There are differences between taking on the appearance of sadness as an affectation (dressing the part, listening to the music, etc.), sadness itself, angst, and "depression." Everyone feels sad from time to time, not everyone gets depressed. While I understand that it may potentially annoy, people who do get…

Finally, someone takes Cleghorne! down a notch!

Fellow history major. Generally speaking, I like it when pop culture draws attention to historical events and characters. I don't count on these things to get the details right, and I'm not surprised when they're altered for the sake of the story — "artistic license." Knowing that is an important part of…

Because in that usage "effect" means to "bring into being." Effecting change can sometimes affect solutions.

Can you be specific? What about the exchange?

Fair enough. In terms of tone, I know things can often be read in more than one ways. My intention is, yes, to be polite, though I also mean to convey the fact that I do not like to be insulted — to convey my humanity, pain and anger included, in a medium that sometimes serves to dehumanize (which is why, in part, I…

Uhm, okay. That's a comic… funny, well done, and I'm not saying it's wrong in its message or anything. I wouldn't follow anyone to their house to correct some comment I'd just happened to overhear, even if that comment were ignorant or rude or whatever. In most settings (like that in the comic), I doubt I'd even…

I… I don't know if I'm trying to do that? I mean, if I'm an asshole, so be it, and certainly some Objectivists are… But could you help me out and tell me what I'd said that was asshole-ish?

Criticizing a set of beliefs is perfectly fair, we agree. It's perfectly fair for you to criticize Objectivism (hopefully while representing it accurately, but like I say, a step at a time). But do you not see a distinction between criticizing a set of beliefs, and insulting all those who might be "associated" with…

Honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that. If you're questioning my sincerity, then no; I really am an Objectivist. (And you really can "ask me anything.")

All right. A step at a time. You're not interested in upvotes? I'll take you at your word. But it's not you alone that takes these kinds of shots around here, and I have a feeling that the upvote system sometimes plays into it. You know? I was searching for a reason why you'd be insulting, but okay, that's not…

You again! It's amazing to me, looking at the comments on an article on portrayals of God — and I find myself insulted! What a way to start the day! Right? I mean, I guess I should expect that from this place by now (and I recognize that you didn't even "start it"). I know Objectivists are effectively "othered,"…

Hard to find a silver lining. If anything actually happened to this woman, that's awful. The false accusations (assuming that they are, indeed, false) and damage done to the other people involved, the frat, the University. Now the ongoing damage to Rolling Stone, and to those who actually suffer from these kinds of…

It was a long enough drought if you were my age: ten in '87, when TNG debuted. I'd grown up on reruns of TOS, staying up till midnight when allowed (or I could sneak it) to watch, and there was Twilight Zone on the holidays, and sure some Buck Rogers… but nothing that truly felt like my own, for basically the whole…

I don't berate people for innocently telling me harmless things, but I try to know as little as I can about the books I'm going to read or the movies or TV I'm going to watch (whenever it is I've made the decision to read/watch). I like being exposed to the information in the manner the writer/director/whatever…

Or if its a well written story designed to surprise.

"Yes, there’s a pleasure when you’re reading a book, or watching a television show—What will happen next?"

He was great in Crime Story. That is all.

It frustrates me when characters are not evaluated primarily as characters, but as exemplars of their race (or gender, or etc). I think that a particular character, like the mother in Boyhood, should be able to positively impact the life of a man who happens to be Hispanic without that necessarily being read as a…

The best pun I've ever made (and yes, I know what it says about me, that I think in terms of "best pun" and that I remember, and take pride, in such a thing) was when I was playing Pokemon for the first time.