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I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

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Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#161

Post by mhartl »

neovive wrote: post #65

Here are some HN perspectives from 2009 (when Lego announced a large increase in profits ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=768093 ). The article is no longer available on Yahoo Finance, but can be found here ( http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news9940.html ). Branded, themed Lego sets simply sell really well and Lego is responding to the demand with increased capacity and more focus on these markets. Here is a sce…

You've nailed it on the head. Virtually all criticisms of this nature can be summarized as "Humans often want things that aren't best for them." Unfortunately, putting anyone else in charge of people's preferences usually ends up being even worse than letting them decide for themselves.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#162

Post by lemming »

billpatrianakos wrote: post #158
lemming wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but if they never try to do it because society tells them that they shouldn't (devil's advocate here, not claiming this is what happens) then we're missing out on 50% of the potential cancer-curing talent who, by your argument, are equally capable of doing so but end up shampooing dogs or whatever instead.

But then if they're equally capable but prefer shampooing dogs then is that really a problem? All of us are capable of things that we prefer not to do. I was on a track to become a doctor but decided to program instead. I'm capable of both but prefer not to be a doctor. See what I mean?

Yeah, absolutely - clearly people should be able to choose what they want to do. The problem would be if you wanted to become a doctor but were told by everyone that you shouldn't be (because, you're a man, or a woman, or black or white or yellow or whatever it happens to be). You might still do it (and let's hope so, we generally need more doctors) but it would be harder for you and thus statistically you'd be much less likely to do it. That would be society's loss - especially if you ended up shampooing dogs :-)

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#164

Post by ianb »

harryf wrote: post #106

Side note but the ultimate evil present for parents of small kids is to buy the kid a Playmobil Castle for Christmas - http://www.amazon.com/Lion-Knights-Castle-by-Playmobil/dp/B0... As a parent that spent over 16 hours assembling one last Christmas then watching it disintegrate again, the "joy" this gift brings cannot be described. A great present if you have a brother or sister with kids you feel compelled to annoy…

Ah, but remember this castle? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jX9QklC3G4E/TIRfrl9uVRI/AAAAAAAADK...

That was one really great toy.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#165

Post by T-hawk »

sliverstorm wrote: post #55
dgabriel wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what he's saying is that he won't rebuild the Millenium Falcon, that the pieces will get scattered and used for other stuff. That's how it goes in our house. The set gets built very quickly, and just as quickly is dismantled and used for bigger, more creative projects. Wait -- no I see that he won't hack it. I wonder why not??

As a kid I found with some of the predesigned kits, the result was distinctly cooler and more sophisticated than anything I'd ever be able to come up with. As a result I was always loathe to dismantle them. Darth Vader's Tie fighter, for example. It was much easier to tear apart my own creations because I could make something better.

That's probably pretty well accounted for in Lego Group's design and marketing philosophy. They have a vested interest in getting bricks "locked up" in creations that are too cool to take apart. Once you've done that, how do you build something else? Buy more Lego sets, of course!

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#166

Post by maximusprime »

chernevik wrote: post #160
maximusprime wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assume people want a change. I do not think they do. Do people want an end to gender specific toys? Certainly some do. But the vast majority do not. I firmly believe, through interacting with people in general, and my own children, that female and male brains are completely different. They are hard wired to like different things, and behave differently. I don't see anything wrong with that, and don't see any reas…

Well, yeah. But it's no excuse for some witless profit-maximizing / revenue-stabilizing Danish corporate drone to subsume all nuance into Boy and Girl.

Lego, create things that sell. They give the public what they want. You just have a different idea of what the public want, than the public do.

You have to understand you're a minority.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#167

Post by wanorris »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #147
wanorris wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that they're identical twins, I think it's also pretty clear that this case undercuts the argument that it's all just genetics as well. Oh, and "decided he'd rather be a girl" is generally considered offensive to trans people. She believes that she's always been a girl, and did not "decide" anything of the kind. Her physical characteristics were simply misleading regarding her true gender.

>" is generally considered offensive to trans people " Isn't that just being delusional. If I decide that I should have been born as superman, does that mean you now all have to refer to me as the Man of Steel and ignore the fact that I wasn't born with the organs (X-ray eyes, etc.) that would make it possible for me to be said person. Except in cases of genetic sex indeterminacy a person is born either male or femal…

As people who have been in certain kinds of accidents or been treated for certain kinds of medical conditions can tell you, having a certain set of body parts is not a requirement for being a member of either gender.

The overwhelming majority of people are born with a certain set of chromosomes, a set of parts between their legs, and an idea in their head that all agree with one another on what gender they are. It's a large enough majority that it's easy to think that these are the same thing, because for most people, they are.

But for trans people, these things disagree, and the gender that they think of themselves as in their heads wins. Since they are being treated by the world at large as something they don't consider themselves to be, they take steps to correct how the world views them by transitioning. Given money, access to treatment, and other constraints, this may include surgery, hormones, etc. But even in the absence of these things, they can still be trans people who know what their true gender is.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#169

Post by dragonsky »

potatolicious wrote: post #14
jrockway wrote: post #10

I think the key is to remind you kids that once you've built something according to the instructions and you're bored, it's time to take it apart and build something else. I remember playing with a lot of LEGO kits when I was a kid, and I always did this. It's true that, like coloring books, building from kits discourages creativity. But that's easy to fix with something called parenting. Let the instructions be an i…

Take a look at modern Lego kits - this is no longer really possible. Half of the pieces are now completely custom pieces that will only ever fit in one way. Gone are the Lego kits where just about all the pieces will recycle into your future creations.

Take ANOTHER look at modern lego kids... I think you will find that they CAN be re-purposed. Yes some of the big moulded pieces are single purpose, but a castle wall can turn into a tower wall can turn into a alien cliff face can ....

You get the picture... You may as well complain that a lego rubber tyre is single purpose... well duh.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#170

Post by JonnieCache »

arctangent wrote: post #154
hvass wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give peo…

I've always wondered if Steve was inspired by the movie "Network": "We'll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions , man! None of it is true! But you people sit there, day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds... We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality, and that your own lives are unreal. You…

The second episode of Charlie Brooker's current Black Mirror series of scifi dramas contains elements of Network, but set in a future dystopia where people sort of live inside an ipad that's stuck running farmville. It's a lot better than I've just made it sound. In fact, it's incredible, and terrifying.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Black_Mirror_...

Also highly recommended.

To be honest the whole thing should be at the top of HN, but I doubt it would get upvoted. Maybe we need a summarising blog post...

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