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Comment Re:Seriously? (Score 4, Insightful) 274

Right, but I wouldn't say that every language has its own "world view", I would rather name it character, personality or way of thinking. Many stereotypical attributes of a people are reflected in the language. German is precise, sounds harsh (to non Germans) and is not very open to humorous wordplay. Spanish sounds lighthearted and its easy to make jokes and talk funny using the language, English is full of ambiguity but concise and practical...
I'm positive that language determines how we think and therefore also who we are. More than that, to a certain degree it determines what we can even think about.

This is one of the main points in 1984 and the scariest thing in the book; the autocratic government trying to completely eliminate dissent and control the lives of people by destroying words and manipulating language to limit how people are able to think.

Comment Re:Meanwhile... (Score 1) 283

Japan has been stagnating a bit, but what's wrong with stagnation when you have an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, a crime rate of practically zero and a populace that is generally well of? We really do have this obsession with growth, but I don't see anything wrong with stagnation once you have reached a certain level of wealth and comfort.

Comment Re:Free Occupied Palestine (Score 3, Insightful) 163

I think the problem might have to do with the fact that Hamas has repeatedly stated that it will never accept the state of Israel.

I am not a fan of Israels "foreign policy" towards Palestine, especially the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, it's hard to argue with someone who says he will never accept and will always fight you.

On the other, other hand, Israel has been nurturing this sentiment towards it for decades by indiscriminately leveling buildings and killing dozens of Palestinians every time some idiots fire a mostly useless rocket over the border.

Basically, both sides are being jerks and feeding the hatred towards each other. This is how far "eye for an eye" will get you.

Comment I only know that we know nothing (Score 4, Insightful) 59

Wow, so this is how little we really know about our cosmic surroundings...
There is this big mystery about why stars further away from the galactic center orbit at the same speed as the inner stars, defying the laws of gravitation, scientists invent dark matter and other interesting theories, then it turns out we misjudge the size of our own galaxy by 50 percent?

How can we even think about stuff like that if we don't even really know how large our galaxy is?

Comment Protip (Score 5, Insightful) 398

Do whatever you enjoy in life. Drink, smoke, eat meat, take drugs. Don't listen to the alarmists, everything is bad for you. Instead, learn to enjoy in moderation, at the right moments.

Just don't let it become a habit. There is no savor in habits, only self contempt and other bad things, like addiction.

Comment Re: In after somebody says don't run Windows. (Score 2) 467

Yeah, I also run AdBlock for safety first, and to remove ads I will never click on anyway second. AdBlock is the most important security software for surfing the internet.

I'm sorry about the websites that depend on ad revenue. But if the advertising companies can't get their shit together and instead abstract their business model in such a way that it's impossible to know where an ad is coming from, it's their fault not mine.

Comment Re:COBOL (Score 2) 386

Arbitrary spelling that must be memorized for every word?

This is the one thing that drives most non-native English speakers crazy. Interestingly I found that many native English speakers are not even consciously aware of this difficulty in learning the English language.

Stuff like
You have to polish my car until it is shiny.
But: The Polish car salesman made me a good deal.

Or
I read something in todays paper.
But: did you read that one article?

Then, for good measure you have words that sound the same but, of course, are spelled differently, like knight and night or were and where. Yes, my username also became victim to this consequence.

IT IS MADNESS!!!

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