AustinDav (3474) 20 SFW Posts | 406 Space Comments | Favorites | RSS Feed Registered 2008-05-05 14:27:18 Comment Karma: 335 Featured Comments: 0 Member of :

Recent Comments from AustinDav

Comment on amazon showroom (2012-12-29 16:29:50)
So true
Comment on dont waste your life chasing perfection (2012-12-19 18:53:16)
Dangit Hochunk, I posted before I clicked your link. That would probably be where I heard the quote.
Comment on dont waste your life chasing perfection (2012-12-19 18:50:46)
"Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good." -Vince Lombardi
Comment on how privleged are you (2012-12-19 03:45:00)
My guess would be because certain combinations of factors should change the way other factors score (i.e. Non-Religious Gay may be of neutral value if one is white, attractive, educated, and from an affluent family, whereas if one is from a poor latino family, it would be something like -250). But that kind of thing needs a calculating database, not a simple chart. There are a lot of problems with this chart, but it gives an interesting jumping-off point for discussion.
Comment on how fucked are you (2012-12-18 14:21:53)
I'm okay, it's just Mario. I think I can take a 4 ft tall plumber trying to throw turtle shells at me.
Comment on we need an image for "not exactly safe for work" (2012-12-18 14:04:49)
Yeah, so maybe twice the width of an ad? Plus, there will be two or three per page on average; anyone who visits more than once will learn to recognize them. I'm just concerned that if a third of the length of the page is the same image you have to slog through, it will bore people.
Comment on we need an image for "not exactly safe for work" (2012-12-18 06:00:29)
Does it have to be square proportions? Wouldn't banner proportions work better? Something that would catch people's attention, but not take up the whole view?
Comment on wonders of capitalism (2012-12-17 22:26:33)
PACIFISM - Peace leads to complacency. Complacency leads to stupidity. Stupidity renders you immobile and exposed to attack.
Comment on bbq sunday (2012-12-17 18:55:29)
It's an odd dissonance when something looks that delicious and that disgusting at the same time.
Comment on you are entirely up to you (2012-12-17 05:18:30)
Oh, okay. So the whole nature vs. nurture argument is invalid -- you are entirely self-determined. Nike said so. Must be true. In no way are they merely trying to make you feel guilty for your every imperfection just for their own profit.
Comment on wonders of capitalism (2012-12-15 16:57:32)
Embedded in the definition of a functioning free-market economy, there is the assumption that individuals will act rationally in their own self-interest. This, along with perfect information about the price and quality of goods in the marketplace, are prerequisites for the proper functioning of the basic model of the free market. This picture illustrates that human beings do not always act with rational self-interest, but often let their limited understanding of the complexity of the situation impede wise choices. Just like in capitalism, people often confuse what is in their best interest ultimately (keeping traffic flow orderly and smooth) with what is in their best interest immediately (moving forward now). Often, in the world of business, there is more pressure on having a profitable quarter now than making tough decisions (maybe even sacrificing immediate gains) for something as hard to quantify as profitability 20 or 30 years from now.
Comment on Warning Flag (2012-12-06 06:38:32)
In response to your first paragraph, that's a fair interpretation of commitment, and it may work for some people, but not for someone like this girl. In her mind, marriage has a deeper meaning. The act of taking vows will afford her much more emotional security, and any attempt to circumvent that will bring doubts. If a man loves her and is committed to her, why would he not be willing to sacrifice his position here and just make formal vows? In her mind, it's because he's not committed to keeping them. That is a deep communication problem that I can't possibly hope to resolve on an internet forum with two hypothetical parties. All I could do would be to make some observations about the nature of sacrifice in healthy relationships, the importance of communication, etc.. I'll make a generalization here and say that people who say they want to wait until marriage are the kind of people to whom marriage is synonymous with a committed relationship. Whether any given individual has the capacity to actually make their marriage work is a different discussion that doesn't lend itself to generalizations. As for your second point, you're right: two people can't be fully intimate without sex. But do you need to know a person completely before you can commit to them? What about before you can love them? I would say no, because complete understanding of another human being is a lifelong endeavor. All two people can do is make a calculated wager that they can make a relationship work, and this can be done without knowing the other fully -- all that is really required is the combined wills of two people. A basic understanding of the other's character and values is highly useful as well, but if, for example, you look at cultures where arranged marriage is the norm, that isn't even the couple's job, it's the families'. In western culture the romantic ideal makes us believe that love is necessary. It definitely helps. But two people can love each other before sex. Sex will strengthen that love, but sex will not create love (though it may create the illusion of love). Relationships are complex. People are complex. If you've already had multiple partners, sleeping with someone before marriage probably is a necessity for you; I won't argue with that. What I am arguing is that for someone who has consciously made the decision to wait (and therefore has no previous experience to compare to), sex before marriage is not necessary, and therefore someone who makes such a decision isn't missing anything vital (to them) and is not foolhardy to place other concerns over something as meaningless (to them) as "sexual compatibility."
Comment on Warning Flag (2012-12-06 02:33:20)
Yeah, I guess I should have made it more clear that what I'm critiquing is the cartoonist's caricature of "that girl". "That girl" actually does exist, but if she waits until the 500th date to tell guys this, she's got some severe social problems and probably will end up an old maid. I was just trying to flesh out the cartoonist's caricature to make her more realistic. More than likely, if you start dating "that girl" in real life and she's actually sincere in wanting to stay a virgin, she'll tell you closer to the first date.
Comment on Warning Flag (2012-12-06 02:01:51)
It's so easy to reduce the entirety of human motivations and belief systems to straw men. Come on, I made a short list of her possible motivations precisely so you didn't have to do that. I even invited people to attack them individually and not write them off. I don't mind people disagreeing with me; don't worry, I knew my thoughts would be unpopular. By the way, I agree with your assessment of those straw men. Those are horrible motivations for anything.
Comment on Warning Flag (2012-12-05 17:55:08)
Yes, I've been married for ten years, happily, and yes, we both waited. Thanks for asking, as I suppose it is quite relevant to the discussion to know that I'm not speaking completely in hypotheticals; I appreciate the respectful conversation.