this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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me_irl

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[–] 200ok 42 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Saving some of you the search:

[–] IndiBrony 16 points 2 years ago

I like how India started near the Antarctic but was like "nah fuck this cold shit, imma go yeet myself into Asia"

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I seriously hope, Australia never claims its entire plate as territory.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's kind of an unusual thing to be concerned about. Why?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

It's not that unusual, I mean who aren't worried about the implications of Australia claiming sovereignty over their entire continental plate? My own mother spent decades researching and writing about the implications. Most people here in Finland care about this.

[–] ngwoo 5 points 2 years ago

Keeps me up at night

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What's the deal with the Juan De Fuca plate?

[–] ngwoo 2 points 2 years ago

Just a little guy

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

The Cocos plate sounds tasty.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Just FYI, the modern theory of plate tectonics dates back to the 1960s but by that time it had been centuries since people first noticed that some continents looked like they had fit together and then moved apart.

Wikipedia says that in 1596,

Abraham Ortelius in his work Thesaurus Geographicus ... suggested that the Americas were "torn away from Europe and Africa ... by earthquakes and floods" and went on to say: "The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves if someone brings forward a map of the world and considers carefully the coasts of the three [continents]."

[–] BitingChaos 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

sounds like you need a cigarette

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I admit I do get worked up over the assumption that people in the past were stupid. It can make people in the present dangerously overconfident.

[–] flint5436 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Only if they think they aren't stupid themselves. I think everybody, including me, in past and present (and most likely in the future) is stupid.

I mean we've got more or less the same brain people in the stone ages had and are trying to solve problems in the microcomputing age. Of course we're going to make mistakes and most ideas we have about the universe or society are probably wrong. And of course we'll repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.

So I don't think thinking of someone as stupid is bad, just assuming you're less stupid is.

Sorry I get equally worked up over the assumption that people aren't stupid.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is it useful to define "stupid" as the level of intelligence that everybody possesses? I'm not saying it isn't - maybe thinking "I'm stupid and so is everyone else" really is the appropriate level of humility. But, on the other hand, someone must ultimately make important decisions, so we can't just say "no one is qualified". With apologies to George Orwell, all people are stupid but some people are less stupid than others. So I think our language should distinguish between the two.

[–] flint5436 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes I'd say so. I get where you're coming from but I don't think it's an excuse not to make decisions. Quite the opposite in fact.

I think of it like this: if you think you're smart, you expect to make best choice for every decision. So in tough situations, where there is no "right" choice, you beat yourself up about not doing better. If you accept you're stupid, you're willing to settle for the least wrong and accept failiure.

The same goes for interacting with others. Don't expect others to make the best choice, as they're stupid too, so you might find a better solution. But if you did not find one and they didn't, well, they're stupid, so of course they did not. Can't blame them really.

I'm no native speaker so perhaps stupid and smart are the wrong words in this context. Perhaps fallible and infallible are better suited.

[–] Lowered_lifted 23 points 2 years ago

They would get sent out to play in the asbestos pits and inhale all the lead they can huff before running home before the streetlights turn on for a good old-fashioned beating.

[–] Limeey 17 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I know this is an old meme but god damn is it funny

[–] archiotterpup 4 points 2 years ago

But it checks out

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The kid figuring out they fit together: the what

The theory of Plate Tectonics: the how

[–] djmarcone 3 points 2 years ago

Fogs kid with ddt