Mostly used to save neat things

Likes Puns, Physics/Math/Econ Enby, Bi, They/Them * And Man shall look down upon the gods * That's the Anthropocene baby! * Someone will hold you when you run out of clever words * Divorce Supporter * Proud Party Pooper * Trans, Human, Transhuman *

[now-phaeton-flier]

Now moved to new blog

This one got Tumblr-eaten and I can't send messages or use replies and people don't see me in notes.

I think I've followed everyone on my new account (@phaeton-flier) so if I haven't followed you on there please send me a message.

Otherwise not using this account anymore

[antimanifesto1973]

fuck it

[hellsite-yano]

wyd after smoking this

[hellsite-yano]

[twentythousandvolts]

HEY . HEY I HAVENT SEEN “HES GOING TO FUCKING TELL MY MOM” TODAY. WHERE IS IT ……

[twentythousandvolts]

do i need to do everything myself

[tahthetrickster]

unbelievable that its 4/20 and absolutely nobody has put the objectively best rage comic on my dash yet. i have to do everything around here

[fatgrowlithe]

runner up

[rubybelladonna]

“C’mon, kids, I rented a bus today and I wanna get my money’s worth!”

[radiation]

[careerchip-blog]

Happy New Year!

[animusrox]

[ipod6-remade]

[radiolightning]

In case anyone is having a bad night:

Here is the fudgiest brownie in a mug recipe I’ve found

Here are some fun sites

Here is a master post of Adventure Time episodes and comics

Here is a master post of movies including Disney and Studio Ghibli

Here is a master post of other master posts to TV shows and movies

*tucks you in with fuzzy blanket* *pats your head*

You’ll be okay, friend <3

[meanwolfs-remade-deactivated201]

i will reblog this everytime it shows up because any of my followers could have a bad night right now

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

All these links, besides the first, are broken. So here’s some more.

Here’s an emergency compliment

Here you can play 2048

Here’s a playlist of Bob ross

Here’s a website to watch movie’s and shows for free

Here’s a website to watch documentaries for free

Here you can to nothing for two minutes

Here you can break something. It’s good for anger

Here’s a button to press to make everything okay

Here’s a site to cut something up (TRIGGER WARNING)

Here’s a site that makes you a website depending on a song you choose

Here’s a gay comic. It’s adorable

Here you can spend Bill Gate’s money

Here you can draw your own island

Here you can learn about patterns website’s use

Here you can get your life stats

Here you can listen to the Tucker Zone (Headphones needed)

Here you can see how fast you’re moving

Here you can see the progress of time

Here you can see the future of the universe 

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

Want some more? 

Here’s the butterfly project

Here’s a snickerdoodle mug cake

Here’s a link to some free audiobooks

Here’s something to read when you feel like a burden

Here’s a secret

Here’s my playlist of some sea shanties 

Here’s another secret

Here’s a link to some cool websites 

Here’s a blog that gives you recipes for when you’re low on spoons

Here’s some Brony Headcanon’s

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

Some more? I’ve got plenty

Here’s 100,000 stars

Here you can control the weather (TW FLASHING IMAGES)

Here you can weave silk

Here you can make a castle of your own

Here you can make a kaleidoscope drawing

Here you can explore recursion

Here you can play a jelly block game

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

I’m back with some more! 

Here you can draw with pasta

Here you can draw logo’s from memory

Here you can play this is sand, here you draw cool sand designs

Here you can play The Organ Trail

Here’s a customizable white noise website

Here you can simulate gravity

Here you can create your own guardian of the galaxy

Here you can make your own galaxy

Here’s a website you can get some support at.

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

to find later

[bidoofdaily]

[blextrophy]

[radiolightning]

In case anyone is having a bad night:

Here is the fudgiest brownie in a mug recipe I’ve found

Here are some fun sites

Here is a master post of Adventure Time episodes and comics

Here is a master post of movies including Disney and Studio Ghibli

Here is a master post of other master posts to TV shows and movies

*tucks you in with fuzzy blanket* *pats your head*

You’ll be okay, friend <3

[meanwolfs-remade-deactivated201]

i will reblog this everytime it shows up because any of my followers could have a bad night right now

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

All these links, besides the first, are broken. So here’s some more.

Here’s an emergency compliment

Here you can play 2048

Here’s a playlist of Bob ross

Here’s a website to watch movie’s and shows for free

Here’s a website to watch documentaries for free

Here you can to nothing for two minutes

Here you can break something. It’s good for anger

Here’s a button to press to make everything okay

Here’s a site to cut something up (TRIGGER WARNING)

Here’s a site that makes you a website depending on a song you choose

Here’s a gay comic. It’s adorable

Here you can spend Bill Gate’s money

Here you can draw your own island

Here you can learn about patterns website’s use

Here you can get your life stats

Here you can listen to the Tucker Zone (Headphones needed)

Here you can see how fast you’re moving

Here you can see the progress of time

Here you can see the future of the universe 

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

Want some more? 

Here’s the butterfly project

Here’s a snickerdoodle mug cake

Here’s a link to some free audiobooks

Here’s something to read when you feel like a burden

Here’s a secret

Here’s my playlist of some sea shanties 

Here’s another secret

Here’s a link to some cool websites 

Here’s a blog that gives you recipes for when you’re low on spoons

Here’s some Brony Headcanon’s

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

Some more? I’ve got plenty

Here’s 100,000 stars

Here you can control the weather (TW FLASHING IMAGES)

Here you can weave silk

Here you can make a castle of your own

Here you can make a kaleidoscope drawing

Here you can explore recursion

Here you can play a jelly block game

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

I’m back with some more! 

Here you can draw with pasta

Here you can draw logo’s from memory

Here you can play this is sand, here you draw cool sand designs

Here you can play The Organ Trail

Here’s a customizable white noise website

Here you can simulate gravity

Here you can create your own guardian of the galaxy

Here you can make your own galaxy

Here’s a website you can get some support at.

[becausewhatiam-iswhatimnot]

to find later

[epilepticsaints]

[kvnai]

[doomy]

why she takin off her shoe?

[emiratizayn-deactivated20150816]

and the Iraqi people welcomed the Americans with flowers. I wanted to set a historical event to teach Bush a lesson from the Iraqis, telling him you lied, we did not welcome you with flowers, and instead we are saying goodbye with our shoes.“ 

[emiratizayn-deactivated20150816]

Muntaza Al Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who became known as the guy who threw a shoe at Bush and later ended up in jail for three years because of it. 

[scientxsts]

happy 12 years to bush shoeing incident

[now-phaeton-flier]

13 years today. Happy Shoesday!

[now-phaeton-flier]

14 years! It's not on a Tuesday this year, but Happy Shoesday!

[easyvirgin-deactivated20160413]

happy Thursday the 20th

[askjennaflorida]

I’d have to wait months or even years for another chance to reblog this, so why the fuck not?

[mx-mythical-deactivated20260319]

next days you can reblog this on a Thursday the 20th

August 2015

October 2016

April 2017

July 2017

September 2018

December 2018

June 2019

February 2020

August 2020

You know, just in case you wanted to set your queue for the next 6 years

[venusrrvelez]

This is it. The last one in the queue…

[thevaudevilledemon]

May 2021

January 2022

October 2022

April 2023

July 2023

June 2024

February 2025

March 2025

November 2025

August 2026

A new queue

[venusrrvelez]

Here ya go, Tumblr!

[random-thought-depository]

Tangential vagueblogging (about somebody I generally respect, and I don't want to add to the pile-on they're getting), but I'm going to note that I really don't like when people present "predators control the population of prey species and kill off their sickest and weakest individuals" as if this is some kind of favor to the prey species, a merciful euthanasia of beings that are literally better off dead.

It's impossible to know how deer feel about the merits of slowly starving to death vs. being ripped up by wolves, but we can look at human emotions and behavior in comparable situations.

"Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." - Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.

I think humans show a strong revealed preference along those lines. Suicide seems to be a minority choice even in the most miserable conditions in the historical record. Take, for instance, slavery in North America circa 1500-1850 or so; pretty awful. Some slaves did commit suicide. But most of them did not. This is just one many examples in the historical record of humans enduring appalling conditions and apparently mostly not choosing suicide (Irish potato famine, Nazi death camps, gulags, classical era Greco-Roman slavery, etc.). This is actually kind of remarkable if you stop taking it for granted. Of course, it makes perfect sense if you think about it in terms of evolutionary theory; for a species intelligent enough to imagine suicide, choosing to live is a selection pressure, potentially a quite powerful one. We're all descended from the people who chose survival, because those who chose death left no descendants. For a species intelligent enough for long-term planning and suicide, an attitude of "my life, though it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it" is an adaptive trait, and it is no surprise that it seems to have approached fixation before the beginning of recorded history.

The predators alive now mostly do not attack humans because they follow mother's wisdom. The conservatism inherent in the mother's wisdom strategy may keep humans safe for a while, but big predators in most of the world have had tens of thousands to millions of years to eat a human (or proto-human), discover we are quite edible, and add us to the mother's wisdom food list that they transmit to their offspring. Why hasn't this happened? Well, what happens to a predator that kills and eats a human? Other humans follow the people-eater back to its den and kill it! The only predators that survived were the ones that did not habitually eat humans, either as a matter of blind luck or because they were smart enough to learn that we're more dangerous than we look. I suspect the saber-tooth cat, the marsupial lion, etc. are not around anymore because they were unable to make this adjustment. Point is, it sure looks like when humans got smart one of the first things they did was give themselves the same circumstances as deer that have no predators to control their numbers!

You'll often find references to early agriculture actually being a step down from hunting and gathering; primitive farmers are not well-nourished, have a lot of diseases, etc.. To me, preindustrial agricultural humans look a lot like those overpopulated deer; there aren't any predators left to control their numbers (a circumstance they arranged for themselves!), so now what caps their population is malnutrition and infectious disease (and the synergy between the two; malnourished animals and humans get sick and die more easily), so they mostly live on the edge of starvation, so they're hungry and sickly and riddled with diseases (and they are a great burden upon the wider ecology). Being an ancient or Medieval peasant sounds miserable in a similar way to how being a deer in an overpopulated park or a city pigeon sounds miserable. And yet, I think most people would agree that ancient Mesopotamia or Medieval Europe would not be improved by adding Blindsight vampires with the crucifix glitch fixed, even if the survivors the vampires don't eat might have better diets and fewer parasites as a result (because the vampires would kill a lot of the people they'd otherwise have to share their food and other resources with).

It's also pretty suggestive that an often repeated theme of human stories is "what if there was something that related to you in the way a wolf relates to a deer?" and the intended and default reaction to that idea is horror. From dragons, vampires, and Grendel to the "xenomorph" from Alien, the human imagination is persistently haunted by the fear that something may target us for predation; even the ostensibly human killers of e.g. slasher horror are in a sense just another kind of predator. Predation is also a favorite metaphor for human exploitation and abuse of other humans; we speak of rapacious rich people and manipulative abusers as "predatory" even though, of course, they (usually) don't literally eat us.

Humans were a prey species once and, gee, it sure looks like we hated it, like it was a trauma that still haunts us hundreds of thousands years later (probably burned into our genes; predator avoidance would have been a selection pressure), and like as soon as we got smart enough one of the first things we did was to give ourselves the circumstances of those overpopulated deer, choosing chronic food insecurity and high disease load as the lesser evil.

How would you feel about your grandma and your disabled son being dragged away and devoured by wolves? How would you feel about somebody who suggested that such predation was a sort of favor to your species?

How would you feel if you were hungry and sick and in pain and had a broken and infected leg and the wolves came for you? I think I would say, "my life, though it may be only an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it!"

Like, my first articulated objection to "predators are actually good for prey species" thinking is "imagine how ghoulish it would be if somebody applied the same logic to humans!"

I'm not an expert on animal behavior, but it seems to me that the behavior of most animals suggests a similar revealed preference. When the wolves come for an injured deer, I would guess the deer will likely try to hobble away. The city pigeons that occasionally walk by my window are likely malnourished and riddled with parasites and some of them have pretty gruesome foot injuries (I remember reading a post about this once), but they continue to go about the business of survival and even reproduction (I occasionally see them doing what I think are courtship behaviors).

And sure, that's dubious reasoning from analogy. Notably, humans are probably pretty unusual in being intelligent enough to imagine suicide (and also having hands and being smart enough to make weapons, which makes suicide much easier), and therefore present humans are probably the product of a very unusually strong selection pressure for wanting to live. Probably most animals lack the cognitive capacity for suicide, even the passive suicide of suicide by starvation or suicide by predator. I wonder if the point where humans became intelligent enough to imagine suicide is marked by a genetic bottleneck... Deer likely don't have the cognitive capacity to imagine their own death, and if they did they might be more at peace with the idea than we are, because they've experienced no selection pressure for conscious avoidance of death qua death; the injured deer likely tries to hobble away from the wolves because of some combination of pre-programmed reflexive instinct and fear of the pain of the bite, or something like that. If you magically gave a deer human intelligence, it might be much more at peace with the reality of its eventual death than we are.

I guess my truest objection to "the wolves are really good for the deer" thinking is that it feels like another manifestation of Just World thinking and therefore deeply conservative - not in the sense of conventional political conservatism, but I think it's a manifestation of a sort of thinking that's one of the wellsprings of political conservatism; I talked about it here. @aksemmi, I'm wondering if maybe you meant something like that.

[supervor]

You seem to be assigning moral value to the actions of animals that have no concept of right and wrong the way humans do, and I find that deeply unsettling. You can acknowledge that deer feel fear and pain when they die without vilifying wolves for doing what they have to to survive.

Predators are necessary for the health and long term survival of prey species because they coevolved together. Without predation certain plants and areas get severely overgrazed, which in turn has detrimental impacts on other animals and insects that are dependent on those plant species. All ecosystems evolved as complex interconnected webs, and eliminating even one species from that can have catastrophic consequences. Humans using controlled hunting to keep the deer population in check in certain areas is necessary only because we drove out all of their natural predators. It is righting a wrong that we caused that is having a negative impact on every plant and animal species in those areas. Reintroduction of predators is a better long term solution, but it takes time and money and is much harder to get people on board with.

And as a chronically ill/disabled person, please stop comparing us to animals. It's insulting and dehumanizing.

[random-thought-depository]

If you read my post carefully, you'll notice I never say that wolves are, like, evil or something. My point is not to suggest that predators deserve some kind of moral blame, my point is that being a prey species probably sucks. When we consider wolves we should be able to see them as organisms instead of villains, but we should be able to do that without sugar-coating what it means to be part of their food supply.

I don't think deer overpopulate in the absence of wolves because they co-evolved with wolves; I think even if wolves and other predators were never around, deer would still tend to breed up to the limit of their food supply in the absence of predators, because deer that do that would produce more offspring than deer that limited their reproduction to maintain a "good" deer population size. Natural selection promotes genes that are good at getting more copies of themselves into the next generation, it does not promote genes that make the species happier or healthier except insofar as that is congruent with making more offspring. The population size of a species is inevitably constrained by something, that constraint is often predation, but this doesn't mean that predators are necessarily good for a prey species, it just means there's trophic space for a predator species to occupy and some animal has evolved to follow that life strategy. I think a not bad analogy for how this works is viruses and parasites; it's probably pretty common for a species and its parasites to co-evolve, and parasites are another constraint on population size, but this doesn't mean the parasites are good for the host, it just means there is trophic space for parasites and something that has evolved to inhabit that niche. Again, this is not a moral judgment on predators, it's just how nature works; a lion isn't evil, but then a malaria-causing plasmodium parasite isn't evil either. Removing predator species may have undesirable consequences, but I think it's important to remember that nature fundamentally does not care about things like the well-being of organisms or harmonious ecosystems.

I don't see how it's insulting to disabled and chronically ill people to point out that "wolves really do deer a favor by weeding out the sick and weak," if you apply it to humans, is fascist/eugenicist logic. People seem to take offense to such comparisons because they see drawing parallels between human and animal experiences as implicitly lowering the moral status of the human, but I raise the comparison in the exact opposite spirit: the question I ask when I raise those comparisons is "what conclusions might we draw if we viewed animals more like the way we view humans?"

And, like... Not to play the standpoint epistemology card, but I'm not exactly super-healthy myself, and one of the reasons I don't like the "wolves are really good for the deer" argument is that one of the possible implications I read in it is that, actually, it was great that a million years ago somebody like me would likely have been dragged away and ripped up by lions, my life isn't really worth living anyway and it would have freed up ecological space for my healthier, more genetically fit fellows to thrive. I am probably only alive today because I have the incredible species privilege to belong to a species where most individuals live to old age, and I am very conscious of how incredibly lucky this makes me compared to what's normal for animals (or even what was normal for humans before 1900 or so), and I'm very much coming from that perspective here.