Bad beat/Moaning/Venting thread - Mammy told me not to come.

[Mellor]

Neither did La La Land

It won six Oscars...

[The Situation]

It won six Oscars...

I think she was talking about best picture going by the others listed that all won.

[SatNav]

I think she was talking about best picture going by the others listed that all won.

I wasn't really knew it won a load of stuff etc ah ya get me

[Mellor]

I think she was talking about best picture going by the others listed that all won.

They also won lots of the other oscars too.
Regardless the post replied to was clearly talking about any oscar.

[Butterfly Effect]
Didn't win an Oscar. I gave it a personal. One

Oscar betting.
Is there any categories with a bit of a sweat on? I though Best Director might have been a coinflip. But seems like Guillermo Del Toro is a lock at 1/10

[Charlie Sheen]

Since I'll be watching I punted Shape of Water (13/8) and Sally Hawkins (16/1).

[ComradeCollie]

It's 1.24 in the ICU and CC has finally stopped tripping. He doesn't think he's had any morphine since Thursday, but can't be certain of anything really. Moving to a regular ward in the morning. Looking forward to a few hours continuous sleep.

[Frank Gibney]

https://www.theguardian.com/football...de-astori-dies

This pretty tragic. Although kinda drastic to cancel all the days games because of it. Don't think the premier league would do that for a Jordan Henderson or whoever.

They would.

[jack90210]

Interesting results coming from the incomplete vote counts in Italy. 5 Star and the League both performing above expectations. Significantly the League beating Forza Italia meaning Matteo Salvini would be PM if they can form a viable coalition. Crushing defeat for the incumbents.

[Dice75]

Have Birdman recorded but never got round to watching it and have put it off a few times due to some people knocking it. Must give it a spin so.

[6starpool]

Have Birdman recorded but never got round to watching it and have put it off a few times due to some people knocking it. Must give it a spin so.

It is a bit weird in fairness, but I did enjoy it. You may well not though.

[DeadParrot]

Interesting results coming from the incomplete vote counts in Italy. 5 Star and the League both performing above expectations. Significantly the League beating Forza Italia meaning Matteo Salvini would be PM if they can form a viable coalition. Crushing defeat for the incumbents.

I knew next to nothing about this last week before the daily show bit.
Italian politics is and always has been fucking mental

[jack90210]

I knew next to nothing about this last week before the daily show bit.
Italian politics is and always has been fucking mental

Please please don't base your knowledge on a topic off what John Oliver says!!!

[6starpool]

Please please don't base your knowledge on a topic off what John Oliver says!!!

John Oliver doesn't do the daily show.

[jack90210]

John Oliver doesn't do the daily show.

He was the one who did the Italian piece recently so assume DP was referring to John Oliver.

Same advice would apply to any of those "comedians".

[ionapaul]

We watched three Oscar hopefuls over the past week; Ladybird, The Shape of Water and I, Tonya. Enjoyed I, Tonya the most, thought The Shape of Water was a bit rubbish (a bit self indulgent maybe?) and Ladybird was total meh (think Saoirse is a great actress though, Brooklyn was really good).

Having a new baby seems like a great excuse to stay in and watch TV/movies! Back in the office today, trying to remember how work goes...

[6starpool]

He was the one who did the Italian piece recently so assume DP was referring to John Oliver.

Same advice would apply to any of those "comedians".

Why do you watch something you have no interest in, and vehemently disagree with? It is a bit odd.

[ComradeCollie]

Just had my pacing wires removed. Wasn't even aware they were a thing, nevermind having them.

[jack90210]

Why do you watch something you have no interest in, and vehemently disagree with? It is a bit odd.

To avoid the echo chamber.

[DeadParrot]

Please please don't base your knowledge on a topic off what John Oliver says!!!

He was the one who did the Italian piece recently so assume DP was referring to John Oliver.

Same advice would apply to any of those "comedians".

Yeah it was last week tonight.

Between the italian elections, AFd, Xi's presidency for life bid, Brexit, US politics going further right and Russia starting an arms race, it is like the opening chapter in the origins of WW3

/hyperbole

[Denny Crane]

Yeah it was last week tonight.

Between the italian elections, AFd, Xi's presidency for life bid, Brexit, US politics going further right and Russia starting an arms race, it is like the opening chapter in the origins of WW3

/hyperbole

Never been a better time to be alive. Gonna be grand DP.

[6starpool]

To avoid the echo chamber.

Do any of the views expressed in those type of programmes make you change your mind or reevaluate your views?

[Guest]

Interview presentation seemed to go pretty terribly. Pretty sure it's impossible to talk about anything in a meaningful way in 10 minutes.

[DeadParrot]

Interview presentation seemed to go pretty terribly. Pretty sure it's impossible to talk about anything in a meaningful way in 10 minutes.

Toastmasters helps tremendously here.
I would have never have believed I would recommend it before doing it but it's great for giving you experience in shaping and delivering presentations, interviews etc

[Guest]

The teaching presentation was a lecture that would typically run for an hour condensed down to 10 mins, and the research one was 'career to date plus 5 year plan' in 10 mins!

Only positive is that everyone is in the same boat!

[Strewelpeter]

Never been a better time to be alive. Gonna be grand DP.

The tariff announcements are the work of a stable genius, yeah?

[Raoul Duke III]

Yeah it was last week tonight.

Between the italian elections, AFd, Xi's presidency for life bid, Brexit, US politics going further right and Russia starting an arms race, it is like the opening chapter in the origins of WW3

/hyperbole

What's the connection between 5 of those 6 phenomena?

[Raoul Duke III]

Interview presentation seemed to go pretty terribly. Pretty sure it's impossible to talk about anything in a meaningful way in 10 minutes.

meh, I've done tons of interviews (as interviewer) and people frequently zero in on what they think was important - it usually isn't. 'twill be grand.

[Denny Crane]

The tariff announcements are the work of a stable genius, yeah?

I'm curious to see how it plays out.

[MrsFlushdraw]

It's 1.24 in the ICU and CC has finally stopped tripping. He doesn't think he's had any morphine since Thursday, but can't be certain of anything really. Moving to a regular ward in the morning. Looking forward to a few hours continuous sleep.

Great to hear you moving to a normal ward. But I do have to ask the question. What did they do to your heart?

Reason I am asking, you are the only one to thank the post with the picture of the hot girl with the brennan's undies haha.

[Raoul Duke III]

Great to hear you moving to a normal ward. But I do have to ask the question. What did they do to your heart?

Reason I am asking, you are the only one to thank the post with the picture of the hot girl with the brennan's undies haha.

'twas obviously a good Catholic hospital so they removed the ghey while they were in there

[jack90210]

Do any of the views expressed in those type of programmes make you change your mind or reevaluate your views?

Rarely but I still like to know all the angles of a debate.

[Trippie]

I'm curious to see how it plays out.

It's going to be fascinating if this is something that is actually followed through on or was just a quick stock dump by his friends to make money. I also don't think the USA can win a trade war against both Europe and China, I don't know much about it though so enlighten me if i'm talking out of my arse.

I think the midterms are going to shape the future of the USA for the next 10 years, especially with the PA gerrymandering case being decided in the courts, it will lead to some other challenges around the country.

[Mellor]

Reason I am asking, you are the only one to thank the post with the picture of the hot girl with the brennan's undies haha.

I imagine that's because the rest of us seen it 3 days ago while he was out.

[Raoul Duke III]

The early birds have pumped the IPB Cheltenham Tipping Competition™
up to a very respectable €1,250. The more relaxed sorts will no doubt take us over the €2k summit - get in on the action today and win all dem monies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYi_esAyvzU

[AndyFatBastard]

The tariff announcements are the work of a stable genius, yeah?

Just because new problems are being created, doesn't mean that the overall quality of life of the world isn't getting better. 300,000 people will be connected to the electricity grid today. Part of the reason people like Trump exist is because everyone's convinced the world is in a jock, therefore radical change is required. In actual fact the world is doing great and getting better. The right wing side of this coin is sending a troll to the whitehouse. The life wing side is identitity politics, communism and anarchy. Both are terrible solutions to a non-existent problem.

If we all stopped freaking out, things would get better, or at least they would stop getting worse.

[Keane]

Just because new problems are being created, doesn't mean that the overall quality of life of the world isn't getting better. 300,000 people will be connected to the electricity grid today. Part of the reason people like Trump exist is because everyone's convinced the world is in a jock, therefore radical change is required. In actual fact the world is doing great and getting better. The right wing side of this coin is sending a troll to the whitehouse. The life wing side is identitity politics, communism and anarchy. Both are terrible solutions to a non-existent problem.

If we all stopped freaking out, things would get better, or at least they would stop getting worse.

Are there any studies/measurements about whether people are getting happier?

[Raoul Duke III]

Just because new problems are being created, doesn't mean that the overall quality of life of the world isn't getting better. 300,000 people will be connected to the electricity grid today. Part of the reason people like Trump exist is because everyone's convinced the world is in a jock, therefore radical change is required. In actual fact the world is doing great and getting better. The right wing side of this coin is sending a troll to the whitehouse. The life wing side is identitity politics, communism and anarchy. Both are terrible solutions to a non-existent problem.

If we all stopped freaking out, things would get better, or at least they would stop getting worse.

it's the downside to almost perfect informational symmetry - everyone thinks everything is important and thus amplified.

Things were better when only important people knew things.

[Raoul Duke III]

Are there any studies/measurements about whether people are getting happier?

how can you measure an emotion?

the HDI is a better measure imo

[Keane]

how can you measure an emotion?

the HDI is a better measure imo

I imagine it's self-reported. Thanks for the link - I've come across HDI before but not sure how much I delved into it. It looks superficially decent at least - life expectancy seems like a fairly easily agreed upon measurement. Without saying extra education and extra money are bad (obviously) using them as analogs for happiness feels like it has some sort of ideological presuppositions baked in that someone just self-reporting doesn't.

For example, I think I remember seeing some study that peoples' happiness doesn't increase with income after some level, say 100k or something. So HDI may increase but it has no positive impact on how happy a person might be.

[Raoul Duke III]

I imagine it's self-reported. Thanks for the link - I've come across HDI before but not sure how much I delved into it. It looks superficially decent at least - life expectancy seems like a fairly easily agreed upon measurement. Without saying extra education and extra money are bad (obviously) using them as analogs for happiness feels like it has some sort of ideological presuppositions baked in that someone just self-reporting doesn't.

For example, I think I remember seeing some study that peoples' happiness doesn't increase with income after some level, say 100k or something. So HDI may increase but it has no positive impact on how happy a person might be.

I think that's the problem though.

People are convincing themselves that they are unhappy even though their material circumstances are better than ever. Then you have malevolent actors who have a vested interest in spreading fear and hatred in the liberal democracies - hence Trump, Brexit, AfD, Northern League etc etc, where people seek to blame 'The Other' (the EU, Mexicans, Arabs, take your pick) for all of their perceived problems.

Luckily we in Ireland haven't succumbed to this (much) yet.

The good news is that most of the outcomes (Trump, Brexit) have been so manifestly awful that there should be a swing back to the centre as a result. One would hope.

[Keane]

I see an article about that study here suggesting that the income level (75k USD in this case) is the limit at which day to day happiness is affected by income.

It goes on to say that overall contentment with life outside of day to day is still improved by earning more money - so the study's result is a lot less powerful than the impression I had. Would seem to bolster the validity of the HDI notion.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html

[Solksjaer!]

Just had my pacing wires removed. Wasn't even aware they were a thing, nevermind having them.

Make sure they cut the red wire 1st.no no the blue wire.

[DeadParrot]

Are there any studies/measurements about whether people are getting happier?

quite an interesting chapter in this in Sapiens.
The tl;dr version is peoples baseline of happiness doesn't change much no matter the circumstances.

SPOILER

take a dude winning the lotto and a dude losing a leg. Ask them each before the event how happy they are and about 5 years later. The happiness shock will have abated and both should be normalized more or less.

Our desire to improve our happiness has dramatically increased (largely thanks to our perceived perception of the happiness of others) and we are looking for wackier and wackier ways to change it.
Which also ties into the books quite ringing endorsement of buddahism

[AndyFatBastard]

Are there any studies/measurements about whether people are getting happier?

Baby steps. We're in the process of eliminating starvation.

Happiness is a terrible measure of quality of life anyway. At risk of going full Peterson, people need meaning and purpose. But first they need to not be dying from preventable illnesses.

[Solksjaer!]

I see an article about that study here suggesting that the income level (75k USD in this case) is the limit at which day to day happiness is affected by income.

It goes on to say that overall contentment with life outside of day to day is still improved by earning more money - so the study's result is a lot less powerful than the impression I had. Would seem to bolster the validity of the HDI notion.

http://content.time.com/time/magazin...019628,00.html

Not feeling like death perks me up no end. Im a health over wealth advocate ..I know you can have both but my attitude to money is meh.

[AndyFatBastard]

it's the downside to almost perfect informational symmetry - everyone thinks everything is important and thus amplified.

Things were better when only important people knew things.

I'm convinced at this point that the nerds should have kept the internet to themselves.

[DeadParrot]

I'm convinced at this point that the nerds should have kept the internet to themselves.

+1
it really was (with a generous application of rose tinted glasses) quite magical when I started out.

[Keane]

I think that's the problem though.

People are convincing themselves that they are unhappy even though their material circumstances are better than ever. Then you have malevolent actors who have a vested interest in spreading fear and hatred in the liberal democracies - hence Trump, Brexit, AfD, Northern League etc etc, where people seek to blame 'The Other' (the EU, Mexicans, Arabs, take your pick) for all of their perceived problems.

Luckily we in Ireland haven't succumbed to this (much) yet.

The good news is that most of the outcomes (Trump, Brexit) have been so manifestly awful that there should be a swing back to the centre as a result. One would hope.

That's an interesting question though, isn't it?

If people are convinced they are less happy despite improving material circumstances the conclusion that people are fooling themselves isn't one we should be drawing automatically! It's like saying your feet are the wrong size for your shoes - the problem is stated the wrong way round.

Someone who is convinced they are less happy is less happy.

It's possible there is no inherent relationship between improving material circumstances and improving feelings of happiness. I'm not saying that's the case, but it's something I've found myself wondering about over the last few years. One thing I have definitely noticed amongst people around my age in my sort of demographic is a tendency to focus on career progression, increased salary, accumulation of stuff etc in place of reflecting on whether or not these things are improving their general sense of well-being. This would seem to be the sort of three card trick a world dominated by profit motive would want to play so it's worth thinking about I think.

A bit of a ramble admittedly, so apologies - it just happens my sister is thinking about taking a break from a very stressful career to go and live and work somewhere sunny for a while which has this stuff in my head.

[Guest]

Some may enjoy: https://www.amazon.com/Rational-Opti.../dp/0061452068

It offers a different perspective to the usual doomsday stuff, Ridley is an advocate of Brexit I believe and he makes a good core argument. I read it straight after Sapiens and they were quite juxtaposed.

Bill Gates strongly opposes a number of his points on aid etc but offers a fairly balanced review: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Afr...lawed-Theories

[Denny Crane]

Think we've only so much capacity for happiness and it relies on a more relative measure, something like expectations minus reality. In evolutionary terms, being content and happy doesn't do much for drive and the spread of the species. Don' think it's something that we should be using as the main measure.

Presume hotspur will pop in and school us at some stage.

[DeadParrot]

the net is still capable of greatness though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iAkIxEk7g8

I want to do this.

[Keane]

Baby steps. We're in the process of eliminating starvation.

Happiness is a terrible measure of quality of life anyway. At risk of going full Peterson, people need meaning and purpose. But first they need to not be dying from preventable illnesses.

That just seems like begging the question. How do you judge quality of life without recourse to happiness?

Meaning and purpose is similarly hand wavy. How do we judge what a good purpose is without asking whether focussing on it makes anyone any happier?

I enjoy my work but don't particularly believe I'm making the world a better place by helping to design slightly improved chips for data centres so that facebook and google can more efficiently harvest peoples' data.

quite an interesting chapter in this in Sapiens.
The tl;dr version is peoples baseline of happiness doesn't change much no matter the circumstances.

SPOILER

take a dude winning the lotto and a dude losing a leg. Ask them each before the event how happy they are and about 5 years later. The happiness shock will have abated and both should be normalized more or less.

Our desire to improve our happiness has dramatically increased (largely thanks to our perceived perception of the happiness of others) and we are looking for wackier and wackier ways to change it.
Which also ties into the books quite ringing endorsement of buddahism

I'm still reading that in drips and drabs so didn't realise there was much about Buddhism in it. I've been doing a lot of reading on that topic in the last couple of years and find the worldview very interesting.

The example in your spoiler is a good one. It sort of raises a question about whether scrambling to achieve increased materiel wealth is just a big waste of time for most of us.

Not feeling like death perks me up no end. Im a health over wealth advocate ..I know you can have both but my attitude to money is meh.

Yeah I think life expectancy - where it suggests better genereal health at least - is the easiest measure to agree on.

[Denny Crane]

A bit of a ramble admittedly, so apologies - it just happens my sister is thinking about taking a break from a very stressful career to go and live and work somewhere sunny for a while which has this stuff in my head.

Power out sigh. Fire alarm started going off too. American guy downstairs was in a serious quandary about disabling the system.

"I'd say we'll be ok for tonight mate"

The guy downstairs was giving out that the alarm going off was the worst thing ever, pretty clear he'd had a relatively sheltered life. Was pondering on that when I tried to go back to bed. What's the optimal level of comfort for happiness, or is there any? Does it just balance at a certain point? If one is used to opulence, even a minor drawback is an ordeal.

The desire for comfort and hedonism can never really be fully satiated so maybe only a good life can lead to happiness?

[Denny Crane]

That just seems like begging the question. How do you judge quality of life without recourse to happiness?

Kayroo will be ecstatic.

[Keane]

Kayroo will be ecstatic.

In which case my post can be said to have fulfilled a meaningful purpose

[pokerhand]

quite an interesting chapter in this in Sapiens.
The tl;dr version is peoples baseline of happiness doesn't change much no matter the circumstances.

take a dude winning the lotto and a dude losing a leg. Ask them each before the event how happy they are and about 5 years later. The happiness shock will have abated and both should be normalized more or less.

Pretty sure I be happier winning the lotto rather than losing a leg.

The example in your spoiler is a good one. It sort of raises a question about whether scrambling to achieve increased materiel wealth is just a big waste of time for most of us.

Not really, would prefer to keep the leg.

[Lazare]

Not sure you got his point.

[AndyFatBastard]

That just seems like begging the question. How do you judge quality of life without recourse to happiness?

Meaning and purpose is similarly hand wavy. How do we judge what a good purpose is without asking whether focussing on it makes anyone any happier?

I enjoy my work but don't particularly believe I'm making the world a better place by helping to design slightly improved chips for data centres so that facebook and google can more efficiently harvest peoples' data.

They're all extremely subjective values. It would be very difficult to measure them objectively, and if we did, we wouldn't come up with a one-size-fits-all answer. That's why we maximise for freedom in the western world. We let people engage in the pursuit of happiness, whatever that means to them. If you're sister's pursuing something and finds that it's not making her happy, she is perfectly free to change tack. In fact she should. The only pressure she's under to continue in the high paying job, at the end of the day, comes from within herself.

[Tar.Aldarion]

The guy downstairs was giving out that the alarm going off was the worst thing ever, pretty clear he'd had a relatively sheltered life. Was pondering on that when I tried to go back to bed. What's the optimal level of comfort for happiness, or is there any? Does it just balance at a certain point? If one is used to opulence, even a minor drawback is an ordeal.

The desire for comfort and hedonism can never really be fully satiated so maybe only a good life can lead to happiness?

Pretty sure I remember somebody shockingly similar to you on a course about this
Craving leads to suffering - Siddhartha Gautama/Buddha. Basically the aim is not to be happy it is to be content.

Since this is out of reach or not desirable for most people I'd agree with you on the good life, living a life which you feel is a good one, doing something you think is worthwhile and maintaining relationships. We certainly won't be looking back with fondness at our shoe collections as we approach game over.

[Raoul Duke III]

The only pressure she's under to continue in the high paying job, at the end of the day, comes from within herself.

Not necessarily. She may have commitments (or indeed aspirations) on behalf of her dependents. Housing and education being the two primary examples.

Hence the need to maintain and improve upon her high-paying circumstances.