#I am not even a real science

[obstinatecondolement]

Being kinda bitchy about the "math sucks" trope cw

I was watching a video the other day where the YouTuber who made it was recreating and using various skincare products from a 19th century book aimed at people who ran salons and it was all very "For science!" in a pretty shallow way that didn't betray much understanding of the scientific method, which, yeah, sure. I don't have a problem with that in and of itself, I guess. Pretty standard as these things go.

But then at one point she was talking about how she was thirding the recipe, because she didn't want to end up with vast amounts of one of the products, and she tried to work out what a third of a half was in her head (with animated equations overlaid around her puzzled face in post) and eventually she looked it up on her phone. And like... girl. It's a 1/6th. This is primary school stuff. And even if you don't know that you multiply the numerator by the numerator and the denominator by the denominator... have you ever cut a pizza?

If you are going to invoke Science™ and put on period safety goggles and a lab coat for the aesthetic, then maybe don't meme about how Math Is Hard? Because that makes you look ridiculous?

I'm not trying to shame anyone who finds basic mathematics hard! It's something a lot of people struggle with and it's not a moral failing to be bad at something.

But... it's just... it's so fucking tedious to me how "math is hard" is such a common Funnie Joak in internet circles that is supposed to be universally relatable. We all make a lot of hay out of the people who bitch and moan that "maybe the curtains were just blue!" and call them out for celebrating their pride in their own willful ignorance, but at the same time it's apparently completely acceptable to assume that the kind of arithmetic that children under 12 are expected to master is so obviously beyond even the keenest of intellects and just generally not worth knowing.

And this paired with the science drag is like... Idk, it seems very tacky to me? It's so fucking disrespectful to in the same breath that you say "Yay science!" say "Boo math!" Why are people so obsessed with the shallow aesthetics of Hollywood science while being so openly disdainful of like... even the most simple of tools that scientists use?

And this is leaving aside the... very dubiously scientific approach taken in this video. Which, I don't know, I guess that's fine. I'm not expecting a YouTuber to do a double blind peer reviewed study about the efficacy of Victorian skincare. The fact that she consulted modern chemists to make sure she wasn't doing anything dangerous and cautioned her audience not to try to recreate the things she'd made without taking the same precautions is like... something. I guess. But... ugh.

Is this what humanities people feel about Dark Academia aesthetic moodboards?

[kryptickrow]

"In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead, while it is unobserved in a closed box, as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur. This experiment viewed this way is described as a paradox." - Wikipedia

(textless and original mspaint version under the cut)

[kindahoping4forever]

Luke performing @ Boston Calling Music Festival - 24 May 2024

[slcknasty]

i watched re-animator the other day and unfortunately this weird little freak has captivated me

[hihello-idraw]

My indecisive ass can't choose what person to ship Kakashi or Naruto with so! Polyamory it is then!

[katsettee]

Studying for my biology finals by associating everything with how I think it would apply to Shadow the Hedgehog

[opens-up-4-nobody]

From this article (published july 12, 2023)

[nachosncheezies]

Something that I have observed, in life and in fandom spaces, is that vast cultural and linguistic differences are often unknown, and this has become especially apparent as social usage of the internet has grown worldwide. It's no one's fault. Nobody is "less than" or unintelligent or whatever else for not recognizing it. It's simply something that you can't really know, I think, without being directly exposed to it either by education or personal experience.

I've been lucky to have been something of a nomad, but that comes with its challenges which go way beyond the practical or homesickness. I can say that even within the English language there are VAST regional and cultural differences in modes of expression. Interestingly, the folks I've known who MOST seem to recognize it are linguists and especially professional translators - professions where a recognition of the importance of localized metaphor, unspoken nuance, idiomatic expressions, etc, are absolutely KEY to success. But I digress.

Based on my own experience, I believe that internationally common tongues sometimes fail us to a degree because of this. In some places, culture is more "individualized" - a sort of "what can I do" which often includes a sort of "me against the world" outlook. (I do not mean selfishness. Not at all. I mean it's a starting point, not a goal.) Presenting one's thoughts can best be accomplished by conveying strong, even absolute conviction in one's position, which - "me against the world" - can lead to generalized and sometimes forceful statements. At home, that would be a starting point for discussion and debate, and would be returned in kind. In other places, discussion takes more of an "improv comedy" style, wherein "yes, and..." is the mode of debate. In still others, the places and types of silence can convey just as much about someone's position and can be just as persuasive as words themselves. Sarcasm is especially regionalized, and conveyed differently from place to place. Body language is universally important in adding nuance or clarification to any statement in any place. Put these sorts of things in a blender, and you can easily find misunderstandings where some come off aggressive or as "talking down" to others, others unusually meek, still others appearing to agree when actually, they are not agreeing at all, etc.

I have also observed that in real life situations, differences in regional accents afford a certain amount of grace toward these differences, even when we're not actively conscious of any of the above. (This, I can say with absolute certainty, because I have also lived in a few places long enough to have taken on a floating accent, and when I'm visiting any of these places for more than a day or so, that grace if I stumble back into other modes of expression disappears with whichever accent I got off the plane with 😂)

Unfortunately, online, we don't have this constant audible reminder that a person is something of an "other" coming from some other place where modes of communication may be different. Even people who deal with language as their professional bread and butter can easily forget in online spaces. We tend to hear whatever we read in our local accent, and things such as metaphor and sarcasm may be misconstrued, "individualized conviction" modes may come across as shocking and rude, or the many and varied uses of silence may go completely unnoticed, etc.

Anyway. If you have read this whole novella, thank you. 💕 I have debated posting something like this for a looong time, because I wonder sometimes if conflict I see within fandoms (and educational groups, and professional groups, and and and) might arise, fundamentally, from these sorts of misunderstandings. I do not intend it as a callout to any person or group of people. Perhaps, hopefully, simply food for thought.

[crispyliza]

Person: oh you're from Greece? I was actually conceived there haha

Me: yeah haha...

Person: oh sorry, tmi?

Me: no, not at all! It's just that... I'm kinda jealous

Person: ...of me being conceived in Greece?

Me: of you being conceived in general. I'm an IVF baby :(

[rivangel]

Levi is a math teacher/professor no u cant convince me differently

[fisheito]

OH HO!

also assigned anxiety at nu🦀

[aerielz]

If I hear about freud as a good thing one more time I will bite someone

[astrxealis]

hi guys please wish me luck for my college entrance exam tomorrow for one of my dream schools xoxo

[fruitsyrups]

blank eyed girl and ghost fly and the first investigation and stakes miniseries (but specifically the parts that involve finn and jake) and also sometimes kind of objects or scenes (like the sword finn gets from hunson and the scene in the same episode where they're all eating pizza after marcy's concert ... all has a certain kind of atmosphere to me... a vibe.. if you will. i dont know what it is though. but im a little bit crazy about it to be honest

[pocketramblr]

No i am not joking, according to Endeavor Dabi being near death allowed him to awaken a whole new ability and he now has ice coming out of his chest.

[haarute]

found out one of the biggest tumblr users from my country who i frequently see on my dash with big insightful posts lives in the same city i do. which if you knew where the fuck i live you'd know that encountering someone from here out in the wild is NUTS