not, you would be justified in shooting (and perhaps killing) me. You did what was neccessary to protect yourself, and maybe even the guy down the street who I planned on robbing next. Force is sometimes the only effective counter to force.

So anyways, people kill each other pointlessly because it's easier than having to legitimately acquire what they want via persuasion. This is true for individuals and nations alike. Sadly, force or the threat of force must be used in kind, to stop evil from having its way. The alternative is to pull a Neville Chamberlain "There will be peace in our time", and that didn't work out so hot when Britain tried it...

Or both parties could be totally messed up and just wanna duke it out. Which is even more tragic; you can only explain that by appealing to human nature-- and if our species' history is any indication, don't expect this to stop any time soon.

Make that a half-dozen replies. Yikes.

Mod Edit: Merged Double Post.

CaptainPea · Post by **CaptainPea** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:30 am

While I don't think it's crossed the threshold yet, I will warn you folks that discussions about war (even in general terms) have the potential to become heated if not handled very delicately.

GunRacer wrote:Make that a half-dozen replies. Yikes.

It's not nearly as bad as it used to be. In the time it took to hit the submit button and read the new post that I was informed had been written, there would be four new ones to read when I hit submit again. Recently I think we've been improving as far as not overwhelming the thread with messages, so that's good. So long as everyone's messages have some kind of substance, I think the pace of the thread stays fairly balanced.

Cm4F · Post by **Cm4F** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:42 am

I want to know if anybody else ever experiences this.

I was babysitting one night (one kid was 7 and the other was 2)
I tried to pick the 2 year old up and put him in his high-chair, but he does this movement where he holds his arms straight up and wiggles down to the ground, like this anti-pickup slide thing.

Why is it that he knows how to do this.

FlintTheSquirrel · Post by **FlintTheSquirrel** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:48 am

I guess I do not think that Taking the single and only lives of people is really the best way to make a point.... and I am not a citizen of the country I live in, so I guess that leaves me and my family a way out of conflict. I am just a pacifist in these affairs so I rather keep neutral.

Sorry if my neutral dreamer belief bothers anyone who likes the military. (And sorry for the small post, it is late and I need to sleep)

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:13 am

FlintTheSquirrel wrote:I guess I do not think that Taking the single and only lives of people is really the best way to make a point.

It's usually not, but man is by nature a violent and irrational creature and thus war has always existed.

Sleep and wake up at a reasonable hour or stay up and enjoy my late christmas present(first two seasons of it's always sunny in Philadelphia)?
actually that's not really a question, Who wants to wake up before noon anyway?

The Grey Wolverine · Post by **The Grey Wolverine** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:45 am

FlintTheSquirrel wrote:Sorry if my neutral dreamer belief bothers anyone who likes the military. (And sorry for the small post, it is late and I need to sleep)

Actually, your neutral demeanor does not bother me, I like knowing others who like staying out of conflicts.

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:21 am

The sad thing about war is it doesn't matter if you start meaningless conflicts or not. All it takes is someone else starting meaningless conflicts for things to snowball.

yehoshua · Post by **yehoshua** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:06 am

But snowball fights are fun.

KJOokami · Post by **KJOokami** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:51 am

I wish we could get some snow here in Jersey again. I miss snow. :[

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:50 pm

The winter's been very warm this year here. It's really disappointing. I haven't touched snow all winter...

Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:45 pm

I haven't either. and I go to college near the beach, so it's not that likely I'll get any at all. : (

Dark Ocean · Post by **Dark Ocean** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 2:14 pm

We got about 2 inches in November, but it wasn't really enough to do anything fun with.

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:01 pm

We had a little one morning, but it didn't even cover the places where the sun shone.

Rollofthedice · Post by **Rollofthedice** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:01 pm

Man, I live in the extreme south of Texas. I haven't seen snow in over six years.

Foxstar · Post by **Foxstar** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:28 pm

We haven't had any real cold where I am so far. Tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be pretty chilly tho.

CaptainPea · Post by **CaptainPea** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:33 pm

We've had cold, but no real snow. I'm not expecting any since we've had uncharacteristically big storms for the past few winters.

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:35 pm

UGGGHHHH YOU GUYS I AM SO SICK OF OVER-100ºF

you know there's something wrong when you can simply sit in a room and do absolutely nothing and still start sweating

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:36 pm

Put on a sweater then.

Duh.

CaptainPea · Post by **CaptainPea** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:38 pm

Ebly wrote:OVER-100ºF

Generally I'm a fan of temperatures above -100 Fahrenheit.
:B

How's the humidity? Summers here make me feel like a Merman.

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 4:49 pm

CaptainPea wrote:
Ebly wrote:OVER-100ºF
Generally I'm a fan of temperatures above -100 Fahrenheit.
:B

How's the humidity? Summers here make me feel like a Merman.

Low-to-none. So that's a plus.

On the other hand when you start saying "that's not so bad then" to 35ºC you pretty much live in an oven. (Edit: What I am saying here is that 35ºC is not so bad compared to what we usually get around these times, and is a welcome relief when it occurs.)

And personally, I have to admit I would be completely okay with -40ºF. Which, for those who use Celsius only, is exactly the same in both.

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 5:02 pm

Man, over here -100K is just scorching to us.

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 5:10 pm

sleet, just, what?

i am not sure how i should feel about the very concept of that sentence

Dark Ocean · Post by **Dark Ocean** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 6:12 pm

You should feel happy. Happy is the proper response.

Post by **Sleet** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 6:20 pm

Particles can exist in different energy states. Since it's "easier" to be at lower energy, almost always there will be more particles in low states. However, that is lower entropy (disorder) than if all particles were evenly distributed. When temperature increases, particles move into higher energy states, making the entropy go up as it approaches equality. So a systems desire to be at low energy and its desire to be at high entropy are fighting each other, basically.

Now, let's define what temperature actually is. Temperature is how much energy changes when you change the entropy (dq/dS, for the calculus-inclined). When you increase the entropy, energy increases with it, and vice-versa.

Now what if you have more particles in the higher energy states than the lower energy states? It would be just as orderly as if they were flip-flopped, so the entropy is the same. However, the particles want to go to lower energy levels because they're high-energy and the lower levels are available. So when they do that, they're actually increasing entropy when they go to lower energy. So if making energy decrease makes entropy increase, dq/dS would be negative (since a negative divided by a positive is negative). And since T = dq/ds, temperature would be negative. This is how a system has negative temperature.

Now, let's talk about "hot" and "cold." If you touch a cold drink, it feels cold because you're hotter than it and your heat is rushing into the cold drink. The opposite applies to a hot stove. Heat likes to go from hot to cold. Now, with a negative temperature system, that energy just wants to get the eff out of there. Its high energy says "go away, energy!" and its low entropy says "go away, energy!" Unlike with positive temperature, they both agree. So heat will always flow from a negative temperature system to a positive temperature system, no matter how high the temperature of the positive temperature system is. In that sense, below 0K (absolute zero, considered the coldest possible temperature, or about -273.15 degrees Celsius), you're actually hotter than any imaginable positive temperature. Turns out the hottest temperature possible is just barely below 0K.

To sum it up: 10K is colder than 1000K, which is colder than 1,000,000K, which is colder than -1,000,000K, which is colder than -1000K, which is colder than -10K.

So yes, I did just write all that to explain my ridiculous one-sentence joke that's not even that funny.