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'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

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Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#161

Post by skrebbel »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #155
some_random wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First you say "western" usually means the US, someone disagrees and now you demand they speak Pashto and Danish? Come on.

How would that logic be faulty? For him to confirm his claim that it is a specifically “western” thing to treat Japan so in news sources, he has to speak a variety of both “western" and “non western" languages to truly ascertain that trend. He must both confirm that it happens in “western” news sources of many different countries, as well as that it doesn't happen in ”non western” news sources. One would have to spea…

You're being needlessly confrontational.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#162

Post by pratik661 »

ravenstine wrote: post #75
Karuma wrote: post #18

A friendly reminder that Japan's rent-a-family industry was completely fake: https://newrepublic.com/article/160595/new-yorker-japan-rent... Everyone loves stories about how weird Japan is (especially the Japanese), so these stories should be taken with a grain of salt.

Yeah if you just read all these articles about Japan, you'd think that all young men beat off to hentai all day at their parent's home, and that everyone is visiting "love hotels", or buys used panties from vending machines. The media loves to spin up an image of Japan to naive westerners by exaggerating its quirks. It reminds me of HN. If you read HN too much, you might think that you can only write applications in…

I mentioned this phenomenon in a comment on an HN article about caste in India:

“ Something I've also noticed in Western media is that when covering issues about other cultures (ie India, Middle East, etc), the bar for evidence is pitifully low, especially if the story matches existing confirmation bias.”

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24952892

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#163

Post by bserge »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #152
vorpalhex wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he's unbelievably socially awkward and not in a way that derives humor from it, but is meant to invoke a sense of relatability Media does usually exaggerate the traits they're attempting to highlight, whether it's bravery or social anxiety. Most people, even if they are popular and charismatic, still feel awkward and anxious sometimes. As much as we talk about how different people are, in some ways we're all the sa…

Yes, but it's still remarkable how common in Japanese fiction the socially awkward, uncomfortable protagonist, meant to be relatable to the audience is. The protagonist of The 40 Year old Virgin is unique for it, and the series is not meant for 40 year old virgins. There is a surprisingly high amount of fiction from Japan that follows a formula similar to this: - The protagonist is socially awkward and nervous, but o…

I assume that's the source for the TV series? I couldn't get past the 6th episode... it's just bad. And I watch a lot of trash haha

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#164

Post by Blikkentrekker »

skrebbel wrote: post #161
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that logic be faulty? For him to confirm his claim that it is a specifically “western” thing to treat Japan so in news sources, he has to speak a variety of both “western" and “non western" languages to truly ascertain that trend. He must both confirm that it happens in “western” news sources of many different countries, as well as that it doesn't happen in ”non western” news sources. One would have to spea…

You're being needlessly confrontational.

Perhaps, but you suggested there was fault to be found with my argument.

I'm not sure as to how I'm supposed to challenge the challenge to my challenge without being “confrontational” as you call it and point out the faults with the argument.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#165

Post by b0rsuk »

According to the late David Graeber, this has been going for a while now. He defines one category of "bullshit jobs" as flunkies. Typically people who are hired to make someone else look good. For example a CEO must have a secretary or an assistant or analyst so they hire one. They do perform a role of sorts, but their output is completely irrelevant.

It's really not far from suits, especially white ones, white gloves, or high heels. Such apparel demonstrates that you don't work, in fact that you can't work. Ancient Romans liked to have feasts while laying on their sides - it's very inconvenient to reach for things and you must use servants. Another status symbol is a wristwatch with dials but no numbers. Female shirts are unbuttoned from the opposite side - so they're comfortable to unbutton for the servants.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#166

Post by Blikkentrekker »

bserge wrote: post #163
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but it's still remarkable how common in Japanese fiction the socially awkward, uncomfortable protagonist, meant to be relatable to the audience is. The protagonist of The 40 Year old Virgin is unique for it, and the series is not meant for 40 year old virgins. There is a surprisingly high amount of fiction from Japan that follows a formula similar to this: - The protagonist is socially awkward and nervous, but o…

I assume that's the source for the TV series? I couldn't get past the 6th episode... it's just bad. And I watch a lot of trash haha

Yes, the strip was popular enough to receive t.v. series adaptation.

I quit the strip in what must be around the same events of the story as the sixth episode — I could not bare with how awkward the protagonist was, and how everyone either really liked him or outright fell in love with him despite being a nervous train wreck who constantly embarrasses himself.

I'm not sure it's “bad”; it's as said quite popular and it's probably very good at what it attempts to do and what I consider flaws are probably features.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#167

Post by nnadams »

d00bianista wrote: post #6

This could be turned into a great, possibly awkward, movie.

I was thinking the same thing. A 90 minute movie where he doesn't say a single word. It could be one day in his life just being there for his different clients.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#168

Post by some_random »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #164
skrebbel wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're being needlessly confrontational.

Perhaps, but you suggested there was fault to be found with my argument. I'm not sure as to how I'm supposed to challenge the challenge to my challenge without being “confrontational” as you call it and point out the faults with the argument.

Interesting, how many books have you read on the topic of confrontation vs argumentation? I think you need at least two to have a sufficient background to discuss the concept.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#169

Post by Blikkentrekker »

some_random wrote: post #168
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps, but you suggested there was fault to be found with my argument. I'm not sure as to how I'm supposed to challenge the challenge to my challenge without being “confrontational” as you call it and point out the faults with the argument.

Interesting, how many books have you read on the topic of confrontation vs argumentation? I think you need at least two to have a sufficient background to discuss the concept.

No, one doesn't, actually.

Only if one makes a claim about what is generally written in such books.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#170

Post by Shared404 »

Blikkentrekker wrote: post #164
skrebbel wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're being needlessly confrontational.

Perhaps, but you suggested there was fault to be found with my argument. I'm not sure as to how I'm supposed to challenge the challenge to my challenge without being “confrontational” as you call it and point out the faults with the argument.

> I'm not sure as to how I'm supposed to challenge the challenge to my challenge without being “confrontational” as you call it and point out the faults with the argument.

This is a hard problem, and a difficult lesson to learn. I know it took me a while, and I'm still bad at it.

I find it helps to make your points, while trying to maintain a pleasant tone (Easier said than done, and I'm not a good person to teach this). I also find it helps to add questions asking for either other peoples opinions or clarifications on their position, as that helps show that you're not just talking, but also listening.

Edit: Also, the largest part for me at least is to remember that an attack on your argument is not a personal attack against you. I've had issues with doing this my whole life, and am still working on it.

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