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Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

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Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not illogical at all, although I suppose the author could have been more clear in separating the two points they're arguing against: 1) Humans are naturally lazy 2) Human instinct drives us to do things that are bad for us While connected by an implicit "being lazy is bad" value judgement, these are not the same things. Stating we are "naturally something" implies that there is an fixed equilibrium point that ou…

Basic instincts is an other way of saying that we are "naturally" inclined to do certain things in certain situations. I understand that reading natural as a "fixed equilibrim" might mean that to you, but for me, and also others it doesn't mean that. So would be good to better explain that in the article.

My interpretation of "fixed equilibrium" comes from the context of the "naturally lazy" claim, which is alleged to be touted as a universal truth by the gurus. A claim of an external, universal truth is that applies to all instincts. So then I take "not naturally anything" to mean "humans are extremely variable and contextual".

I have to admit that my interpretation is biased by reading some post-phenomenological philosophy as part of my design master - I remember one paper that claimed that there is no "natural" endpoint because humans are always reacting to a dynamic context, one that is then changing in response to human interaction, meaning we're more like a chaotic pendulum swinging back and forth over ever-changing equilibrium points.

And yeah, I do agree that the article is a bit ambiguous here and could be clearer.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#52
Regarding pomodoro: I've found that 5 minutes of rest is not enough.

Through trial and error I've settled on 30min work and 20min(!) of rest.

I have to force myself to stop working when my timer is up, otherwise my productivity that day goes down.

On one hand it's just a somewhat smarter way to eat frogs, on the other it doesn't feel so.

I suppose half of the problem is not knowing what amount of frog is too much for you.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#53
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's quite rare. I tried once because a friend was visiting from the US and wanted to try. With a bit of research, I found a restaurant specialised in frog, but yes, they aren't common.

Idk, I went to a lot of restaurant that had frog legs in their menu. On the other hand I had snails only once. But I think "traditional" french restaurant are not that common anymore in anycase. My city is full of restaurant from all over the world or thematic restaurant, only an handful of "classic" french restaurant (and its not a bad thing, I love the variety).

Only place I've eaten frog was in Cambodia. First time, at a street vendor, it was delicious. Second time, at a hotel buffet, it made me sick as a dog.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#54

> For legal reasons, I’m not saying the people who write this stuff are literally Lucifer in human skin. It’s just that, if I wanted to maximize human misery, I would 100% try to convince people to spend more time doing things they hate When Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote Good Omens thirty years ago they already hit upon this idea when Crowley, a demon and one of the main characters, tries to explain to his fe…

I bet he had read The Screwtape Letters though.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#55
post #4

As a Frenchman, it took me a while to realize it was supposed to mean "a painful thing to do"

BTW, as a 44 year old French that has never seen frogs on a restaurant menu, and never had any, I wonder how common eating frogs is nowadays. Escargots seem much more common, to cite something else we're known for.

As 47 year old Dutch guy I can say I ate frogs in the Netherlands of all places... but never seen them in France (but I did not specifically search for them)

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#56
This seems to be a major epidemic nowadays. I suspect that mechanistic, meaningless, purely mimetic pursuit of success has some pretty negative consequences on society. I suspect it might explain why so many people are interested in engaging in politics (or company politics) and zero-sum value extraction schemes instead of just adding value... They're not interested in the process at all, only in the outcome; financial success and social approval from authority figures.

Many people are spending most of their lives doing stuff that they don't want to do, so of course they tend to look for shortcuts instead of trying to do things the right way. They have no intrinsic pride in the work they do; it's all about status, money and power. As people have become more free in their personal lives, on the career-side, we've never been so constrained.

Re: Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs

#60
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTW, as a 44 year old French that has never seen frogs on a restaurant menu, and never had any, I wonder how common eating frogs is nowadays. Escargots seem much more common, to cite something else we're known for.

I guess eating frogs might be more common in South East Asia? Frog leg porridge is really easy to find in Singapore, for example.

They're common in Singapore because of the southern Chinese influence. You don't see them often in Malaysia or Indonesia tho (outside Chinese areas) because frog is not halal.
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