#merit excellence and intelligence

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: Jun 18, 2024

With the inexorable spread of DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – across the western world, it’s refreshing to see at least one major company resist the decrees of this new religion. This is precisely what happened this week when Scale, an Artificial Intelligence company based in San Francisco, launched a new policy to ensure that its employees were hired on the basis of – wait for it – being the most talented and best qualified for the job.

This innovation, which sees race, gender and sexuality as irrelevant when it comes to hiring practices, should hardly be considered revolutionary. And yet in a world in which the content of one’s character is less important than the colour of one’s skin, to treat everyone equally irrespective of these immutable characteristics is suddenly deemed radical.

Scale’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, explained that rather than adopt DEI policies, the company would henceforth favour MEI, which stands for Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence. He explained the thinking behind the new scheme in a post on X.  

“There is a mistaken belief that meritocracy somehow conflicts with diversity. I strongly disagree. No group has a monopoly on excellence. A hiring process based on merit will naturally yield a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas. Achieving this requires casting a wide net for talent and then objectively selecting the best, without bias in any direction. We will not pick winners and losers based on someone being the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ race, gender, and so on. It should be needless to say, and yet it needs saying: doing so would be racist and sexist, not to mention illegal. Upholding meritocracy is good for business and is the right thing to do.”

One can already hear the likes of Robin DiAngelo and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez screaming in fury at this blatant implementation of good old-fashioned liberal values. Surely the only way to defeat racism and homophobia is to treat ethnic and sexual minorities as incapable of high achievement and in need of a leg up from their betters?

It is instructive to compare reactions from the Twittersphere (now X) and Instagram, as one X user has done. If nothing else, the comparison reveals how the divide in the culture war is playing out on social media since Elon Musk’s takeover. On X, major figures in the corporate world such as Tobias Lütke (CEO of Shopify), Palmer Luckey (founder of Oculus VR) and Musk himself have congratulated Wang on his new initiative.

By contrast, here are some of the responses on Instagram:

“You’re ‘disrupting’ current hard-fought standards you don’t like, by reverting to a system rooted in bias and inequality that asks less of you as a hiring manager and as a leader” – Dan Couch (He/Him)

“Curious to see how hiring processes can effectively (and objectively) measure one’s ‘merit’, ‘excellence’, and ‘intelligence’, all of which are very subjective terms” – Cole Gawin (He/Him)

“What is merit and how do we measure it?” – Rio Cruz Morales (They/Them)

“This sounds a lot like excuse making for casting off DEI principles” – R.C. Rondero De Mosier (He/Him)

The pronouns, of course, signify membership of the cult, and so we should not be surprised to see the sentiments of its minions mirroring each other so closely. What Wang is proposing of course builds equality into the hiring system and, contrary to these complaints, it is entirely possible to measure merit objectively. This, after all, is the entire point of academic assessment. The arguments against merit can only be sustained if one presupposes that systemic inequalities are ingrained within society, that all of these relate to the concept of group identity, and that adjustments have to be made accordingly to guarantee equality of outcome.

This gets to the heart of “equity”, a principle which has become so entrenched in the corporate world partly it sounds so much like “equality” and has duped many into supposing it to be synonymous. In truth, “equity” is the precise opposite of “equality”, just as “diversity” actually means “political homogeneity” and “inclusion” means “exclusion of non-conformists”. As I have argued many times before, the culture war is really about language and who gets to control the meaning of words. The prevalence of DEI did not come about because it is the best system, but rather because its practitioners use slippery terminology that operates as a Trojan Horse, sneaking in regressive ideas under the cover of progressivism.

With the corporate orgy that is Pride Month, now seems a good time to appeal to businesses and corporations to revisit their policies, and to consider adopting Wang’s suggestion of MEI rather than DEI. The advantages are obvious. Hiring the best people means that profit and productivity will inevitably rise. As an additional bonus, it also means that minorities will not end up being patronised and treated as second-class citizens. For genuine progressives, this is surely the way to go.

That the workplace has become so politicised is also, of course, why cancel culture has been able to wreak such havoc. With that in mind, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer some of my own thoughts on how companies might tackle the problem. In September 2020, I posted on Twitter a proposed six-part pledge for business owners. My Twitter account was relatively small at that point, and so the fact that it was retweeted hundreds of times showed that there was at least some appetite out there to put such measures in place.

This was the wording of the pledge for business owners:

We will never discipline or fire members of staff on the basis of pressure from online activists.

We have no interest in our employees’ political opinions, and how they choose to express themselves outside the workplace is no business of ours.

We will not probe into our employees’ thoughts with “unconscious bias training”, or force them to undertake workshops that presuppose the existence of “systemic injustice”.

We will never make statements of fealty to any given cause, political or ideological, or claim to promote certain “values”. Our aim is to make a profit, not preach to our customers.

We will not tolerate the public shaming of employees if they cause offence, either through a joke or poor phrasing, and will instead seek to resolve internally any disputes that naturally occur when human beings work together.

We reject the current predominance of identity politics and will simply treat everyone equally (staff and customers alike) irrespective of their race, gender, sexuality, or any other immutable characteristic.

Fanciful stuff, obviously. I was later informed that at least one manager had adopted my suggestions, and it would be interesting to hear, all these years later, how this worked out.

In any case, if you happen to own a business why not give it a try? At the very least, I would strongly recommend hiring on the basis of ability and experience rather than skin colour, sexual orientation or the contents of applicants’ underwear.

[humanmadenet]

[insanityclause]

It’s pink, it’s loud – and it’s irresistible. Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Shakespeare’s best-loved and richest comedy roars into Drury Lane on a wave of falling confetti and 1990s pop favourites, and lands with the force of a Marvel superhero.

It leans heavily into the star casting of Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell as Much Ado About Nothing’s bickering lovers Beatrice and Benedick. At one point, life-sized cut-out photographs of them in their most famous screen roles as Loki and Captain Carter are brought on stage. Yet the wit and depth of their portrayals owes little to their fame, and everything to their ability to take Shakespeare’s words and make them both truthful and incredibly funny today.

After the farrago of The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver, this feels like an intelligent and uplifting return to form for Lloyd, who takes some huge decisions in his attitude to the play. He emphasises the party aspect of the plot, making the soldiers returning from battle to recuperate at the home of Leonato (Forbes Masson) swagger onto the stage like Top Gun heroes. There is a lot of dancing to songs performed by the excellent Mason Alexander Park, who plays Margaret, and wonderfully choreographed by Fabian Aloise to show the battle of the sexes that underlies the story.

Lloyd ruthlessly cuts the comic subplot featuring the bumbling Dogberry to focus entirely on the two love affairs – an old one between Beatrice and Benedick that both deny but which finally splutters back into life, and a new one between young Claudio and Leonato’s daughter Hero that flourishes until it is stopped in its tracks by a lie and a public shaming.

By upping the humour of the main strands (including using ludicrous heads of dogs, cats, ducks and clowns in the masked ball) and losing the (often tiresome) interludes of deliberate comedy, Lloyd emphasises the depth of Much Ado’s themes: the corrosive distrust between men and women in matters of the heart which both couples have to overcome.

Some of his staging is not just showy, but sensational. Both Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into declaring their love for each other by their friends, led by Gerald Kyd’s marvellously louche Prince, a man who hides his own strain of melancholy in carousing. Often, the matching scenes where they overhear their pride being criticised and the other’s merits praised, are remarkably similar in staging and effect.

Here Lloyd and his creative team have enormous fun with Hiddleston’s Benedick rushing around the stage, hiding under the piles of pink paper that cover Soutra Gilmour’s set, concealing himself behind a huge, red blow-up heart, and eventually falling down a hole, as his friends develop their plot.  When it’s her turn, Atwell’s Beatrice stands stock still, listening to Margaret and Hero talking about her.

Hayley Atwell and the cast of Much Ado About Nothing, © Marc Brenner

The expressions on Atwell’s face as she grasps the possibility that the man she loves might actually love her in return are a journey of discovery. Few actresses have her power to summon emotion and show thought, not just through her face, but in her entire body.  She is clever, quick with the lines, but also completely in touch with her feelings. The moment when tears spring to her eyes when everyone is describing her as constantly “merry” reveals all the hurt and fear that lie beneath her brittle, battling exterior.

As for Hiddleston, he has the audience eating out of his hand. A lot of the action is played at the very front of the vast stage, and he brings the full weight of his charm and his impeccable timing to bear both on Beatrice and on the gallery. He weaves through the lines with revealing precision, finding lovely pauses between thoughts. “The Prince’s fool?”  Pause. “Huh.” Laugh. The moment when he strips off his blue silk shirt to impress Beatrice with the rippling torso beneath is beautifully – and embarrassingly – played.

But most impressively both he and Atwell find the sombre strains and the deep feeling under the fun. When Hero is attacked by Claudio, it’s Benedick who plays conciliator, calming a furious Leonato as well as Beatrice, with gently outstretched hands. There are long moments of silence and quiet tension as he weighs up what to do and how to proceed. When everything turns out to be much ado about nothing, the joy of the couple’s final coming together attracts “ooh”s and “aah”s of sheer pleasure.

Even here, at the happy ending, Lloyd pays attention to the beats of the play. The maligned Hero (an unusually fierce Mara Huf) is allowed time to weigh up what to do by witnessing Claudio’s remorse; she gets to thump him before she falls into his arms. James Phoon registers a remarkable range of feeling at Claudio’s changes of heart.

The production is big, broad and for all its contemporary trimmings, absolutely Shakespearean in the way that it welcomes everyone into the entertainment. But it is also subtle, and very fine.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[wouldntyouliketoknow16]

Carlos Sainz Jr. is a notable driver in the world of Formula 1, recognized for both his skill on the track and his lineage. As the son of Carlos Sainz Sr., a celebrated two-time World Rally Champion, Sainz Jr. is often categorized as a "nepo baby." This term refers to individuals who benefit from familial connections in their careers. While this label may seem fitting, it is essential to delve deeper into Sainz Jr.'s journey to understand that he possesses the genuine talent and determination necessary to establish himself in the competitive realm of motorsport.

Growing up in a family steeped in motorsport, Sainz Jr. had a unique advantage. His father's success provided him with insights and opportunities that many aspiring drivers might not have access to. However, it is important to recognize that having a famous parent does not guarantee success in racing. The sport is incredibly demanding, and Sainz Jr. has had to navigate the challenges of Formula 1 on his own merits. His background may have opened doors, but it was his hard work and dedication that allowed him to walk through them.

Sainz Jr.'s motorsport career began in karting, where he quickly demonstrated his innate talent for racing. He made his way through various junior categories, including Formula Renault and GP3 Series, consistently showcasing his abilities. His performances earned him a spot in Formula 1, but this achievement was not solely due to his lineage; it was a reflection of his relentless pursuit of excellence and his commitment to the sport.

Once he entered Formula 1, Sainz Jr. faced the daunting task of proving himself against some of the world's best drivers. He started with Toro Rosso and later moved to Renault, where he had to adapt and deliver results under pressure. His ability to perform consistently and even outpace expectations has solidified his reputation as a capable driver. This adaptability and racing intelligence are critical traits that distinguish him from others who may rely solely on their family connections.

In recent seasons, Sainz Jr. has further established his credentials, particularly during his tenure with Ferrari. His impressive performances, including securing podium finishes, have shown that he can compete at the highest level. These achievements highlight that he is not just riding on the coattails of his father's success; he is carving out his own legacy in the sport. His ability to perform well in a prestigious team like Ferrari speaks volumes about his talent and determination.

In conclusion, while Carlos Sainz Jr. may fit the "nepo baby" label due to his father's legacy, it is crucial to acknowledge his talent and hard work. His journey through the ranks of motorsport is a testament to his dedication and skill, which have allowed him to thrive in a highly competitive environment. Sainz Jr. exemplifies how one can leverage their background while still proving their worth through genuine talent and perseverance. As he continues to grow as a driver, it is clear that his legacy will be shaped not just by his lineage but by his own remarkable achievements in Formula 1.

[charliemwrites]

Character File

Name: Rook “Duke” Alistair Aliases: Daisy Dukes, Daisy, Sunshine, Blondie

Age: 26 Gender and pronouns: AFAB using she/they Marital Status: Single Surviving family: biological father (estranged), adoptive mother, adoptive father, brother

Physical description: Standing at 5’9” (175cm) and 135lbs. (61 kilos) Rook stands tall and wiry. Though slighter than her brother, Castle Alistair, she’s still packed with muscle that is carried primarily in her thighs and abdomen. Her hair is strawberry blond, cut into a medium length bob – though it curls quite a bit. She is often seen with several pins and clips in her hair trying to keep it back from her face. Her eyes are green and large, set in a round face that makes her look young for her age. She had braces in her early teens to straighten her teeth.

Identifying/Unusual features:

Light freckles across her nose and forehead

No facial scarring

Tattoos: A daisy behind her right ear A simplified castle outline on her bicep (for her brother) A stylized sun on her left shoulder, crawling across one side of her chest and up her neck Binary for “service” on her forearm

Several burn scars on her hands, wrists, and arms

A birthmark on the bottom of her right foot that few people have ever seen

Special file note: Rook holds the records for most and dumbest injuries on base. Often the smallest and most unexpected incidents have led to a medbay visit. She is often seen with bandages, bruises, scrapes, and scratches. Thankfully, she is a good patient and most of the medical staff enjoy her cheerful demeanor.

Early Childhood:

Rook’s earliest memory is her older brother walking her to preschool. He was sharing an orange with her, carefully peeling off bits of pith for her to munch on.

While he, Helena, and Clancy are technically her cousin, aunt, and uncle respectively, she has always considered them her immediate family. She only met her biological father once when she was twelve and was not impressed.

Her childhood was filled with laughter and love, though she often felt oddly displaced. Helena and Clancy were much older and had never planned on a second child – never mind a girl. And her brother ended up shipping off to college when she was only five. He visited when he could, but she spent a lot of time on her own or unsupervised when she hit eight years old.

She was very close with Helena, the two of them playing the radio loud to sing along while they did chores around the farm. Rook absolutely adored her mother, and to this day dreams of her peach cobbler when she’s away from home. As a result, Rook picked up her love of clothes with interesting prints and bright colors.

Her relationship with Clancy was not strained, but not as easy as with Helena. Of course, he loved his adopted daughter, he just wasn’t sure what to do with her beyond that. Oftentimes, it led to him treating her like Castle, though her flightier and more energetic nature made some of those lessons take differently.

Rook was often praised for being an inquisitive and intelligent child – though some of her teachers found the constant barrage of questions to be disruptive. Somewhat unexpectedly, she excelled in math from an early age, followed quickly by the sciences.

In middle school, the blond farmgirl jokes began. Unlike her brother’s quick temper to defend himself and his family, Rook usually took the route of laughing along with them. (That said, nothing stopped her from pushing a girl down for trying to step on a frog one rainy April day.) This developed into a tendency to hide behind a ditzy persona, which felt safe and easy.

In high school, she took a special liking to physics and engineering. Focused more on schoolwork and helping around the farm, she didn’t date much. (That said, anyone with an interest in her had to debate the merits of her marine brother coming home to meet them.) She much preferred learning to code online and rescuing strays that happened across the farm – much to her parents’ chagrin.

Throughout her life, Castle was her role model. In her childhood, he seemed like a third parent, but as she got older, their relationship developed into a more typical brother-sister bond. Even so, she needed no proud rambles from her parents to look up to him.

So, as her future began to loom, and decisions became necessary, she followed a similar path to him. Rook enrolled in the ROTC program at the same college he attended – though she chose a double major in engineering and computer science that set her down a different road.

Military Career:

Alistair’s early military years in the Air Force are riddled with ups and downs. Intelligent, positive, and respectful, she was well-liked by both superiors and comrades. Quick to finish tasks, solve problems, and aid others. That said, she had something of a disciplinary record for small but repetitive issues. Uniform violations, minor misconduct (forgetting to salute officers or speaking out of turn), and general… regulatory issues.

While not headed for dishonorable discharge, she was dodging demerits and often faced disciplinary action. However, upon finding a major leak in one of their information networks, she came to the attention of one Kate Laswell.

Laswell, impressed with her intelligence and work ethic, found that her military-defying eccentricities were easy to overlook considering her benefit to the military. Alistair was soon transferred under Laswell’s direct purview to aid different missions and teams as a “hacker” and engineer. While Alistair remains something of an oddball, she and Laswell have built a solid working relationship.

(During her employ with a certain Shadow Company during her Air Force days, Alistair earned the callsign “Duke” – a derivation of Daisy Dukes due to Alistair’s appearance and farming background.)

[bladeandspell]

Muse-based dash game: do not reblog. copy & paste!

Objective: show your followers you see them by tagging 10 (or more) people your muse(s) personally want to get to know better. this can be taken as an invitation to approach a mun for plot development.

Filled out for: Unukalhai

Favorite color(s): Blue and green. He especially likes lighter blues and darker greens, but any shade of either is excellent.

What are they wearing right now?: He would likely be just about to change out of his sleepwear. Rather than a specific time, he tends to get up at sunrise. It's just a basic, solid dark blue set of loungewear. If he felt inclined to have two sets, he'd also have a nightgown for warmer weather. He's more likely to donate the current set and pick up a new one when he's ready for that change, however.

Where are they currently?: Tent.

A song stuck in their head: Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money. It's his favourite.

The last song they listened to: Likely a cover of Something in the Orange that his friends put him on. It's not his usual, but the somber mood suits him.

3 favorite foods: Taco rice! With extra koregusu and salsa. He's also very fond of star fruit, particularly just before they're considered ripe. The more sour taste suits him. He's also gotten really into pork vindaloo more recently.

Dream trip: He'd really like to go home?! That aside, he'd be interested in traveling to different locations to learn about their traditional combat styles.

Anything your muse wants right now: See above?! While fulfilling his mission is typically his main priority, that's primarily because his inner sense of equilibrium is off and will continue to be off until he can go home, and take everyone he thinks should be there with him. Unfortunately, that just isn't possible. So, he's plagued with a perpetual feeling of deep longing that he can't quite satisfy. On a lighter note, he's been considering the merits of learning how to play a harp.

Favorite personal headcanons: Sure, I've got a handful. He's actually really intelligent, but the need to show off makes him just downright stupid. He could be so good at strategizing. He could get an incredibly profound read on any situation. And yet... he doesn't feel the need to bother. Nine times out of ten, he lives the "fuck it, we ball" life; that last time, he wastes the opening with overthinking, which prompts nine more instances of "don't think, just do." Also, he has a very minimal attachment to gender, for cultural reasons.

Favorite quote of the hour: "Sometimes in order to defend lives, you must first be willing to end them." This quote crosses his mind quite often. It's something Holstatt said once, before everything happened. It's always been difficult for him to swallow, but the more he sees, the more he understands it.

Tagged by: @pushspacetocontinue xoxo xoxo xoxo

Tagging: @constellationcrowned ; @magioffire ; @inmemcrum ; @g0dh4nd ; @sunny-explosions ; @makeslegend ; @patetpluvia ; @aintitfierce ; @unrealization ; @shdwtouch ; @imitormusa and of course, whoever else may be interested.

[tobiasdrake]

Loving your breakdowns of the DBZ casts' fighting styles! While you mentioned Gohan already I'm honestly excited to see you explore Piccolo's traits as a fighter. There's a huge shift after he's reborn where he goes from hating and fearing martial arts to learning them to better defend himself from tricky moves like the mafūba, but between his unique physiology and sharp mind there's a lot to think about when it comes to our second favorite Namekian (obviously Dende is number 1. Little Green for life!).

Piccolo is the go-to Ideas man. He's often considered the "strategist" of the Dragon Ball cast, and that title is not without merit. His greatest asset is his intelligence. Though he can be prone to some boneheaded decisions and unbelievable oversights when he gets in his own head. Piccolo aptly demonstrates why every talented strategist needs talented field operatives too; He's better at making plans than executing them.

Piccolo shows up to every fight with a plan. In a sense, he's Goku's polar opposite. Goku is an adaptational genius; An ever-evolving counter-fighter who reads his opponent's moves and then tailors his approach to them. Piccolo is a schemer. He excels in the space between fights - but his ideas rarely survive contact with the enemy.

That's not his fault, mind you. It's just how it goes in a fight. Even when you can control for every other variable, you can't control for the other guy.

We first see Piccolo's knack for innovation at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. The main thing hanging over his head has been the risk of being imprisoned via the Mafuba/Evil Containment Wave again. In his past life, he had a bit of an unconventional solution to that.

Awful plan, Piccolo. Just. Just awful. Scared of being pursued by martial artists, Piccolo decided to pick a fight with every martial artist on the planet before he'd even gathered the Dragon Balls and rejuvenated himself.

This awful plan revealed him before he was ready and nearly resulted in the very thing he was so afraid of.

There but for a stroke of luck, Piccolo's revenge would have been over and done right there. Aggroing every single martial artist on the planet simultaneously was a bad plan. D-

When he shows up to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, however, Piccolo has had three years to devise a far better counter for the threat of the Mafuba.

Piccolo's Mafuba Gaeshi or Evil Containment Wave Reflect nullifies any risk of ever being sealed this way again. Instead it imprisons his would-be captor in the vessel that had been prepared for him.

This is the kind of shit Piccolo comes up with when he's given time to plan. His fight with Goku gives us this shit. Piccolo has a new technique!

No idea how he taught himself to do that, but it's not half as weird as some of the shit Tenshinhan can pull so I'll allow it. Giant Form Piccolo is the first of many brilliant ideas Piccolo's had that will ultimately be thwarted once fists begin flying.

Because Piccolo excels in the space between fights, but Goku excels in the fight itself. Piccolo's brilliant new technique merely provides Goku with something new to adapt to and overcome.

This isn't the only cunning technique Piccolo brings to the table that Goku thwarts either. His shiny new homing ki blast suffers a similar fate.

Look at that smug grin. Goku was made for this.

When the chips are down, Goku plays him like a sucker. Because that's precisely what Goku does. In a sense, GokPu and Piccolo are perfectly suited to hard-counter each other's styles. Goku's exceptional adaptation and counter-fighting makes it difficult for Piccolo to plan against him. Whatever Piccolo comes up with, Goku will adapt to it.

But Goku's biggest weakness is his exceptional gullibility. Goku's a born sucker. He's too good-natured, innocent, and honest for his own good. While Piccolo?

Piccolo is really good at sucker punches.

Piccolo is really, really good at sucker punches.

Piccolo is sort of a Final Exam Boss for the martial arts crew. He combines Yamcha's aggression, Krillin's underhandedness, and Ten's weirdness into a bizarre, ruthlessly innovative assault.

As the years pass, we see him continuing to innovate and scheme. By the time Raditz arrives, Piccolo has a new new technique!

A drilling ki blast designed to concentrate immeasurable power and then penetrate through a target. Made for the express purpose of punching far above his weight class.

Uh. If he can land it. Once again, Piccolo's plan fractures upon contact with the enemy. But that's okay because this time he has Goku on his side. And, as noted, while Piccolo excels in the planning stages, Goku excels at execution.

There ya go, Piccolo, I fixed it for ya!

Piccolo's next big scheme is, of course, Gohan.

Once more, for all the work Piccolo puts into preparing Gohan to fight the Saiyans, things don't work out so well when the time comes to put his plan into action.

Despite all the effort he put into preparing Gohan physically, when push comes to shove he isn't able to coax a fighting spirit out of Gohan once they get into the field. His plan shatters on impact with Nappa.

Trying to grab Nappa's tail goes about as poorly.

And yet he is vindicated for it all the same, when the Gohan he forged becomes the key to defeating Vegeta. Once again, Piccolo's innovation is the key to victory, but he needs Goku in the field to carry the ball for him.

The Android arc brings Piccolo his greatest innovation yet, and one of my all-time favorite techniques. Goku's Warp Kamehameha is my #1 but this is fucking cool.

Piccolo has a NEW new new technique! I love this move. Turning the sky into an inescapable minefield to corner an opponent and then converging it all at once. Called Hellzone Grenade in English which is frankly a fantastic name for it.

And yet. Once again.

Yeah, apparently 17 has an impenetrable force field. That's just cheating. I mentioned before that Piccolo's schemes never survive contact with the enemy, but the Android arc is where it gets completely unfair.

Against 19 and 20, he tries to set up one of his patented KO-fakeout sucker punches only for Vegeta to show up and steal his thunder.

Every time. This poor man isn't allowed to pull off a scheme. This isn't even about his dynamic with Goku anymore; Piccolo's getting robbed by the plot.

But that is where Piccolo's career largely ends. However, much like Krillin, Piccolo's particular traits give him staying power after he's fallen behind as a fighter. Piccolo's talents have always lied in sharpening weapons moreso than in using them, so the Buu arc sees him pivot to doing exactly that: honing Goten and Trunks into a sharpened blade to unleash on Majin Buu.

Which goes about as well as every other blade he's sharpened.

Man, Piccolo is not allowed to win at anything.

[chimonystack]

Alright,

so there's been an Orange Side™ teased for a long time now in Sanders Sides, right? And the common theory is that Orange will be some form of Rage or Wrath, and will either take over or split from Logan, right? Well, I want to voice my opinion on this, because I believe it's extremely accurate, and could also provide an amazing character to the mix to oppose all of the sides (yes, INCLUDING LOGAN.)

So, first point:

This point is very minor, but Logan was the first side to have his name revealed. If Orange is the last side to be revealed, that would mean he'll also be the last one to have his name revealed, which is an interesting parallel.

Second point:

Logan rarely shows any emotions. Yes, he gets excited about Crofter's, he has some small amount of pride whenever he's right, and earlier in the series he feels small amounts of remorse whenever he does something that hurts one of the other sides. But, most of the time, Logan doesn't show any emotions (and in "Alone on VALENTINE'S DAY!" he even says "Call me when you have something a little less feelingsy"). He shows nothing, except for one emotion (which is fairly obvious given the intro to this post, but I'll still save it for later).

Third point:

Logan has had excellent character development since the beginning of the series. In the beginning, Logan only cared about the logical solutions for any of Thomas' problems. He would constantly fight one of the other sides about a problem until one of the remaining sides or even Thomas himself forced him to see what he was doing wrong and concede or compromise. But as the series kept going on, Logan started becoming not just more academically intelligent, but very importantly, more emotionally intelligent. He understands the other sides more, and he eventually comes to realize that every side has their merit, even Janus and Remus.

Fourth point:

Logan often gets ignored or dismissed by the other sides and Thomas himself. Yes, Thomas calls on him for help for several situations, and Logan often saves the day, but even so, he doesn't always get the full credit he deserves. The most notable examples of him being dismissed or ignored are in "Moving On," and "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts." In Moving On, Logan makes a mistake and suggests they go to Patton's room, but once he realizes what Patton's room is actually doing (especially to Virgil), he immediately tries to get Thomas and the other sides to leave. Thomas, Roman and Patton ignore him, and Logan gets frustrated enough to leave. In Working Through Intrusive Thoughts, Logan constantly tries to get Thomas to follow his schedule for the day, but Remus keeps breaking Thomas' focus on his chores. Then, once Thomas finally gets called by Nico, the final thread of Thomas' focus on his chores is broken and he instead decides to go meet Nico to look at art. Despite all of this, Logan still tries to listen to everybody, including Janus and Remus.

Fifth point:

There seems to be a pattern with the sides and whether they're associated with more positive or negative traits. Logan, Patton, and Roman are all positive. Janus and Remus are both negative. Virgil is both positive and negative. If Orange is Wrath or Rage, this creates symmetry on both sides, with Orange joining Janus and Remus as a negative trait. This is also supported in the Sanders Sides Anime Intro (which I'm sure everybody already noticed but it's still worth it to me to bring up).

Now, to bring it all together:

If Orange is indeed going to be Rage or Wrath, it absolutely makes sense for him to either take over or split from Logan, because the one emotion that Logan shows consistently and often is anger. His frustrations whenever he makes mistakes, or when he gets ignored or dismissed, and especially his "FALSEHOOD" are all examples of how he commonly has outbursts (or at the very least, visible) bouts of anger. Logan's eyes glowing orange when he yells at Remus in Working Through Intrusive Thoughts only add to this. If Orange is meant to be a reflection/the opposite of Logan, then he'll likely show emotions constantly, with the only thing that stays the same being the outbursts of anger, just severely intensified for Orange. This also opens the door for the character development that Logan has had being completely reversed (no matter whether Logan is taken over or if Orange just splits from him). All of a sudden, the rest of the sides have somebody that simply does not care about their opinions or feelings. Orange likely will ignore all of the rest of the sides, or even lash out at them constantly, never giving them the time of day. Orange will refuse to see the merit in any of the sides' functions, which is the exact opposite of Logan, who tries to see everybody's merit. The new biggest problem becomes avoiding Wrath, but to no avail, as he keeps coming back angrier every time, until eventually they all realize that, just like with Virgil, they need to try to understand him. The only problem with that is that it's harder to understand and accept Wrath than it was to understand Virgil.

No matter what, though:

I am SO hyped for these teasers to pay off, no matter what Orange ends up being. I have no doubts at all about Thomas' ability to create an amazing and compelling character for all of us to love just as much as the other six sides.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jennifer Rubin at The Contrarian:

Donald Trump, without authorization from Congress and without substantive consultation, took a fateful step in ordering the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, based on the false pretext that Iran was on the verge of completing a nuclear weapon. The consequences of this move have yet to unfold, and the breathtaking array of outcomes—from another forever war to a failed state in Iran to a quickly negotiated nuclear deal—makes it impossible to predict how this will affect Trump’s agenda and his ongoing assault on democracy. His failure to get authorization for a strike in a war in which the U.S. was acting offensively, despite there being no immediate threat (no one with sense believes Trump’s contradiction of our own intelligence that Iran was on the verge of making a bomb) raises grave constitutional and political consequences. Despite Trump’s war-talk Saturday night, Vice President JD Vance insists we are not at war. That, as even this crew understands, would require congressional action. On one level, such an assertion is preposterous—as we have indeed become combatants in an extended, ongoing war.

Whatever fiction the administration advances, as Tom Nichols points out, “the enemy gets a vote.” The most likely scenario, he suggests, is not as tidy as Trump would have us believe: [The Iranian regime will be wounded but will likely survive; the nuclear program will be delayed but will likely continue; the region will become more unstable but is unlikely to erupt into a full-blown war involving the United States.] Should we get bogged down in an extended war or face retaliation, Trump’s unilateral action based on a lie (not even DNI Tulsi Gabbard thinks Iran was on the verge of making a bomb) will be viewed as a gross error and a constitutional overstep.

[...] Meanwhile, Trump and virtually everything he has been pursuing is unpopular. (e.g., violent deportations of nonviolent, working people; a reverse-Robin-Hood tax and spending; savage cuts to healthcare coverage and SNAP; tariffs; his chaotic foreign policy). Poll after poll suggests that Americans do not want the America Trump is trying to create. While continuing to battle on the odious reconciliation bill, Democrats cannot allow Trump to go unchecked, use military action to justify further deprivations of civil liberties, or sit by as the U.S. gets dragged deeper into war. As Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) put it, “We should vote as soon as possible on legislation to explicitly deny President Trump the authorization to drag us into a conflict in Middle East that could get countless Americans killed and waste trillions of dollars.” A president who ran on avoiding foreign wars, lowering prices, sparing entitlement programs, and appointing advisers on the basis of merit has done the opposite. The voters must hold him and his MAGA flunkies accountable.

Excellent column by Jennifer Rubin in The Contrarian on why Trump decided to strike Iran.

See Also:

Public Notice: Trump’s reckless Iran strikes could backfire spectacularly

Olivia Of Troye: We’re at War with Iran, Whether Trump Admits It or Not

[catcas22]

Witch's Glintstone Crown Description

One of the glintstone crowns bestowed upon Raya Lucaria scholars whose pursuits were deemed worthy.

Increases intelligence and arcane to the detriment of stamina.

This gentle-looking crown was granted to a scholar who excelled in her studies, which also merited the title of "witch."

I love what they do with the title of "witch" in Elden Ring. To a Liurnian, being called a witch is like having a PhD in front of your name. But to someone raised under the influence of the Golden Order, "witch" basically means "really good at heresy" and is closer to the derogatory use we're accustomed to in your standard medieval setting.

Which makes Witch-Hunter Jerren stand out as an anomaly.

From the Eccentric Set description:

Jerren served General Radahn as a guest commander, and they are said to have sworn an oath of honorable death to one another.

Jerren preferred a nomadic existence, but after spending time as a guest of the Carian royals, he became a guest commander for General Radahn. And for the first time, the restless tumbleweed would be bound by honorable oath.

One would not expect the followers of Radahn, a member of the Liurnian royal family, to use "witch" in the derogatory sense. His mother and sister both hold the title of witch. While Radahn seems to have strayed from his heritage to some degree, he still practiced sorcery, he still defended Sellia, and he still seems to have at least been close with Rykard. It seems very odd for one of his most prominent followers to call himself a "Witch-Hunter."

Jerren is referred to as a drifter and a guest (implying that he is a foreigner), so he's likely not Liurnian himself. But he was hosted by the Carians and at least was impressed by Radahn. Makes me wonder what sort of cultural background Jerren comes from, whether the "Witch-Hunter" thing came before or after Radahn's death, and where his specific beef with Sellen originated.

[daphnejane]

Helloooooooo, Polin Nation! I cannot believe that S3 (part 1) will be available on our screens in just under 6 hours. I am so keyed up I could climb the walls right now. I'm also super excited to share the first part of a new story that I am writing with LadyTicklebotham!

Captivating Mr. Bridgerton

Summary: Colin Bridgerton, the esteemed butler-cum-valet of the cavalier Earl of Eastbourne, is more than a little surprised when his employer announces he will soon marry. The weary butler is in for a shock when the Earl brings home the loveliest creature he’s ever set eyes upon. What will the faithful servant do when he must choose between duty and the forbidden?

Rated M

Tags: Colin/Penelope, Penelope/OMC, butler Colin, Lady Pen, all about Polin, marriage of convenience, slow burn, Polin HEA

Snippet!

Colin paused, sure he misheard his employer. “I beg pardon, my Lord. I believe I misheard you.”  Lord Eastbourne’s arms slipped into his sky blue jacket; the earl admired his reflection in the mirror. “Come now, Mr. Bridgerton. You don’t want the rest of the staff to think you reached your position solely based on your handsome visage.”  Colin cleared his throat; even after two years of service, he still felt embarrassed when the earl commented on his appearance—even though he knew it was just a bit of fun for his employer—to see how befuddled he could make the unflappable butler.  “Apologies, my Lord. I thought you said you were getting married,” Colin said, smoothing the fabric across the shoulders on the back of the earl’s coat.  The sandy-haired gentleman gingerly ran his fingertips through the edges of his hair, fluffing it slightly in his attempt to hide his retreating hairline. “Well, then accept my apologies, because you were listening. I am getting married in two days’ time.” “Sir?”  “I was tired of listening to my mother harp on. Really, it’s been dreadful this past year having to listen to her expound upon the merits of one debutante after another—exhausting, really.” “But… you haven’t courted anyone… have you?” He laughed, his head falling back with mirth. “Christ no. Courting isn’t necessary if you find the right woman. The trick is to look not at the popular girls with full dance cards, but those standing at the perimeter of the ballroom, desperate for a glance, a smile, any scrap of attention.” He must have taken in the distress in Colin’s face because he shook his head and said, “Don’t give me that look, Bridgerton. I chose well—the daughter of a baron, intelligent, unnoticed, and desperate to leave her ridiculous family. She will make an excellent wife, and I will make a very amiable husband.” 

Continue reading on AO3!

[kucherkozmokoza]

★ Dr. Brain | sketch reference

• Sketch reference, with the image of my original character Dr. Brain. Here for the first time in a long time I updated his appearance and his whole as a whole. I want to tell you a little about him:

– His initial image was a floating head in a kind of mechanized spacesuit. He was created inspired by the image of Doctor Fetus from MeatBoy Forever

– His exact age is unknown, but as an author I can say with confidence that he is definitely over 80 years old

– Theo considers Brain his mentor and educator, Aaron himself perceives him more as an pet, a funny toy that can be pushed around. This is his experiment and he is interested in what Theo will turn into under his command. No feelings, except for scientific interest

– And although Brain seems hyperactive, lively, energetic and constantly moving sharply, inside he is absolutely cold and soulless. Although his behavior, playfulness and optimism border on outright madness, he is completely devoid of compassion, a feeling of sympathy for anyone and even more so he is never worried about remorse. Nobody knows why and how he became what he is now

– He is an outright psychopath and sadist, sincerely enjoying the pain of others. He is far from mentally stable. He just likes to do something immoral, because it is so interesting – how far he can go in his actions. A real scientist, completely devoid of any concepts of the boundaries of decency, law or ethics. His social experiment is complete chaos and lawlessness. He can do anything as long as it is not punishable. And he is interested in what his actions will ultimately lead to. Many will consider him a psychopath, but he believes that he is absolutely healthy, only INSANELY curious. He is interested in what methods and how many he can kill or simply maim. He has unlimited power, because he can do anything and eventually find out where it will lead him

– This is what you get if you try to mix an intelligent and gallant gentleman with a mentally unstable maniac and season it all with science fiction. He is like a dreadful cocktail, just as unpredictable and random. You do not know what he can do and this is the worst thing. He can spare you, only so that you fall into another of his traps. Or he can immediately, without any problems, completely deprive you of all limbs. Or maybe he wants to have fun and dance with you? Who knows? That's right, no one! Not even himself. His actions may seem random and feigned, but this is not so. He has excellent control over his body, is incredibly evasive, fast and cunning. The effect of surprise, ladies and gentlemen!

– It's no secret that he, like Abigail, has undergone genetic modifications to his body. Now he seems to be, if not immortal, then certainly hardly aging. His body exceeds the capabilities of ordinary morphs. He is also a specialist in the field of bioprosthetics and cybernetic implants, but that's just by the way. All the prosthetics used by the heads of the workshops in "Genesis" are his merit

[persephoneprice]

okay, i think i left this in tags, so like ignore this if you read those, but I can get into Urban Canville. I have the contrarian in me that can shake some sympathy thoughts loose:

I like the idea that he might be lower class than some of his other peers (going off a Peter headcanon that Io Jasper is as well and that she's a merit scholar to the Academy. His parents are referred to dismissively. Coriolanus can't even be bothered to remember what exactly they do. He posits physicists question mark).

Everyone not hesitating to dogpile him on national tv... makes me really think his family isn't in the position to complain.

I think his bad attitude could spring from insecurities about that and lashing out. (a lot of mentors can be this way to me, but I think coming from a less prestigious family could really put a chip on his shoulder)

He is canonically very smart and probably won't shut the fuck up about it, but when you aren't as rich and your family isn't as prestigious, what else have you got to compete with?

He likes making people feel stupid. It's his one sure-fire way to feel like he has the upper-hand. Since it's couched in the system of academic excellence, people can't punish him for it directly

Although, similar to how I see Arachne kind of leaning towards abusing her power over her tribute, I think that Urban would do the same.

I bet he tries to fit in when people are shitting on someone else but everyone gives him a weird look because they are like... "hey, you can't say that. you were just shitting on us?"

He either stays in academia or is a scientist (or both). Maybe he makes bombs. Maybe he was making prototypes for what eventually became the pods in Mockingjay?

I think he could have a very ugly personality that comes from very human frustrations. But he's a dick. I hope everyone makes him worse.

maybe he dies in a lab accident (his own bomb). maybe he is legitimately killed by rebels... maybe a lab assistant or a test subject kills him... i think he might be one of the mentor deaths in my headcanons that is not caused by Snow

okay that's all the urban canville i've got... idk

omg abyssal thank you!! you fr pulled through with this

i actually really like your first headcanon! the idea of him being a scholarship kid and the other kids not respecting his parents gives him an interesting (and kind of sympathetic to me?) background! i could actually understand his anger better when you think about it like that!

everyone is comfortable to dogpile on him during the games- so combining that with your first headcanon, i wonder if this is a regular occurrence? like, students like io and urban are the first to get pushed around because they have no important name to back them up.

i could see him weaponizing his intelligence as a defense mechanism in this scenario! he can’t compete with the elite they way they compete with each other, but he can best them in class. he acts very pretentious about it as a way to get back at them!

i agree, urban would definitely abuse his power over his tribute because he finally has someone ‘lesser’ than him to take his anger out on.

i think it would be interesting to have him cause his own death in the lab by overestimating himself!

anyway, this was all brilliant! thank you for sharing!!

[nandinish27]

Best Courses to Study in Australia for Indian Students with High ROI.

Why Australia is a Top Study Abroad Destination in 2025

Australia continues to rank among the top destinations for Indian students seeking world-class education, global career opportunities, and a multicultural lifestyle. With over 100,000 Indian students currently studying in Australia, the trend is fueled by high employability, quality institutions, and welcoming immigration policies. This blog provides a complete study guide in Australia for Indian students, focusing on the top courses offering the highest return on investment (ROI) in 2025.

Top Reasons to Study in Australia for Indian Students

Globally ranked universities like the University of Melbourne, ANU, and UNSW

Post-study work visas for up to 4 years

Pathways to Permanent Residency (PR)

Industry-relevant, skill-based courses

High graduate employability

Scholarships and financial support for Indian students

High ROI Courses for Indian Students in Australia

1. Information Technology and Computer Science

Why It’s Worth It:

Booming tech industry in cities like Sydney and Melbourne

Strong demand for software developers, AI specialists, and cybersecurity analysts

Excellent PR pathways via the Skilled Occupation List (SOL)

Career Opportunities:

Software Developer

Cloud Engineer

Cybersecurity Analyst

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 120,000

2. Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Mining)

Why It’s Worth It:

High demand for engineers in infrastructure, renewable energy, and mining

PR-friendly occupations

Hands-on, accredited programs (Engineers Australia recognition)

Career Paths:

Civil Engineer

Structural Engineer

Renewable Energy Consultant

Average Salary: AUD 75,000 – 130,000

3. Health Sciences & Nursing

Why It’s Worth It:

Acute shortage of skilled healthcare workers

Strong employment growth projected until 2030

Offers direct PR routes for nursing graduates

Career Opportunities:

Registered Nurse

Public Health Officer

Physiotherapist

Average Salary: AUD 65,000 – 110,000

4. Business Analytics and Data Science

Why It’s Worth It:

High demand across sectors (banking, retail, healthcare)

Versatile career paths with global appeal

STEM classification supports extended post-study work visa

Career Options:

Data Analyst

Business Intelligence Consultant

Data Scientist

Average Salary: AUD 85,000 – 130,000

5. Accounting and Finance

Why It’s Worth It:

Consistent job demand across Australia

Accredited courses (CPA Australia, CA ANZ)

Opens doors to roles in multinational firms

Career Opportunities:

Chartered Accountant

Financial Analyst

Auditor

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 115,000

6. Education and Teaching

Why It’s Worth It:

Australia’s school system seeks qualified teachers, especially in regional areas

Included in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)

Roles After Graduation:

Primary School Teacher

Early Childhood Educator

Secondary School Teacher

Average Salary: AUD 65,000 – 100,000

7. Architecture and Construction Management

Why It’s Worth It:

Australia’s urban expansion and infrastructure projects

Recognized qualifications with global applicability

Popular Careers:

Architect

Project Manager

Construction Estimator

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 120,000

Cost of Education in Australia (2025)

Course Type

Average Annual Tuition (AUD)

UG Courses

20,000 – 45,000

PG Courses

22,000 – 50,000

MBA

40,000 – 80,000

Scholarships Available for Indian Students

Australia Awards Scholarships – Fully funded by the Australian government

Destination Australia Scholarships – Regional study scholarships worth AUD 15,000

University-Specific Grants – E.g., Monash International Merit Scholarship, University of Sydney International Scholarships

Post-Study Work Rights and PR Pathways

Australia allows international students to work up to 20 hours per week during semesters and full-time during breaks. Graduates can apply for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), offering work rights for 2–4 years depending on qualification and location.

PR Pathways via:

General Skilled Migration (GSM)

Employer-Sponsored Visas

Regional Migration Programs

How Eduvisor Can Help You Study in Australia

Navigating the Australian education system, choosing the right course, and applying for visas can be overwhelming. That’s where Eduvisor, a trusted study abroad consultant in India, steps in. Eduvisor offers personalized counseling, university shortlisting, scholarship assistance, SOP writing, and complete visa support — tailored for Indian students planning to study in Australia.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a high-ROI course in Australia is more than just picking a subject — it’s about aligning your passion with global trends. With the right guidance and planning, Australia can be your gateway to a successful international career. Use this study guide in Australia for Indian students as your blueprint for 2025 and beyond.

Ready to begin your journey? Let Eduvisor turn your study abroad dream into reality.

FAQs

Q1. What are the most affordable courses to study in Australia? A: Vocational Education & Training (VET) courses, TAFE programs, and regional university degrees are often more budget-friendly.

Q2. Is PR easy after studying in Australia? A: Courses on the SOL and MLTSSL lists (like IT, Nursing, Engineering) make it easier to qualify for PR.

Q3. How do I find scholarships to study in Australia? A: Government sites, university portals, and expert consultants like Eduvisor can help you explore scholarships based on merit, need, and region.

[sourb0i]

The one thing I really hope we get to see in the next Spiderverse movie is Miles' intelligence. We know he's super smart- that's been apparent from day one! He got into Vision academy on his own merit, and once he figures out how to manage the pressure he excells there. The kid is only a sophomore and already has plans to study Quantim Physics at Yale!! And I'm not saying he hasn't shown off his intelligence before- he's clearly adaptable and clever in a fight, and can problem solve on the fly. But I want to see him really flex his genius muscles-- do some crazy physics shit, build a cool invention (maybe his own interdimensional transport bracelet!). Give him his moment to shine.

[nadiegesabate1990]

The people's prevention of the nobles from idolatry.

If you were born vicious, Theogenes, I pity you; if you have become so through weakness for those who have an interest in seeing you so, and swear among themselves to corrupt you, and already boast of being able to achieve it, allow me to despise you; but if you are temperate, respectable, hard-working, and also have a position and birth capable of giving examples instead of receiving them, and you agree with these people to follow, out of indulgence, their irregularities, vices, and follies, when they have exercised, through the deference they owe you, all the virtues that you appreciate: strong but useful irony, very suitable for putting their customs in safety, destroying all their projects, and obliging them to continue being what they are, leaving you as you are.

The advantage of nobles over other men is immense, on the one hand.

I leave them the good walkway, rich furniture, dogs, horses, monkeys, dwarves, clowns and flatterers; but I envy them the happiness of having in their service people who are their equals in heart and intelligence, and who are sometimes even better than they are.

The nobles distract themselves by opening avenues in the forest, protecting lands with extensive walls, gilding roofs, bringing ten inches of water, furnishing a greenhouse; but to make a heart happy, to fill a soul with joy, to provide for extreme hardship or to remedy it, this is as far as their curiosity does not go.

One wonders whether, by comparing together the different conditions of men, their punishments and benefits, one would not notice a certain mixture or kind of compensation of good and evil that would establish equality between these conditions or, at least, would make one no more desirable than the other. Someone powerful, rich, and lacking in nothing could ask such a question; but it must be a poor man who answers it.

There is, as it were, a charm in each of these different conditions, which remains there until misery has exhausted it. Thus the great love excess and the small love moderation; those like to dominate and command and these feel pleasure and even vanity in serving and obeying: the nobles are surrounded, greeted, respected; the commoners surround, leave, prostrate themselves; and everyone is happy.

It costs the nobles so little to give only words, and their condition exempts them so much from fulfilling the beautiful promises they have made, that if they do not promise with even greater breadth, it is out of modesty.

It is old and worn. says a nobleman; broke into my service: what to do with it? Another, younger, takes away his hopes and obtains the position that is only denied to this unfortunate man because he deserves it too much.

I don't know - you say with a cold and disdainful air - Filanto has merit, intelligence, attractiveness, rigor in fulfilling his duty, loyalty and dedication to his boss, however he is mediocrely appreciated; does not please, they do not like him; explain yourself: who are you condemning: Filanto or the nobleman he serves?

It is usually more useful to distance yourself from nobles than to complain about them.

Who can explain why some win the jackpot and others the protection of the powerful?

The nobles are so happy that they do not even suffer, in their whole life, the inconvenience of lamenting the loss of their best servants or of illustrious people of their kind, from whom they derived the most pleasure and usefulness.

The first thing that flattery knows how to do after the death of these unique men, whose absence cannot be filled, is to attribute to them weaknesses that it claims do not exist in their successors: it guarantees that one, with all the capacity and all the enlightenment of the one whose place he comes to occupy, does not have the defects of the other; and this style serves for princes to console themselves with the great and the excellent, with the mediocre.

The nobles despise intelligent people who have nothing more than intelligence; intelligent people despise nobles who only have nobility; Good people feel sorry for each other when they have nobility or intelligence without any virtue.

When I see, on the one hand, that the nobles are interested in things and that those of good are considered useless, I find myself more disposed to confirm this thought: greatness and discernment are two different things and the love of virtue and the virtuous is a third thing.

Lucilla would rather spend her life being supported by a few nobles than being reduced to living familiarly with her equals.

The rule of seeing people as superior to oneself must have its restrictions: it sometimes takes strange talents to reduce it into practice.

What is Teofilo's incurable disease (52) ? It has lasted for more than thirty years: he cannot be cured: he wanted, wants and will want to govern the nobles; Only death will take away, with life, this thirst for empire and ascendancy over spirits: will it be zeal for one's neighbor? Is it a habit? Is it an excessive opinion of yourself? There is no palace in which it does not insinuate itself; it is not in the middle of a room that he stops; passes through the gap in the door or the office: it is expected that he has spoken, and a lot, and with action, to have an audience, to be seen. Enters into the secret of families: contributes something to everything that happens to them, whether sad or beneficial: precedes everyone else, offers himself, gets involved in the party; It must be admitted. It is not enough to fill his time or his ambition to care for ten thousand souls for whom he is responsible before God as for his own; There are people of higher rank and greater distinction, for whom he does not have to give an account, and for whom he takes charge willingly. Listen, watch out for everything that can serve as fodder for your spirit of intrigue, mediation or manipulation: as soon as a nobleman disembarks, take control of him; before it could be suspected that Theophilus wanted to govern it, Theophilus is already heard saying that he governs it.

A coldness or incivility coming from those above us makes us hate them; but a smile or a greeting soon reconciles us with them.

There are proud men whom the elevation of their rivals humbles and tames; they reach, with this misfortune, the point of corresponding to our greeting; but time, which sweetens everything, finally restores them to their natural state.

The contempt that the nobles have for the people makes them indifferent to the flattery or praise they receive, and tempers their vanity; so also princes, praised endlessly and without rest by nobles or courtiers, would be even more presumptuous if they in turn appreciated those who praised them.

The nobles consider themselves the only perfect ones, they hardly admit in other men rectitude of spirit, ingenuity, scruples, and they take possession of these rich talents as things due to their birth. However, it is a gross error to entertain these false preconceptions: all the best that has ever been thought, said, written, perhaps the most delicate conduct, has not always come from its essence. They have large domains and a long line of ancestors: that cannot be disputed.

Do you have intelligence, greatness, sagacity, taste, discernment? Should I believe the pretense and flattery that boldly advertises its merit? They are suspicious to me: I refuse them. I would let myself be overshadowed by an air of ability or arrogance that places him above everything that is done, said, and written; that makes you dry to praise and prevents the slightest approval from being extracted from you? I conclude from this, more naturally, that you have protection, credit and great riches. What is the means to define it, Telefon? People only approach you like fire, and at a certain distance; It would be necessary to uncover it, get to know it closely, compare it with your peers, to make a sound and reasonable judgment of you. Your trusted man, who enjoys your intimacy, with whom you seek advice, for whom you leave Socrates and Aristides, with whom you laugh, and who laughs louder than you, in short, this one, Dave, I know him very well: would that be enough to know you?

There are people who, if they could know their subordinates and know themselves, would be ashamed to stand out.

If there are few excellent speakers, will there be many people who can listen to them? If there aren't enough good writers, where are the ones who know how to read? Likewise there were complaints against the small number of people capable of advising the king and helping him in the administration of his affairs. But if after all these able and intelligent men are born, if they act according to their way of seeing and their lights, will they be loved, will they be appreciated as much as they deserve? Will they be praised for what they think and do for their country? They live, that's all they need: they blame them if they fail, they envy us if we fail.

Let us blame the people where it would be ridiculous to want to excuse them: their grief and envy, seen by the nobles and powerful as inevitable, led the latter, insensibly, to disregard them, to disregard their votes in all their initiatives and to make this disregard a rule of policy.

Little ones hate each other when they harm each other. The nobles are hateful to the commoners for the harm they do them and for all the good they do not do them: they are responsible for their obscurity, their poverty and misfortune; or at least they appear to be.

It is already too much to have the same religion and the same God in common with the people: how can one still be called Peter, John or James, like the merchant or the farmer. Let us avoid having anything in common with the crowd; let us, on the contrary, affect all the distinctions that separate us from her: let her appropriate the twelve apostles, her disciples, the first martyrs (such people, such patrons); She will be delighted to see this special day that each person celebrates as their patron saint's day return every year. As for us nobles, let us resort to profane names: let us have ourselves baptized with the names of Hannibal, Caesar, and Pompey, who were great men; with that of Lucrezia, who was an illustrious Roman; with those of Renaud, Rogério, Oliveiros and Tancredo, who were paladins, and the novel has no more wonderful heroes; with those of Hector, Achilles, Hercules, all demigods; even with those of Phoebus and Diana; and who would prevent us from calling ourselves Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Adonis?

The nobles neglect to know anything, I no longer say only the interests of princes and public affairs, but their own interests and affairs; since they ignore the economy of a family man and, praising themselves for their ignorance, they allow themselves to be impoverished and dominated by their stewards; they are content to be gastronomes or coteaux (53) , to go to the house of Tais or Phrynia to talk about the pack and the old pack, to say how many moulting posts there are from Paris to Besancon and to Philisburg; Meanwhile, there are citizens who educate themselves in the art of governing, becoming refined and political. The nobles who disdained them, bow to them: they are happy when they become their sons-in-law!

If I compare the two most opposite conditions of men, I mean, the nobles and the people, the latter seem to me content with what is necessary and the others restless and poor with what is superfluous. A man of the people would not know how to do any harm; a nobleman wants no good and is capable of great evil; one, is only formed and exercised in useful things; the other, adds the pernicious ones: there, rudeness and frankness are naively shown; here, a malignant and corrupt sap is hidden under the bark of politeness: the people have no spirit and the nobles have no soul; he has good background and does not have good appearance; these only have appearances and a simple surface. Will it be necessary to choose? I do not hesitate: I want to be people.

However profound the great men of the court may be, and however great the art they employ in appearing what they are not and not appearing what they are, they cannot hide their malignity, their extreme tendency to laugh at the expense of others and frequently to throw ridicule where there should be none; these beautiful talents are discovered in them at first sight: admirable, without a doubt, to wrap up a simpleton and make more stupid one who is already stupid; but even more suitable to take away all the pleasure they could have in front of an intelligent man who knew how to unfold himself into a thousand pleasant and amusing attitudes! if the dangerous character of the courtier did not force him to great circumspection. He opposes it with a serious character, in which he entrenches himself, and he does so with such skill that the mockers, with such bad intentions, lack opportunities to mock him.

The joys of life, abundance, the calm of great prosperity, give princes more than enough joy to laugh at a dwarf, a monkey, an imbecile and a bad joke: less happy people only laugh when there is a reason.

A nobleman likes Champagne, hates Brie; gets drunk on better wine than the common man: the only difference that scoundrelism leaves between the most disproportionate conditions, between the master and the servant (54) .

It seems at first sight to enter into the pleasures of princes a little of what consists in bothering others; but no; princes look like men; They think of themselves, they follow their own taste, their passions, their comforts: this is natural.

It seems that the first rule of companies and of people in high positions is to give those who depend on them for the care of their affairs every obstacle they can fear.

If a nobleman has any degree of happiness above other men, I do not see what it is, unless perhaps it is that he often finds himself in the power and occasion of giving pleasure to others, and if this circumstance arises, it seems he ought to make use of it: if it is for the benefit of a good man, he must fear that it will escape him. When it is a just thing one should prevent the request, and only be seen to receive thanks; and if it is easy, you shouldn't even make it count: if you let it pass, I'll regret both of you.

There are men who are inaccessible from birth, and they are precisely those whom others need, on whom they depend: they are always standing behind; mobile like mercury, they pirouette, gesticulate, shout and agitate themselves, similar to those cardboard figures that serve as decoration at a public party, they throw fire and flame, thunder and flash lightning: no one approaches them, until, having extinguished themselves, they fall, and with their fall they become treatable, but useless.

The Swiss, the valet, the man in livery, if they have no more intelligence than their condition, do not judge themselves more by their humility, but by the elevation and fortune of the people they serve, and they put all who enter their door and show them the ladder indifferently below themselves and their masters: so much is it true that they are destined to put up with nobles and those who belong to them!

A high dignitary must love his prince, his wife, his children, and after them the intelligent men: he must adopt them; You must stock up on them and not let them run out. It would never be too much to pay, I don't mean with too many pensions and benefits, but with too much attention and familiarity, for the help and services they give him, even without him knowing: how many rumors they dispel! They know how to justify even bad successes with good intentions, to prove the goodness of an intention and the correctness of their measures with the happiness of events; to stand up against slander and envy to attribute even better motives to good initiatives; give favorable explanations for evil appearances; to avoid small defects, to show virtues, and bring them to light; to sow, on a thousand occasions, advantageous facts and details and provoke laughter and mockery against those who dare to doubt or sustain contrary facts. I know that the nobles have as their maxim to let people talk and continue acting; but I also know that it happens to them, many times, that letting people talk prevents them from doing it.

To feel the merit, and once it is known, to treat it well: two great measures to take, immediately, and of which most nobles are completely incapable.

You are great, you are powerful; It is not enough: make me esteem you, so that I may be sad for falling from your good graces or for not having been able to acquire them.

You say of a nobleman or a high dignitary that he is courteous and helpful; who likes to give pleasure: and confirms this by a long account, concerning what he did in a business in which he knew you were interested. I understand: you mean that because of you there is immense interest in your request; You are well with the powers: do you wish I knew something else?

Someone says to you: “I complain about so-and-so; is vain with his greatness; disdains me, does not know me anymore. "For my part," you say, "I have no reason to complain of him; on the contrary, I have only to praise him; and it seems to me that he is quite courteous." I think I understand you once more: you want it to be known that a high dignitary is considerate of you, that he recognizes you in the antechamber among a thousand good people from whom he averts his eyes, for fear of falling into the inconvenience of returning their greeting or smiling at them.

To brag about someone, to brag about a nobleman, a delicate phrase in origin, and which undoubtedly means to praise oneself by saying about a nobleman all the good he did for us or that he didn't even think about doing for us.

Whoever praises the nobles, does so to emphasize that he sees them closely; rarely out of esteem or gratitude: often he does not even know those he praises. Vanity or frivolity sometimes overcomes resentment: you are unhappy with them, but you praise them.

If it is dangerous to get involved in a suspicious business, it is even more dangerous to be an accomplice to a nobleman; he will get away with it and let you pay twice, for him and for you.

The prince's entire fortune is not enough to pay for a low indulgence, if one judges by all that the one he wants to reward has put into the case; and not all his power is enough to punish him, if revenge is measured by the damage he received.

The nobility exposes its life for the salvation of the State and the glory of the sovereign; the magistrate relieves the prince of part of the burden of judging the people; here are, on both sides, very sublime functions of wonderful utility. Men are not capable of greater things; I don't know where the toga and the sword got the reason to despise each other.

Se t is glory and high reputation. The soldier does not aspire to be famous; he dies obscure in the crowd: he lived the same way, it is true, but he lived; This is one of the sources of the lack of courage in the lower and servile classes. Those, on the contrary, whom birth has separated from the people, and exposes to the eyes of men, to their censure and to their praise, are even capable of getting out of there by an effort of temperament, if they were not led to virtue; and that disposition of heart and intelligence, which is transmitted from the ancestors of the parents and their descendants, is that bravery so familiar to noble people and perhaps to the nobility itself.

Throw me into the troops as a simple soldier, I am TERSITES; Put me at the head of an army for which I have to answer to all of Europe, I am ACHILLES.

Princes, without any other science or rule, have a taste for comparison: they were born and educated in the midst and, as it were, in the center of the best things, with which they relate what they read, what they see and what they hear. Anything that strays too far from LULLI, RACINE and LE BRUN is condemned.

Only to speak to young princes of the zeal for their rank is an excess of caution when a whole court devotes its duty and a part of its politeness to respecting them, and they are much less liable to ignore any of the attentions due to their birth than to confound people and treat them indifferently, without distinction for their conditions and titles. They have a natural pride that they recover on occasion; they only need lessons to regulate them, to inspire them with kindness, probity, and a spirit of discernment.

It is pure hypocrisy for a man of a certain elevation not to immediately take the place that is due to him, and that everyone gives him. It costs him nothing to be modest, to mingle with the crowd that will open up to him, to take the last place in an assembly, so that everyone will see him there and rush to get him out. Modesty is more difficult for men of ordinary condition: if they throw themselves into the crowd, they crush them; If they choose an uncomfortable place, they stay there.

Aristarco appears in the public square with a herald and a trumpeter: this begins, the whole crowd comes together and gathers. Hear, O people, says the herald; pay attention; silence, silence! Aristarco, who is here, will do a good deed tomorrow. I would say it more simply and without image: Will someone who does good want to do better? That I don't know what he does, or at least that I don't suspect him of having told me what he did.

The best actions are altered and weakened by the way they are carried out, and even leave one doubting one's intentions. He who protects or praises virtue for virtue's sake, who corrects or reproves vice for vice's sake, does so simply, naturally, without any circumlocution, without any singularity, without ostentation, without affectation: he does not use grave and sententious answers, still less spicy and satirical details; It is never a scene he puts on for the public, it is a good example he sets and a duty he fulfills; does not provide anything for women's visits, neither to the pavilion (55) nor to journalists; does not give a witty man material for a good joke. The good you have just done is a little less well-known, actually; but he did this good; What else did he want?

The nobles must not like the primitive times; are not favorable to them: it is sad for them to see that we all came from brother and sister, Men together compose a single family; there is only more and less in the degrees of kinship.

Teognis is exquisite in his arrangements and comes out adorned like a woman: when he leaves the house he has already made up his eyes and face, in order to look calm in public, and there he appears very prepared, and passers-by find him graceful, smile at him, and none escape him. If you walk through the rooms, you turn right, where there are a lot of people, and left, where there is no one; exit those who are there and those who are not there. Embrace a man who is within your reach; presses his head against his chest; then he asks who is the one he hugged. Someone needs him for an easy business, seeks him out, makes a request: Theognis listens favorably; is delighted to be of service to you in some way, he urges you to create these opportunities to render you service; and as he insists on his business, he tells him that he will do nothing; he asks him to put himself in his place, he makes him the judge of his case: the client leaves accompanied to the door, flattered, confused, almost happy to have been rejected.

Panfilo does not converse with the people he meets in the rooms or in the palace: judging by his gravity and the elevation of his voice, he receives them, gives them an audience, and dismisses them. There are terms that are at once polite and haughty, an imperious politeness, which he uses without discernment: he has a false greatness that demeans him, and greatly embarrasses those who are his friends and do not want to despise him.

A Pamphilo is full of himself, he does not lose sight of himself, he does not go beyond the idea of ​​his greatness, his kinship, his position, his dignity: he gathers, so to speak, all his pieces, he covers himself with them to make himself worthy; he says: My order, my honorific insignia: he displays them or hides them for ostentation: a Pamphilus, in a word, wants to be noble; thinks it is, and it is not; It is according to a nobleman; If he sometimes smiles at a man of the highest order, an intelligent man, he chooses an occasion so opportune that he is never opulent, nor powerful, nor a minister's friend, nor his relative, nor his employee. It is severe and inexorable for those who have not yet made a fortune; meets you once in a gallery and avoids you; The next day, if he finds you in a less public place, or if it is public, in the company of a nobleman, he takes courage, comes up to you and says to you: Yesterday you pretended not to see me. Then he abruptly leaves it to join a gentleman or a first clerk; and then, if you find them talking to you, you cut them off and pull them away. Another time you approach him and he doesn't stop; is accompanied; He speaks so loudly that it is a scene for passersby. The Pamphleteers are also always like in the theater; people fed on falsehoods, who hate naturalness more than anything in life; true comedy characters, the Floridors, the Mondoris.

The subject of the Pamphilis is not exhausted: they are groveling and timid before princes and ministers, full of haughtiness and confidence with those who have only virtue, mute and awkward before the wise; lively, bold and arrogant with those who know nothing. They talk about war to a man in a toga, and politics to a financier; They know history with women, they are poets with a doctor, and geometers with a poet. They do not take charge of maxims; of, principles, even less; They live at random, pushed and dragged by the wind of protection and the attraction of riches. They have no opinion that is theirs, that is their own; borrow as they need them; and the one they turn to is not an educated or competent man; He is a man who is in fashion.

We have a sterile jealousy for nobles and prominent people, or an impotent hatred that does not avenge us of their splendor and elevation, and only adds to our own misery the unbearable weight of the happiness of others: what can we do against such an inveterate and contagious disease of the soul? Let us be content with little, and with even less if possible; know how to lose on occasion; the recipe is infallible, and I agree to try it: I will thus avoid being pushed out of the door by the crowd of clients or courtiers that a minister's house turns out several times a day; to suffer in the courtroom, to ask tremblingly or stammering for a just thing; bear the minister's gravity, his bitter laughter, and his laconism. Then I no longer hate him, and I no longer envy him; he makes no plea to me, I make none to him; we are the same, except for the fact that he is not calm, and I am.

If nobles have occasions to do us good, they rarely have the will to do it; and if they wish to harm us, they do not always find an opportunity. Thus one can be deceived in the kind of worship one renders to them, if that worship is only founded on hope or fear; and a long life sometimes ends without having to depend on them for the slightest interest, or without having to owe them good or bad fortune. We must respect them because they are nobles and we are commoners; and because there are others more plebeian than us who respect us.

At court, in the city, the same passions, the same weaknesses, the same baseness, the same whims, the same disagreements in families and between relatives, the same envies, the same antipathies: everywhere daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, husbands and wives, divorces, ruptures and imperfect reconciliations; everywhere discontent, anger, partiality, complaints and what is called bad words: with good eyes one can easily see the little town, the street São Diniz, as if transported to V. or F. (56) Here one thinks to hate with more pride and arrogance, and perhaps with more dignity: people harm each other with more skill and finesse; anger is more eloquent, and insults are said more politely and in better terms; here the purity of the language is not harmed; here only men or their reputation are offended: all appearances of vice are specious; but the bottom, once again, is the same as in the humblest conditions: everything that is low, weak and unworthy is found here. These men, so noble by birth, or by graces granted, or high dignities, these heads so strong and so able, these women so polished and witty, all despise the people; and they are the people.

Whoever says people says more than one thing: it is a vast expression; and one would be amazed to see what it implies and how far it extends. There are people who are opposed to the nobles: the populace and the crowd; There are people opposed to the educated, the competent and the virtuous: they are both the nobles and the commoners.

The nobles govern themselves by feeling: idle souls on whom everything, at first sight, makes a vivid impression. One thing happens, they talk too much about it, then they talk little, then they don't talk anymore, and they never will talk again: action, conduct, work, event, everything is forgotten; do not ask him for correction, foresight, reflection, recognition or reward.

We place ourselves at opposite ends in relation to certain characters. Satire, after his death, spread among the people, while his praises resounded in the vaults of the temples. Sometimes they deserve neither libels nor funeral speeches, sometimes they are worthy of both.

One must be silent about the powerful: there is almost always flattery in speaking well of them; There is danger in speaking evil while they live, and cowardice when they are dead.