When the tiny pony is a negative thing, many call it Creeping Normalcy [1]. Sounds like the same phenonmenon to me: adjustments that come slowly enough do not get appreciated. Louis CK has a funny bit about it [2].
There is a Horse in the Apple Store
61–70 of 118 posts
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#62I know it’s not the topic of the submission but I would have very much liked to get an explanation. Is it maybe a guide horse? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_horse
Yes it is an assistance animal[1]. It is kind of sad that the guy never figured it out. At least he didn't go and try to pet it or something. [1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04Creatures-t.htm...
way off topic, but i can't resist:
> soon Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences, where Rose was attending nursing school, refused Richard access, too. Stories started appearing about Rose and her monkey in the newspaper and on TV. “Suddenly,” she told me, “everyone knew I had a mental disorder.”
a monkey on one's back! idiom origin revealed!
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#63For me personally, some of the not-being-that-excited-ness is that I grew up reading sci-fi and cyberpunk, and basically always assumed these things were possible and likely, just a matter of implementation details. A device that can translate any language at a button-push? Sure, I heard about it when I was eight. A device you carry around that instantly connects to some sort of communication network? Yeah, I've prob…
Weirdly, actually having it doesn't seem to make a huge difference to me.
It does to me. But, then, I'm the bibliophile son of a librarian. So the new world manifests as a continuous series of oddnesses: I'm purging my book and map and magazine collection, and it is getting much smaller, and that is weird. The web changes the habits of a lifetime.
It is hard to perceive long-term changes, even when they are big.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#64A black president, whose father is from Kenya and mother is from Kansas, being elected President of the United States is a tiny pony.
When does the magic of a situation fade?
I guess that guy hasn't seen any poll numbers lately. It's still pretty cool that we elected a black president, but the magic faded a while ago.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure how being fitted with two entirely standard pieces of tack (a breastplate and a bridle) counts as horrible abuse .
Well, now we're talking in terms of relativity. You're saying that it's not 'horrible abuse' because it is standard treatment, but this says nothing of whether or not standard treatment is 'horrible abuse.' For example, The Jews that weren't killed in the concentration camps "didn't have it so bad" compared to the ones were. But this says nothing of whether or not overall treatment of Jews in concentration camps was…
Whoa, I never expected Godwin to show up in a discussion thread about a horse.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know this is not the topic of submission here either, but I can't help but feel that picture in the wikipedia of the guide horse is horrible abuse. All those straps and chains, UGH. /shudders
I'm not sure how being fitted with two entirely standard pieces of tack (a breastplate and a bridle) counts as horrible abuse .
How would you like it if I put a bridle on your face.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The instant gratification provided by being able to have almost any question answered immediately is a tiny pony. Apart from reference questions (like dictionary meanings, map look up, programming syntax, wikipedia), we are an awfully long way from this.
Apart from reference questions (like dictionary meanings, map look up, programming syntax, wikipedia), we are an awfully long way from this. I'm not clear what you mean, but it seems to me that we're pretty close to the point where most things that have an actual answer can be found by typing a question and clicking a button (using a search engine, with fall back to asking a question in a relevant forum) If you are t…
I see what you mean, but my experience is quite often that I have to hunt a lot to get answers to straightforward questions. After a fair bit of effort (if I keep going, sometimes for a considerable time...) I'll get the answer - but not always even then. (of course, for very common questions, the answer does often pop up immediately - I'm certainly pleased when that happens.) Asking in a forum is great, and usually effective, provided you know enough about the question and know an appropriate forum (eg. stackoverflow for programming questions). I should have included "commonly asked questions" as well as "reference questions". Search engines are great at harvesting this low hanging fruit which would otherwise go to waste.
But in the other two cases, the answers are not immediate, which was the thrust of the statement to which I objected - it's quoted above, and includes "instant gratification", "answered immediately" and "almost any question". We're not there yet, we've only got the easy stuff. Wolfram|Alpha is an attempt to go a bit deeper, and it's also part of Google's mission.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#68Also, in the hospital.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know this is not the topic of submission here either, but I can't help but feel that picture in the wikipedia of the guide horse is horrible abuse. All those straps and chains, UGH. /shudders
Blind people generally tend to be so doting on their guide animals that I'm sure the straps and chains are more than compensated by the shower of love he gets from his owner.
Straps and chains are never compensated, never.
Give me liberty or give me death.
Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure how being fitted with two entirely standard pieces of tack (a breastplate and a bridle) counts as horrible abuse .
How would you like it if I put a bridle on your face.
I'm completely with you, but this is not the right place for this discussion. Lead by example (adopt a 100% cruelty-free lifestyle) and let your influence slowly trickle out through your social network.