Cat People vs. Dog People • Hacker News Board

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#91

Post by err4nt » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 2:29 PM UTC

Cogito wrote: post #55

auganov wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course not (which I indicated fairly clearly too). To make a fair comparison you want to consider what kind of a feeling or connotation "You're a dog" vs "You're a cat" invokes. Variations on the sentence are okay too, like, say "You're such a dog" or "Come here dog". I didn't contest 'gata', gender specificity does make it non-ideal, but I'll take it.

"You're such a pussy" or "Don't be a pussy" can definitely be used in a derogatory fashion, especially in groups in which social status is dominated by masculinity. It can mean, for example, variations on "Don't be so timid", "Stop expressing your fears", and "Take more risks". Indeed, I have heard "Don't be a bitch" be used in almost the exact same way.

Let me introduce you to the word “pusillanimous”. It means showing a lack of courage or determination, or being timid.

So when you call somebody a 'pussy' for not having the courage to do something that has _nothing_ to do with felines or vaginas. (As most people commonly seem to think). Being a 'pussy' is short for 'pusillanimous', nothing to do with cats at all…

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#92

Post by brokenmachine » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 1:32 AM UTC

vacri wrote: post #88

brokenmachine wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is wildlife in suburbia. Also cats released in suburbia quickly make it into the bush. They don't stay in the suburbs.

Well, so does urban sprawl. Sure, you should still get your cats desexed, but seriously, cats have had less impact on native fauna than humans have (after all, even if nothing else in terms of our own impact, we brought cats... and cane toads... and foxes... and pigs... and rats... and and and...)

So what's your point? Cats are less destructive than humans? Are you suggesting that we ignore anything that is less destructive than humans? Or that people should live in smaller houses to lower their impact?

Sounds like a pointless statement to me.

We should do something about the low-hanging fruit of cat owners not being responsible for their "pets".

I put pets in quotes because if you have no control over it and just let it roam everywhere killing native fauna, can you really call it your pet? Just because it comes to eat your food sometimes?

Re: Cat People vs. Dog People

#93

Post by whateveracct » Wed, Aug 10, 2016, 11:10 PM UTC

beefsack wrote: post #53

whateveracct wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To answer these questions, we dug our claws into aggregate, de-identified data from a sample of about 160,000 people in the United States who shared photos of cats or dogs (or both) on Facebook. How is looking at aggregate, de-identified data an intrusion into people's private data? ?? ?

This article is interesting, but it alludes to the level of profiling they do on their user-base, and that part is scary.

What is scary about using statistics on data your users knowingly give you?