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I've acquired a new superpower

danielwirtz.com

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Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#551

Post by warner25 »

Snoozus wrote: post #490
warner25 wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally indulging in this side discussion: I remember thinking in high school and college that fame was the end-all of life, telling people that my goal was to have my own Wikipedia page. I saw it as something like the combination of being a "cool kid" (but for, you know, the whole of society instead of just one's school) and a sort of immortality. Anyway, over the last couple of decades as an adult, besides realizin…

That's just because US presidents are not very important. Humanity will not forget Newton, Einstein, Shannon and Crick. And up to a point, trying to do what they did, discover new things about the universe is not an unhealthy goal.

To your point, I was thinking that this might only be stunning for someone with a modern view of the US Presidency. I understand that the powers of the office and the election campaigns for it were quite different in earlier eras.

However, I remember someone who went to MIT observing the same thing about the names of the great scientists and philosophers etched onto the buildings. He noted that he only knew what a few of them did.

Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#552

Post by warner25 »

ben_w wrote: post #548
Snoozus wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just because US presidents are not very important. Humanity will not forget Newton, Einstein, Shannon and Crick. And up to a point, trying to do what they did, discover new things about the universe is not an unhealthy goal.

Humanity as a whole, perhaps not; but that is not the same as what cultures within do, and cultures have many ways to erase or diminish outsiders — and everyone's an outsider to some group. Newton, Leibniz; Einstein, Lorenz and Riemann; Shannon, Kolmogorov; Crick, Franklin. When the context is, to quote the parent comment: > I look at some names and think, "who?" or "I've heard the name, but know nothing about him."…

I'll be honest: I didn't know who Crick was. Now that you've associated Crick and Watson, I was able to find the appropriate Wikipedia page. And yeah, this is not the Watson that I was expecting.

Regarding Shannon, I've read one of his biographies (A Mind at Play), but outside of my circle of friends with CS degrees I don't think anyone I know would know his name.

Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#554

Post by warner25 »

MarcusE1W wrote: post #536
warner25 wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally indulging in this side discussion: I remember thinking in high school and college that fame was the end-all of life, telling people that my goal was to have my own Wikipedia page. I saw it as something like the combination of being a "cool kid" (but for, you know, the whole of society instead of just one's school) and a sort of immortality. Anyway, over the last couple of decades as an adult, besides realizin…

I think it depends a bit more on what you do, than your role. As you mentioned, being President of the USA is not even enough. And yet you might be able to list some Roman Emperors, for good or bad (Cesar, Augustus) or even politicians (Cicero, may e Seneca) after 2000 years.

I suspect that Washington might still be a household name 2,000 years from now like that. Other past US Presidents, I agree, no.

As an aside, I'm really hoping that Trump doesn't do anything notable enough to somehow be like that. I fear that he might be more driven to do so than any past US President.

Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#556

Post by rmellow »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #371
amingilani wrote: post #266

I'm frequently surprised by the amount of seemingly ordinary skills I picked up as a bored child that other people didn't. This was an obvious way to solve those "spot the difference" pictures in magazines. I wonder what skills other people picked up that I didn't. Some recent example of things I shared: + When your belt buckle hangs a little loosely on the front of your pants. You can hook the buckle's prong onto th…

> I'm frequently surprised by the amount of seemingly ordinary skills I picked up as a bored child that other people didn't. This was an obvious way to solve those "spot the difference" pictures in magazines. Conversely, I'm amazed by the amount of things I discover as an adult are not common experiences or skills for people, despite being considered as such. This includes, for example, having an inner voice (which I…

> Specifically, the ones rich in descriptions of scenery. (...) skimming to find where the descriptions end so I can resume reading from there.

I've always been good at conjuring images in my mind, but I also skip the drawn out visual descriptions.

I could never enjoy Lord of the Rings due to Tolkien's love of describing trees (of the wooden and familial kinds)

Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#559

Post by effingwewt »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #434
iforgotpassword wrote: post #187

We got a magic eye book when I was maybe 6 - some time early elementary school. After learning how to do it, and also trying it by crossing my eyes to see an "inverted" image, I started doing it whenever I saw some repeating pattern IRL. It was most interesting when it was slightly uneven, for example a fence with sloppily applied vertical planks. Doing the magic eye would make it seem like some of them are closer to…

Yep, this is exactly what came to mind with this "newly unlocked superpower". I wonder if OP is aware they made a joke about the inability to use this superpower to identify a sailboat in a 90s indie movie.

Ethan Suplee is a personal hero of mine. I've been watching him in movies since clerks, and felt bad as I saw him continue to get bigger. When he started his transformation some gym bros posted it to some forums we inhabit. He didn't want to be all public about it since he'd yoyo'd before, but we cheered him on online. When I saw he'd gone public I was so happy for him. His pic now hangs in my home gym with Arnold and Ronnie.

Re: I've acquired a new superpower

#560

Post by ninetyninenine »

irjustin wrote: post #541
ninetyninenine wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has roughly the same effect. Try it first with your fingers. Hold up your index fingers pointing straight up in front of the computer screen but in front of your face. Focus on the screen. The fingers should divide into four. Move your fingers until they combine. If you focus on your fingers you can do the same thing to the screen.

omg I got it!!! Earlier I was looking out a window and thusly way too far. Now I'm in my bed and its about 3m to the wall and with your instructions it worked great. It works pretty much the same as you said. Thanks for sticking it out with me!

Np man. Gj.
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