Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

721–730 of 780 posts

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#721

Post by stjohnswarts »

thisCtx wrote: post #536
kebman wrote: post #399

Ah, the simple life... My grandfather would take me along and we'd go to the neighbour to fetch eggs. He had a plastic bucket that he put them in with some old newspapers scraps in the bottom. I heard that before the war they didn't even need money. He'd simply bring a bucket of milk, and he'd get a bucket of eggs in return. But it was of course a lot simpler to bring money. It was far cheaper than in the store too.…

I grew up rural. I buy into a lot of the “bird” wisdom. Science is discovering dogs can smell disease. Our modern world isn’t more complex, just more distracting with asinine theory chasing. It’s always been ridiculously complex in ways we can’t imagine, we’ve just started realizing it in detail. Turns out animals with their “lesser” cognitive powers are tuned into the hidden complexity in ways we barely understand.…

No humans won't kill themselves off. We're going to be around for a very long time. We are probably the most adaptable complex creatures on this planet. Whether civilization lasts as we know it is another thing.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#722

Post by robbrown451 »

Decker87 wrote: post #257
oilostthelast wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You find noble, humble and virtuous souls depressing to be around? Look at this austere man, so capable. Entirely singular. Wholly content. How can you come to find even a hint of the vaguest ennui. Truly I envy the man, I aspire to be so contented, unfortunately I've decades of conditioning to unravel to attain such a saintly outlook. Imagine how simple and humane the world would be if it was populated with people l…

I can't tell if this is satire. If it is, bravo, well done.

Haha, that's the impression I got as well. Alas, I think he/she is serious.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#723

Post by thisCtx »

michaelmrose wrote: post #712
thisCtx wrote: post #707

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I confused which feature they were talking about. It’s far fetched maybe but dogs can smell Parkinson’s and cancer before the person develops medically detectable symptoms. So maybe not so far fetched. Doesn’t have to be a pet. Doesn’t detect when the person will DIE of cancer, yet it shows up later. Birds have been shown to return to the same locations if they fit their needs. Perhaps it was indicating an il…

Dogs are established to have an acute sense of smell along with a lifestyle where they live in close proximity to human beings and communicate with them. Most birds and pheasants in particular have don't have as well developed a sense of smell as you do and aren't liable to be within 100 yards of people for long. Even if they could smell impending disease why would they particularly seek out a high place to announce…

Dogs and smell were one example. Maybe it’s sight related. Maybe it’s electromagnetic field sensitivity.

I’m not seeking meaning, I’m seeking falsifiable experiment to conclusively rule out the possibility.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#724

Post by lmm »

cogman10 wrote: post #47
lmm wrote: post #6

How incredibly small-minded. I respect people who've tried something and decided it's not for them. But to never even try a different kind of food? I suspect it's less that he's found what he likes and more that he's scared he'd find out he actually liked something else better, and has wasted those 10 years.

The Welsh live a different way of life. This guy's attitude is far from unique. A bunch of people live in the same town, with the same job their great great great grandparents worked, that rarely travel more than 10 miles away. Don't knock it, though, there's something to be said about this level of extreme stability. It simplifies a lot of life's worries.

I'm Welsh myself, I grew up in a farming village, I'm quite aware. I think knocking it is absolutely warranted. I've got some respect for those who tried a different way of life and decided this was what they preferred, but not for those who picked stasis without even examining the alternatives.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#727

Post by michaelmrose »

thisCtx wrote: post #723
michaelmrose wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dogs are established to have an acute sense of smell along with a lifestyle where they live in close proximity to human beings and communicate with them. Most birds and pheasants in particular have don't have as well developed a sense of smell as you do and aren't liable to be within 100 yards of people for long. Even if they could smell impending disease why would they particularly seek out a high place to announce…

Dogs and smell were one example. Maybe it’s sight related. Maybe it’s electromagnetic field sensitivity. I’m not seeking meaning, I’m seeking falsifiable experiment to conclusively rule out the possibility.

Maybe it was communicating with its own kind?

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#728

Post by hisnameismanuel »

michaelmrose wrote: post #712
thisCtx wrote: post #707

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I confused which feature they were talking about. It’s far fetched maybe but dogs can smell Parkinson’s and cancer before the person develops medically detectable symptoms. So maybe not so far fetched. Doesn’t have to be a pet. Doesn’t detect when the person will DIE of cancer, yet it shows up later. Birds have been shown to return to the same locations if they fit their needs. Perhaps it was indicating an il…

Dogs are established to have an acute sense of smell along with a lifestyle where they live in close proximity to human beings and communicate with them. Most birds and pheasants in particular have don't have as well developed a sense of smell as you do and aren't liable to be within 100 yards of people for long. Even if they could smell impending disease why would they particularly seek out a high place to announce…

Seems to me like this story itself is an inkblot test for HN

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#729

Post by graderjs »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #591
graderjs wrote: post #466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to surrender your beliefs to some egghead who's not imaginative enough to see the world with wonder. Who cares about someone else's logic that is too narrow to contain the wonder of the universe. No need to pander to their inability to believe. They sit on their high horse telling other people they are crazy, then the grouse sits above them and they drop dead. Good story. The end.

well, maybe so but they say a stray dog come howling around Johnny Miller's house, 'bout midnight, as much as two weeks ago; and a whippoorwill come in and lit on the banisters and sung, the very same evening; and there ain't anybody dead there yet.

Great Tom Sawyer ref. It continues, "Well, I know that. And suppose there ain't. Didn't Gracie Miller fall in the kitchen fire and burn herself terrible the very next Saturday?"

While Gracie Miller survives her terrible burns, who knows what happens to her after the novel? A ref I know you'll just love is:

It was written in 1885 by Holger Drachmann as a midsummer hymn (midsommervise) called 'Vi elsker vort land' with a melody composed by P.E. Lange-Müller. Singing this surrounded by people and in full view of a flaming witch on a bonfire can feel very surreal. Burn the witch. Love the land. Burn the witch. Love the land. Drink some beer.

During Sankthansaften/midsommer burning the witch spirits to rid the land of them is a cause for celebration, and along with keeping shoes pointing up at doorways and chanting 7-9-13 after boasting or saying something good (to prevent jinxing it), helps keep the good luck flowing and the harm away. We can respect these parts of cultural tradition and belief, as we respect the people to whom they mean something. :P ;) xx

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#730

Post by betwixthewires »

sidlls wrote: post #637
joejerryronnie wrote: post #613

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming the CEO is not an uncultured bigot and xenophobe with life experiences that reinforce this condition.

He's almost certainly exposed to more cultures, though you are right: he could be extremely bigoted and xenophobic. It's just less likely, even if marginally.

"The bourgeoisie are probably smarter, better people than the proletariat"
Post reply on HN